Good morning

To: &= nbsp; Parents, Guardians and Students

From: Dr. G.

Re: &= nbsp; Today is the 101^st Day of School

Date: = ; February 8, 2008=

Please reserve the afternoon of February 26^{th for
the Jump Rope =
For
Heart fundraiser. The pro=
gram
is open to students in grades 2 through 6 and will run from 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Permission forms =
and the
particulars of the event went home today in the Friday folders. Signed forms need to be returned to=
Mrs.
Valentini by February 14^th.}

A Reminder for Parents: The school participates in the student banking program through Liberty Bank. Banking day is every Tuesday. Members of the PTA have been very generous with their time to afford this opportunity for stud= ents and parents. If you have not = yet begun saving for that college tuition, you might want to get started. A list of the ten most expensive colleges was listed online this week. George Washington University was numb= er one with a tuition rate just shy of $37,000 per year not counting room/board and books. Surprisingly, Harvard = was not on the top ten list, however, our own Wesley= an in Middletown and Trinity in Hartford did make the top ten. With that in mind, using that conv= enient banking opportunity will give you a little jump on future education costs. =

Congratulations are extended to the newly elected 6^th grade representatives<= /b>: David Doyle, Michael Hassett, and Teddy Sauyet. Their first official duty was to give a student report to the PTA on Thursday evening, Februa= ry 7^th.

IMPORTANT: Parents= who are picking up or dropping off children, please be more conscious of the speed = in the parking lots. There are m= any siblings leaving the building that often cannot be easily seen by a driver.= It is a lot easier to brake at a s= low speed than at speeds over 5 miles per hour.

As difficult as it may seem, there is a vacation coming up a week after next. The school will be on break from Fe= bruary 18^th through the 22^nd. Students return on February 25th. The school office will be open Feb= ruary 20^th – 22^nd from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

Last Saturday, I attended the first of three all-day seminars in preparation for my trip to China as part of the Connecti= cut Shandong School Partnership Program. From our area, I will be joined by = the principals from Hebron Elementary, Marlborough Elementary, RHAM Middle School, and Bolton High School. There are seventeen participants in= our group. Participants are respo= nsible for paying a portion of the program themselves and a state grant supplements the remainder of the cost. Th= ere is no cost to the school district. The advantages, however, that I see developing from such a partnership are wide= -reaching. At Mans= field Middle School, where a partnership already exists, there will be 20 students traveling to China to spend time with students in their sister school. Once Andover has officially been partnered w= ith a sister school, I will begin to share their demographics and other aspects of their school community with our students and our school community. Part of the program will include fi= ve days spent in the sister schools, one day spent at Peking University studyi= ng “Confucianism in Chinese Culture and Thought”, and a trip to Q= ufu, the birthplace of Confucius. = Our first language lesson last Saturday was most interesting as the instructor indicated that there are four full tones in Mandarin pronunciation and one neutral tone. An example is t= he word “ma”. Depending on the tonal intonation = the word means: 1. mother, 2. num= b, 3. horse, 4. to scold, and, as a neutral tone, it is a grammatical marker used= in a question. “Ni hao”, as many of our students already know, means “Hello”.

Please enjoy the following piece of writing by one of = our fifth grade students.

S= now

Mary McBride

<= /span>

Tiny white flakes, falling from the sky, making the gro= und shimmer, while throwing a thick quilt over it, tucking the hibernating anim= als in for a long winters nap. This is what I wo= uld say if someone asked me to describe snow. For many countries and other plac= es, it means winter is here. You should get out your snow clothes, do some of t= hose snow activities, or cover your yard in those creative masterpieces. Even th= ough snow does have some frustrations, there are so many characteristics about s= now that can be liked!

            =     When the snow starts falling, you have to get your warm, snow proof clothing out= . To get started, put a big fluffy winter jacket on. Everybody wears one to keep warm when they go outdoors. You shouldn’t walk in the cold substance = with just a pair of socks on, so pull on your boots to keep your feet from freez= ing. After putting on your heavy boots,= you must accessorize with hats, gloves, scarves, and mittens. During winter you should stay warm so you don’t freeze or get frostbite.

            =     During those wintry days, you should get outside and make some beautiful masterpie= ces made from snow. Snowmen are a common creation. All you have to do is roll t= hree big balls. One is medium, one is small, and the very bottom one is large. T= he head has a face. The nose is a carrot, his eyes = are made of any round objects, just like his big smile! He has buttons that go = down his front and a scarf and hat to keep him warm. He also bears arms made of sticks. Another commonly created piece of work is a snow angel. You lie bac= k in the snow and move your arms and legs around like opening and closing scisso= rs. After you have done this for about a minute, you stand up carefully and loo= k at it. The angels look like they might just fly away. An igloo is a good shelt= er from the cold. An igloo is actually much warmer than out in the snow, if yo= u cover every gap. You don’t need to be an Eskimo to make one.

            =     Apart from making snow-art, there are many other activities you can do. My person= al favorite is sledding. When you sled, you bring your sled to the top of a big hill and get on. The movement can be fast depending on where you sled and w= hat characteristics your sled has. Another fun and well known activity is skiin= g. It is like sledding except you are on two skis and have poles in your hand = that help you guide your self downhill. Another fun activity is snowball fightin= g. You make protective snow forts out of snow and snowballs to throw. The snowballs are basically your weapon against the other team. It is a game th= at just keeps going on until someone surrenders. There are endless possibiliti= es of activities you can do in the snow! =             &nb= sp;

            =     Even though snow is beautiful and fun to do many things with, there are some frustrations. During winter, the snow has to get here somehow. Those huge s= now storms can be the most frustrating event in the history of winter. After the snowstorms, there is shoveling to do. Then, you have to lay down the sand to get rid of the slippery ice that someone could fall on. Someone could also = get into a car crash on the black ice that occupies the roads. I hope that there are only these frustrations and no more.

            =     So put on those snow clothes, do some activities, make a few creations, and pa= ss through those frustrations, because winter is here, one of the whitest time= s. Get ready for the snow falling from the sky, because snow is one of the best gifts nature has.        =             &nb= sp;

_______________

                =             &nb= sp;

Charlene Bissell and Patrik Miazga receive their Celebration of the Arts Awards

from Dr. Griffin at the Aqua Turf on February 4^th.