BELLE SHERMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

FRIDAY NEWS NOTES

November 30, 2007

School Telephone: 274-2206

Remember to call the Attendance Line (274-2132) if your child is going to be late or absent!  To contact our principal, Mr. Spence, call 274-2206 and leave a message or e-mail him at jspence@icsd.k12.ny.us.

Calendar:        

  Check out the Web Calendar at www.icsd.k12.ny.us/bellesherman

Saturday         December 1^st             Basketball Home Opener(s)

Monday          December 3^rd                         PTA Meeting 6pm

Basketball Season Starts at Home: The elementary school basketball season kicks off on Saturday, December, 1. Our teams will play BJM in the Belle Sherman Main Building Gym at the following times:

9 AM: Third/Fourth Grade Girls                       10 AM: Fifth Grade Girls
11 AM: Fourth Grade Boys                             12 noon: Fifth Grade Boys
1 PM: Third Grade Boys -- Please come and support our teams!


Basketball Concessions: The PTA will be running a concession stand from 9 AM - 1 PM on Saturday during the games and WE STILL ARE looking for donations of baked goods/healthy snacks and volunteers to staff our table in half hour shifts. The money we raise helps offset the cost of the basketball program and other programs. If you can donate a food item, please drop it off on Saturday morning in the main building entry way (where our concession stand will be). If you can help staff our table, please contact Andrea Lachance at lachance@cortland.edu or 275-0388. Thanks in advance for your support!


The next General PTA meeting is Monday Dec. 3 in the Main Building Gym. The meeting will provide an exciting update on the progress towards the new playground! Come at 6pm for pizza, meeting to start at 6:30pm.


Want to buy a recorder?  For anyone interested in buying a recorder for your child, please send in $2.50 by Wed. December 5^th.  Recorders should arrive before the December vacation.  If you’re interested in buying a recorder method book w/ CD accompaniment, check out www.westmusic.com.  Any of the Don Muro books are great.

Jogging pants and/or jeans sizes 4T to 16 needed!  Please bring donations to the nurse.  Thanks.

“Lost & Founds” are overflowing!  Have you lost a jacket, lunch box, shoe, or other item of clothing?  Main building lost & found items will be put on tables in the 2/3 hallway December 3-7^th.  Please claim your things.

NOTES FROM THE PRINCIPAL:  The language we use with children can help them develop self-control.  When adults yell over the children’s voices, they are asserting their own control, and the goal is obedience. When a Responsive Classroom teacher sounds a soft chime as a transitional signal and waits for the children to respond with their quiet attention, she is teaching them self-control.  When we create lists of specific rules, and corresponding punishments for non-compliance, we teach children to behave in order to avoid punishment. The flip-side of this is offering rewards for expected behaviors, which teaches children to comply for self-gain.  When the RC teacher leads them to understand the benefits of creating a community in which individuals respect themselves, each other, and the shared environment, she encourages them to choose goodness for its own sake and to become self-supervising.

Library Night, Dec. 13, 6-7 PM. Local writer and illustrator Katrina Morse, author of "At Home With Books," will be our guest. She'll discuss and answer questions about writing and publishing.  Refreshments will be provided. Please join us in the main school library!

Some Belle Sherman students need holiday elves!  The Elves program provides needed winter clothing and other items for local children. Currently 18 Belle Sherman students are in need of Elves.  Please consider sponsoring a child through the Elf Program. More information is available at http://elves.cornell.edu/faq.html  The coordinator for Belle Sherman is Brandi Farnham (bsf4@cornell.edu or 255-3841)Individuals can contact Brandi directly to be matched with a child or make a monetary gift.

Community News

Alternative Gift Fair Thirty-one locally based charitable organizations are participating in the 2007 Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair, an event that offers shoppers an opportunity to give charitable donations as holiday gifts for friends and relatives. The Fair will be held from 10 am to 4 pm, Saturday, December 1, at the First Presbyterian Church, 315 North Cayuga Street.  All of the money collected at the Fair goes directly to the participating organizations. Among this year’s 150 gift offerings are hot meals for the homeless, help for at-risk youth and special-needs children, support for community talking circles on racism, help for injured or lost animals, and many gifts that support families in impoverished countries around the world.

Art-Full Family Saturday, Johnson Museum of Art, Saturday, December 1, 10:00a.m. - 12:00 noon

Sally Ramirez takes families on a multicultural journey with "Songs from the Heart," singing songs in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and English, and involving the audience through interactive movement, puppetry, and rhythm instruments.  The performance begins at 10:00 a.m. with art-making to follow at 11:00 a.m.  Fees: Free for Museum Members/$5 per family for nonmembers.

Cornell Orchestras Concert: Sunday, December 2 at 8:00 PM in Bailey Hall.  This concert will be an unusual orchestra concert featuring; Music by Bach and Bartok but also a break-dance troop, a beat boxer a turntablist and two world premieres.  The concert is free and open to the public.

Ithaca High School Presents Alice in Wonderland Ithaca High School is proud to present Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland as the Fall `07 Theater Production. Performances are scheduled for 8pm on Friday and Saturday, December 7th and 8th, and 2pm on Sunday December 9th, at Ithaca High School's Kulp Auditorium.  Tickets are $4 in advance and $5 at the door, Tickets will be available at Ithaca High School cafeteria during school lunch and at Cat's Pajamas and Hickey's Music.

Families Learning Science Together Program: Vitamin C Families are invited to learn about how vitamin c is concentrated in assorted fruit drinks by using a technique at the Tompkins County Public Library. Saturday, December 15th 1-2pm in the Thaler-Howell Program Room of the Library’s Youth Services Department. Free and open to the public, but space is limited. For more information or to reserve your family’s spaces for this program, contact Kevin at outreach@ccmr.cornell.edu or 254-8256.

Friday News Notes are published weekly in cooperation with our school and the Parent-Teacher Association.  Your input is welcome. News can be sent to fridaynews@verizon.net or put in the “Friday news” mailbox in the main school building.  Please submit all news by 2pm on Thursdays.  If you have questions, e-mail as above or call Karla Hanson at 277-6603.  News Notes are posted to the BelleShermanFolks listserve at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/belleshermanfolks.  BelleShermanChat is our more informal online group for community announcements, classified ads, etc. from Belle Sherman families. You can join at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BelleShermanChat or contact Jim Morris-Knower at 273-7695 or jpk15@cornell.edu. List serve for 5^th grade families interested in planning and fundraising the NYC trip and graduation:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BSherman5thGrade