SWEET SPOT

Lunchtime was a much different experience when I started working at Penn View fifteen years ago.   Our school community was housed in a relatively dated building with no cafeteria at all.  Tucked in the small corner of a rather obscure hallway sat a beloved freezer which contained several ice cream confections for purchase.  Eager students would bring their quarters in trade for an ice cream sandwich or Popsicle to cap off the packed lunch they had just consumed in the classroom.  It is the stuff of legend!  My son and his peers enjoyed hours of wonderful lunchtime hangman on dusty chalkboards with volunteer lunch parents. Yet they claim deprivation upon seeing the beautiful cafeteria and delicious food now served at their alma mater.  I’ve heard Penn View graduates in their late twenties and early thirties telling the stories of having to “eat lunch at a desk!”  just as those of us in preceding generations recall with drama the torture that was walking to school…in the snow drifts… for miles and miles…..

One of the classrooms in Penn View's former building.  We LOVED those chalkboards!

Noontime frozen treats were a big deal when I was in school and remain just as popular with the Penn View crowd.  My own memories involve a small portion of vanilla ice cream in a soft folded paper dispenser that could be squeezed with great satisfaction into one’s mouth.  This delicacy was called a “squeezie.”  At the risk of dating myself, I recall this treat costing me a WHOLE NICKEL.  A friend reminded me recently that our pal Susie Johnson would purchase one of these confections every single day.  She’d methodically bore holes with her milk straw and douse the entire product with chocolate milk in an effort to transform the flavor from boring old vanilla.

Flash forward forty-odd years.  Penn View cashier Lisa Nice reports that just like my childhood friend Susie, there are several students whose lunch is not complete without a visit to the ice cream freezer. 

Sweet second grader Evie LOVES her ice cream.  She is, after all, a Rosenberger’s Dairy descendant. 

Delicious ice cream is probably part of her genetic makeup!  Besides that, it’s portable and IT’S PINK.

It is entirely possible that the two biggest ice cream sandwich fans in the building are eighth grader Sam Vervoort and last year’s Interim Executive Director, Dr. Don Steiner! 

 

Dr. Steiner (pictured above) might try deny his ice cream sandwich attachment, but we have lots of witnesses who are willing to testify…. 

Kaleb thinks cones are definitely the way to go!

Dr. Lore, caught with a cone.

Food Services Director John Anderson does an outstanding job finding healthy options and alternatives for our cafeteria.  He says, “Fortunately, there are some better choices available today.  Delicious possibilities without all the extra calories and saturated fat we ate when we were children.”

Wikipedia describes “sweet spot” as the place where a combination of factors results in a maximum response for a given amount of effort.  But I contend, a “sweet spot” can also occur in the middle of an ordinary school day with a detour for frosty contentment courtesy of Penn View cafeteria's well-appreciated ice cream freezer!  

WE LOVE GRANDPARENTS!

Grandparents can be wonderful for hugs, support, wisdom, and let’s be frank…indulging their grandchildren. Here at Penn View we are grateful and honored to be beneficiaries of time given by some of these special people. It just doesn’t get any better than grandparents who cheerfully volunteer their presence at school! 

We have amazing parent and aunt volunteers too. Though there are many helpers for whom our school community is sincerely thankful, we’d like to shine the spotlight on two established standouts in this month’s blog. Their faithfulness as volunteers is a true gift to us.

Linda Dariano (better known in these parts as “Mrs. D”) is the embodiment of sunshine on two feet. She can regularly be seen in the hallway reading books with kindergarten students. Even perching on a miniature student chair in the occasionally chilly hallway for these readings does not dissuade her passion for helping our newest readers. 

The kindergarten teachers and students find her to be amazing.  As teacher Melissa Quirk reports, “Seldom do grandparents come in to read in the hallway with our kindergartners, but Linda does. She is so sweet and willing to help out. She always has a smile.”  

This is the second year Mrs. D has read stories with our students.  When she heard there was a need, she jumped at the opportunity.  Six of Linda’s grandchildren currently attend Penn View and love to see their grandmother’s face in the hallway at school. They also enjoy harassing her for gum from her purse but that is a story for another day! :) 

"Mrs. D" and her wonderful collection of  Penn View grandchildren!

After a move to our area six years ago, Peggy Deily happened to drive her car past a sign advertising a Penn View Open House. Attending the event, she decided to offer us some precious volunteer hours. She shares, “I was willing to volunteer somewhere but I sure am blessed to be at Penn View.” It has been six years since Peggy found us and she appreciates the freedom to share her faith as well as her gifts in teaching. Stopping to pray with a struggling student is a privilege she does not fail to appreciate.  

Peggy came to us after retiring from the Reading School District with a wealth of experience in special education. It was time for her husband to retire and even though she wasn’t ready to leave teaching, she followed suit.  She and her husband enjoy five grandchildren. Though her own grandchildren are not students on our campus, she maintains wonderful connections with the children of Penn View. 

Peggy LOVES travel and unlike many of us- she adores snow!  She is such a regular presence in the lives of Penn View elementary students, it is hard to remember she is not actually on payroll. Peggy is a regular Energizer Bunny, jumping in with unbridled enthusiasm wherever she is needed. The teachers who work alongside her have noted her patience and her willingness to take on whatever job needs doing. No task is too small or too large. 

Our teachers appreciate Peggy’s enduring smile. When asked if there are any words they’d like to share about Peggy, one teacher reported, “I could go on forever!” 

Peggy’s quick response and efficient project completion make her an invaluable part of the Penn View team.  She leads book clubs for advanced readers in our elementary school. Peggy tutored some of our international students and spends time catching up students who missed work due to absence. She uses her gifts to reinforce math concepts when someone is having difficulty. In a pinch she has even helped in the nurse’s office with vision screening. 

First grade teacher Gem Miller sums it up this way. “Peggy Deily should be sainted for all of the work she does here!”  

Peggy is focused on her personal mission.  One morning recently, she shared the tattered piece of paper she carries with her at all times. Why I Volunteer:  “Whoever serves should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 4:11b

We are so thankful for the assistance and influence these amazing women provide as they interact with our school community.

In November 2013, a special photograph was taken of our entire school community.
Ever the adventurer, Peggy ascended inside Bergey's Electric cherry picker,
fulfilling a bucket-list dream.  

If you have hours to share and would like to join our remarkable volunteer team, contact Jennifer Crissman (215-723-1196, ext 1304 or jcrissman@pennview.org )

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 6^th 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 5^th.  




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.