The Bobcat Bulletin
A Newsletter from Founders Memorial School
November 12, 2019
The Principal's Office
Gratitude
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday because it is a time for good food, family, friends, and an overall season of gratitude. It is a time for us to gather with friends and family, a time for us to give back to our communities, and a time for togetherness. How could you not like that holiday and wouldn’t it be great if we practiced gratitude year round?
Science has proven that there are many benefits to practicing gratitude:
(Source: Forbes Newsletter - November, 2014)
“Gratitude opens the door to more relationships. Not only does saying “thank you” constitute good manners, but showing appreciation can help you win new friends.”
“Gratitude improves physical health. Grateful people experience fewer aches and pains and they report feeling healthier than other people.”
“Gratitude improves psychological health. It increases happiness and reduces depression.”
“Gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression. Grateful people are more likely to behave in a prosocial manner, even when others behave less kind.”
“Grateful people sleep better. Spend just 15 minutes jotting down a few grateful sentiments before bed, and you may sleep better and longer.”
“Gratitude improves self-esteem.”
“Gratitude increases mental strength. Gratitude not only reduces stress, but it may also play a major role in overcoming trauma. Recognizing all you have to be thankful for – even during the worst times of your life – fosters resilience.”
As you can see, the benefits of having an attitude of gratitude are clearly connected to helping our children experience success in school and in life. Consider how you might cultivate gratitude with your children. How can we all work together to support our kids in developing a mindset of gratitude?
I want to take a moment to thank our entire staff and our families for all you do every day to support our students in their social, emotional, and academic learning. It takes all of us working together to ensure success for everyone.
Educationally Yours,
Wendy Cobb
FMS Principal
Important Dates to Remember
November 13 - PTO Meeting - FMS Library @ 6:30PM
November 19 - Early Release (2 PM)
November 22 - Read-in!
November 25 - 29 - Thanksgiving Break
December 3 - Early Release (2 PM)
December 5 - All-School Music Performance - Ben Miller and Anita McDonald
December 6 - School-wide morning meeting
FMS News
Music Performance on December 5th
On Thursday, December 5th, Ben Miller & Anita MacDonald will be performing for Founders Memorial students and staff from 8:30 to 9:15am in the FMS Cafeteria.
Ben Miller & Anita MacDonald have become renowned across Canada and further afield, for their synergistic approach to traditional Scottish music. Blending Scottish Lowland pipes with Cape Breton fiddle, Gaelic song and step-dance, Ben and Anita join together the threads of Old and New World traditions, while constantly exploring new ways to bring their instruments closer together. Their music has been hailed as "Playful, poignant, and passionate all at once” — "Fresh, yet totally traditional."
Click on the link https://www.benandanita.com/ for more information!
Mindfulness Practice with Ms. Palermo at FMS!
Students are building skills around attention, focus, and self-control in a way that builds their understanding of how their brains work best! Classes have practiced Mindful Breathing, Listening, Heartfulness, as well as strategies to help them manage strong emotions and allow them to do their best thinking as well as cultivating kindness towards themselves and others. Lessons will continue through Thanksgiving.
Parent information is available to support Mindfulness at home and there will be another PTO information session coming soon! If you are interested or have questions feel free to reach out to Paula at ppalermo@ewsd.org.
Classroom News from Ms. Henderson
- We spent a day at the sailing center in Burlington learning how to sail and how to measure the depth of Lake Champlain!
- Later in the month, we had our first publishing party. We published our realistic fiction stories - stop by if you want to give them a read!
Sailing Center
Doing some Lake Champlain Math
Editing and Publishing
FMS Student performing in "Mister Chris and Friends" on PBS!
Bryan Holland, dad of Claire Holland in grade 4 (S.Mead), shares this news!
"Claire Holland will have a role in new season of the Vermont PBS show "Mister Chris and Friends" premiering on November 11! Claire was the original inspiration for the creation of the Season 1 pilot in which she appeared as a kiddo interview. Now she debuts her acting skills as a character in episode 202, and appears in the final episode 206 along with special guest star Francois Clemmons from Mister Rogers Neighborhood!"
Way to go, Claire!!
For more information about "Mister Chris and Friends" on PBS, please see the following links:
News from our Staff
News from the FMS Library
Our 5th grade read-aloud lunch started this week. We have approximately 90 - 5th graders eating lunch in the library on Mondays and Thursdays as they listen to Small Spaces by Katherine Arden, a book on the 2019-2020 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award list.
In other news, 3rd graders are learning how to log into Destiny Library Catalog for self-empowered patron access - otherwise known as taking care of library business independently! Students know how to place a hold, view their account and renew their books if they choose. Ask your child to show you how this works.
Sara Jablonski
Librarian
Founders Memorial School
Non- Food Celebrations at FMS!
At Founders Memorial School we are mindful of our approach to class celebrations. Our goal is to promote an allergy safe environment in addition to promoting a healthy lifestyle for all students and staff. We encourage non-food classroom celebrations including birthdays, holidays and rewards.
Teachers can share different ideas on how to celebrate special occasions using non-food items and activities. When food is shared with classmates, it is important to remember that we have several students with life-threatening allergies. Many times these students are not able to share in the same treat with the other students in their class as we either do not have the ingredient list or ingredients in the treat are allergy triggers. It is always a good idea to check with your child’s teacher before sending any whole class treat to school.
Thank you for helping to keep all of our FMS students safe and healthy!
Mrs. Smith - FMS Nurse
First Snow - November 7th!
FMS at Dawn
Crazy Hair Day - our AWESOME CNS Staff!!
Tech and Your Kids
Kids can not get enough of watching their favorite YouTubers, however, YouTube can be a pretty scary place if kids search for the wrong thing. If you want tips on how to monitor and keep your kids safe, while watching YouTube, check out the Parents’ Ultimate Guide to YouTube from Common Sense Media.
If you don’t want your child being able to watch all the adult videos on YouTube, then you should check out YouTube Kids. This was designed for kids to be able to scroll through YouTube videos that are age-appropriate and kid-friendly.
Nuts and Bolts
FMS Early Release Tuesdays
Reminder... Absences and Tardies
ABSENCES/Tardies:
The front office NEEDS to know if your student will be absent or tardy for attendance! If you do not let us know your student is out, please expect a call from the front office to ask you about your child. In order to avoid a call, please do one of the following:
Call: The office number is 802-879-6326 -please leave a message
Email: kkedzierski@ewsd.org and jolesen@ewsd.org
Online Report an Absence form: Go to www.ewsd.org, go to Schools, select Founders, you will see a Clipboard on the right hand side. Click on it and it will take you to an easy online form to report an absence that goes straight to the front office.
Community Resources
Aunt Dot's Place News
Andrea Francalangia, FMS Special Educator and President of Aunt Dot's Place, which is an Essex-based Community Food Shelf, is announcing:
Aunt Dot's Place Open House on December 4, 2019 4-6 PM
Located at: 51 Center Road, Essex, Vermont
Please come see our new space, located next door to our old space. Meet some of our board members and volunteers, learn about what we are doing and learn more about how you can help!
Also, please see how a local BBQ helped stock Aunt Dot's Shelves!
- Aunt Dot's Place - https://www.auntdotsplace.com/ - Essex based local food shelf
- Essex Eats Out - http://www.essexeatsout.org/ - Providing healthy, free meals in a warm, safe, and inclusive atmosphere on Fridays
- Heavenly Food Pantry - www.fccej.org/v5/living-our-faith/outreach/ - Essex based local food shelf located at First Congregational Church - Main Street, Essex.
- Heavenly Cents Thrift Shop - www.fccej.org/v5/living-our-faith/outreach/ - Essex based thrift shop located at 37 Main Street, Essex Junction, VT - ph# 879-6552
Founders Memorial School
Website: www.ewsd.org/fms
Location: 33 Founders Road, Essex Junction, VT, USA
Phone: 802-879-6326
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Founders-Memorial-School-1509308329359547/timeline/
Twitter: @FMS_Essex