BES Weekly Update
Issue No. 4
A Note From Principal Paquette
Hello BES Families,
I hope you are all staying safe and enjoying the beginnings of spring at this time. We are into our fifth week of digital teaching and learning. We continue to learn and grow each day as we work with various platforms and materials with our students. Thank you for your continued support and patience with all of this.
I want to remind parents that teachers are keeping daily attendance and grades during this time of learning. Attendance is taken by means of Google Meets and work completion. While we know everyone’s schedules are different, it is understood that students will complete their work daily and connect with their teachers. If something comes up, please contact your child’s teacher to keep them in the loop. Otherwise, it is expected that your child will be in attendance each day and completing work.
Grades are continuing to be collected. If your child is struggling with an assignment, reach out to your child’s classroom teacher. The teachers are more than willing to hold individual meets and give support to each student. Likewise, your child should be receiving feedback on a regular basis from their teacher for work completed and projects being done. This is a different learning environment and we realize there are short comings and struggles but this is our daily school experience and with that comes grading and expectations. If your child is struggling with any aspect of school or the work being asked of them, please first reach out to the classroom teacher and then to me as well. We are here to support them and you every step of the way. We can’t fix what we don’t know is a struggle.
Parents of students in grades PK, Kindergarten and First Grade will now need to utilize their child’s BCSD log-in information in order to join Google Meets and Google Classroom. Although this requires a change, it is a layer of safety for our students and safety is always our first priority. By now you should have heard from your child’s classroom teacher in regards to this change. If you have not, please reach out to them to find out how you will stay connected going forward. Thank you for your prompt change in this expectation.
With everyone continuing to do their part in staying home and practicing social distancing, we are keeping hope that we will be back together in the halls of BES in the near future. Please continue to do your part to maintain your child’s education by helping them keep a schedule and stay on top of their daily assignments and expectations. Every day matters and every interaction is important. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you are in need of support.
Educationally yours,
Sarah Paquette
BES Principal
Food Delivery Update
Our cafeteria staff prepared and delivered 20,000 meals last week!! That is awesome! If you need to make changes to your delivery the cut off time is by 1:00 p.m the day before the delivery.
**The upcoming delivery dates are Wednesday, April 22nd and Wednesday, April 29th.**
On the right, Noah Facteau says "Thank You" to all those helping out to ensure all of our students get their meals each week!
Tips to Support You & Your Family During COVID-19
Million Minute Reading Challenge Update
Students can submit their reading totals here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSejkkecEWzG6TMkEvt-DUw7qQSmtLoHin41sPbDSQKhj0n5Dg/viewform?usp=sf_link.
4/15/20 Reading Challenge Updates:
Each grade level has read the number of minutes below!
PK3 & 4 - 15,013
Kingergarten - 23,607
First Grade - 24,847
Second Grade - 20,885
Third Grade - 27, 261
Fourth Grade - 19,911
Fifth Grade - 68,408
Multi Age - 5,195
A BIG BES SHOUT OUT to the students listed below!! They have read the most for their grade level with their total number of minutes read.
Emma St. Hilaire (PK) 1,080
Archer Rasco (K) 1,955
Carter Bierman (1) 1, 870
Jerry Rasco (2) 2,680
Owen Poirier (3) 1,486
Karson Giddings (4) 1,120
Makenna Eagan (5) 7,060
Our students have read a total of 205,127 minutes (and counting) so far! Great job, BES!!! Keep reading!
How to access Google Meet
To join a google meet by computer or by phone, follow these directions:
1. Go to https://meet.google.com/
2. Click “Join”
3. Type in “nickname:”
4. Click “Continue”
5. Click “Join Now”
To access by phone:
1. Go to your “Meet” app
2. Click “meeting code”
3. Type in provided “nickname”
4. Click “Join”
To access by computer:
1. Go to google.com
2. Login to your google account (if not already logged in)
3. Click the square of dots in the top right corner of google
4. Click on the “Meet” app
5. Click “Join”
6. Type in provided “nickname”
7. Click “Continue”
8. Click “Join Now”
Look what's happening in PK3
PK3 students are participating in Google Meet "Show and Tell."
Carter, Jensen and Easton's raindrop craft they made after listening to the "Splish, Splash, Spring" read a loud with Mrs. Bell.
PK4 BAZ
The Pre-K 4 Classes had an "Egg-cellent" time with our BAZ offering this week! Students were encouraged to get empty plastic eggs, blocks, or anything that they had multiples of at home. They used these objects and playdough to make towers as high as possible without having them topple over. Students were asked to make a prediction before they started building. After their tower fell, they were encouraged to compare the number they were able to stack successfully to the predicted number!
Kindergarten with William!
Below, Kindergartener, William Deyo plays a site word memory game. He is also engaged during a Fundations lesson through Google Meet with his teacher, Mrs. Villemaire.
Mrs. O'Connell's Jelly Bean STEM Challenge for BAZ!
Mattie Davenport of Mrs. O’Connell’s class completes a Jelly Bean STEM challenge. Here, she is shown building a house for a peep using toothpicks and jelly beans.
Pictured above, Emma Hemingway from Ms. Matott's class shows the bird house she painted and filled with seeds.
BINGO! with Owen St. Hilaire
Owen St. Hilaire from Mrs. O'Connell's class completed this week's BINGO board activity. He had to survey family members about their favorite flavor of ice cream. He called 37 of his family members, took the survey, then made it into a pie chart with his Mom. Way to go Owen!
Mrs. Eilers 2nd Grade Class
Fun Friday in 3rd Grade with Mrs. Boire & Mrs. Mieles!
As part of Fun Friday, Mrs. Boire and I went to make a surprise visit with some of our students. We made sure to practice social distancing. It was so nice to see them in person. Every Friday we're going to be visiting kids to touch base with them and their family. Wonder who is going to be surprised next week?!
This week, they visited McKenzie, Adalyn and Elijah.
3rd Grade Math with Mrs. Craig
Brilynn Thornton and Gemma LaPorte, two terrific third graders in Mrs. Craig's class, share their impressive math work with their teacher. It was a challenging assignment, but they completed it. Like all their third grade friends, they are always up for a challenge!
Endangered Google Slides
Mrs. Craig's fabulous third-graders recently created Endangered Animal Google Slides for a science project. The assignment required them to include seven different details and use three different text features. The students went above and beyond! Check out their slides below!
Brilynn Thornton:
Kohen Trombley:
Reading Rocks!
Third and fourth graders read for 20 minutes. They cited the book and took a picture of themselves with the book they are reading and shared it with their teacher, Ms. Banker.
Check them out here!
Third Grade:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-uI57VG9MXiqNDfFLjfv7584c6yiPybAZt-qXvgcLyc
Fourth Grade:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TXPiVn9vnl51nreTsuHIwjnA5MGwjoNi84wtvAvWU5o
4th Grade ELT
This week, students started their virtual tours of the Natural History Museum with Mrs. Gelwicks. Students can take the tour museum by clicking here:
4th Grade Science at Home
Jade Burdo, using her 4th grade Science skills to create an electrical current in case the electricity goes out during the Covid-19 Stay at Home directive.
5th Grade BAZ - The Three Little Pigs Challenge
As you know our BAZ has been a fun way to use our imaginations, our logic, and use our hands to find answers. We continued that fun, but from the comfort of your own homes. This was a fun family challenge for our fifth graders. The requirements for this challenge are listed below:
“The Three Little Pigs."
As a family, you are going to construct a building.
Can your family design and build a house that the big, bad wolf can’t blow down?
You can use any material inside or outside of your house. (examples: sticks, toothpicks, straws, leaves, etc.)
The building must be between 6 and 10 inches tall.
When you feel your house is finished, you are to use a blow dryer or fan and try to see if your house sustains 10 seconds of the Big Bad Wolf’s Windy Breathe.
Most important, please work as a family and record your end result with your child’s Chromebook. I will put all the contenders in the Weekly Update for the school.
Have Fun with the challenge.
To see the finished houses, check out the videos below!
Above, Garret Hemingway is pictured holding the house he created during the The Three Little Pigs BAZ Challenge. He collected branches on a nature walk at Point Au Roche and then used modeling clay to hold it together. Garret's dad helped him measure and cut the branches to the size needed to create his house. Great job, Garret!
5th Grade Time Capsule Project with Ms. Banker
Fifth graders made a virtual time capsule for history of what is different about living in the historic COVID-19 pandemic. Check it out by viewing their slides here!
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17ONgLA_6XMiyK9LHaSP1n6JuH9ZqAxrqJt5hQ28QynA
Art with Mrs. Wooster - Finished Artwork!
STEM with Miss Woodward
This week, we had some amazing projects in our STEM Live Google Meets with Miss Woodward for Technology. Students presented and fielded questions on their project, which ranged from metal detecting axe heads from the 1800s, to using home 3D printers to create face shields for our medical community, to planting gardens, creating worm farms and terrariums, showing coin collections and discussing investment and flaws in production, to puppets, LEGO projects, rockets powered by baking soda and vinegar, homemade soaps, rock collections with striations, and MUCH MORE!
I am so proud of our BES Eagles for thinking outside of the box with their STREAM education and their presentation skills. Every week is new and exciting with what they bring to to the table. STEM Live varies on days of the week and times so everyone can attend when they can - see everyone next week!
Love,
Miss Woodward
*Shown below are the Google Meet group, Odin Atwood, Kloe Evans and Savannah Finley.
Mentor Fun with Mrs. Bell & Miss Bobbi
On Wednesdays, Elijah and his mentors, Mrs. Bell and Miss Bobbi enjoy their Google Meets. They played Hangman and draw a picture with your eyes closed through Google Meet. His hangman puzzle read "You are the best mentors!"
Mentor Fun with Mrs. Eilers
Don't forget to order your Yearbooks!
There is still time to order your yearbook! If you are interested in ordering a yearbook, please send your child's information (first and last name, their grade, and their teacher's name) with the $12 payment to:
Beekmantown Elementary School
37 Eagle Way
West Chazy, NY 12992
*The PTO is purchasing yearbooks for all fifth graders.
In Case You Missed It!
On Friday April 10th, Beekmantown Central School District delivered three of its Wi-Fi equipped busses (technology powered by Kajeet) to Peru Central School District. These busses are going to be used to assist students and families who do not have internet connections.
Dozens of our district homes have used these hotspot devices to connect to the internet during this crisis.
Thank you, Mrs. Manney for Brightening Our Days...
Mrs. Manney brightened the days of staff and students by sending them personalized cards to let them know she was thinking about them. Thank you, Mrs. Manney!
The #518RainbowHunt continues...
Happy Easter from the BES Kool-Aides!
Easter Parade
From a staff member at Valehaven: "You brought so much joy and hope to their faces with your signs, balloons, smiles, waves and kiddos!"
Because...we are all Superheroes!
Mrs. Mieles and Mrs. Boire take this picture when they visit their students (while practicing social distancing rules). They tell their students they are their superhero eagles and as a team "We Got This."
Happy Birthday to Our April Eagles!
Sophiea Duncan, Kohen Trombley, Aiden Vaughan, Sonya Conklin, Emma Moran
Elizabeth Burnham, Ryder Facteau, Jackson Gates, Brody Poupore, Payne Provost
Chase Devins, Zolah Parker, Owen Russell, Kinsley Winnicki, Julianna Blair
Kellen Muller, Alexendra Roberts, Chloe Steady, Ivan Atwood, Ava Bushey
Dylan Geppner, Ford Nephew, Milo Aylsworth, Charlotte Dickinson, Kaylee Matott
Brooke Nephew, Rowan Winnicki, Mattie Davenport, Carson LaDue, Jahara DelCastillo
Julia Simpson, Eli Duso, Bristol Provost, Lily Blazina, Bryce Clausen
Logan Dominy, Tyler Sand, Tristan Basto, Ben LaFave, Troy Finley & Sadie Martin.
How Can You Reach Us?
Parents, we know this is an uncertain time and we want you to know we are here for you! If you have any questions feel free to email us or give us a call!
Office:
Sarah Paquette - paquette.sarah@bcsdk12.org
Candace Jock - jock.candace@bcsdk12.org
Danielle Thew - thew.danielle@bcsdk12.org
Counseling:
Sarah Titherington - titherington.sarah@bcsdk12.org
Michele Lamontagne - lamontagne.michele@bcsdk12.org
Kim Bean - bean.kim@bcsdk12.org
Follow us on Facebook or check out our school web page:
www.facebook.com/beekmantownelementaryschoolgroup
Email: jock.candace@bcsdk12.org
Website: bes.bcsdk12.org
Location: 37 Eagle Way, West Chazy, NY 12992
Phone: 518-563-8035
Facebook: facebook.com/beekmantownelementaryschool