MARVIN B. SMITH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

V OLUME XLIII, N UMBER 1

J ANUARY 2012

Smith School Spelling Bee The Smith School Spelling Bee was held on December 20, 2011 in the school Media Center. Students from each homeroom class in Grades 4 and 5 were selected from classroom bees in order to participate. Each student was given a study list of words from the Scripps National Organization in order to prepare for the school bee. Mrs. Paula Hare was the school pronouncer, while Mr. Blunk, Ms. Isley, and Mrs. McGinnis were the judges. The following students were classroom winners and were present at the school bee in December: TJ Moore from Mr. Reynolds’ class, Pradyot Uday from Mrs. Alford’s class, James Spradlin from Mrs. Pore’s class, Ian Wagoner from Mrs. Mize’s class, Cale

Presley from Ms. Arvo’s class, Michael Steed from Ms. Desern’s class, Grishma Patel from Mrs. Adkins’ class, and Tyrese Mebane from Ms. Hallberg’s class. The students did an excellent job of spelling words of various origins. The school winner, Grishma Patel, spelled the word “astrophysicist” in order to claim the title of the Smith School Spelling Champion for 2012. Each student received a certificate for participation, while Grishma also received a trophy in honor of her accomplishment. Grishma will go on to compete in the city championship sponsored by the Burlington Times News on February 9 at the Paramount Theatre. We wish Grishma the best of luck! Article by: Rebecca McGinnis

3rd Grade classes Perform Christmas Musical The 3rd Grade classes kicked off the holiday season with their performance of “The Reindeer Whisperer”. This year’s musical told the story of a misunderstanding that occurred when a group of elves overheard and misinterpreted a telephone conversation between Santa (played by Garrett Hauk) and “someone from California”. They thought Santa was planning to send the reindeers to a retirement ranch! They apparently shared the information with the reindeer and they became very upset and refused to fly the test flight on “Christmas Eve, Eve”. Mrs. Claus, (played by Anna Steed) a very effective and efficient manager of Christmas Eve, was extremely concerned that Christmas Eve might not happen this year. The elves, however, solved the problem by bringing in a “Reindeer Whisperer”, (played by Kiara Rodriguez) who quickly solved the problem by “whispering” with the reindeer team and clearing up the miscommunication.

A special part of this year’s holiday performance was the many people who gave of their time and talent to help make the musical a success. The teachers: Ms. Waller, Ms. Rieley, Ms. McNeill, and Ms. Hope, accommodated a very demanding rehearsal process; adapted to the schedule changes and last-minute situations that arose; and at the same time, maintained their classroom routines and managed a large group of very excited and energetic 3rd graders! There were also many talented and hardworking parents (and even grandparents) who generously shared their artistry to make the stage sparkle and the children shine! The staff joined in as well with Ms.Vickers, Coach Vaughn, Ms. Isley, Ms. Faircloth, and Ms. Hancock, providing “kid-management”and creative support at rehearsals. Ms. Vickers (assisted by Ms. Isley) even shared her artistic flair by giving the characters their rosy cheeks for the performance.

This special group of children gave a superb performance and the talent displayed through vocal solos, dances, comedy, and enthusiastic delivery of lines was extraordinary! It was a memorable experience and a wonderful way to start the holiday season! Article By: Bonnie Mehring

I NSIDE

THIS ISSUE :

Our Future Scientists

Page 2

PTO Update

Page 2

Newsworthy Seabees

Page 2

ESOL Happenings

Page 3

Down on the Farm

Page 3

Seabee Caring Closet

Page 3

Lazy 5 Adventure

Page 4

Battle of the Books

Page 4

The Buzz Choir

Page 4

School Safety Update

Page 4

MARVIN B. SMITH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Our Future Scientists Congratulations to all of our 63 Seabees that participated in the 2011-2012 Smith School Science Fair. We are all extremely proud of their exceptional efforts. Thank you to our supportive families for fostering and encouraging their natural curiosity in the field of science. Our four special guest judges from Carolina Biological were quite impressed at the amount of time and energy devoted to the projects. We thank them for taking time out of their busy day to come over to our school and assist with our fair. The following students were selected as winners: 3rd Grade 1st Place – Anna Steed “Enlightened Earthworms” 2nd Place – Jackson Faircloth “The Invincible Bubble” 3rd Place- Kenzie Talhelm “The Decay Disco” 4th Grade 1st Place – Ike Reeves “Drill Laser Drill”

PTO Update December proved to be a very busy, but exciting month at Smith! To go along with the festivities of the holiday, the PTO sponsored its traditional holiday store, The Christmas Cove. The kids really enjoyed shopping for their families and put a lot of thought and effort into the gifts they chose! We hope you enjoyed receiving them on as much as they enjoyed shopping for them! Smith School also held its second Book Fair with Barnes & Noble in December. We were excited to see so many of our students performing and want to thank all of our volunteers at the gift wrapping table. You could see how much fun everyone was having and it really helped us get into the Christmas spirit! Once again, fami-

2nd Place – Davis Thornton “Viscosity” 3rd Place – Carmen Miles “Colorific Flowers” 5th Grade 1st Place – Jade Hughes “Acid and Base all are about Color” 2nd Place – Dana Palmer “Is Smiling Contagious?” 3rd Place – Jack Simpson “What Should Jack Have Used to Water his Beanstalk?” Our first place winners from each grade level will travel to compete in the ABSS District Science Fair at Hawfields Middle School on January 25th. They will be interviewed by a panel of judges during the day, and then later that evening, will have the opportunity to attend the awards reception. This year’s science fair has been a beneficial learning experience for all involved. It is our hope that our students will continue to pursue their interests in science in their futures. Article by: Amber Arvo

Newsworthy Seabees

Our WBCB crew was chosen in October. We have a wonderful crew of 16 hard working individuals who pull together to report the news each Thursday morning. The on camera crew consists of Alex Pardue, Jade Hughes, Caroline Day, Grishma Patel, Michael Another dine-out night was held in December at Qdoba in Steed, Macray Braxton, and Alamance Crossing. We are Carley Willimas. The technical continually thankful for the crew is made up of Chloe support of our Seabee families Hicks, Kieran Bjork, Kira for our dine-out nights. We Thompson, Griffin Gee, Anna have heard from several of the restaurants we’ve been to that Hawley, Garrett Hewett, EdSmith had the largest turnouts ward Riera, Kaleb Currie, and Matthew Morrison. The they’ve ever had!! This just goes to show that it’s the sup- WBCB crew reports on all port of our families that makes kinds of happenings on camit possible for our PTO to give pus. Special assemblies, visiso much back to the school, tors, special events and anyand we appreciate it! thing going on here at Smith Article by: Susan Hall, Co-President, PTO

lies came out in support of Smith and the school, and we received a sizable gift card from our proceeds for the night. Principal Hancock will be able to shop online at Barnes & Noble.com to purchase any items of her choice for the school!

might make it as a Seabee report. We also feature birthdays, weather, historical events and announcements for the upcoming week. If you want to see the show first hand, you are always welcome to stop by the library on most Thursday mornings at 7:50. Tune in to see some stories about the wild and crazy things we do! Article by: Lindy Isley

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MARVIN B. SMITH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ESOL Happenings Have you ever tried to learn a second language? Most of us learn another language in a classroom and have very few opportunities to speak it elsewhere. Our ESOL students, however, not only receive daily instruction in the English language, but they also practice it for several hours with their classmates and peers. What would take us several years to learn just to be able to communicate socially, these bright children have picked up in one or two years!

This year our 2nd through 5th graders have connected with some other English Language Learners across the Atlantic Ocean, a class of Swedish 6th

grade children who are learning English as a foreign language. We began the liaison

session for our students to meet each other. The questions poured forth: “Why don’t you wear shoes in your school?” “Do you like sitting in those tall chairs at tall desks?” “Do you get to ride your skateboards to school?” “What do you make in your crafts class?” The session was a unique opportunity to connect with othby writing letters to the stuers who were struggling to dents and telling them a bit communicate in English, and it about ourselves. Imagine the made our own students feel thrill when they wrote each of very proud of their ability to our students in return, adhandle the language. We look dressing them by name! They forward to the next time we also sent us their class pictures can build on our relationship and individual pictures. Our with our international friends! students loved hearing about Article by: Sheila Hedgecock the Swedes and some of their interests.

Down on the Farm The kindergarten classes traveled to Homeland Creamery in Julian, NC. While at the dairy farm we were able to feed a calf, take a tour of the milking parlor, and we enjoyed a hayride through the pastures seeing the cows and bulls up close. After our many adventures on the farm we enjoyed a picnic under the large oak trees and were treated to delicious ice cream made by the creamery. What a wonderful and fun day! Article by: Ashley Sapp

This information provoked some questions in our students’ minds that they couldn’t wait to ask, so the Swedish teacher and I set up a Skype

Introducing our PTO's Seabees Caring Closet The PTO Philanthropy Committee has established the "PTO's Seabees Caring Closet" at our school. Times are tough for families more and more lately, and we are seeing children in need in our own school. Our goal is to help children, in a discreet manner, with various needs including clothes, shoes and weekend grocery bags. Together with Principal Julie Hancock, our guidance counselor, Mr. Blunk, and Mrs. Woodall, our school social worker, the PTO Philanthropy Committee has started a "closet" at school to house and organize these supplies. Teachers submit confidential requests to Mr. Blunk for review. The names of each child are kept private with Mr. Blunk and Mrs. Woodall, and they will make sure children receive items in a discreet manner. PTO members will not know the identity of recipients. PTO Board members, teachers and parents have been helping with the donations to fill the Caring Closet by providing the items children need.

Brand new and gently-used jeans, shirts, tennis shoes, coats and new packages of socks and underwear of all sizes are some of the clothing items being donated. For the weekend food bags, healthy prepackaged, nonperishable foods and snacks like fruit cups, pastas and granola bars are being provided. We plan to make the closet on ongoing project at our school for years to come. Donation boxes for the Caring Closet are located in the front office at school if you would like to help. If you have any questions, please contact PTO Philanthropy co-chairs: Amy Jennings ([email protected]) & Betsy Hooper ([email protected]) or Mr. Blunk at the school. Article by: Amy Jennings

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MARVIN B. SMITH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Battle Of the Books

The Lazy 5 Adventure!! If you want to put a smile on a first grader’s face, mention the Lazy 5 Ranch! Smith first graders had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville during the first semester! It was the perfect environment to enhance their study of living organisms. Upon arrival at the ranch the students were able to explore the petting area where they saw camels, llamas, peacocks, goats, macaws, prairie dogs, Japanese koi, lemurs, wallabies, exotic birds, a baby giraffe and more. Although these animals were exciting, the students couldn’t wait to get on the wagon for the horse-drawn ride through the ranch. On the wagon ride they were able to get a bucket of feed to give the animals along the trail. In fact, they were able to feed the four-legged animals from their hands because the animals were so friendly. Some of these animals included: bison, water buffalo, llamas, elk, deer, goats, and Scottish Highlander cattle. Stu-

dents also were able to hold up their feed buckets to feed the birds like ostriches and emus. They were thrilled to stop and feed the beautiful giraffes! Several animals were admired from a distance such as Luther the 2,000 pound rhinoceros, Grevy zebras (including a baby one), and huge horned Watusi cattle. By the end of the wagon ride the students had observed and fed exotic animals, gleaned interesting facts about them, and enjoyed the gorgeous countryside. After a picnic lunch and fun on the Noah’s Ark playground this year the students were treated to some new and exciting features of the Ranch: A corn pit (which explained kernels found in shoes, pockets, etc. after the trip!) that the children could jump in, immerse themselves in corn and have a ball, a hay bale mountain with slide tunnels and a “pumpkin chunkin’” station!! This trip created a wealth of background knowledge and memories for a lifetime! Article by: Donna Campbell

The Buzz Choir The Buzz Choir returned this year to bring their musical charm to the holiday festivities of Smith Elementary. This talented group of singers kicked off the December PTA Night with an energetic performance of “Nice, Nice Christmas” followed by “Blitzen’s Boogie”, during which they pulled out sunglasses and did cool moves to entertain the audience. They were also part of the festivities at the Barnes & Noble/ Smith Family Night held in December. Since they are such a large group, half the group performed at each of the two time

slots, and delighted everyone with their upbeat music and funloving attitudes. The Buzz Choir also sang for the Annual Christmas SingAlong held in the gym on the last day of school before the Winter Break. Santa even snuck in to surprise everyone as the Choir sang “Must Be Santa”. This special group of students added much sparkle to the already fun and festive holiday season at Smith Elementary. They were “all-a-Buzz” and a definite delight!

Our Smith Seabees have been very busy this year reading designated novels and taking book tests in an effort to make the Smith Elementary Battle of the Books team. Our team has been chosen, and the captains are Garrett Clark, Alex Pardue, Pradyot Uday, and Ian Wagoner. Team members are Luke Anderson, Diamond Day, Jasmine DubbsMcClure, Katherine Grant, Jade Hughes, Olivia Katsoudas, Hunter Lakey, Simon Lanzoni, Jack McGill, Janiel Mcleod, Ryan Mertz, Carmen Miles, Riley Nelson, Dana Palmer, Ryan Palmer, Jack Simpson, Michael Steed, Hanna Tawasha, Tessa Wells, and Mary Margaret Woodruff. These students will now be divided into four teams. They will continue to read and “battle” it out at our Tuesday afternoon practice sessions, as they prepare for the Smith Elementary Battle in April. Best of luck to all, and keep up the good work! Article by: Sandy Smith

School Safety Update School safety continues to be a priority at our school. With safety first, it continues to be important that students are not dropped off and or picked up at the condominiums next door, on Delaney Drive, and/or our bus parking lots. Please make sure you are dropping your child off in specific designated areas where school supervision is provided. We continue to make safety a priority at Smith School and as always, we thank you for doing your part to help us maintain a safe environment in our school driveways and parking lots! Our School Safety Committee met in November to discuss several strategies that could help enhance our safety plans throughout the school year. Our next Safety Committee Meeting is scheduled for February. Thank you for your continued support in keeping Smith Elementary safe for your children as well as our staff. Article by: Kristen Harrington

Article by: Bonnie Mehring

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M ARVIN B. S MITH E LEMENTARY S CHOOL N EWSLETTER

2235 Delaney Drive Burlington, North Carolina 27215

Phone: 336-570-6140 Fax: 336-570-6209 E-mail: [email protected]

Visit our school website: http://mse.abss.k12.nc.us

MARVIN B. SMITH ELEMENTARY

"At Smith Elementary School, We Smile, We Learn, We Make Things Happen, with Our Can Do Spirit."