Pleasant Valley
participates in
service learning
TEMS produces daily news show
“Pirate Bounty” took on new meaning
when students and staff at Pleasant Valley School celebrated “National Talk
Like a Pirate Day” by collecting non-perishable items for the South Windsor
Food Bank. Teachers and students
dressed up as pirates for the day and enjoyed a number of “pirate activities”
such as map-reading, measuring and
money counting, and worked on literary
skills. Principal Tiffany Caouette read
“How I Became a Pirate” to classes during the day. SWHS students Sam Bisson
and Stephen Burke assisted Pleasant
Valley students by delivering the food to
the food bank.
SWHS students Sam Bisson (left) and
Stephen Burke assist Pleasant Valley
School by transporting food for the local
food bank. Principal Tiffany Caouette is
center.
SWHS names
Commended
Students
Twelve South Windsor High School
students have been named as Commended Students in the 2013 National
Merit Scholarship Program. About
34,000 students throughout the nation
are recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Commended Students
placed among the top 5 percent of more
than 1.5 million students who entered
the 2013 competition by taking the 2011
PSAT.
The Commended Students are: Zachary Bellis, Brian Bendernagel, Jasmine
Caruk, Katie Cavanaugh, Daniel Cohen,
Thomas Collins, Robert Cucuzza, Christian Kim, Callie Marsalisi, Joshua Mun,
Justin Oppenheimer and Nathaniel
Trojian.
Time to read
Pleasant Valley student Brock Kelly (left)
and Elliot Clark choose a book to enjoy
during silent reading time.
PRS working on
new units of study
TEMS student Ben Okert works the
camera during the daily news program
broadcast daily to each classroom.
TEMS students Claudia Surprenant (left)
and Molli DeRosa deliver the morning
news at the school.
The Timothy Edward Middle School
TV News team is an extracurricular activity open to all students. The morning
news telecast is broadcast every day
from a state-of-the-art professional television studio at the school. Each member of the team is trained in operating
the studio equipment and delivering the
news in a professional manner. Students
learn the use of the equipment, lighting
techniques, audio and video mixing,
teleprompting and voice over. The news
program is seen daily by students
throughout the school on television
monitors in each classroom.
Learning about native Americans
Students at Philip R. Smith School
have been working on new units of study
in reading and writing that are aligned
to the state standards. Teachers meet
with small strategy groups and also conference with students on a one-on-one
basis in writing. Classroom teachers
meet at least once per week with the
reading and math interventionists, as
well as the principal, to discuss core subject areas and how instruction is progressing in each classroom. This is an
opportunity for teachers to look at student work, make grade level instructional decisions and develop a clear, common
path of instruction for the week. Teachers discuss ways to encourage students
to be actively engaged in lessons, rather
than be passive listeners. In addition, the
staff has been looking at the varied levels of questioning used in the classroom
and how to integrate higher levels of
questioning into every lesson.
Happy faces!
Wapping third-graders learned how native American tribes in this area used natural
resources to survive. (L-r) Madison Silva, Shannon Kamm and Brook Kudla sew
deerskin pouches.
Catherine Downes and Brian Cushman
enjoy a moment at the annual ice cream
social at Philip R. Smith School. Catherine
is in first grade and Brian is in second
grade.