Tiger News
 
January 30, 2009
Issue: 18
Calendar of Events: February 5th – 6:00 p.m., School Board Mtg. February 7th – Spaghetti Dinner and Talent Show February 9th – Developmental (Preschool Screening) February 10th – 6:00 p.m. School Safety Mtg. February 11th – 7:40 a.m., Whole School Mtg. February 11th – 11:50 a.m., Early Dismissal February 17th – 6:30 p.m., PTO Mtg. February 18th – Winter Carnival February 23rd – March 3rd – No School, Winter Break March 2nd – 5:00 p.m., Special School Board Meeting March 3rd – Annual Town Meeting March 4th – 7:40 a.m., Whole School Mtg. March 5th – 6:00 p.m., School Board Meeting March 9th – K-2 Flynn Theatre Field Trip March 10th – 6:00 p.m., School Safety Mtg. March 18th – 7:40 a.m., Whole School Mtg. March 20th – No School (Conferences) March 24th – 6:30 p.m., PTO Mtg. March 25th – 11:50 a.m., Early Dismissal March 28th – 7:00 p.m., PTO Monte Carlo Night April 6th – 5:45 p.m., Artist-In-Residence Performance Night April 11th – 6:30 p.m., PTO Movie Night  My Trip to Washington, D.C. By Dyson Lord, Grade 6 On Monday, we took a tour of the Capitol building. We first saw a short film about the history of the Capitol. Did you know, the Capitol building is called “the Temple of Liberty?” After we saw the movie, we went to the Main Hall. There were paintings on all the walls, and there were statues, too. One of the statutes was of Susan B Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott. It was called The Women’s Rights Statue. Also, there was a beautiful painting on the ceiling painted by Constantino Berriti. We also visited a room where the old Congress used to meet. They stopped meeting there because the acoustics were really bad and the room got to be too small. There was a panel on the ground, which was where Abraham Lincoln sat in the meetings. In the room there were statues of important people. One person for each state. Ethan Allen represented Vermont.  Before we went to the Senate meeting, we took a tunnel to the Library of Congress because we had some time until the meeting started. The architecture there was amazing! On each wall, there were four or five authors’ names. There was a saying under each name. There also was a mosaic of Medusa. When you were to the left of it her feet were pointing one way, then when you are looking at her from the front, her feet are pointing downward. It was quite cool. Unfortunately, it was too dark to take a picture of it. On the floor of the main hall, there was a large sun. Around the sun, there were zodiac symbols. Also there was a grand granite staircase. While we were at the Library of Congress, we saw many interesting pieces of art. It amazed me that one building could hold so much history! Unfortunately, it was time to go. We walked back through the cold tunnel wondering what the Senate meeting would hold for us. After the Senate meeting, we decided to go to the Library of Congress again, this time to see The Declaration of Independence. We saw the Magna Carta, The Declaration of Independence, The Gutenberg Bible, and the Constitution of the United States. These documents were all protected under glass, temperature controlled, and some had security guards at all times. On Tuesday, my parents were getting sworn in at the United States Supreme Court. At 9:15, we were led into the Courtroom. In the courtroom, the Marshal announced the entrance of the Justices. After the sound of the gavel, we had to remain standing until the robed Justices were seated. We heard the traditional chant: “The Honorable, the Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the Court is now sitting. God save the United States and this Honorable Court.” The swearing in ceremony took place. It was short, but very formal. My parents are now Officers of the United States Supreme Court and can now present a case in the Supreme Court, the highest court in our country. We then watched two oral arguments on the Court calendar. One of the cases was a Vermont case about the right to a speedy trial. It was very interesting. The Justices were really hard on the lawyers presenting their sides of the case We also sat in on a House of Representative meeting and a Senate meeting. It was very interesting to watch although we didn’t stay too long.  To get the tickets for the Senate meeting, we had to go to Senator Leahy’s office (left). (Below: Outside the Supreme Court)  PATH to Wellness Carla Kotas Lewis, grades 3/4 Teacher If one day you see the Fayston staff in t-shirts and sweatpants, it won’t mean we have stretched the definition of “casual Friday.” It will be, instead, a day to acknowledge our school’s participation in VEHI’s PATH Points Program. The Vermont Education Health Initiative (VEHI) sponsors this program, which is a nonprofit health insurance trust for Vermont school employees. Management is shared by the Vermont-National Education Association (VT-NEA) and the Vermont School Boards Insurance Trust (VSBIT). The program was created to encourage wellness programs and participation in activities and services that promote healthy life styles and help build healthy working communities. VEHI believes that: Faculty and staff at Vermont’s schools represent one of our state’s most valuable assets — educators of future generations of Vermont citizens. When faculty and staff are healthy, they are better able to provide quality instruction, manage stress appropriately, experience less work-time lost and model healthy behaviors to their families, colleagues, the community and students. Healthy faculty and staff also save the local communities money because they have fewer health care costs and lower rates of absenteeism. The wellness programs through this partnership have been in existence in some form for the past 18 years, although the focus and format vary each year. This year’s PATH Program stands for "Planned Action Toward Health.” There are a number of components to the program, one of which is taking a Healthy Life Survey. The first section looks at bio-medical and stress factors, including blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, flexibility, a stress profile, and an overall risk status. The “Wellscale” looks at how your environment affects your health. It includes a number of wellness areas, including spiritual, physical, emotional, workplace, social, intellectual and financial, as well as medical self-care and safety. Other components include setting and tracking personal goals, and the option to participate in nurse, peer, and/or lifestyle coaching. Each week new information is provided on a variety of topics, along with recipes and suggestions for strength and flexibility exercises. Besides the obvious health benefits, this year there are also financial incentives attached for individuals, schools, and districts. The matching funds are available for health initiatives, and can include activities to prepare and implement safety, health and wellness policies, to improve environmental conditions, provide information for identifying and reducing negative effects of stress, helping individuals make healthier food choices, and health and safety training. Many of us have participated in similar programs for a number of years, and have met personal goals and increased our awareness of health issues. We have also elevated morale and promoted camaraderie by participating in physical activities such as kayaking, snowshoeing or forming teams for the Corporate Cup Race in the spring. So, if you see us in t-shirts, it might be a day that we are playing volleyball after school, or are enrolled in an exercise class. However, if we are in pajamas, that means it’s I Love to Read and Write Month, and we’ll be curling up with a great book and a favorite stuffed animal along with our students. There will probably be milk and cookies that day, too, another important component for a healthy frame of mind! (Once in a while!) "Talent Night" & Spaghetti Dinner You've seen the posters around the school. The kids have been talking about it. Now it's time to let us know that you plan to attend. We are cooking a fabulous spaghetti dinner, but we don't know how much to cook. If you would let us know how many people are coming from your family, that will help us with our planning.  What? You already know what Where? Right here in the gym When? Saturday, February 7 at 6pm Why? Because it's loads of laughs, a great community event and a chance to financially support the 6th grade trip to Montreal. Just contact Cally or Doug and let us know how many in your party. By the way, you should have received a note on Friday that allowed the students (and you) to sign up for participation in the show. Just get that information to Doug as soon as possible. Fayston Elementary School Developmental Preschool Screening Preschool screening for all Fayston children who will be three years old by September 1, 2009, will be held on Monday, February 9th, at the school. Screening will last about one hour and will take place by appointment during the school day. All three-, four- and five-year-old children not previously screened should be registered for an appointment by calling Cally Schober, Administrative Assistant, at 496-3636 ext. 101. Please bring your child’s birth certificate and immunization record. The staff will observe play behaviors, motor development, interaction with others, hearing, speech and vision. The School Counselor will discuss your child’s social and emotional development. Early Education Database The Fayston Elementary School has established a listing of children of all ages who may attend the school in the future. If you have a child of any age who is not registered with the school, please call Cally Schober, Administrative Assistant, at 496-3636 to register. This important census is used to plan appropriate school programs for the future. Monte Carlo Night Save the Date! Mark your calendars now (and line up a sitter) for Saturday, March 28th – PTO Annual Monte Carlo Night fundraiser planning is in the works and will be held again at the Mt. Ellen base lodge. You can count on live music, the silent auction, great food, and of course gaming. PTO hosts this event as its biggest money maker and the funds we raise invest over $8000 annually back into our children at Fayston. Get involved - plan on attending - and help us make it happen again this year. Please email pto@faystonschool.org if you are interested in volunteering. We'd love to hear from you. Return those Wood Consumption Surveys and win money for your school! Please don’t delay; we want to hear from you by Friday, February 6th! You’ll also be helping to increase understanding of locally- harvested wood’s role in our long-term energy plan! You should have received the UVM Wood Consumption survey with the school newsletter or from your child during the last two weeks. Please take 5-15 minutes to fill it out, return it, and help your school win a special $250 award for its student activities or PTO fund! For more information contact Rebecca Haskell, 802-656-5459, rhaskell@uvm.edu or www.uvm.edu/sustainableagriculture. The Geo Bee By Reilly Loynd Tuesday, January 20th, the annual Geo Bee was held! We began the process in our separate classrooms. We were asked geographical questions in alphabetical order. We started out with multiple choice questions. Then, we were asked questions about the seven continents. After the seven rounds several tie breakers were held to determine the final 10 students with the highest number of questions correct. The final 10 students were: Parker Gonnet, Mikhal Yudien, Alexis Belknap, Chase Fortier, Reilly Loynd, Caleb Hoyne, Ben Friedman, Elli Torsell, Reid Tynan and Emmy Kelly. After the final 10 was established, we were first asked questions about the range of temperatures using a map. Then we were asked about cities, towns and attractions in various states. When you got two questions wrong you were applauded and went to join the audience. This continued until we had our top 3 winners including: Elli Torsell in third place, Emmy Kelly in second place, and Caleb Hoyne as our 2009 Geo-Bee winner!!! Sitting by were all the rest of the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students. Lots of pressure. At the end, with only two students left, Emmy Kelly and Caleb Hoyne duked it out to determine the final winner!! A word with Caleb Hoyne (our winner!!) How does it feel to be the winner of the 2009 Geo Bee? “A little weird but I’m actually kind of happy.” Did you study much ? “No. Not at all.” Are you excited to continue onto the State Geo Bee? “I guess so.” Do you have anything to say to your other competitors? “Good job! There’s always next year.” What will you take away with you from this experience? “That it doesn’t matter what grade you’re in anyone can do anything.”  Geo Bee participants. mailto:cschober@faystonelementary.org?subject=%22Talent%20Night%22%20%26%20Spaghetti%20Dinnermailto:dberg@faystonelementary.org?subject=%22Talent%20Night%22%20%26%20Spaghetti%20Dinnermailto:pto@faystonschool.orgmailto:rhaskell@uvm.eduhttp://www.uvm.edu/sustainableagricultureshapeimage_3_link_0shapeimage_3_link_1shapeimage_3_link_2shapeimage_3_link_3shapeimage_3_link_4