The Afton Express ~ Winter 2024
The Afton Turkey Bowl
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Written by: Armaan Mubarak and Benjamin Strauss
The Turkey Bowl doesnโt involve turkeys, but it is still a fun to watch fifth graders compete against each other and the teachers. On November 2, 2023 the gymnasium was a pit of excitement with kids jumping up and down cheering for their favorite fifth grade team.
Every year Mr. Sodano develops teams by randomizing players into eight teams to compete in the annual game of the Turkey Bowl. The teams were: The Sweet Potato Pirates, Trotting to Glory, The Turkey Tornadoes, The Pumpkin Pie-thons, The Butterball Express, The Biscuit Bandits, The Drumstick Dashers, and The Wacky Wishbones. Every team enjoyed a tailgate party in the cafeteria before the big event began.
The Turkey Bowl is a real perk for the fifth graders who play against the teachers for the rest of the school to watch. The Turkey Bowl game is a mix between prison dodgeball and bowling. The game is played for five minutes, and the team with the least pins knocked down during that time, is the champion. Each team gets to participate three times. Everyone enjoyed playing and watching this great competition in the school gymnasium.
Afton's Holiday Sing
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Written by: Kavya Khanna, Sarah Smith, and Alyssandra Zazula
Every year, in December our music teacher Mrs. Gougher plans and directs a wonderful and magical show full of songs, music, and activities. There are always different types of song brackets and this year instead of multiple songs, we used different versions of one song called Winter Wonderland.
We began the Holiday Sing with the song Celebrate With Joy.
Next, the orchestra performed two holiday songs for the audience.
Mrs. Gougher challenged the teachers to Finish the Lyric to special songs. If they are correct, they earn a prize.
Next, the fifth grade chorus sang the song Old Man Winter. Soon after, everyone sang the song Hey, Hey Hanukkah and each teacher chose a student to represent their class and spin a dreidel up at the front of the gymnasium. First, everyone sings while keeping a beat. Next, the representatives take practice spins as many times as they can. Afterwards everyone in the gym keeps a beat on themselves once again. Lastly, the representatives spin their dreidel that they have, spinning it once. Whoeverโs dreidel spins the longest wins and gets a prize. After the dreidel contest, Mrs. Gougher played the winning version of Winter Wonderland on the board and it was R&B by Snoopdog and Anna Kenderick. The version that won second place was Acapella by Pentatonix and Tori Kelly.
Every year, for the teachers, Mrs. Gougher organizes a dance for the kids to understand and recognize how hard and tirelessly they work every single day through night. This is their time to let loose and shine. ALL of the teachers are encouraged to join this dance. The next thing that happened was the song Sing For Peace. During the
chorus the leader, Mrs. Gougher, sang and the next time the chorus came around, she asked one of the students to think and say a thing everyone needs for everyday life. Some examples are: family and friends. The leader uses the suggestion and instead of peace uses that word.
Lastly, at the end of everything, each class, no matter what grade youโre in, even kindergarteners, get lights so no one misses out. This is the Light show! After everyone has a light, the projector shows different colored dots and outlined shapes. We have to create the shapes and lines with the light you are given shining up at the ceiling. Though, you have to make sure that you are matching the colors on the board and making sure that youโre pausing and turning off your light when itโs not your turn.
Overall, the concert was fabulous for everyone. Next year hopefully it will be as fun as this year!
NOVA
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Written by: Hailey Stanton,Sami Mitri, Amir Abdellatif
This program NOVA stands for National Organization of Victim Assistance. They came to Afton School to teach the students how to be safe on the computer network. They told us they help kids, teens, and adults who have been hurt or tricked on purpose. Also, they told us that we will be talking about how to avoid risk online and with friends.
NOVA told us that older people like to act like kids online to get personal information from kids. You should only share login information or personal information to a trusted teacher or adult.
Good suggestions from NOVA: Contact these people if you have a problem. Always have 5 trusted adults that you can go to if something is wrong. These are the main people you should go to first:
The Three Pโs:
Parent
Teacher / Principal
Police
Another suggestion: โDonโt delete or log off any electronics like the iPad, phone, or computer right away if someone is asking you something that makes you feel uncomfortable. Take a screenshot first,then delete or log off that app.
Never share any private pictures that are personal to you with anyone other than your trusted adults. Remember you must be 13 years old to be on social media apps on electronics. This will help you stay SAFE and happy when using electronics.
Thank you to Mrs. French for coming to our class to share this valuable information.
Hour of Code in Fifth Grade
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Written by: Gracie Brun, Purva Dhoke, and Pyper Reid
During the week of December 5th through the 11th the fifth grade students in Mrs. Mendlowโs class joined millions of students around the world studying computer science during annual The Hour of CodeWeek!
Hour of Code began in 2013 as a challenge and an introduction for students to learn computer programming. The sponsors of this program believe, โEvery 21st-century student should have the opportunity to learn how to create using technology.โ
As fifth grade students, we participated in many exciting activities during this special event. First, we completed a Dance Party Challenge which included several lines of coding. In order to complete this challenge, we had to use special coding blocks to make animals move to the song of our choice! The next activity was AI for Oceans, where we trained the computer to clean the ocean of garbage. Students also learned how to program using Scratch and CodeSpark. Each student received a certificate because everyone won 1st place in their own coding world! Coding is the way of the future and we hope to be ready for the challenge.
Interview With the Afton Secretaries
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Written by: Madeline Behme and Caitlin Castner
We are very lucky to have two great secretaries!! Their names are Mrs.Gilbert and Mrs.Danza and they work in our school office. Their responsibilities are to answer the phone and help Dr.Masgai.
They have to order school supplies, keep us safe, and help people come in to our school every day. Mrs. Danza has been working as a secretary for four years. Mrs Gilbert has been working as a secretary for twelve years after she was a recess/lunch aide at another school.
When we asked them what is their favorite part about being a secretary they said they love working in an elementary school, getting to see kids coming in and out, and hearing laughter at recess time. They both said they wouldnโt change anything about their jobs. What Mrs. Danza does in her free time is she plays with her puppy,spends time with her family and shops. Mrs. Gilbert said she likes to read, go shopping, visit the beach, and spend time with her family.
Weโre so lucky to have such great secretaries who decorate the office for special holidays. We love our secretaries!
Victorious Volleyball
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Written by: Maci Trunell and Quinn Carroll
Here at Afton Elementary, Mr. Sodano strives to keep the tradition of the 5th graders celebrating the long awaited winter break by playing volleyball. We begin playing in our schoolโs gymnasium at 10:00 am - 12:10pm just before the winter break.
Mr. Sodano did an outstanding job on planning this exciting activity for the fifth graders. He purposely split each class into 3 groups so we could each play 3 games- one against the staff and two against other fifth grade classes. Every year, we eagerly watch the fifth graders play, and now it is our turn to play. We are definitely going to win, now the younger grades will cheer us on.
To prepare, all of the grades played volleyball in gym class, with the exception of the primary grades, who played Newcomb. This activity prepares us for Middle School, where we get the opportunity to truly play on a volleyball team. Not only is it fun, but itโs also a healthy activity for everyone. Itโs even an Olympic sport!
Fifth Grade Gifted ~ Unsolved Mysteries Project
Click the picture to see the full presentation by Avery Cumberland & Jack Fitch.
An Interview with Mrs. Hopkins
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Written by: Amelia Reiss & Julia Donnelly
Third grade is really interesting because Mrs. Hopkins makes fun things with the students.
They just did a project called Giving Gifts from the Heart. The students wrote about giving help and love to other people. They wrapped their writing inside paper packages.
In the New Year they will be setting goals for school and at home so they can do their best all of the time.
Mrs. Hopkins said she meets with the other third grade teachers and they come up with ideas for the class by brainstorming projects that they think the students will like doing.
In science they are learning about motion and matter, magnets, axels, and rotation.
The students are reading Third Grade Angels now.
In social studies they are learning about geography, continents and oceans, geographic features, and climate. They will be learning about Native Americans, too.
They are planning on going to Churchville Nature Center for their class trip this year. There they will see Indian houses like teepees and a longhouse. They will learn how rope is made and games that the young Native American boys played. We are sure the students will enjoy the trip!
Would You Rather ~ An Interest Survey About Kids Favorites
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Written by: Sarah Smith & Kavya Khanna
Fall is an exciting time of the year! Every kid looks forward to Halloween. We decided to take a survey of the fourth grade students during recess time. We asked them about different things related to Halloween.
The First question and choices were:
Would you rather get Sour Patch Kids or Reese Peanut Butter Cups for Halloween?
Sour Patch kids had a lead of 7 votes with a total of 23 votes while Reeses had a total of 16 votes
The second question and choices were:
Would you rather eat Candy Corn or Hershey Bars on Halloween?
Hershey bars came out on top with 23 votes while Candy Corn had just 9 votes.
Thatโs a difference of 14 votes.
The third question and choices were:
Would you rather wear a scary costume or a cute costume?
Scary costume had 25 votes while the cute costume had only 8 votes.
Thatโs a difference of 17 votes.
The fourth question and choices were:
Would you rather carve a pumpkin or paint a pumpkin?
Carve a pumpkin won with 24 votes and paint a pumpkin with 8 votes. Thatโs a 16 vote difference.
The fifth and final question and choices were:
Would you rather be scared by someone or scare someone else?
Scaring someone else had 22 votes while being scared by someone only had 9 votes. Thatโs a difference of 13 votes.
So if we were to put the winning choices (Sour patch kids, Hershey Bars, scary costume, carve a pumpkin, and scare someone else) these would be the rankings:
1. Scary costume ๐๐๏ธ
2. Carve a pumpkin ๐ฅ
3. Sour Patch Kids / Hershey Bars โ๏ธ2๏ธโฃ ๐ฅ
4. Scare someone else ๐he
Thank you to everyone who voted and if you didnโt, ENJOY READING this article!!!
Lego Interactive Assembly
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Written by: Ryan Canning, Henry Neill, Jacob Barton, and Brandon Diamond
Written by: Henry Neill, Jacob Barton, Ryan Canning, Brandon Diamand
To celebrate the first half of the year we had a fantastic Lego assembly.The PTO arranged for Corey Samuels, a Lego Stem Instructor, who was a former contestant on Season 1 of the Lego Masters television show, to coordinate the schoolwide Lego activity.This activity took place in the lobby of Afton Elementary School on January 25, 2024.
The purpose of this assembly was to promote school spirit by building a mosaic of the Afton Eagle, our school mascot. We had to work hard together to build small portions of the overall design. We were given a diagram that told us what color pieces we needed, and where to put them. Every student in grades K-5 were able to contribute to making the Lego mosaic. The finished product is inside of a glass case right outside of the art room. It is an incredible piece of art that shows how well we can work together at Afton School.
Book Review ~ Bud, Not Buddy
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Written by: Louise Pusak,Raegan Shaffer, and Lyla Trench
If you like reading historical fiction, this may be a perfect book for you and kids ages 9 and up. The book, Bud,Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, takes place in1936 during the Great Depression in Flint, Michigan. Bud is an adventurous boy who lost his family. He went to live in an orphanage until he ran away.He went searching for his father and to find a place where he fit in. Bud was lonely and his only friend was Bugs. Eventually, a cruel family named the Amos family took Bud in and treated him in a horrible way. Bud went through many challenges until he escaped the foster family. Bud traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan to find his father. Instead, he found a man who he thought was his father, but was really his grandfather. Bud felt like he finally found a place he could call home.
๐ฃ Afton Student Council Update ๐ฃ
Written by: Avery Leahy & Juliet Hatton
Student Counselors represent each class in our school. They are selected after they give a speech about how they can be a good counselor for their homeroom. Then everyone votes for two students to be their counselors. If you are a fifth grader you can choose to run for either: President, Vice President, Treasurer, or Secretary of the whole Student Council. Each student who wants to be an officer must give a speech to all of the fourth and fifth graders in order to be considered for a position. Mrs. Linkhorst and Mrs.Berkowitz are the group coordinators. They run the meetings and help plan different activities.
The Student Council organized a Pajama Day in December to raise money for the children at CHOP, the Childrenโs Hospital of Philadelphia. We raised $835.31 because everyone who wore PJโs donated $1.00 towards the collection. The Student Council Officers collected the money in buckets as the students came into school that day.
Environmental Protectors Club Flower Bulb Planting
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Written by: Daniel Hartman & Reuben Hollins
On the first day of the Environmental Protectors Club (EPC), instead of doing an introduction to what we did in this group, we found out we were planting bulbs outside the entrance. We had to do this because we had to get the bulbs in before the frost came.
When everyone got outside, we were taught what we needed to do and how to plant the bulbs.
First, we needed to dig six inches down into the ground, twelve inches away from the sidewalk.
Then, we would break up the soil so the bulbs would have room to โbreatheโ. After that, we would need to place three flower bulbs into the hole. Last, but not least, we had to bury them in the crumbled dirt.
Lobby โGiftsโ
In EPC, another activity we did was make packages for the teachers out of recycled materials instead of things that would turn into trash. For the base, we used cardboard. Then, we used some materials to put on the cardboard for decoration (feathers, pom poms, paper, tape, and some pencils & markers for writing etc.). Once we finished making the packages, a few kids and another teacher helping the club helped hang the โpresentsโ in the lobby. If you were a car rider recently, you might have seen them underneath the heart and tree in the decorated lobby.
Afton Fifth Grade Reading Olympics
Click the picture to view the presenation by Vivienne Gallagher & Ahmed Kareem
Good Luck to our 3 Reading Olympic Teams at the upcoming competition on April 3rd. Go Afton!
Gifted Support Teacher