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Harvest Festival:
The perfect marriage of school, community and ecology
November 15, 2009
If you’ve ever had the privilege of planning a
wedding like I did this past June (although I must admit my wife did
most of the planning), I'd like those of you who can relate to harness
this comparison for a moment… If you can imagine the extensive planning
and orchestration of everything from food, utensils, tables and
decorations to entertainment and invitations, you can relate to the
amount of leadership and effort that was put into the recent
Blackbird Paradise Harvest Festival.
While labor and materials are usually provided during a banquet hall
wedding, the Garden Committee, led by Pam Standish and Bri MacAlevey,
did not have such luxuries. They had to account for every spoon, cup and
table present in the small gym during our amazing food tasting
extravaganza. In fact, every single one of the more than 20 dishes was
solicited from local restaurants and families. While this feast occurred
in the gym, contra dancing was set-up and running in the large gym. The
creation of organic crafts illustrated the inherent beauty present in
re-using rather than simply throwing away.
 The
festival was planned months in advance, yet the building was returned to
its original state by 10:30 p.m., thanks to the diligence of our evening
custodial staff led by Dan Coons.
With more than 300 people in attendance, I marvel at the organization,
precision and dedication within these two individuals and everyone else
who was involved in making this event possible. It was the perfect
marriage of school, community, and ecology!
This spring, we’ll have a wonderful reminder of this beautiful evening
when more than 600 tulip bulbs, planted by the entire student body and
staff, bloom behind the garden. It will be quite a sight!
We never stand still at Voorheesville Elementary School—even after an
amazing social event. By Monday, faculty and staff, who worked very hard
to engage students in planting bulbs and attended the festival on their
own time, were moving full steam ahead on report cards and in
preparation for parent-teacher conferences on Nov. 12, 17 and 20, which
are half days.
Although we will not have final copies of the report cards, the data
will available for review. Final “neater” copies of the report card will
be sent home the week of November 16th, which also happens to be
American Education Week!
We welcome you to visit our classrooms on the dates mentioned below to
watch your amazing children work in tandem with our staff. I am
privileged to see this every day, and welcome you to take advantage of
this wonderful opportunity. In order to minimize parking conflicts and
accommodate fifth grade standardized testing schedules (NYS assessments
are Nov. 6-17), we are using the following schedule as a guide:
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Monday, November 16: Kindergarten and Grade 1
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Wednesday, November 18: Grades 2 and 3
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Thursday, November 19: Grades 4 and 5
Certainly, if such a date does not work for you,
please contact your child's teacher for more information.
I had the privilege at our last Board of Education meeting on Monday,
Nov. 9th to present our elementary literacy program. If I had to
pick one word to describe our current program it would most certainly be
differentiated. In my travels throughout the building, it is a pleasure
to see teachers working with students in small groups, engaging students
in literacy as a whole group, and most importantly, to see students
actively reading "just right" texts that allow them to read at a level
that is both comfortable yet challenging. How do we know this is
working? In an informal survey conducted by our Curriculum Coordinator
Ms. Karen Conroy, 98% of our students in grades 2-5 identified
themselves as loving to read! If nothing else, this astounding
percentage is a true testament to the research-based instruction our
teachers implement on a daily basis.
Watch a video clip of the literacy program, which was presented
during the meeting. (Please note: Video download time will depend on
the speed of your Internet connection. If you have a MAC,
download a free media player, which allows you to play .wmv
files)
Whether it's a big wedding-esque event like the
Harvest Festival, parent-teacher conferences or a class individually
celebrating Veterans Day, there is always something of academic and
social interest here at Voorheesville Elementary School.
We look forward to seeing you in our building over the course of the
next few weeks!
The Spirit of Voorheesville
November 4, 2009
Our much awaited Spirit and Team Activities Day took
place on Friday, and, I must say, it was perfect! It was amazing to
watch the entire Voorheesville Elementary School community come together
for team-building activities.
Everything we did during the day encouraged positive behavior, much like
the book Have you filled your bucket today?, which uses bucket
filling as a metaphor to help children understand the effects actions
and words have on the well-being of others and themselves.
As a result, all classrooms now prominently display a bucket on the
teacher’s desk—complete with a text transcription of the book and
coupons providing students with ideas to make someone’s day and “fill”
their bucket with positive energy.
From the organization of class lists to the bulletin board display
outside of our cafeteria, to the design of effective, user-friendly team
activities—the day would have been impossible without the Spirit
Committee’s hard work, creativity and enthusiasm. We can’t thank you
enough. It also took a building of staff willing to try something new to
experience such a monumental day as we did.
This is yet another example of how proud I am to be a part of this
community. This is not the staff of “we shouldn’t,” but instead, the
staff of “I can.” When it comes to doing what is best for our students,
the “I can” attitude always prevails in Voorheesville.
Between the fall foliage, apples and wonderful opportunities to work
with students, it’s no wonder autumn is my favorite season. I am
privileged to remind you about Blackbird Paradise’s Harvest Festival on
Friday, Nov. 6, from 6-8:30 p.m. at the elementary school. There will be
crafts, food tastings, community dancing and much more! As your host, I
look forward to seeing you there and tasting the delectable treats our
garden helped produce. Admission is free. The community
feeling—priceless.
It’s hard to believe the first quarter will be over in few weeks, and
parent conferences will begin on Nov. 13. We had a great discussion
about effective parent-teacher conferences during the last PTA meeting,
which prompted me to write an article for the next Blackbird Bugler. The
article summarizes some helpful resources for parents to make the most
of the conferences.
Download the materials (PDF).
We are a true school and community working in tandem. Thank you for
allowing me to be a part of this relationship.
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