The Knightly News
Newtown Elementary PTO
Sum-Sum-Summertime!
Dear Newtown Families,
All of a sudden, summer vacation is upon us! Time to relax and restore after a busy and productive school year. As our swan song, the June PTO newsletter shares highlights from Spring Fling and Field Day. (Even though a storm-of-the-century bore down and nixed afternoon games, Field Day Part I was awesome! Relive the action in our photo roundup below. What will Part Deux bring?) Next, read on for Mr. King's Q&A with his newest protege: our first grade winner of "Principal for a Day." Finally, Mrs. Cook discusses problem-solving from the child's perspective--as always, her tips will give you something to think about. The NES PTO wishes everyone a happy and relaxing summer. Thanks for a wonderful year at Newtown Elementary!
PS: Do you have any suggestions for next year? We want to hear your ideas! Email us!
NES Field Day vs. Storm of the Century!
Meanwhile, Wednesday morning's festivities began with an impressive National Anthem by the Newtown Elementary band, an Olympic-worthy torch run, and a total face-off of White against Blue to Silento's Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae). Attitutde and stanky legs aside, the crowd was all smiles as it headed down to the field and rotated through games like Bucket Stacking, Go Fetch, Squeeze the Lemon, and everyone's favorite, Tug-o'-War. Kudos to Mrs. Bloom and the NES staff for coordinating a truly fantastic competition...we can't wait for Part II. For a virtual Field Day experience (minus the drenching), check out our photo roundup below. (Special thanks to Jill Duffy, Leyla Capitelli, Carolyn Lavelle and Yolande Zeitsman for sharing their snapshots.)
Let the Games Begin!
Go White! Go Blue!
King of the Castle
Mr. King reports on his experience with Principal for a Day, first grader Kate Levin. Enjoy!
On May 24, I had the pleasure of assisting first grade Principal for the Day – Kate Levin. We had a very busy day packed with monitoring students, visiting classrooms, observing teachers and reading to her brother AJ’s 4th grade class and her own 1st grade class. We took a short break to enjoy lunch with AJ and Lt. Forsyth of the Newtown Township Fire Department. Kate ended her day with doing a final announcement awarding extra recess to her first grade class and calling buses. I must say Kate was terrific! Many thanks to all our students and staff for helping to make Kate feel special!
I asked Kate a few questions before we parted ways for the day. I think you will enjoy her responses.
What was the most fun part of your day?
Going on the roof to check for recess balls (thanks Mr. Qualli!).
Visiting Mrs. Peloso’s class.
Sitting in the firetrucks (thanks Lt. Forsyth!).
What was the hardest part of your day?
It was kind of hard helping the lunch ladies take students’ lunch money.
What changes would you make to the school if you were Principal?
Double recess to four recesses each day.
Don’t do math for two weeks.
Have gym twice a week.
Kate, congratulations on winning the Principal for the Day at our NES Spring Fling. If I ever need help, I know where to turn!
I want to thank our PTO and entire NES community for a great year! Have a safe and relaxing summer!
Some "Qualli-ty" Time
On the job...
Lt. Levin at your service!
Newtown Elementary's Swingin' Spring Fling
NES rocked around the clock '50s style at this year's Spring Fling, which took place on Saturday, May 14th. Crowd favorites were the Giant Twister Board, obstacle course bounce house, and the Hand Jive Cake Walk --and don't forget the root beer floats at the NES Soda Shoppe! For lovers of the movie Stand By Me, we had our very own Tastykake Pie Eating Contest with brave faculty participants: Mrs. Newman, Mrs. Lohwasser, Mrs. Popescu, Miss Quinn, Mrs. Winn, Mrs. Vaughn, Mrs. Lynch, and Mr. King. Bragging rights went to the victor, Mr. King, who was also notable for wearing his black leather jacket and white-T throughout the day. Extra special thanks to our HRCs for running additional games and making some truly awesome raffle baskets.
If you had fun--and we know you did--then you have Ms. Lauren Hughes to thank. The Queen of Fling, Ms. Hughes masterminded the day's theme and events with her poodle-skirted posse. Special thanks to members of the Spring Fling Committee (Amber Sciascia, Kelly Schaffer, Joyce Carroll, Carolyn Lavelle, Alyssa Lumma, Robin Duchnowski and Janet Miller). Our '50s diner was hopping all afternoon with hot dog and burger platters. Special thanks to Dina Bicakcioglu and the cafe staff, and a shout out to Grandpa-in-Chief/line cook Pocky. Also a huge hit was the groovy flavored popcorn from Kernel Seasons (thank you, Carolyn's bro!). Much love and appreciation to the artistic Janet Miller for her awesome life-size decorations, to the intrepid duo of Kari Lazaro and Ali Weinstein for spearheading the treasure jar collection (a favorite NES tradition!), and to electric-drill-wielding Greg Lumma, who made it all come together.
Finally, we had helping hands from a lot of folks--and we're so grateful. We love our teachers, parent volunteers, and LINCS students! Thank you Nancy Adams, Denise Albert, Kelly Battipaglia, Elizabeth Brush, Joyce Carroll, Cindy Ciervo, Sarah Cullison, Jamie Daddario, Isabel DeOliveira, Reen Donovan, Stephanie Hehir, Jill Kiefer, Cathy Killian, Michelle Krysko, Megan Kurek, Pam Leifer, Lisa Lohwasser, Melissa Lynch, Kelly McCafferty, Amy Newman, Ursula Nicholson, Kristin O'Keefe, Kathy Parente, Britt Perry, Mindy Popescu, Ashlene Quinn, Joan Renck, Jill Snyder, Anthony Tosti, Joanna Vaughn, Seema Verma, Elise Weinstein, Shari Wentz, Megan Wind-Rotolo, Mary Ellen Winn, Debra Wood, Yolande Zeitsman, Brittney Zipin and Matt Zipin. (Please forgive me and let us know if we missed anyone! Everyone's contribution was much appreciated!)
2016 NES Spring Fling!
Taking a Joy-Ride!
What a bounty!
The Ultimate Bounce House
Giant Twister
Hopscotch Races!
Get Your Fuzzy Dice!
Move Over, Elvis...
Poodle Skirts and Root Beer Floats!
Hula Hoopin'
And the winner is...
Thank you...
Good Sports!
Special thanks to our brave pie-eating contestants: Mrs. Newman, Mrs. Lohwasser, Mrs. Popescu, Miss Quinn, Mrs. Winn, Mrs. Vaughn, Mrs. Lynch, and Mr. King.
Mrs. Cook's Corner
Dear Parents,
In last month's newsletter, I summarized Dr. Ross Greene’s approach to collaborative and proactive problem-solving solutions. More information can be found on his website at www.livesinthebalance.org. This newsletter focuses on Tips for Kids to assist their parents with problem-solving.
• Be open to spending time with your parents.
• Your parents will invite you to talk to them about your concerns.
• They will ask you questions. They will really listen so they can understand what’s bothering you.
• They will tell you their concerns. You will need to listen too.
• It’s important to listen to each other’s perspective.
• They will invite you to brainstorm ideas and help them work out the problems so that you are not bothered by your concern anymore.
• When your parents say, “Let’s try to work this out,”they really want to hear your ideas.
• There’s always more than one way to solve a problem. Be ready to compromise.
• Practice makes better. Sometimes problem-solving will take more than one discussion. It doesn’t mean that you are doing it wrong.
• If you miss a chance to solve a problem and get frustrated or mad, calm down. You can always come back and work to solve it later.
• There are lots of times each day to work together on solving problems, keep practicing. It will get easier.
• Have a wonderful summer! Keep practicing.
Article summary adapted from The Adventures of Stretch More: Pick-Your-Path Stories for Solving Problems Together by Trina Epstein, Psy.D and Ross W. Greene, Ph.D.
"Bouquets of Appreciation" from the Teacher Appreciation Week Flower Sale, from May 2-6
Thank you, Volunteers!
We'd like to express our deep appreciation to the many volunteers who gave their time, ideas, donations, and energy to the NES PTO this year. THANK YOU to our Homeroom Coordinators for planning class parties and activities throughout the year. THANK YOU to our PTO Board Members and Committee Chairs, who planned family-fun events and fundraisers. THANK YOU to our teachers, our principal and staff members, for spending your free time to help out at events. THANK YOU to everyone who donated time or food or prizes to our events and raffles. We especially want to thank the families who donated to our Teacher Appreciation raffles: Michael Smith (ID Life), Natalie Cohen (Young Living Essential Oils), Ali Levin (Chloe and Isabel), Alisha Brand (Rodan and Fields) and Yolande Zeitsman for the beautiful decorations. THANK YOU to all who attend our PTO general meetings, to past board members, and to every family who participated in NES PTO events! We also want to recognize the incomparable Mr. Qualli for his assistance at events and for sending NES children home with plants from his garden. And we give extra special THANKS to our 2014-16 PTO co-Presidents, Amber Sciascia and Carolyn Lavelle, and our "graduating" treasurer Seema Verma! In the words of Dr. Seuss, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." We thank you for caring, and for making a big difference at NES! Let's do it all again next year...See you in August!
Rainbow over NES, photo by Beth Kamp
Have a great summer!
Email: ptones.newsletter@gmail.com
Website: nespto.com
Location: 1 Wrights Road, Newtown, PA, United States
Facebook: facebook.com/NewtownElmentaryPTO