Wednesday, December 17, 2014

CHRISTMAS AT PENN VIEW

After fourteen years as a Christmas assembly and Benefit Concert spectator, you might imagine me immune to the effects of the moment.  You would be oh-so-wrong. 

The emotion of the season attacks me in the tear ducts every single time. 

Rows of beaming children clad in green and red, singing with intense joy and full voice about the baby who came to save us.  The first and greatest Christmas gift – Jesus.  
(This photo was taken at last year's assembly since this blog will post before this year's annual waterworks start for me!) 







Crazy about Christmas, I am admittedly one of those annoying people who starts listening to holiday music in October.  

The Grinch (I mean my husband) cannot tolerate my premature musical selections and does what he can to swiftly get out of earshot. 


When a person is as holiday-happy as me, there is no better place to work than a school.  If my own enthusiasm is not enough, the energy wafting off the children is absolutely contagious. 


I get excited when I hear Mrs. Thomas outside my door stapling her annual Christmas display to the bulletin board.  My heart beats a little faster when I walk past the music department and hear our student musicians coaxing melodies from shiny handbells and other instruments as they practice and perform Christmas music. 



Construction paper reindeer make me smile and the cookie and cocoa celebration in the cafeteria warms my heart along with my taste buds.  Adding wonderful perspective to all the sparkle and sugar, the wooden crèche in the main lobby reminds us all to pause and reflect on God’s great love for mankind. 





My very favorite annual school tradition is listening to small yet confident five-year-old voices as they narrate the story of Christ’s birth from memory.  





The second chapter of Luke quoted in this way is even better for me than blanket-loving Linus and his heartfelt recitation of the true meaning of Christmas. 

Because at Penn View the conveyors of the message are the little people in kindergarten I have come to know and love.  And they are sharing the greatest story ever told. 


















Wednesday, December 10, 2014

NOODLES IN SECOND GRADE!


I was walking down the hallway minding my own business when I heard the distinct thumping of a musical beat and became aware of exaggerated synchronous movements on the periphery of my visual field.  Curiosity stopped me dead in my tracks and I peeked through the classroom doorway to see what the ruckus was all about. Mrs. Smith’s second grade class was in serious motion!

This apparently happens with some regularity…. 



The participatory activity was from the website www.gonoodle.com and it looked like an advanced Zumba class for short people!  



Arms and legs were flapping in time to the music, concentration was etched on determined faces and little cardiovascular systems were pumping.  I was entertained and intrigued.


You can see what I mean about busy arms in the video clip above! They look a little like synchronized swimmers. This crew give a honking of Canadian geese some serious competition. 

Seasoned first grade teacher Gem Miller shared the noodly website tip with Mrs. Smith and her timing was great.  Increasingly, research shows that exercise has a positive impact on the mind. The link between healthy bodies and healthy minds seems to become more firmly established with each new study. Mrs. Smith has taken this clinical evidence to heart as she applies those awesome benefits directly to the brains of the children in her classroom via video feed. 





The students have favorite movements associated with gonoodle.  Luke mentions “running like a cat” and reports that this activity helps his class to “get their wiggles out.” 





Alex’s favorite video involves ninja moves.  Lily (the adorable purple-shirted exerciser in the very short clip below) says she likes the routine where she gets to do the “rainbow” move. Oh my goodness...the rainbow move.  I didn't get to see that particular part of the routine but I sure do love this girl. (DISCLAIMER - IF THIS VIDEO CLIP WORKS THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO, YOU MIGHT NEED SOME DRAMAMINE TO WATCH IT....)


A sedentary education is counterintuitive to the learning process.  Conversely, movement engages the brain.  The crazy noodling going on in second grade not only improves focus and increases brain function, it helps get rid of unnecessary stress too!

There is A LOT of input about which clip to play when the teacher asks the students for suggestions. On the day Kathy Gordon and I went to take some photos of the class, the chosen selection for their short exercise break was gonoodle’s DINOSTOMP.  Like a well-oiled machine, the class transitioned easily from their quiet independent reading to the bustling movements associated with the clip. 

Mrs. Smith’s instructions to the class began with: “Find a spot where it is safe to do gonoodle!” 



Minutes later there was some wild and wonderful stomping and arm swinging going on.











What astonishing feats our minds might accomplish if we routinely added some physical effort to the mix! 


My hips and I have long experienced a love-hate relationship with pasta.  What a nice discovery, finding there is finally a noodle I can enthusiastically endorse!

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

NO FERRIS WHEEL REQUIRED


I am a sucker for a book sale.  I blame my parents; dedicated bookworms from way back.  In his eighth decade, my Dad still cannot resist flicking on his turn signal when he spies the Used Book Sale sign at the Indian Valley Public Library.




With genetics like this at play you can just imagine the great willpower it takes to keep me firmly rooted in my office when the biannual Penn View Book Fair is happening RIGHT ACROSS THE HALL. 







It matters not that my reading level has progressed beyond most of the available books....


Twice each year I can hear the books calling me from their tabletop display. Their tenacious papery voices are relentless.   


Mrs. Thomas manages to make the whole thing look effortless, but much planning and dedication goes into our school’s book fair events.  


Abram working on his wish list



The first sale happens in cooperation with a wonderful local bookstore, Harleysville Books.  Roughly 900 books head home with eager students after each Penn View Book Fair.  

The second fair (scheduled this school year for April 20th through the 24th) is a wonderful recycling opportunity.  Generous patrons discover once-adored books gathering dust on home bookshelves and generously send them our way for the sale. (Feel free to clean off your shelves and donate too!) At the used book fair, buyers pick up reasonably priced gently-loved books while helping to raise funds so Mrs. Thomas can purchase new books for the school library.  It’s a win-win! 


My grown children no longer need picture books, but apparently that isn't enough good reason to stop me from purchasing at least one large edition each year.  I often give my acquisitions to my baby sister for Christmas.  She may be pushing 50 but she’s young at heart and loves stories as much as I do.





























Our students love books too!
Some fairs have games of chance, Tilt-A-Whirl, and sugared elephant ears. 

Other fairs have inviting book piles - providing hundreds of small windows into worlds of mystery, biography, science, and adventure.  Wonderful pages of words can transport the reader to another place and another time.  


I’ll take a book fair over a grimy old nausea-inducing carnival any day of the week. Grab a bookmark and come with me.  No Ferris wheel required.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

ANGELS WITHOUT WINGS



There are angels in the building, of that I’m sure.  Intervention from heaven’s helpful unseen angels is something for which we are humbled and thankful.  But here at Penn View we've got a vast collection of the wingless angel variety as well.



Our angels can be found laminating and making photocopies.  



They are sometimes standing on precarious chairs while stapling colorful construction paper to hallway bulletin boards. 








Library books are checked out for students by these wonderful helpers.  


















Others offer their services to make health screenings in the nurse’s office go quickly.









Some of these assistants manage the annual comb supply, straightening wayward strands of unruly student hair in the minutes before annual cheesy grins are flashed for the school photographer.  



I occasionally pass angels in the drafty elementary school hallway.  They are perched on painfully miniature student chairs but seem undaunted by the temperature and the chairs as they patiently turn pages and offer loving encouragement to our smallest readers. 


Tireless angels don aprons and hats, serve funnel cakes, cut strawberries, and organize games for children.  A team of angels works all year long to prepare for the annual Country Fair and Auction.


Ryan's mother, volunteering during kindergarten art class 




Those with the capacity to tune out earsplitting enthusiasm might be found in the cafeteria midday helping to corral feasting students during lunchtime.  Some might wish for earplugs as the lunchtime chatter volume can be a bit overstimulating! 


Fine motor skills are required of these angels as they spend a lot of time freeing apple wedges and saltine crackers from their zealously-sealed protective wrappers.  Our angels are splashed almost continually by juice boxes, long tubes of yogurt, and frustratingly difficult containers of mandarin oranges.  It’s amazing how far those sneaky packaged foods manage to spit at the person trying oh-so-carefully to open them.



Not all of our wingless angels are seen. Many are behind the scenes, giving precious hours of their time for planning, cutting, assembling, and praying. 


Penn View’s parent and grandparent volunteers are a most wonderful and appreciated category of angel.  We sure love having them as part of our school community.  

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

LET'S TALK TURKEY

Traditions are plentiful during the holiday season.  A favorite way to launch myself into Thanksgiving each year is to take a stroll down the fourth grade hallway.

When you think Thanksgiving turkey, you undoubtedly think Butterball or maybe your mind goes to our local Bolton Turkey FarmBut having a vegetarian daughter (who believes with her whole heart that Tofurky is an adequate substitute for the anchoring entrée of most Thanksgiving meals) has pretty much ruined me for roasting pans and cornbread stuffing.  So it’s a really good thing I’ve got some other turkeys to enthusiastically enjoy. 



For as long as I can remember, there has been an extraordinary turkey decorating contest in the fourth grade.  The Statue of Liberty and the Phillies Phanatic are both memorable past entries. We can even boast that George Washington (at least a rough bird depiction of him) once slept here.



My son is now a grown man.  When he was a Penn View student he chose to dress his cardboard turkey in the garb of a pilgrim.  I’m not convinced classic black and white puritan apparel is an accurate historical reflection of pilgrim, but Isaac’s turkey was all that.  The details are a bit sketchy after eighteen years but I’m certain there were tinfoil shoe buckles involved. 

Eight years later, my daughter's turkey bore the uniform of a cafeteria lady, its craft store feathers attractively mingling with a turkey-sized green Penn View apron.  I wish I still had a photo. In fact now that I think about it, I lost a nice miniature wooden spoon to that school project....

Regarding present-day turkeys…
the entries this year did not disappoint!












Clowns, mummies and pop stars, OH MY!



As you can see above, a diva resplendent in her feather boa was looking elegant despite being tacked to a festive bulletin board.  Her red-haired friend next-door was lovely.  

Soccer players, butchers, superheroes, and lambs were affixed side-by-side, jump-starting holiday spirits for passersby in the elementary hallway.  


An interesting twist this year included a number of turkeys doubling as hunters. Some of their cardboard bodies were bedecked in camouflage, their feathered fingers carrying archery supplies and in the case of one pilgrim portrayal- musket armament.  How the tables have turned (pun intended) - Feathers on the hunting end of the equation! Perhaps our young turkey designers were hoping to give Thanksgiving turkeys a fighting chance…. 














Being quite fond of nature the way God so amazingly shaped it, I’m always a little partial to the entries which still bear some resemblance to fowl. Feathers are good and this soccer player needs a shave.







I enjoy them all, so thankfully I am not part of the judging panel. 





I have a rather sentimental attachment to Waldo (of Where's Waldo fame) but the tacky tourist is my personal favorite this year.














Holiday fun, creativity, and a little friendly competition.  

Just three of the innumerable things for which we at Penn View are incredibly thankful. 
Some of Mrs. Roth's turkey designers hamming it up for the camera.