december 2011 bear essentials newsletter
DESCRIPTION
December 2011 NewsletterTRANSCRIPT
Volume 8, Edition 4 December 2011 ghghfghghd
Special points of
interest:
Rainbow of Friends
Spirit Wear
Box Tops
Green Tip
Parents’ Night Out
In this issue:
MLK Day of Service 1
Meet the Teacher 2
Holiday Store 3
Calendar 5
T h e B e a r E s s e n t i a l s
Words DO Hurt
We all know that bullying is wrong. None of
us wants our child to be a bully or become the
target of a bully. The anti-bullying message is
reinforced to our children at school
throughout the year. However, the reality is
that children learn hurtful words and behaviors
and use them, sometimes knowingly,
sometimes without awareness, Often, these
incidents do not take place inside the
classroom where teachers can intervene and
address the situation immediately. Instead,
issues arise on the bus, at recess, or in the
hallways. Unfortunately, children who
experience or witness subtle bullying do not
always share the information with adults. The
behavior can continue on a regular basis, with
children suffering, whether they are the targets,
bystanders, or perpetrators.
If your child does talk to you about
experiencing or witnessing bullying behavior,
(which often occurs in subtle, non-physical
forms, including name-calling , social exclusion/
isolation, or teasing), please discuss the
situation and find out more information from
your child. Ask about the facts, encourage
sharing about her/his feelings, and listen
carefully to what your child tells you. You can
brainstorm ideas for how to address the
situation, and then discuss which options are
most appealing to your child. Share personal
experiences, if they are relevant; they may help
your child feel better about confronting her/his
own situation. Encourage your child to play an
active role in being part of the solution, and get
involved yourself to model appropriate
behavior. How to get involved: discuss how it
feels to be the target and how even being a
quiet bystander can fuel the problem; role-play
scenarios in which your child can help change
the current pattern of behavior; contact your
child’s teacher to discuss the situation; get in
touch with the school counselor, Mrs. Cooney,
to share the information and find solutions;
contact the No Place for Hate Committee to
share your experiences and help us make the
school a safer and more welcoming place for all
members of the community.
If you have thoughts, comments, or questions
about this issue, please contact the No Place
for Hate Committee: Tasha Holland
([email protected]); Shira Neuberger
([email protected]); and Kelly Durand
Make it a Day ON, not a Day Off
On January 16, 2012, Glenside Elementary will participate in the MLK Day of Service. Just as last year,
we will create Valentine kits for children in area hospitals and have a bake sale to raise funds for a
local homeless shelter. In addition, this year we will have a table set up with information about diver-
sity-related and service-related ideas/activities for families to enjoy throughout the year.
The event will be held at the school, and details will be provided in the coming weeks. We NEED
volunteers to help with the activities and to bring baked goods! Please contact Tasha Holland
([email protected]), Shira Neuberger ([email protected]) or Kelly Durand
Glens ide - A Ra inbow of Fr iends
T h e B e a r E s s e n t i a l s
Giving and Glenside - Perfect Together
December's Rainbow of Friends theme is GIVING at Glenside. Giving happens in a variety of
ways. Our children have been giving of themselves since they came back to school in September.
In October, they helped the troops overseas. November was dedicated to helping children. Each
Monday, Glenside students volunteered to work with Mrs. Harbison to run a Bake Sale raising
money for the children at CHOP (in addition to the money raised for Books for CHOP at our
PTO Book Sale). Our children did a fantastic job!
For the month of December, our focus is changing. We will collect and donate used, old, or bro-
ken cell phones for LCA research and a cure.
Our very own second grade teacher, Mrs. Boner, has a grandbaby, Hannah, who has Leber's Con-
genital Amaurosis (LCA). LCA is a rare hereditary disorder that leads to retinal dysfunction and
visual impairments or blindness at an early age, often from birth. Hannah sees only light.
We can donate our old, used, broken cell phones to help Hannah through the The Foundation
for Retinal Research (FRR). This foundation was created to raise money for research & to pro-
vide information to families affected by LCA. Your children learned about this at our November
29th assembly. Hannnah is one of only 3,000 people with this rare disease, so research money is
limited. To date, there is no treatment or cure for the disease. The mission of the FRR is to aid in
providing treatments and an ultimate cure for all forms of LCA.
Please discuss GIVING at home with your child as you plan your holiday celebrations,
to make this season a very happy, unselfish one.
―If you always give, you will always have.‖ (Chinese Proverb)
Have a wonderful holiday season.
A big thank you to
everyone for sending in
Box Tops!
As a school, we collected
3,478 Box Tops for the
first collection of the
school year!! What a great
effort! The top classroom,
as promised, will receive
an ice cream party, and
that class is...Room #20 -
Mrs. Wagner - Congratula-
tions! Mrs. Wagner's 3rd
grade class brought in a
total of 396 Box Tops.
Way to go!
The runners up are:
Room #8
Mrs. Duarte
(Kindergarten) Total: 363
Room #21
Mr. Kelly
(3rd grade) Total: 350
Room #9
Mrs. van't Hoenderdaal
(Kindergarten) Total: 336
Room #11
Mrs. Ward
(2nd grade) Total: 333
Please continue to look for
Box Tops on your house-
hold items, and when you
see them, clip them and
send them in to school.
We will have another big
collection and contest after
the new year.
Mrs. Roshanna Floyd
What are you teaching? 3rd Grade
How long have you taught? 8 years
Where did you teach before? John Welsh Elementary ( Philadelphia), Martime Academy Charter
School (Philadelphia), Norton Park Elementary (Smyrna, GA), Elite Prep (Bangkok, Thailand) ,
McKinley Elementary (Elkins Park)
Colleges, universities attended? University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA) , Lincoln University
(Philadelphia Campus) , Lincoln Memorial University (Harrogate, TN)
Hobbies? Cosmetology, traveling, spending time with family and friends
Favorite Book? The Coldest Winter Ever by Sista Souljah
Any other personal information you would like to share (ie; number of children at home, special interest, travel
experience)?
Mother of a 9-month old, Kevin, Jr.
Traveled to Thailand and taught international students for a summer
Excited to be given an opportunity to teach students at the brand new Glenside!
Meet the Teacher
T h e B e a r E s s e n t i a l s
Green T ip
Although it feels like spring outside, the winter holidays are coming! We hope the ideas
below will be helpful to you as you think about the season:
Need gifts?
1. Think about buying from a local shop – it helps our economy and you don’t have to
travel far to shop!
2. There are a few local places that sell fair trade items – checkout 10,000 Villages
(www.tenthousandvillages.com) or do some research on local fair trade. There are also
many online sites that carry fair trade products. What is FAIR TRADE? Simply put, it
involves making sure those who make a product get a fair deal for the work they did. This
has tremendous impact on the sustainability for a community, or even just a family.
3. Be creative with your gifting! Make a gift or share an experience together – this cuts
down on packaging, you know where the product is coming from and you give the gift of
time with one another!
Holiday Store
It's that time of year again! The holiday
store is right around the corner. In
case you aren't familiar, this is a "store"
run by the PTO where students can buy
gifts for their loved ones. Items range
in price from less than $1 to several
dollars, with the PTO providing a $1
coupon for every child. The store runs
Monday, 12/5 - Wednesday,
12/7. We will need lots of volunteers
to run this event.
We are looking for people to come in
on 12/2 for store set-up, and for the
actual running of the store. We need
your help!
Please contact Kathleen Brown
([email protected]) to volunteer, or
with any questions.
EDITORS
NEEDED
We’ll even give you the format!
We’ve had the pleasure
of writing and editing the
newsletter for almost 2
years now. At the end of
June, our tenure as cor-
responding secretaries
ends. That means that
the search for the new
editors begins! Please,
please, please take this
opportunity to contrib-
ute to the Glenside Ele-
mentary School commu-
nity. This is a perfect gig
for the parent/s that
can’t get to the school
during the day to volun-
teer. It’s a great way to
show off (or develop)
your sense of humor and
style!
Please contact Kelly Du-
rand or Shira Neuberger
for further details at
T h e B e a r E s s e n t i a l s
Parents’ Night Out
sponsored/hosted by the
Cheltenham High School Girls’ Lacrosse Team
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011
5:00 pm until 10:00 pm
CHS Gymnasium
A night of games, activities,
and FUN! (Like a day of LifeSeeds Summer Camp!)
Pizza, drinks, and prizes for all!
$25 for one child
$45 for 2 children
$60 for three children (the event is for children age 5 and older)
RSVP Dave Burton at
Don't miss the biggest
sale ever!
Purchase any Glenside
Spirit wear item and get
ONE T-Shirt FREE!!!
(adult size only, while
supplies last)
Sale ends Thursday, De-
cember 15! Fill out a
purchase order (sent in a
previous email) and send
it to school in an enve-
lope marked, ―Glenside
PTO Spirit wear.‖
For more information, or
for another purchase or-
der form, please contact
Fernanda Lemos at
Show your Spirit!
Th is news le t ter made poss ib le by
Mark Your Ca lendar ~
T h e B e a r E s s e n t i a l s
Contact the Editors:
Shira Neuberger | 267--735-0233
Kelly Durand | 215--901-6370
January
16th - MLK Day of Service
18th - Early Dismissal (2:45 pm)
23rd - PTO Mtg. (7:30 pm)
30th - UPG Mtg. (7 pm—Admin. Bldg)
Upcoming Events
Our sincere thanks go to -
Stephanie Fields, Patti Peet, and Rebekka Hartwell, for another fabulous book fair!
Thanks to all of the MANY volunteers that made the book fair possible.
Gloria Smith, for your YEARS of dedicated work on the directory and as treasurer. We’d
be lost without you!
Alicia Thomas, Jenny Lowman, and Terri Schmidt, for Donuts with Someone Special. It
was certainly special and it was because of your hard work!
Nicole Oliver and Kathleen Brown. for your painstaking work with the KidStuff books.
Thank you!
Kelley and Tim Funk, for your expert counting of the Box Tops.
Debora Scholl, for your rounding up of ads for the directory. We had more ads than
ever!
Kelly Timbers and Ray Felix, for the wonderful annual wrapping paper sale! We appreci-
ate all of your work in making it happen.
T h a nk yo u ! M erc i !
Contact the PTO Co-Presidents:
Nancy Bower |
Tom Durso |
Glenside Elementary School
400 Harrison Avenue
Glenside, PA 19038
215-881-6440 (p) | 215-886-6797 (f)
www.cheltenham.org/glenside
December
5th - UPG Mtg. (7 pm—Admin. Bldg)
21st - Early Dismissal (2:45 pm)
23rd - Holiday Dismissal (1:00 pm)
26th-30th - Winter Break