February 2024
Lewiston Porter Intermediate Education Center
From the Principal's Office
Hello, IEC Families!
I love this time of year…ODOB and Superbowl football!!! February is a month filled with love, learning, football and other exciting events at the IEC. As always, we are committed to keeping you informed about the happenings within our school community.
I am not sure what I am more excited for, the learning taking place at the IEC, the Buffalo Bills, or ODOB. Well of course our ODOB with our Lew-Port community!!! We are embarking on our eighth year of One District One Book.
Every child will receive a copy of the winning book and will be asked to read it at home over the coming months. Each week, new questions will be sent home for the corresponding chapters to stimulate conversation about the book with your family. I am personally asking you to make the time so your family can participate in this special school-wide/ community-wide activity. We have selected a title that can be followed, understood, and enjoyed by all our students. We are very excited!
Reading aloud at home is valuable because it better prepares your child to be an effective reader. It is also a fun, worthwhile family activity. Through our One District One Book program, we are aiming to build a community of readers. Everyone - students, parents, teachers, administrators, even community businesses - will be participating. The benefits of reading aloud are remarkable -- studies have shown that reading to children helps them to listen better and longer, build bigger vocabularies, understand concepts better, feel positive about both books and learning, and more. When an entire school reads the same book, the buzz and excitement around the book being read increases these benefits, and there is the added joy of building community in the school family.
In school, your child will be invited to answer trivia questions to encourage and reward attentive, careful listening. You will soon find that your child will take pride in knowing and anticipating the details of the story. In class, there may be various activities which discuss or explore the book. You will want to make sure your family keeps up so your child can be included. Throughout the coming months, everyone will be talking about it. I personally invite your family to READ WITH US at the Lewiston Porter Intermediate Education Center.
Here's a glimpse of other events to expect in February:
Valentine's Day Celebration (February 14): Love is in the air! Our school will be decked out in red and pink as we celebrate Valentine's Day. Students should follow their teachers directions in regards to bringing in valentines to share with their classmates, and other planned special activities to spread love and joy throughout the day.
February is Black History Month, a time to honor and celebrate the achievements and contributions of African Americans throughout history. Our teachers will incorporate special lessons and activities to highlight the importance of diversity and inclusion. On February 16, Ade Jembe Fola Dance Group and Drum Group will perform for our students in the High School Auditorium.
In observance of Presidents' Day, there will be no school on February 19 & 20th. This is a perfect time for families to relax, enjoy each other's company, and perhaps engage in some educational activities related to U.S. history.
We look forward to a month filled with warmth, learning, and community engagement. Thank you for your continued support, and we can't wait to see you at our upcoming events.
Wishing you a fantastic February!
Mrs. Rodriguez
Mark the Calendar
Friday 2/2- Groundhog Day
Monday 2/12- President Lincoln's Birthday
Tuesday 2/13- Early Release Day- dismissal at 2:25pm
Wednesday 2/14- Valentine's Day / Ash Wednesday
Monday 2/19- President's Day No School
Tuesday 2/20- Recess day due to remote instruction in lieu of emergency closures No School
Thursday 2/22- President Washington's Birthday/ Spring Festival Celebration: Year of the Dragon
Lancer Leadership Week!
Longhouses of the Haudenosaunee people
During winter break some of Mrs. Niccola's class researched and built longhouses. They researched early life to discover the qualities of longhouses. They built longhouses to show their knowledge of the Haudenosaunee people. They built their projects using multiple materials, including popsicle sticks, fake moss, figurines, and items from nature. They showed off their longhouses on the 5th of January. Most of the students had fun crafting the longhouses.
Article written by Armen Hurtgam and Charlie Streb
Service Learning Haudenosaunee Museum
As a culminating activity for their Native American unit, students in the 4th grade Multi-Age Service Learning class created a Haudenosaunee Museum for the school to enjoy! Students independently chose projects that they wanted to research and create. On display were longhouses, depicting the life of a Haudenosaunee tribe; research on famous Haudenosaunee or Algonquin leaders; models of a birch bark canoes; wampum belts; a False Face Society mask; and posters that included pictures and descriptions on various Haudenosaunee topics. Creating the museum was hard work, and the students’ effort certainly paid off!
Spanish Club Registration
Registration is OPEN for the Spanish For The Elementary Years classes offered to the K-5 students after school at Lew Port Primary (Wednesdays) and Lew Port Intermediate (Thursdays)!
SPANISH FOR THE ELEMENTARY YEARS is an educationally oriented fun and interactive program designed specifically for the K–5 elementary student. The unique six-week curriculum features foundation vocabulary introduced through games, singing and hands-on activities. Students are able to compound words and begin forming simple sentences. Classes are never a repeat! Three different sessions are offered during the school year. New vocabulary and activities are introduced with each 6-week session!
There are only a limited number of spots available in the class. For more information and to register, visit www.TheEnrichmentCompany.com.
Click here for a short informational video about the class - https://youtu.be/eFUWq5xdzbg.
Student Led Conferences
Dear Parents/Guardians,
At the IEC, we value our students reflecting upon themselves as learners. To engage students in the learning process, they will be completing Student Led Conferences. Student Led Conferences (SLCs) are a powerful opportunity for students to take ownership and responsibility of their own learning. As we begin this journey, conferences will take place at home any time during the week of February 26, 2024. Students will bring their Leadership Portfolio home during this week and will return it by Friday, March 1st so that they can continue to document their learning journey throughout the remainder of the year.
The conferences are student driven, meaning your child will be responsible for discussing their progress using their leadership portfolio. Leading up to the conference, students will be preparing to present their portfolio during D.E.A.L. time at school. After your child completes their conference with you at home and returns their portfolio, they will receive a certificate of completion. Also, we would appreciate it if all parents complete our feedback survey so that we can continue to grow and improve. The feedback form will be sent home via email the week of Student Led Conferences.
We would like 100% of our parents to participate. You play a vital role in your child’s education. Thank you for supporting us!
If you have any questions please feel free to contact Mrs. Stevener or Mrs. Khatib at 716-754-8281.
Emergency Closing Information and Schedules
This video gives a brief overview of where to find school closing information and how to find the schedules for virtual instruction.
Google Meet Support for Parents & Students
Music Department News!
Congratulations to the IEC 4/5 grade Chorus for an outstanding Winter Concert performed this past January 9th. Mrs. Zachary is very proud of their performance! If you would like to see the concert, you can check our our Lewiston-Porter Music Program Facebook page by clicking the button below!
In February, many IEC music students will be our Lewiston-Porter representatives at the Niagara All County Music Festivals. Please Congratulate the following students:
Elementary Chorus- Layla Anthony, Dylan Bielec, Mia Hawthorn and Noah Rookey Feb. 3
Elementary Band- Atticus Clark, Cole Karbowski, Eric Rogers, Noah Rookey, Emmett Tidwell March 1-2nd
Intermediate Orchestra- Ashlynn Petko (String Bass), Violet Donnelley (Violin) and Megan Tower (Violin) Feb 9-10 at Niagara Wheatfield High School
Looking ahead to the Month of March, we will be celebrating “Music In Our Schools” month. Our music department will be having the following “Kaleidoscope”Concerts which feature our music students 5-12. They are held in the High School Auditorium beginning at 7 pm. Please join us for a night of some beautiful music!
March 7- Choral Kaleidoscope
March 13- Band Kaleidoscope
March 21- Orchestra Kaleidoscope
IEC Music Leaders of the Month
Each month, one student from Band, Orchestra, Chorus and General Music will be chosen as a Music Leader of the Month. These students demonstrate the 3 R’s (Responsibility, Respect and Resourcefulness) in these classes.
For the month of January, the following students have been chosen by Mrs. Spinnegan, Mrs. Zachary and Miss Faddis:
Band - Kwani Bocanegra
Orchestra - Lily Wager
General Music - Noah Bajor
Chorus- Natalie Tarnowski
Congratulations! Keep up the great work!
4th Grade Concert 1/24/24
Congratulations to the IEC 4th grade Orchestra and 4th grade Band for an outstanding first concert performed this past January 24th!. Mrs. Spinnegan and Miss Faddis are very proud of their performance! If you would like to see the concert, you can check out the Lewiston-Porter Music Program Facebook page where it is posted!
Our next performance is scheduled for June 5th at the High School! We can’t wait!
IEC 3rd Grade Wing Restroom Makeovers
The Third Graders in the Intermediate building at Lewiston-Porter Central School District are thrilled that their bathroom beautification project is finally complete! Through a grant, the bathrooms were able to be repainted and decorated with fun decals. The best part is that the whole third grade was able to participate in this project and make their voices heard. Each class came up with a list of themes for decorating the bathrooms. After the themes got narrowed down into a few categories all of the students voted to pick the theme they wanted to see. The winning theme in the boys’ bathroom was sports, of course with an emphasis on Buffalo teams; and the girls’ bathroom theme was Disney. The staff and students are so proud of the work that was done to paint and decorate! This project also led to proactive discussions about having pride in our building and keeping it clean and beautiful for all!
K-Kids Spread Messages of Kindness
K-Kids were hard at work at their Wednesday meeting! Students wrote letters to each classroom teacher in the IEC, explaining their project of spreading kindness to all students in our school. K-Kids then gave each teacher “kindness pins” to distribute to their students to wear throughout the year. The messages were inspiring and thoughtful. Let’s all spread the message of kindness to others!
Intramurals Information
Students are invited to attend our "before school" P.E. program from 8 am - 8:45 am. at the IEC
The program will run from January 22nd through June 8th.
3rd/4th Grade (combined) can attend on Wednesdays.
5th Grade can attend on Thursdays.
Registered students need to arrive at 8 am at the IEC main entrance on their assigned day only.
You may drop them off - no parent sign-in is needed.
Early and late arrivals can not be accommodated.
Golden Spoon Award!
Congratulations to Mrs. Niccola's class on your outstanding accomplishment of earning the Golden Spoon for the month of December!
The Golden Spoon Award is a school-wide competition to reward classrooms that demonstrate positive behaviors in the cafeteria. This monthly award is given out to one classroom in grades 3 through 5 that continually follows the school rules; follow directions, communicate with respect, keep hands, feet and objects to yourself, bring all materials to lunch, and raise your hand and wait to be called on.
Mrs. Niccola’s class will display the huge Golden Spoon in their classroom for this month. In addition, students were invited to take part in a special dining experience with Mrs. Rodriguez. She provided pizza for lunch and a special treat on 1/25/24!
We hope you will maintain your hard work, leadership skills, and continue to enjoy your school success!
Our mission for the SPCA
Our goal for the SPCA is to get as many cats and dogs adopted as possible! We are Lily Wager and Riley Scherrer. We have been working extremely hard to get them adopted and are still TRYING!
What we have been doing, in summary, is that we have made a giant Google Slideshow and are writing all the names of all the animals at the Niagara County SPCA down, writing all about them, and assigning people to voice them.
We are using Screencastify to voice and record our classmates, with their consent, and let them turn their voices into QR codes. When they are done, we print the QR codes and test them. Our 4th grade teacher, Christine DuMoulin, dropped them off at the SPCA for them to test also.
The next two paragraphs are what we think about this Project.
“This project was very important to me because I REALLY love animals and want to get as many forever homes as we can! We started this project in September and took a lot of work to do it! This has been my dream for a while now to get pets adopted! As much as it was fun, it was also A LOT of hard work! At first we weren't sure how important this was but as we went along we realized that it is a big deal! Me and Riley had to write scripts from each animal's point of view! This is really a big deal to me since animals are brought to the shelter almost EVERYDAY! It would be my dream to get all of them adopted. Over all, this project was very fun to do and seeing all of our classmates help get these animals a new home! I LOVED writing scripts for the animals and believe me and Riley did great work! I hope you will consider going to the SPCA and help save an animal! You could maybe even tell a relative or friend about it! My message to you is to never give up on your dreams because one day they WILL come true!”
- Lily Wager ( aka Wags)
“For me, This project was very close to home. My whole life I have had the urge to help dogs and cats and support them. When my Fabulous 4th grade teacher, Mrs. DuMoulin told us about this project, I knew I had to do it. Wags and I started working right away. We had a lot of fun and took a lot of time on this
project, in fact, we are still not done with it! I say, until we get some (Or all!) of the animals adopted, this project is not done. We will continue to work hard on this project and not stop until we are DONE!!! My message to you is to work hard and NEVER give up because you will always find a way around it.”
Riley Scherrer
“In the end, this project was very fun and important. Please consider donating to the Niagara County SPCA!”
Riley Scherrer and Lily Wager (aka Wags)
From the Art Room
Opening reception for the district wide art show is on March 14th at the LEVEL art gallery at LPHS. The elementary showing is from 5-6pm. Selected students will be notified soon.