Project EXTRA
Read All About It!
February 2015
Laconia High School
Laconia High School Students have been busy after school in February. Freedom Found, with strong leadership from Phil Reed, has been helping students build confidence and bonds with each other through their team-building activities. In fact, Phil Reed’s wonderful service as club adviser of Freedom Found has impacted hundreds of students over the years. We are grateful to have such a hard-working, sharing individual working with students every day. Thanks Mr. Reed!
Archery Club, under the tutelage of Laurel Hubbard and Steve Snow, continues to practice shooting despite the snow and cold, thanks to the use of the Leavitt Park Club House. They’re thrilled to have new bows and arrows with which to shoot.
Rhonda Fahrner’s Food is Fun has been busily making lots of tasty treats, including a wonderful Superbowl spread, some of which they were able to take home to their families.
Finally, the brand new Human Body Fan Club kicked off this month, with Gina McGuire and Jamie McKone at the helm. Their attendance instantly soared to full capacity, and the members are enthusiastically improving their mind and bodies every week.
Mr. Kaiser
Laconia High School
Interim Site Coordinator
English Department
ELO Coordinator
Laconia Middle School
February not only brought Laconia over four feet of snow, it brought an amazing month of happenings for Project EXTRA at Laconia Middle School! Although many of us have been dreading the snowfall, Mrs. Reynolds and our Winter Survivors have been loving it! They travelled by snowshoe onto frozen Lake Opeechee to discuss the different wildlife that live around our area and capped each session off with a piping hot cup of hot chocolate!
Students have been working hard all session to become farmhands with Mrs. Flemming. They made and jarred their own jam, met a bunny that will grow to the size of a small dog and to cap off the session took a ride out to Mrs. Flemming’s farm to put all of their knowledge to use!
Students are still learning the Drums, Programming Computers, Writing Poetry, exploring the world of Minecraft, learning about career opportunities and becoming Zen each week with our fantastic team of Lead Staff. One staff member in particular that stands out is Bonita Olivares, a Laconia High School assistant. Bonita was enrolled in Project Extra during her elementary years and has returned to grow in the program that enriched her life so much. Miss Bonita is always stepping-up and going above and beyond her duties to provide an excellent afterschool experience for our students! She is a great asset to our Project EXTRA team. Way to go Bonita!
Although it does not seem like winter will ever be over, our winter session will conclude on March 20th, but not to fear, our spring session starts up on March 23rd and will run to June 5th. Enjoy the break, and Think Spring!
~Mr. Resca
Laconia Middle School
Site Coordinator
Pleasant Street School
This month our Project EXTRA students and staff experienced a special family style dinner together. We decorated our dining room with student made centerpieces, place-mats, and tablecloths. Students helped prepare and cook our dinner. Our menu included salad, spaghetti, meatballs and bread sticks. We ended our meal with ice cream for dessert. We focused on dining etiquette and kindness. Staff members chose cards from our kindness jar and read the kindhearted messages students said about one another. We also took turns sharing something we enjoy while at Project EXTRA. Everyone had a wonderful time having a homemade, hot meal together!
Our Project EXTRA highlighted "staff of the month" is Miss Alexis Hartman. Alexis is motivated and ready to assist students and staff. She is interested in learning new strategies to help students stay focused. Students enjoy participating in activities that Alexis is involved in. “Alexis always makes me feel better when I am upset and having a bad day!” – 3rd grader, M. P.
Nice Job Alexis!
Mrs. O'Neil-Viar
Pleasant Street School
Site Coordinator
Elm Street School
Elm Street School Students have been productive this month. Our students have put a lot of work into researching countries, creating art inspired by music, and doing lots of cardio through dancing.
Dance is led by, Vicki Vazquez and Tina Berwick. A lot of our students have expressed interest in a Wii game called "Let’s Dance". The game offers and models many different types of dancing techniques. Students are enjoying the class and love sharing the experience with their peers.
Megan Hoyt and our high school student assistant, Elizabeth Davis, lead our World Explorers class. Students are learning about India. Currently, they are researching what India's flag looks like and what type of art and music originates from India. Students recently made their own Rangoli. Rangoli are floor paintings that are created by using colored sand, marble dust, saw dust, brick dust or other materials. Our students used foam stickers, paper, and chalk. Next, we will be discussing the food from India and how it compares to food from America.
Our staff spotlight is on Laconia High School student, Elizabeth Davis (Lizzy). Lizzy started volunteering at Project EXTRA when she was just eleven years old. She became a regular volunteer when she turned fourteen and now at sixteen years old, she is a valued staff assistant. We are so lucky to have her as part of our program as she goes above and beyond her job description. Thank you, Lizzy!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Our Family Bingo Night will be on April 24, 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm. We are raising funds to donate to the NH Humane Society. If you have any questions please call Aja Montague at 455-1694 or email amontague@laconiaschools.org.
Mrs. Montague
Elm Street School
Site Coordinator
Woodland Heights School
February was short but sweet. Snow days abounded but the days we had programming were filled with fun.
This session, our students participated in Reverse Engineering and have successfully taken apart, screw by screw, a baby's toy that contains mechanical and electronic components. Their goal now is to re-assemble the toy.
Students participating in Team Games are learning how to play a variety of sports and games that require team work. The big game at the moment is soccer. Our teachers are really focusing on working together and team building in these games and in the warm up prior to game time.
In Cooking, students have been making popcorn balls, three ingredient lemon cookies, mini pizza's and a few other tasty treats.
Lego Quest has challenged our students to create mazes for marbles, the tallest towers possible, mosaics, animals, and more!
Acting it Out has our students thinking about how we act and the manner in which we use our words and how it affects those around us. They practiced expressing themselves through small plays all about how we interact with each other and how to be positive when we have these interactions.
Cooperative Games is focused on building students' skills in the areas of sportsmanship, cooperation, teamwork, sharing, and other useful skills through warm up activities and gym games that foster team building and cooperation.
Eco Art students have created marble roller coasters, kazoos, and kaleidoscopes from paper towel rolls.
Sachem's Self Defense students have earned belt stripes for demonstrating a variety of skills, both physical skills and social skills.
In Coding students have been working on the Hour of Code to build their proficiency at understanding how a computer reads instructions and how they can communicate with the computer to tell it how to perform certain tasks.
In Computer Graphics students have practiced their skills at using a computer to create art as well as challenged themselves to recreate a picture the instructor described to them using words alone.
Our wonderful staff is what makes all this work. I would like to recognize our teacher assistants who offer extra support, fun, and just plain awesomeness. Ms. Cierra, Ms. Donka, Mr. M, and Ms. Neylon, bring something special to each classroom they assist in.
Mr. Colby
Woodland Heights School
Site Coordinator
Looking Ahead...
March 20: End of Winter Session
March 17: Advisory Board Meeting
March 23: Spring Session Begins!
Advisory Board
Project EXTRA - Laconia School District
cgingerella@laconiaschools.org
603-524-5710 ext. 314
Beth Vachon: Assistant Program Director
603-524-5710 ext. 321
Email: rtheberge@laconiaschools.org
Website: http://www2.laconiaschools.org/projectextra/
Phone: 603-524-5710. 305
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Project-EXTRA/139898793654
Twitter: @ProjectEXTRA5