International Education Week A Huge Success Our celebration of International Educa-tion Week provided us with lots of learning op-portunities. We started our festivities with a pres-entation by Keith Zook a Fellow with P&G Chil-dren's Safe Drinking Water Project. The students presented our work to him, and then he shared his experiences in the countries where our project has assisted children. In addition, we had dancers (including parent Noemi Albritton) from Folclor Hispano and Indian dance and folklore from Co-lumbus Artists in the Schools, Sahara Nahar. Perhaps the highlight of the week was our international presentations. We had visitors who presented about Persia, Africa, Uzbekistan, Cameroon, Equator, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Poland, Japan, Scotland, England, Ireland, Laos, Somalia, and South Africa. Many thanks to the parents who volunteered, the friends of our families who volunteered and the students from Ohio Wesleyan University, and Otterbein College who volunteered. We ended the week with a cornucopia of food for our International Food Festival. Thank you so much for your over-whelming response of food and help for the activity. Thank you PTA for part-nering on the event!~

Happy Holidays!

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Volume 3, Issue 4

December 2010

Mr. Zook demonstrates the PUR packets.

Retired Emerson teacher, Christy Courtright shares her knowledge of Equator.

Right: 5th graders pose with their Mexican flowers they created.

Left: Mr. Bridgette discusses Irish games.

Right: Mr. McCullough shares the Scot-tish Bagpipes.

Feasting upstairs!

Page 2

International Week Pics

THE TURTLE TIMES

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 4

Congratulations to all of our participants in this year’s Reflections contest!

We are proud to announce our Emerson winners: Photography—Intermediate Level  

1st Place—Emily Hayman 

2nd Place—Caroline Warrick 

3rd Place—Tony Ruyack 

Visual Arts – Primary Level: 

1st place – Lauren McCarty 

2nd place—Henri Heyes 

3rd place—Abigail Cumming‐Vukovic 

Honorable Mention—Nathan Seabury 

Visual Arts—Intermediate Level: 

1st place—Claudio Santino 

2nd place—Emily Kellar 

3rd place—Dulcie Heyes 

Honorable Mention—Mariel Dapore, Maddie Heyes 

We will be having a reception to honor the winners on February 9th before our regular PTA meeting.

Photography—Intermediate Level  

1st Place—Emily Hayman 

2nd Place—Caroline Warrick 

3rd Place—Tony Ruyack 

Musical Composition—Primary Level: 

1st place‐‐Reed Simms 

Musical Composition—Intermediate Level: 

1st  place‐‐Robin Heft 

Literature—Intermediate Level  

1st place‐‐ Zeke Bednarczuk 

2nd place‐‐ Aaron Milleren 

3rd place‐‐ Claudia Santino 

Page 3

    Reflections Winners 2010‐2011  

Achievement

Record Dates

• December 3—Interim

• January 21-AR

• February 11-Interim

• April 8-AR

• May 6—Interim

• June 7—AR

Lost and Found

If you have lost it, we have found it! Our Lost and Found is overflowing with coats, scarves, hats, etc… Feel free come and re-trieve your child’s belongings. Thanks!

Indonesian Scholars Visit Emerson

On November 3rd, Emerson Elementary received a visit from Indonesian scholars participating in the sandwich program offered by the School of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education and Human Ecology at Ohio State University. The Scholars are junior faculty, pursuing PhD de-grees at OSU 13 Indonesian partner universities. 10 Indonesian scholars were able to observe in the classrooms. The group was accompanied by Tati Durriyah, a doctoral student from OSU. This is the second year that Em-erson has partnered with OSU to provide this learning opportunity.

PTA Updates & InformationPTA Updates & Information

Goodsearch and Goodshop As we enter the holiday season I wanted to share something which can benefit Em-erson. Goodsearch.com is a search engine (through Yahoo) which allows you to designate a group or charity to get “credit” for you search. For every search you make on the site your designated group gets a penny. Sounds like nothing, but it does add up! Check it out

for yourself. The other thing you can do is funnel any of your online shopping that you normally do through this site, Goodshop.com . In those situations, they give a percentage of what you spend to your designated group. Once again, check it out...They have nearly everybody on there!

We are listed under—Emerson Magnet Elementary School (Westerville, OH) ID:881929 Even if you do not choose Emerson, you can designate some very worthy charitable groups. We are going to do searches and shop anyway, right? Feel free to share this with others. One caution, as with any search site, it is not filtered for kids, so monitor their searches (in particular-pictures).

Teacher and Staff Appreciation The 5th grade parents hosted a teacher and staff appreciation luncheon with an Oktoberfest theme in October. Thank you to all the parents who brought in food to make it a success. On January 28th the 4th grade parents will sponsor an appreciation luncheon for the wonderful staff at Emerson. We hope the teachers and staff continue to enjoy the luncheons.

The PTA would like to say thank you to all of the countless volunteer hours the parents have put in so far this year. We really appreciate all of your time! Thanks goes out to those volunteers who recently helped out with International Week and the Book Fair.

Happy Holidays to the Emerson students and parents. The Annual PTA Emerson Talent Show was a huge success! Many thanks to the project chair people, Courtney Stroupe and Traci Davidson. With 49 performances it could not have happened without the team work of many parents.

On behalf of the American Heart Association, THANK YOU! Thanks to the work you do, we’re not only able to fund lifesaving heart and stroke research, but also work to improve heart-health policy. For instance, AHA has been working on several pieces of legislation to turn the tide on child-hood obesity in Ohio and we’ve just taken a monumental next step—Healthy Choices for Healthy Chil-dren legislation!

As you know, obesity has become one of the most serious threats to the health of our children. If childhood obesity rates continue to increase, it’s estimated to cut two to five years from the average lifespan, making our current generation of children the first in American history to live shorter lives than their own parents! And in addition to its health toll, obesity is now estimated to account for a staggering 12% of our nation’s healthcare costs!

We hope Healthy Choices for Healthy Children will be fast tracked for passage, but we need your help to make that happen! Please send a quick message to your state lawmakers and encourage them to sup-port both the House and Senate versions of the bill.

Thank you for all you do to improve the heart-health of Ohio’s kids!

WELLNESS TIPS – START SMALL – JUST START!!!

Try 1-2 of these easy tips at a time until they

become a habit, then add more. Small steps add up to a healthier life!

DRINK

Use 1% or 2% milk instead of whole milk

Drink a glass of water before each meal and between each meal

Drink 100% juice and avoid juice drinks which add sugar

EAT

Eat off of smaller plates

Avoid food portions larger than your fist

Before going back for seconds, wait 10 minutes

Eat 2 vegetables at dinner – try a new one each week – involve the kids in

EXERCISE

Exercise with a family member or friend

Go for a walk as a family activity

Park farther away from school, work, church, grocery

Take the stairs

Limit TV – but when watching, exercise at every commercial

Ohio Healthy Choices for Healthy Children: A Great Step in the Right Direction!

Mr. Carr’s Counseling Communicator The Westerville character education “Word of the Month” for December is Caring. Caring about others is a key component of being a person of character. Friends, families, schools, and communities cannot thrive without people who care for one another. Kindness to all people with whom we come into contact is the cornerstone of a caring person. Many great philosophers and poets have noted that the best of humanity is represented in acts of kindness and caring.

Quotes:

“Kindness is never wasted” Aesop

“People should see kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile” Mother Teresa

“If I can stop one heart from breaking/ I shall not live in vain;/ If I can ease one life the aching,/ Or cool the pain,/ Or help the fainting robin/ Into his nest again,/ I shall not have lived in vain” Emily Dickinson

“Art thou lonely, O my brother?/ Share they little with another!/ Stretch a hand to one unfriended/ And thy loneliness is ended” John Oxenham

“Those who are kind are happy people. Kindness will also be given to them” Jesus Christ

People who are caring…

• Think about other people’s feelings and needs.

• Are kind with their words and actions.

• Give to others without thinking about what they will get in return. Help others.

Caring and Compassion family discussion topics:

• Are people born with compassion or is it something they learn?

• What are examples of caring and compassion you have seen this week?

• What famous people do you consider to be compassionate? What have they done to show this?

• What can kids do at school to show more compassion to their classmates?

What can people do to make our world a more caring and compassionate place?

Take a trip to the library and check out these books on caring and compassion:

Picture books Chapter books

Horton Hatches the Egg, by Dr. Seuss Blackberries in the Dark, by Mavis Jukes

Arnie and the New Kid, by Nancy Carlson Sunshine Home, by Eve Bunting

The Paper Crane, by Molly Bang Mrs. Katz and the Tush, by Patricia Polacco

The Talking Eggs, by Robert D. San Souci

Your helpful librarian has numerous suggestions on other titles on this theme.

Happy Holidays to You and Yours!

Winter Break begins on December 20th 2010 and

Ends on December 31st, 2010. Classes resume on Monday January 3rd, 2011.

¡HOLA! From Senora Murray: During the month of December, kids’ (and grown-ups!) thoughts are on upcoming holidays. Most Span-ish-speaking countries will have many people celebrating Christmas, but in Spanish class our students will be learning holiday vocabulary that can be used for many types of celebrations across many cul-tures and religions:

family = familia

gift = regalo

celebration = celebración

tradition = tradición

candle = vela

song = canción

dance = baile

house = casa

decoration = decoración

card = tarjeta

candy = dulce or caramelo

music = música

¡Felices Fiestas! (Happy Holidays!)

Señora Murray

Square 1 Art is arriving any day now!!!!! After sorting and or-ganizing your child will be bringing home the goodies on Mon-day, Dec. 6th. If this is not what you want, please email me and we can arrange for your to pick it up on Dec. 7, 8 or 9 when I am at Emerson.

It was a very successful fund raiser and I am so thankful to be part of a school that supports the Arts the way Emerson does! You are the best!

Thanks and contact me if you want other arrangements for the product pickup. Mrs. Gena Moore

ART

mooreg@wcsoh.org

Emerson’s Got Talent 2011!!!

44 Vine Street Westerville, Ohio

43081

EMERSON WORLD CULTURES AND LANGUAGES MAGNET

SCHOOL

trict dedicated to excellence in all areas. It is overwhelming when you think about the people in the world who are not so fortunate. At Emer-son I believe we are preparing the kids to take their place in the world and to make the world better for everyone. That is our gift to the fu-ture. I hope that the holidays bring you all the good things in life and that our students return rested and happy in January.

Dear Emerson Family

I grew up hearing my mother tell me to count my blessings. It is easy to do here at Emerson. We are blessed to have students who work hard eve-ryday and yet still find time to care about their school, family and com-munity. We are blessed to have teachers and staff who routinely go above and beyond to meet the needs of our kids and their families. We are blessed to work in a school dis-

Principal’s Message… BE SAFE… DO YOUR BEST

Phone: 614-797-7080 Fax: 614-797-7081 jarrellv@wcsoh.org

It is officially COLD out there. We are going to try to get the kids out for recess as often as possible, so please remember to bundle them up! Thanks!

Taiko Drummer– Eric Payton

Ask the kids about their

Taiko workshop with Eric Payton and Mrs. Martine!