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Tuesday Bulletin Tuesday Bulletin Weekly Newsletter of the Home and School Association Lafayette Elementary School Washington, DC November 11, 2008 www.lafayettehsa.org Zelda Caldwell, editor MARK YOUR CALENDAR November 12 (Wednesday) and December 16 (Tuesday) – Deal Middle School Open Houses, 9-3 p.m. November 14 (Friday) – Square Dance, Lafayette Cafeteria, 7-9 p.m. November 20 (Thursday) – LHSA Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m. November 27-28 – Thanksgiving Holiday, no school December 8 (Monday) – Conference Day, no school FROM THE PRINCIPAL – Lafayette is recruiting new substitute teachers (see page 3) FROM THE HSA – John Katz and Diana Blitz, HSA co-presidents If it’s a crisp fall Saturday, the chances are good that, in between soccer, baseball, and other activities, a large number of Lafayette families will be at a cross country meet. This Saturday, the Lafayette team again dominated the city championships. At least as important as the victories is the esprit de corps that Mr. Thurston, assisted by Ms. Shapiro and Ms. de Jonckheere, has instilled in the kids. Every Lafayette runner who finishes is greeted by cheers from friends, family, and teammates, whether it’s the top finishers or those at the end of the pack. The Lafayette team is several times larger than most of the other teams (one often hears parents from other school saying, in amazement, “here comes another Lafayette runner,”) and that’s probably the case less because of the talent Lafayette has than because of how fun and challenging the coaches make the practices and meets. The team will be smaller next year, since only fourth and fifth graders can run, but it will undoubtedly be just as strong, in both skill and spirit. The fabulous Lafayette baking crew came through again on Election Day. On very short notice, our bakers produced a great array of breakfast treats to ease the hunger pangs of folks on line to vote, and we raised over $700. Thanks to Michelle Dolge and everyone else who helped. FROM THE MUSIC & BAND ROOM – Rebecca Stump, Music Teacher November has become a very exciting time for us here in the music room. In the different grades, we are celebrating Native American Heritage Month, the coming Thanksgiving holiday and Veterans day. We are doing some very creative original songwriting in the upper grades and beginning recorder instruction in 3rd grade. We hosted our first Informance of the year on Friday, with the 1st grade's Patriotic Celebration and we will be holding two more in the next two weeks. The 6th-graders will be rock stars for a day this week as their groups perform an original song based on the story Where the Red Fern Grows. Next Thursday, the 4th grade will help us celebrate our Native American heritage with a Pow Wow that includes Regalia, music making, dancing and arts and crafts. Note to Parents: I am still feverishly collecting coffee cans for the 6th-grade drum-making project. Please drop them off any time if you have empty cans. Thank you! 3rd-graders should bring a recorder to class on music days. If you don't own one, I have some for students to borrow, but it would be great if students had an instrument available to practice at home. 4th-graders should have brought home the Regalia homework assignment that will be due next week. Please let me know if you have any questions. In band news: With 48 4th- and 5th-graders participating in Beginning Band this year, 12- 12:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays can be a zoo in the music room. We have finally advanced enough to open our band books and start learning notes. So far, we have learned three notes and played through #10 in the Standard of Excellence book. Advanced band has been trying different songs out to see what we want to work on for our first concert. Exciting new pieces include the "Batman Theme" among others. As always, I hope that all band students are practicing at least 15 minutes a night and bringing their instruments home regularly. No one should be leaving an instrument in the music room over the weekends. Take those things home and practice them! FROM THE ART ROOM – Laurie McLaughlin, Art Teacher, Grades 1-6 November is always exciting in the art room. In addition to the many handcrafts that are created this time of year as we celebrate Native American Heritage Month, there are three exciting things to note: • Rainforest Habitat Exhibit: This humungous exhibit is on display in the Gym lobby hall until the Thanksgiving break. Each 2nd-grade child made a scientific illustration of an Amazon rainforest creature, then created a three- dimensional habitat with real (tactile) and visual texture. Each class was assigned a layer of the rainforest; forest floor, understory, canopy, and emergent layer. Ms. Stanton and Ms. Rankin’s class also wrote a class poem and Ms. Rankin’s class worked on some drama tableaus to illustrate our conservation book, “Stop That Noise.” Enjoy this display; we hope it prompts many interesting conversations about preserving this unique and special habitat. • Calendar 2009: This year’s calendar has gone to print and it’s gorgeous! We expect the finished product back by the middle of the month in time to purchase it for extra special gifts before you head off on your Thanksgiving trips. • Pow Wow Informance: The 4th-grade Pow Wow Informance and interactive museum will happen on the morning of Thursday, November 20 for all 4th-graders and their parents. I need help from 4th-grade parents putting our museum displays in the cafeteria Wednesday morning and after school, and running the craft stations during the Pow Wow itself on Thursday. Please drop me a note or e-mail if you can help: [email protected]. Thank you! SQUARE DANCE ON FRIDAY – Marjorie McClure, Physical Education teacher This Friday, November 14, we will be having a square dance. All Lafayette families with children of all ages are invited. Students in the 3rd grade and up are highly encouraged to attend. It is a novice dance so everyone will be learning together. So, get the family fed, put on your dancin’ shoes and head over to the school for a great night of family, friends and fun. The dance will be in the cafeteria from 7 to 9 p.m. Please make sure that children have a supervising adult with them. This is a family event. Some refreshments will be available. There will be prizes for the best dressed square dancers. I have two volunteers, and if anyone else can pitch in and help that would be great. Please contact Ms. McClure at [email protected]. Please also RSVP if you plan on attending. While it’s not mandatory, it will help with the planning. STUDENT COUNCIL NEWS – Kristina Colevas, 5th grade treasurer This year we have a new thing for the kids at Lafayette. It's called the Piggy Bank Campaign. People donate money to the Central Union Mission so they can buy Thanksgiving dinners for the needy people in the Washington area. Each dinner is $1.93 and we will be collecting coins (or Tuesday Bulletin 11-11-08 – page 2 dollars!) in the Great Hall by the security desk. The due date for turning in money is Friday, November 21. Please bring in money! It's going to a good cause. SALLY FOSTER: LAST CALL If you are missing items from your order or received products you did not purchase, please contact Kim Gross ([email protected]) or Sara Durr ([email protected]) no later than this Thursday, November 13. And don't forget, you can continue to raise money for Lafayette by ordering from sallyfoster.com. Be sure to enter our school code: 499222. LAFAYETTE TRIUMPHS AT CROSS COUNTRY CITY CHAMPIONSHIPS – Coach Robert Thurston Fort Dupont Park, Saturday, Nov. 8—In a fitting ending to a stellar season, both our boys and girls teams took top honors at today’s DCIAA City Championship Meet. Will Oakley led the boys with his winning time of 13:17; Alex Ganote grabbed second place in 14:02; Nicholas Neptune in 14:29 nipped Kevin Merriam, 14:30. Completing a Lafayette sweep of the first five places was Colin Trinity in 15:03, having run the last half of the race with only one shoe! Nathan Kovar, 8th in 15:35, and Nick Girdis, 10th in 17:05, gave us extra “insurance” that would have assured a victory if any of our top five had dropped out. The boys needed no insurance today, beating their nearest opponent, Nalle, by a scored of 15 to 49. With the girls it was a different story: Lafayette was holding the first five positions in the race, but about halfway through Charlotte Oakley had to drop out due to extreme breathing difficulty. We don’t have the girls’ times right now but Kristina Colevas won the race; Rose Marshall took second place; and Liana Moore-Butler claimed the bronze medal. After Sahna Sabbakhan took fourth place, we watched nervously while runners wearing other colors (notably the red of Stuart Hobson) crossed the line. But finally we spotted two runners in blue uniforms: Malayna Nesbitt, 18th; and Nia Crawford, 19th. We were safe, and the girls joined the boys as team champions. In the B Team races, Lionel Kearse won the boys’ event in 15:25, closely followed by Stephen Berg, 2nd in 15:28 (both ran fast enough to have placed in the top ten of the championship event).
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