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. 

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 V 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!

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 24^th) 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.