In first grade, we don’t have any toys. How do we play? Well, let me tell you. We have lots of books and lots of other things like gems, rods and dice. We also have toy clocks and scales.    Explore time lasts thirty minutes while the kids are coming in for the day.

Sign-in

Every day we sign-in by answering a question. On Monday, we answer, “How are you feeling?” We have black, green, blue and red markers. We write our answers on the white board. I might write happy or sometimes, and this is very rare, someone might write confused. I once made up a question. It was, “What is your favorite flower?”

Daily Math

We have math packets every morning. Every day, it is different math like 28 + 31 = ? or Matt has two dogs. One ran away. How many are left? I like word problems. Sometimes we have animal problems. We might have a chart to fill out.

This is what we do in the morning.

by Emma Anderson, Alexa Butler and Amy Garrison

Ms. Schoolcraft’s class – Equinox

Here’s a bit of history…

by Emma and Alexa

The Old Williston Schools

Up until 1940 there were a dozen one-room school houses. Albert D. Lawton said in 1935, “We need one school with more than one room.” Why did he say that? Transportation and maintenance at the old school houses cost too much. In 1949 the old village school house burned and collapsed.

The First Addition

By early October 1950 WCS was ready. But it only had 8 classrooms. The school’s population was growing rapidly. The addition was under construction from 1954–1955. The addition had an  assembly room used for Physical Education, it involved a Cafeteria and a stage and 2 new classrooms. Now, those 2 classrooms are combined to make the Mansfield art room.

The Second Addition

At the end of the 1950s the school needed EVEN MORE space. They needed more space for two classrooms and then six classrooms. Mr. Hazen Wood said two additional teachers would be needed right away. He thought there should be more classrooms now instead of waiting until the next year. The theory came from the town saving money for the following years.

The Third Addition

Soon, they needed EVEN MORE classrooms and a new gym and and a cafeteria. There was The Williston School Planning Group. They prepared for the next addition. The sewer system was bad and needed to be bigger. And they needed more classrooms for foreign language.

The Fourth Addition

In 1968-1990 there was a construction break, a BIG break! Soon, that came to an end. The town demanded an addition. The school had to handle 250 students in the new space. The town said every 4 classrooms should have a kiva, a teacher space and a project room and outside should have a greenhouse. What was surprising was the school board wanted a pool but that’s where the town put their foot down.

Life As A Teacher  

By Amy

The life of a teacher was hard. S/he would live close to the school and would earn $900 a year.

All kids walked to school and helped clean the school house. The first student to school would build a fire for warmth and to bake lunch. All students brought a potato to bake for lunch. The little kids went to recess @ 2:00 to 3:00 because big kids go out at exactly 3:00. All anybody would say is life as a teacher was hard, very hard.

And. now for the big news…

My Interview with Mr. Robert Mitchell (Former Administrator)

by Emma

In my interview with Mr. Mitchell I learned about two very interesting things, the canopy and the pool. There was a pool included in the fourth addition plans. Mr. Mitchell didn’t think that the town would approve it. When he told me about the pool, I was mad at first because it would have been awesome to have a pool. But I finally agreed with his reasons for not wanting to include it in the addition.

He told me a story about a canopy over the old entrance where all the kids entered and exited the school. One day, there was a noise. “It was so loud!” Robert Mitchell said. Part of the canopy had collapsed. There was no spot to let the kids out. “It was a very challenging day for everybody in the school.”

As Mr. Mitchell looks back he realized that he really enjoyed being a classroom teacher and he would have been happy being in the classroom his whole life. He had been a teacher in Burlington where he taught science and health and then was assistant and co-principal in Williston.

All I really want to say is thank you Mr. Mitchell and thank you for your time and the history of Williston Central School.

About The Authors

EMMA- I am a third grader in Equinox House and I have Sarah Schoolcraft as a teacher.  She is very supportive about my group’s writing.

AMY- I am a student also in Sarah Schoolcraft’s class and I joined the group late but still participated by writing the section about the teachers.

ALEXA- I love to write as well and am glad to have participated in this article.

Source: The History of Williston Central School, 1950 to 2000 by Richard H. Allen

We had a police dog come to Allen Brook School. It was outstanding.

We had filled our whole school ‘buzzy jar.’ Each time it’s filled we come together for a celebration. We have filled it six times. Every time, Mr. Terko and Mrs. Tatlock come around in bee costumes. We’ve had lots of celebrations. We have watched the preschoolers doing a dance, wearing monkey costumes. It was really cute. We’ve had Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Most of us had mint chocolate chip! Once, Mr. Terko played the drums and Mr. Bolger played the guitar and sang. They were really good.

One time we all did the ‘honey bee.’ This is a fun dance that we learned from a video. It’s easy to catch on to this dance. All of the celebrations were in the gym.

Last month was when we had the police dog and police men come to school. They explained what police dogs do. They save the police men and women when they are in trouble and when a child is lost they sniff them down. They follow robbers’ footprints to where they are hiding.

Just April vacation we had filled the buzzy jar again! For our seventh celebration, we had teachers from Thailand come for a special presentation. They danced, showed us some Thailand fighting and yoga. They also had an instrument from Thailand. It like a flute but it’s wooden and it only has one open hole for your finger.  The sound was very pretty. The Thailand performance was amazing.

I hope our next buzzy celebration is as exciting as the others have been.

    Have you ever had something that you loved and wanted to learn more about it? Then you should do passion projects.

Every single student in Mosaic house does Passion projects.

    Passion means something you adore, like your dog, your favorite

singer, your favorite football team, or even pancakes. For our projects,  we usually have three, one hour and a half sessions to do all of the research.

   Then you have a week to start typing all of your notes, but it has to be complete sentences. After you’ve written up your notes you can design anything you want such as a cake, a Power Point if you like the computers, or a tri-fold if you like to be crafty. Also, you can make a board game, and you can even have some of your friends act in a play.  But the project has to be relevant to your passion.

    Once all projects were completed, we invited all of the parents and students from Mosaic to see all of the wonderful projects.

Jada’s Passion is Women’s Soccer

I made a tri-fold and put black hexagons on it to make  a huge soccer ball. I put facts on the black hexagons about the history of soccer. I love soccer!  If you like kicking around objects into goals then you will LOVE  soccer, too!  I would  love to be on a soccer team with my favorite player, Abby Wambach.

    Taylor’s Passion is Gymnastics            Taylor demonstrates a back bend to bridge pose.

The reason I choose gymnastics this year is because I love to be active and do flips, cartwheels and more. I just started lessons but I’ve been practicing at home and at an open gym where people can come and do gymnastics. I love to have lots of experiences with different types of equipment.

    My favorite gymnast is Gabby Douglas.

In Conclusion

If you are a student, maybe you can ask your teacher if you can do passion projects in your class.   TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOS and show lots of people!  You can even do it with friends at your house.

The Grade Four First Place winner is Julia! Aidan and Rylee are two of the three winners tied for second place. Shown above with Mrs. Poirot.

Sunny also won a second place medal for Grade four.

Shown left to right: CML Coordinator Mrs. Poirot, second place medal winner Erik Schneider and first place winner Matteo.

Congratulations to all of our medal winners and to over eighty other third and fourth graders who participated in the Continental Mathematics League this year.

     Do you know that there is something called Math Enrichment?

     Math Enrichment is extra math for kids who need an extended challenge. The Enrichment room is located in between Ms.Kennedy’s music room and the tech lab.  Its always serious topics that we have conversations about and you only have one chance to bring your folder and homework in or you have to talk with your teacher. Then, next time you forget it, you have to talk with  your parents.

     In the Enrichment room, when you are working on an exit task or homework that you are just getting started on, it is very silent.   There  are different  sessions. At the beginning of each session if you’re new in the group you can pick a folder that is red, clear, black or blue. There are eight weeks in every session.

     A lot of the problems we do are exciting and challenging.   Some of the problems involve fractions.   Fractions are when you divide a  certain amount of space into smaller sections.  Betty Poirot runs math Enrichment for grades K-4.

     One part of  Math Enrichment is the Continental Mathematics League Program. The Enrichment teachers purchase materials from the company and then provide a training for interested volunteers. Volunteers teach small groups of kids who want an extra math challenge. This year about one hundred kids participated.

     Lastly, we have an  example of  a problem for you to solve, have fun doing it. Good luck!

          Find two consecutive  counting #’s that add to each of the following  sums. ( Consecutive counting  #’s  are those that you say in order  when you are counting. The smallest counting # is 1.)

  15=___+ ___        18=___ + ___

             57=___+ ___             58=___+___

           229=___ + ___        228=___+ ___

    What did you notice about all of the sums above?  Were all of them possible to solve?  Why or why not?

     Now try the same thing for three consecutive counting numbers.

    15=__ +  __ + __        18=__ + __ + __

    57=__ +__+ __            58=__+ __

    229=__  + __ + __        228=__ + __ + __

(This problem is from Extending the Challenge in Mathematics.)

Mrs. Powers’ Class Takes On The Caines’ Arcade Cardboard Challenge

by Addison Urch, Olivia Paquette, Ava Medici and Grant Schroeder

    Have you ever heard of Caine’s Arcade? Well, let us tell you all about it. Caine is a nine year old boy. He made an arcade out of cardboard. Our class was inspired by him. We made our own arcade  that is mostly made out of cardboard and duct tape. Mrs. Powers’ class created a Caine’s Arcade at Allen Brook School. This was a fundraiser for the charity Imagination Foundation.

    We put together pieces of cardboard to make some of our favorite arcade games. We duct-taped spoons to clips so you could chuck a ball into a cup. We made a Desert Ramp Rabbit game. We made a rabbit out of a lego car and used clay to make it a rabbit. You tried to roll the rabbit down the ramp and into the hole.

    We also made ‘The Claw.’ We used a hook, tied it to string and used pipe cleaners with a number attached. You had to pick up the pipe cleaner. You’d pull it out and you could trade  in the numbers for prizes.

    We invited other classes in Horizon and asked them to play our games. Each game cost twenty-five cents. They loved it because it was really fun and they could earn prizes.

We raised over $200. We kept ten percent for our class and will donate $180.00! We will give it to Caine’s Scholarship fund for his college. It will matched and that money goes to The Imagination Foundation. This foundation supports children and encourages them to be young entrepreneurs.  We were proud that we could give money to the charity.

]]> http://wsdblueandgold.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/caines-arcade-at-abs/feed/ 0 wsdblueandgold adarsh prizes-12 http://wsdblueandgold.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/no-more-technology/ http://wsdblueandgold.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/no-more-technology/#comments Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:35:27 +0000 wsdblueandgold http://wsdblueandgold.wordpress.com/?p=849 ]]> by Abigail Willis and Samantha Polley

Agree with us and you’ll live your life

living in a paradise

Abby and Sam both agree

there should be less technology.

    We recently read an article in Time for Kids called Beyond the Bubble. It was written Brenda Iasevoli. It states that  in 2014 students in forty eight states will be taking tests on tablets or computers. The tests are based on the Common Core Standards. There will be less multiple choice and more questions that require critical thinking.

       After reading this article, we started talking about how we should be able to play, use our imaginations, get fresh air and mostly, not rot our brains out. Every year we have a lot of testing. The new test will be harder without the multiple choice questions. There will be more real-world questions.

    How would all schools in forty-eight states be able to provide tablets or computers for all students to be tested on the Common Core Standards?

    That’s why we think we should keep the tests on paper with a pencil with less technology. We think other kids would agree with us.

Today in school, we took a field trip to the Flynn to watch a special show called My Heart In A Suitcase. My heart in a Suitcase is about a girl named Anne who is Jewish and her family’s struggles through the rise of the Nazis coming to power. You see how difficult it is for her to go to school or even to have a Christian best friend. Towards the end of the play,  it is too unsafe for her to stay in Germany,  so she is lucky enough to be on the Kinder Transport. Throughout her amazing story,  you really get a feel for how it was like for a Jew living in Germany.

I thought the show was pretty good. We had just finished a unit on the holocaust, so it was interesting to see the changes in the Jews lives that we hadn’t heard about. We haven’t studied the Kinder Transport,  so it was interesting to briefly hear about that. I personally am very  interested in the holocaust,  so for me, if they talked a little more about the Kinder Transport I think it would add to the play. Overall, the play was informative and some of the little musical cues really added to the play.

I think that to make the play better the sound should be a little louder because at points it was hard to hear.  I liked the story, but at points I got bored. One thing that confused me were some of the scene changes, like you had her friend in the background changing the sign but she wasn’t in the scene. I liked the emotion in  the voices, but sitting in the back I couldn’t see the facial expressions. I did however enjoy the play because I felt that, although it was very respectful to the holocaust, it was still informative to the audience.

Overall I want to thank the Flynn for giving our schools the chance to see the wonderful play. I think that other people who are interested in the play would enjoy it and I think that it is appropriate for all ages.

Team. More like family. At the end of November, Coach Jousen took 12 students under her wing. Different personalities, different ambitions, but they shared one dream, to play basketball. When someone got hurt, we didn’t have to look far for a helping hand. Practice after practice, we improved our skills. December 10th was our first basketball game. We tried our hardest, working as a team while still learning the gist of the game. Pass, dribble, basket. If only it was that easy. We lost,  but we still had a whole season ahead of us. Injuries and complications. When someone wasn’t there immediately someone would offer to play their position.  This season has presented many obstacles throughout the season,

The Boys B Gold Team after an exciting victory at the Boys CSSU Tournament Championship Game.

but we would always manage to move forward. At the CSSU tournament on January 31st , we had to go against the other Williston Girl’s  B team. It was difficult playing against our peers. The score was 19-18, a close game. Our team, the Williston Girls B blue won, earning 3rd place in the CSSU tournament. We had two more games ahead of us until the season is over. February 7th was our game against Hinesburg, with a few games of experience

under our belts, we knew what to expect. We won 12-22. It was a great game. Our final game was February 14th. We lost by 6 point. Win or lose, we are still a team. Realizing this was our last game and we would ever play as a team was devastating. But we all have a bright future with basketball. Win or lose, we are still a team.

Shannon Loiseau and Lauren Johnson Report on

the CSSU Tournament

On January 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, girls from Hinesburg, Shelburne, Charlotte, and Williston came together to play the game that they all love; basketball. Players came to Williston Central School to play in our CSSU tournament. Everyone laid their all on the court and played their best. Everyone, no matter if they won or not, played very well.

As girls in the CSSU tournament, we think it is fair to say that we worked very hard and did our best. The girls Blue B team played against Shelburne, Hinesburg and the other B team. They ended up coming in 3rd place. “My team has improved a lot.” Says Clara Schultz, 7th grade on the Blue Girls B team. “Coach Jueson helped us bond together and play our best”.

On the A team, we lost against Charlotte. In the end, the scoreboard didn’t really matter. Everyone played their best and did very well. “What threw us off was their diamond press in the game. Because we hadn’t learned that type of defense yet.” Coach Tom told us in an exclusive interview. He also said that the thing we most improved on was our ability to defend as a team.The A team then won against Hinesburg and ended up with 3rd place.

The other B team came in 4th place out of 5 teams. “Coach Lyons really helped us build our basketball skills. Especially our defense.” Says Abby Rosenthal, 7th grade on the Gold B Basketball team.

The tournament is a great way to meet other girls that are going to the C.V.U. high school with you. If you are playing basketball at C.V.U. then you might see the same people that were in the tournament. Also, you might recognize them in the halls at school. This CSSU tournament is an amazing event because you bond with your team, meet other girls, have fun, and improve on your basketball skills. Overall, our team was so close, coach Tom claims it’s from the funny nicknames we give each other, and upbeat energy we have even in the midst of the competition. By the end, our tongues were dragging and we were tired, but the experience was worth it.