Wednesday, December 16, 2015

VISIONS OF SUGAR PLUMS


Anticipation associated with Christmas takes on a whole new energy level when the fire is lit with the contagious enthusiasm of children.  


If we had a giant thermometer to measure Penn View holiday spirit in the weeks leading up to Christmas break, we would be registering a significant Christmas fever by early December. 




The littlest Penn View people are bedecked in reindeer headbands and sporting festive bells on their shoelaces.  

Wonderfully adorable shepherds, kings, angels, Josephs and Marys adorn hallway bulletin boards. 


Small enthusiastic voices rang out like joyous bells during Penn View’s annual Christmas benefit concert in early December. 






But seasonal excitement is alive and well in the Middle School too. 


(Not that anyone is counting down to Christmas break or anything….)   






There are small groups working to retell the Christmas story in cartoon-form in Mrs. Kotecki’s 6th grade homeroom.  





Ryan knew immediately that his story would be written from the perspective of the donkey carrying Mary.









Ashlann and Emily write from the little-known perspective of chickens (feathered friends of Bethlehem, heretofore cast as only minor characters in the Nativity story)! 



Mrs. Kotecki shared her favorite slice of the Christmas story.  She loves the part when the ragtag shepherds are just “chilling in the field” and along comes a great company of angels lighting up the sky.  Loving words as much as I do, she can visualize what it meant for those unsuspecting shepherds to feel “sore afraid.”

Makayla and Melissa will almost certainly draw
their cartoon with the Wise Guys in mind.... Hannah is still thinking.

Devon has so many great ideas.
Makes it hard to choose just one.

    












Music teacher Mrs. Landes is a serious decorator, her room festive with garland and Christmas balls!

On to 7th grade!  Though they weren’t convincingly awake when we visited with them first thing in the morning, Mrs. Kennel’s seventh graders started work on a different kind of group project last week.  Each student received a tiny paper square which they would attempt to enlarge.  

Each square has a different design and a designated number so that when the individual 5x5 inch papers are drawn, the squares can be placed in precise order on a large wall grid.



The final product remained a mystery until all the drawings were complete. 

Almost done! 


Middle School student council representatives took part in the Souderton Christmas parade on December 5th.  




It was a new experience for 7th grader Cassidy Williams.  In her words, "The parade was tiring but the home stretch was awesome and there was hot chocolate at the end!"

"The best way to spread Penn View cheer is driving a float for all to see!"
quote by 8th grader Carlie Cocco
(seen in photo above squinting in the Saturday sunshine).
She adds, "It doesn't rhyme, but OH WELL!!" 

8th grade student Miguel Santiago thought it was great to see all the people watching from the curb.  He enjoyed how excited they got when the Penn View float came cruising by. Some of our smaller students and teachers were float riders. 

Libbie Derstine’s favorite part of the day was seeing the faces of the happy children when they received the mints dispensed by Penn View students.




Math can be used for all sorts of interesting things, not the least of which is calculating the approximate costs involved for someone who actually follows through with the kind of extravagant gifting described in one of the world’s most annoying holiday tunes, 
The Twelve Days of Christmas.  

Add to the mix, one Middle School social studies teacher.  Our dear Mr. Long.  We wonder if he knows Mrs. Kennel is using his name and romantic leanings as fodder for a math assignment….  



Mrs. Kennel decided that the gifts should be counted again for each day they are mentioned in the song.  That's a whole lot of partridges in pear trees (and sounds too much like math to me). With the repetitive nature of the verses, the approximate cost for those 364 gifts in today's market would fall somewhere in the neighborhood of $116,272.72.  Nope.

Ten lords-a-leaping alone could run someone’s “true love” well over $5,000.00 per day (and good luck finding eight maids with time enough for milking with all the other tasks that need doing at this time of year)! 


With Christmas sugar cookies from the cafeteria on our collective breath and visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads, our learning community is humming in eager anticipation of our favorite holiday of the year. 


We remember God’s amazing gift to mankind and feel blessed to freely and enthusiastically celebrate the birth of our redeemer, Jesus Christ.