Dates to Remember
Mark your calendars for
these important events:
December 8
Sun., 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
PTA Sort/Restock, Both Thrift Shops
December 11
Wed., 7:00 pm
PTA Board Meeting, Media Center
(All parents and teachers welcome!)
December 12
Thurs., 6:00 pm
SGC Meeting, Art Room
December 14 Sat.,
8:00 am - 12:00 pm
Carrboro PTA Toy Sale, Cafeteria
December 19
Thurs., 6:00 pm
Pottery Show, Art Room (6:00 pm - 7:00 pm)
Holiday Sing-a-long, Auditorium (7:00 pm)
December 20
Fri., 4:30 pm
Chalkboard Deadline
December 23 - 31, 2002
January 1 - 3, 2003
Winter Break—No School J
January 8
Wed., 7:00 pm
PTA Board Meeting, Media Center
(All parents and teachers welcome!)
January 9
Thurs., 6:00 pm
SGC Meeting, Art Room
Happy Holidays and
a Happy New Year!
From the Principals
On November 2nd, an Educational Summit was held at Smith Middle School to
present information on the district’s efforts to close the achievement gap
and, more importantly, to hear our minority parents’ comments and suggestions
on district efforts to this point. Many parents from across the district
attended, and the discussion was lively and informative. From the sign-in
sheets, it appears about 10 Carrboro parents attended.
To follow up the success of the Educational Summit, the
Carrboro SGC has scheduled a similar forum for our Black parents especially,
and all of our parents generally, to hear what Carrboro School is doing and
to get feedback from our minority parents on our efforts. The Forum
will be held on Tuesday, December 17, at the Century Center in Carrboro beginning
at 6:30. Pizza and sodas will be served to all who attend. Child
care will be provided, and assistance with transportation will be given
to those who need it. We really want all of our Black parents to attend
in order for us to get as complete a picture as we can of how our efforts
are perceived.
Andrea Foushee, a parent SGC member, Kerry Sherrill,
Family Specialist, and Randy Marshall, Principal, are coordinating the effort
and planning the event. Suggestions concerning the meeting, or requests
for assistance with transportation can be directed to any of us.
—Randy Marshall, Principal, and Sherron Leplin,
Assistant Principal
From the Art Room
Fourth and fifth grade students have been working hard on ceramic pieces
for their exhibit Thursday, December 19. The work will be on
display in the art room from 6:00 - 7:00 pm.
At 7:00 pm there will be a school-wide sing-along in the
auditorium. After the sing-along, 4th and 5th grade students should
come back to the art room and collect their ceramic pieces. It would
be helpful for each student to bring a shoe box for carrying the work home.
Students who do not attend the sing-along can pick up their ceramic pieces
in the art room the next day. For those who leave early for vacation
and will not be at the sing-along on the 19th or in school on Friday the
20th, Mrs. Smith will hold the work safely until January.
—Connie Smith, Art Teacher
968-3652 ext. 236
csmith@chccs.k12.nc.us
From The PTA President
Thanks to all the parents and students who helped paint
and refresh the teachers’ lounge. Stop in and see the bright blue walls
and yellow arches! It looks great!
The multi-language teachers will discuss their curriculum
at our December 11, 2002, PTA meeting at 7:00 pm in the media center.
This will be an extremely informative session and will satisfy your curiosity
about our unique and innovative program that has gained state-wide recognition.
Everyone is welcome—childcare will be provided and holiday refreshments will
be served.
Our school nurse needs a hospital-type scale for student
weights. Anyone wishing to donate one please contact Randy Marshall
at 968-3652, ext. 223.
Happy Holidays and GO CUBS! —Michael
Savino, PTA President
savin004@aol.com or 967-1043
Bus Passes Available
Bus passes may now be requested if children wish to ride a different bus
(usually with a friend) in the afternoon.
’01-’02 Classbooks For Sale
There are about 30 school yearbooks from last year available for $5 each.
If you are interested, you may buy one in the office or contact Carol Grose
in Room 303. Thanks!
Thanks For Participation in Fall Book Fair
A great big
THANK YOU to all of you who made it to the FALL BOOK FAIR.
Even on the rainy nights we had great turnouts and lots
of folks enjoying the books and each other.
The great thing about the book fair is that it promotes
reading and brings money to the school at the same time.
A special thanks goes to Cyndy Weeks for setting up a
great series of family events, and to Debbie Bolas and Donna Parke for being
such gracious hosts to our little shop.
In addition, I want to thank all the parents who looked
after the store during the week: Jean Baynes, David Beck, Grey Brown,
Ann Chelminski, Val Collins, Margaret Conrad, Diane Davis, Chris Frank, Laura
Gelblum, Liliana Guillir, Bryan Hassel, Emily Hassel, Mary Kant-Hill, Bradley
Kirsch, Lisa Livanos, Wendy McBane, Tim Nichols, Jeannie Rick, Terri Robinson,
Dale Roenigk, Bing Roenigk, Tina Saldana, Lyda Stanford, and Beth Teague.
Thanks also to our evening performers—Heidi Aycock, Alicia
Tornero, the UNC Chemistry Club, Lisa Berger, Janet Schoendorf, Eileen Reagan,
Linda Froyen, Amy Ott, and Kathy Allee.
See you in the spring!
—Eli Valsing
Book Fair Coordinator
Cultural Arts Program Presents Red Clay Ramblers
One of the important items that our PTA monies fund is our cultural arts
program. We are very excited about the performances for 2002/2003 and
hope your children are, too!
In October, your children experienced the haunting rhythms
of a civilization 60,000 years old—Andes Manta. These five musicians
from the Andean mountains and rainforests of South America performed on 35
traditional instruments, blending strings, woodwinds and percussion.
On December 19th, we’ll have the rare pleasure of enjoying
the one-of-a-kind rhythms of the Red Clay Ramblers, thanks to one of our
parents, Chris Frank. The Red Clay Ramblers are in their 25th year
and are a nationally renowned string band whose repertoire reflects their
roots in mountain music as well as country, rock, bluegrass and gospel.
Stay posted for more information on future cultural arts
events.
February 11: Sons of Steel & UNC Jazz
group
March 12: Chinese
Folk Dance Company
May 12: Fly
Dance Company
The PTA provides the majority of the funding to make these
events possible. Every hour you give to the PTA Thrift Shop, School
Fair or other PTA activities is a significant contribution to our children’s
cultural enrichment! So keep up the great work!
Thank you.
—Margaret Conrad
PTA Cultural Arts Representative
MAConrad@bellsouth.net or 929-5054
Kids and Family Corner (KFC)
Warm Holiday Greetings from the KFC!
We want to share a little bit about a new program that
will start when we all return from winter break. Heather Katz, the
school counseling intern, and Katherine Munns, the family specialist intern,
will be starting Bear Buddies, Carrboro Elementary’s very own in-school mentoring
program. The purpose of the Bear Buddies program is to allow students
(Cubs) and a staff member (Bears) to get to know each other. Buddies
will enjoy some special times during non-academics such as reading together
in the Bear Den (Carrboro Elementary Library) or sending each other notes.
The Bear Buddies program will run throughout the spring.
If your child is chosen for this program, a permission
slip will be sent home for you to sign. If you have any questions please
call Heather Katz at 968-3652, ext. 227.
—Kerry Sherrill, Family Specialist
Ronnie Jackson, School Counselor
Visit Our Website
Parents, friends, and relatives—come visit the Carrboro Elementary School
web page at http://www.chccs.k12.nc.us/carrboro/index.html. You will
find general information about our school and class web pages. Thanks
to Alex Blanco for his webpage services!
If you’d like to join the Carrboro Parents’ email list,
send your email address to Stephen Kegg, Technology Specialist, at skegg@chccs.k12.nc.us.
If you have email or website questions, contact Stephen Kegg at 968-3652,
ext. 404.
Enrichment Update
Opportunities for enrichment and challenge continue at Carrboro School!
Special thanks to our parent and student volunteers who are leading Junior
Great Books groups in grades two through five. We appreciate their
efforts.
Notes on collaborative activities...
•Grades K/1: Ms. Schoendorf has completed the first set of problem
solving exercises in Ms. Fearrington’s, Ms. Kaizen’s, and Ms. Straw’s classes.
Ask your child about the kind of thinking a judge needs to use. She
is now beginning these activities in Ms. Frost’s, Ms. Kocher’s and Ms. Stephans’s
classes.
•Grade 2: The Wild Weather unit was a success! We hope your child
has become an expert on hurricanes. The teachers are planning a unit
on sound and matter for January. The children will learn about how
vibrations cause sound and how pitch changes.
•Grade 3: Our autobiography and biography unit continues and will culminate
in a Wax Museum to be held in late January or early February. Ask your
child about his/her timeline, picture autobiography, and personal narrative!
•Grade 4: Students have begun to research Native Americans of North
Carolina, focusing on the Cherokee. Ask them what product they will
choose for demonstrating their learning! Susan Squires, a former Carrboro
parent, will talk to the children later in December about present-day North
Carolina Native Americans.
•Grade 5: Children have completed autobiographical timelines, and are
now reading a biography of a famous Black American. Look for a hall-length
timeline of famous Black Americans in the 300 wing in early January!
Battle of the Books, coordinated by Debbie Bolas, is beginning
in December for interested fourth and fifth grade students. Junior
Great Books will end in December for grades four and five.
School-wide events: The Variety Show for grades
two and three will be on Thursday, December 5, at 9:00 am in the auditorium.
Black American Cultural Day will be Tuesday, February 11, 2003.
Please feel free to call or e-mail us if you have comments,
questions, or concerns.
—Lisa Berger and Janet Schoendorf
Enrichment Teachers
968-3652 ext. 239
jschoendorf or lberger@chccs.k12.nc.us
Earn $ for Carrboro
Box Tops
Keep clipping those Box Tops and sending them in with your child
to school. This is an easy way to earn cash for your school.
Pop Tops
Pop tops from your soda or juice cans help support the Ronald McDonald
House of Chapel Hill.
The class with the most pop tops will win a surprise!
Receipts
Remember to write Carrboro Elementary on the back of your Thrift
Shop receipt and put it in the box by the register. Each month, the
school with the most totals wins $500.
Paper Bags
Bring brown paper bags to your child’s teacher. Bags saved =
hours earned.
VIC Cards
Make sure your Harris Teeter VIC card is linked to Carrboro
Elementary School #1793. Harris Teeter donates about 3% of your purchase
of store-brand items to our school.
Ask your grandparents or other relatives to link their VIC cards to Carrboro
also.
Science Lab Report
Kindergarten and First Grade: With their new long and sticky bat noses
to wear, K/1 students “tasted” the sweet nectar of flowers and found out
that their nose was covered with powder! Mixing the powder (pollen)
in the flowers is how many important tropical plants are pollinated.
Second grade: During our field trip to the Natural
Sciences Museum in Raleigh, we traveled through the eye of a hurricane, built
earthquake-proof houses, and heard the strong winds of a tornado. We
also were lucky enough to have a visit from both Meteorologists Chris Thompson
of WRAL and Chris Hohmann of WTVD.
Third grade: We collected “dirt” from all over our
school campus and examined soil up close. We found out that soil comes
in many different colors, sizes, textures, and smells!
Fourth grade: Work is getting easier as we discovered
the benefits of simple machines. We got some hands-on experience with
levers, pulleys and inclined planes.
Fifth grade: We measured it up in the science lab, and
learned to estimate and accurately measure volume, mass and distance.
Feel free to visit anytime! While you’re here, meet
our new Rose Tarantula and two Red-Legged Millipedes.
Science Lab Wish List:
Dormitory-Sized Refrigerator
Aquariums with Lids
Clean and Empty Baby Food Jars
—Diane Morse,
Science Specialist
Room 401
PTA Thrift Shop Update
It’s not too late to help your child’s class win an ice cream party!
The Hours for Ice Cream contest ends December 20. Your child’s teacher
receives $50 for the class when 30 hours are reached. Congratulations
to our winners so far—Ms. Phillips, Ms. Straw, Ms. Terrell, Mr. Ingram, Ms.
Fearrington and Ms. Kocher.
Check out these opportunities to earn more hours.
Note the Carrboro Elementary Toy Sale December 14. Earn Thrift Shop
hours at school!
UPCOMING EVENTS
•Sat., Dec. 7: Bag Day Sale, 8:30 am - 8:00 pm at the Carrboro store.
Merchandise $3 per bag.
•Sun., Dec. 8: Sort/Restock, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm at both Thrift Shop
stores. You can work as few or as many hours as you want. There is
NO LIMIT on the number of volunteers, so call a few friends and earn some
hours. Please call 960-7413 to sign-up!
•Tues., Dec. 10: Sort Night, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm at the Carrboro store.
• Fri., Dec. 13: Toy Sale setup, 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm in the school cafeteria.
Earn Thrift Shop hours at school!
•Sat., Dec. 14: Toy Sale, 8:00 am - 12:00 pm in the school cafeteria.
We need volunteers from all classes to help with collecting toys, setting
up the day before, working the day of the sale, and cleaning up after the
sale. All time spent on the toy sale counts as volunteer
hours for the Thrift Shop! Please call Beth Teague at 929-4811 if you
can help. You may also contribute by donating some of your used toys.
Put your clean toys in the bin in the Carrboro School lobby December 2 through
December 13.
Remember, you can volunteer anytime the store is open.
Just call the volunteer hotline at 960-7413 and let them know when you’d
like to come in.
Thanks for all you do to make Carrboro Elementary the
great school that it is!
—Suzanne Anderson, PTA Thrift Shop Rep
sja13@bellsouth.net or 967-7622
A man leaves home. He looks behind him and sees two men wearing masks
and crouching. The man runs away from them as fast as he can, turning
left three times as he runs. When the man arrives back home,
he finds the two masked men still waiting for him, but the man is smiling.
What is this man doing?