HTS Newsletter of June 4, 2009
Principal’s Corner
Sometimes a quote comes along that just says something perfectly. A friend recently placed one on my desk and, as I read it, I thought, “Yes! This is what I am often trying to express.” Since this is my last opportunity to chat with each of you, let me share the quote.
“The worst thing we can do to children is let them be in charge of too much. Down deep, they know that they don’t have the knowledge or experience to handle life. Even though they will resist structure and boundaries, if they have them they will feel less terrified and less angry in the long run.”
A child’s “job” developmentally is to push against structures and boundaries. Our job, as caring adults, is to know when to hold fast to those boundaries with a resounding “No!” and when to acknowledge that the child is mature enough to move the boundaries a bit. Being a boundary keeper may not be the most glamorous job in the world, but it is our job as adults. If we don’t do it, who will?
So, the school year is winding down for all of us. I’m straddling two academic years, trying to end this one well and trying to organize the coming year so that all can go as smoothly as possible. It’s like trying to look east and west at the same time!
I wish you and your family a wonderful summer. Enjoy your backyards, breakfast at the table, your grills and family get-togethers. Enjoy little things together that don’t cost an arm-and-a-leg so that your child doesn’t equate spending money with feeling happy. Enjoy warm evenings and cool lemonade. Set bedtimes, then move the boundary every once in a while as a treat. Eat dessert first...but, most importantly, enjoy just hanging out together “just because”.
Donna McGibney
Dates to Remember
June
5th: Kindergarten to Maine Wildlife Park, 9:00 - 2:30
8th: All library books due!
9th: District Budget Vote, West Gardiner Fire Station, 8:00 - 8:00
9th: PTA meeting, 6:30 in HTS library
10th: Mrs. Jessop’s class play, dress rehearsal at 10:15 in lower pod, play at 2:30 in gym
11th: Mrs. Jessop’s Author’s Tea, 2:15 in art room (for families only)
11th: REACH Showcase at GRMS, 6:00 - 7:30 pm
12th: Mrs. White’s class to Maine State Museum, 9:00 - 12:30
15th: Pre-K Family Fun Day, 9:30 - 11:30
15th: Field day, a.m.
15th: School barbecue - reservations & prepayment must be made no later than Tuesday, June 9th
16th: Last day of school for 4-year old program
17th: Fifth Grade Celebration, 10:30
17th: Last day of school - elementary students dismissed at 12:30
This is our last newsletter of the school year. Have a safe and restful summer. See you again on
Wednesday, September 2nd!
PTA News
We welcome you to come to our last meeting of the year on June 9th at 6:30 pm in the library. Members will vote on officers for the next school season and we will wrap up for the summer. We welcome all to come talk about what you would like to see happen next year and invite people to get an early start on thinking about what committees they may want to help out with or perhaps chair. New members and new energy is needed to keep the programs and activities going which help enrich our children's school experience.
Many thanks to our fifth grade parent members who will be moving on. We thank you for your hard work and support over the years at Helen Thompson. We will miss you greatly and wish you and your children the best of luck with the middle school experience.
Our PTA can benefit from the Shaw's Community Reward Program! Please take the time to register your Shaws reward card online and identify Helen Thompson School PTA as the recipient of the contributions with our organization number (#49001021156). Shaw's will send 1% of purchases made on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays towards our organization. The more people we can get to do this, the more our school will benefit from it. Please do what you can to get the word out!
Volunteers are needed for Field Day on June 15. Please send a note in to your child's teacher to let them know if you can help out that day. This is a fun event for the kids and it's a great way to end the year.
A PTA survey is going home for ALL parents and staff, members and nonmembers alike. Please take the time to fill it out and return to the school. Your input is valuable and can help us get a better understanding of the needs of our school and community and make improvements where needed. You may choose to remain anonymous. Thanks in advance for
your input!
We wish you a wonderful summer and look forward to a great new school season full of fun future school events with you and your children!
Kindergarten & Pre-School Registration
There’s still time! If you have a child who will be five years of age on or before October 15th please contact the school at 724-3930.
The Four Year Old Program is still accepting applications for the 2009 - 2010 school year. Children must be four years of age on or before October 15, 2009. Please call 582-5346.
REACH Showcase
The Student Showcase for REACH and enrichment students in grades 3-8 will be held at the Middle School on Thursday, June 11th from 6:00 to 7:30 PM.
Important Information from Your School Nurse
Please note that an adult must pick up any medication your child has at school. Students are not permitted to transport medication, nor can we keep medication in the school building over the summer. Please make arrangements to pick up your child’s medication before the end of
the school year.
MSAD 11 2009-2010 Budget
Please mark your calendar - be sure to vote!
Tuesday, June 9th -
Referendum Vote, 8:00 am to 8:00 pm
MSAD 11 residents visit their local polling places to vote.
Be sure to cast your ballot at the West Gardiner Fire Station.
A Destination ImagiNation “Thank You!”
The Destination ImagiNation team is back from a safe and exciting trip to Knoxville, Tennessee! Sue Glazier and Sandy Palmer Fish would just like to extend a huge thank you for all your financial support as well as all the good wishes that accompanied us on this amazing adventure.
Our students represented West Gardiner very well, and in every way! They are grateful for their wonderful and generous community! To show their appreciation, they are donating money back to their fifth grade class to pay for the memory book being created for them and all their friends, they donated hot dogs and rolls back to the PTA for the Peter Pan Fair, and on Thursday they spent some time at the food bank stocking over 500 food items from their food drive.
It has been an awesome experience for these kids, and hopefully other students and parents will want to be involved with this program next year. Again, thank you for all the enthusiastic donations and especially for the kind words of encouragement!
Volunteers Needed!
Monday, June 15th, the students at HT will enjoy Field Day. We need many volunteers to keep things running smoothly. No special training needed! Just a fun-loving attitude and a hat, pair of sunglasses and some sunscreen and you’re ready to help us out. Please let your child’s teacher know that you are able to help, as we need volunteers from each classroom.
The “Dixie Dolley Cafeteria” will be holding the school barbecue that day. For $3.75 you can join us for a hot dog or hamburger and other goodies. Reservations and payment must be made in advance. Please RSVP no later than Tuesday, June 9th. After that date, you are welcome to bring a bag lunch and join us.
Summer Gifts
This summer, two of the nicest gifts that you can give to your child and yourself are reading aloud and conversation. Set aside other distractions for a little while, relax and take out a book or chat with your kids. Don’t have a book? Go to the library and pick out a few together with your child. The time invested is well spent. What books?--an old favorite, one that the teacher read, one that your child knows and loves, is a good place to start. A new one, too--perhaps the pictures appeal to you, perhaps someone else has recommended it, maybe the description on the back of the cover or inside flap interests your child.
Where? On a rainy day, the couch will do. Cuddle up and read with expression to your child, or take turns reading a page back and forth to each other. If it’s nice out, a blanket in the backyard or a rocking chair on the porch make nice places to read. Your child might like to take books and a stuffed animal or doll up to a tree house to read aloud.
When? At bedtime (it’s a great way to wind down at the close of day), when a cranky child needs soothing, or when a child asks to be read to, are all good times for a story. The children’s author, Mem Fox, wrote a book for grown-ups called Reading Magic, and in it she writes,
“We should make sure...that we have favorite books with us in situations when it’s clear our children might be bored, anxious, whining, irritable or disruptive. Books take the tedium out of waiting for the doctor; going on a bus, train or plane journey; sitting around waiting for a parent at the hairdresser’s or at the dentist’s...”
How? With PLEASURE and expression. Make it fun...use different voices for characters, whisper or pause for suspense, use sound effects for thunder or a door slamming. Practice reading the book ahead if that will help you make it more interesting and flow more smoothly.
Why? Hearing books read aloud will help your child become a better reader. Being read to increases a child’s vocabulary and his/her understanding of story and language structure. It helps a child visualize images and builds background knowledge and understanding of new concepts. All that makes it easier when the child meets up with these things in his own reading.
Don’t forget to talk WITH your child. Conversations about the books and stories you read together, and about the world around us, will help with comprehension and vocabulary. Talk, talk, talk...take the time to explain why you are baking an extra casserole for a sick neighbor, wonder aloud about the moon and stars, figure out where the new wheel barrow could be stored. Talk about the weather, who should feed and walk the dog, or what you would do if a fire broke out. Talk about something that a story reminded you of, or a person that a character in a book made you think of. Then LISTEN to your child, and respond. Pretty soon you’ll have a conversation going!
Best of all, by reading with and to your child and having conversations, you will become closer as a family.
Wendy Oakley
Literacy Specialist
Ongoing Fundraisers
HTS continues to participate in these ongoing programs which will help us to raise funds for our school. Keep saving over the summer months!
Box Tops for Education - BoxTops are a great fundraiser for our school. Each label is worth 10 cents, which goes directly towards purchasing items for our school. Please take a moment to clip these valuable BoxTop logos and send them in to school.
Campbell's Labels for Education - Collect UPC codes and logos (instead of front labels) from Campbell's products as well as many other products with the “Labels for Education” logo. Please note that Campbell’s is now accepting ONLY THE UPC CODE AND LOGO for redemption. Please do not send the front labels to school.
Printer & Toner Cartridges - We collect printer and toner cartridges of all types and sizes, which are redeemed for cash for our school. Please send us your empty cartridges.
NEW! Shaw’s Community Rewards Program- Visit www.shaws.com, click on Community Rewards, register your Shaw’s Rewards Card, click “Sign me up,” and choose Helen Thompson School PTA, #49001021156. A percentage of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday purchases will benefit our PTA!
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FIELD HOCKEY CLINICS
at Gardiner Area High School
Saturday, July 11th
Grades 2-4, 9:00 - 12:00
Grades 5-8, 1:00 - 3:00
Central Maine
GIRLS LACROSSE CLINIC
at Capital Park in Augusta
July 13th - 17th
8:30 am - 11:30 am
Grades 3-8
Gardiner Boys
Summer Basketball Clinic
at Gardiner Area High School
July 13-16
grades 3-5. 8:00 - 11:30
grades 6-9, 12:00 - 3:30
Gardiner Girls
Summer Basketball Clinic
at Gardiner Area High School
July 20-23
grades 3-5 8:00 - 11:30
grades 6-8, 12:00 - 3:30
More information available in the HTS lobby.
(These are not MSAD#11 events)
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