KidsView Winter, 2008 KidsView online at www.glencoewest.org/happenings.lasso KidsView Staff: Fabulous West Fair By: Bianca S. and James D. Erin A. Have you heard? On November 9, many students from West School (and other Sacha A. Glencoe schools) came to the West World Tour! This fair is sponsored each year by the Emily B. Glencoe PTO. This year to celebrate West School’s 50th anniversary, the school decided to also raise money to buy a PlayPump for a community in Sub-Saharan Africa through Sabrina B. an organization called PlayPumps International. A PlayPump is a combination of a Dylan B. merry-go round and a water pump. Kids pump clean water up from the ground and Celia B. have fun at the same time. Each PlayPump costs $15,000 and so far, West has raised Jack C. about $9,000. The topic of the fair was “Around the World.” If you went to the fair, you James D. definitely saw the flags from many different countries hanging everywhere! To play Henry E. the awesome foreign games, you first made a passport. The games were hoopball, Eric F. basketball, scooter racing, bootball, can knocking, hockey, and ring toss. You received a Eliana F. stamp if you played a game, and if you played them all you would get a prize! The prizes were either a troll or a Webkinz. Also, there was a cakewalk! Lots of cakes were Chloe F. brought in and it cost $1 to play. Everybody had so much fun winning cakes! Also, the Elizabeth G. DJ in the gym was a big hit. Many kids were showing off their moves on the dance Hannah W. floor. The company, Icon, had a blast too! “Dancing with Icon made me feel like a Dylan H. star!” says fourth grader Rose G. One of the best parts of the fair was the book fair. Many families bought lots of books. Roland Smith’s new book, Peak, was sold out in no Mia K. time! It was a great way to celebrate books. Chloe K. Another great thing about the fair was the teacher auctions. To raise money for Danny K. PlayPumps, teachers donated time to do activities with Madeline K. students outside of school, such as lunch or bowling. At the fair, students bid on these items. Another part of the Sabrina K. auction was the raffle to be “principal for an hour!” Each Sophie K. ticket cost $5.00. There were two drawings. The winners Katie K. were Erin M., from Mrs. Berkley’s class, and Bianca S., from Sam L. Mrs. Ross’ class. West School 5oth Anniversary T-shirts and water bottles were also sold to benefit PlayPumps. Harris L. Students sill enjoy wearing their shirts and drinking out of Grant M. their reusable water bottles instead of plastic bottles. Mrs. Fischer and Mrs. Ross Enya M. If you didn’t go to the fair, you missed a lot. Next year, go! sell raffle tickets! Jessica N. Annika P. Mary Amato Visits By: Emily B. Addie R. On November 29, author Mary Amato visited West John R. School. She has written many books including, Please Write in this Book, The Word Eaters and the Paul S. Riot Brothers series. Mary Amato was born on Jacob S. January 3, 1961, in Belvidere, Illinois. She grew up Hannah S. in Libertyville, Illinois. She married Ivan Amato, and David S. has two kids, Maxwell and Simon. Mrs. Amato has Bianca S. no pets, and her favorite food is chocolate. She told the students at West that she always wanted to be a Indigo S. writer and she loves to write! She started to write Ethan S. when she was seven years old and her mother Camryn W. handed her a little spiral notebook. She also told us Chayla W. how she gets some of her ideas and then we played a game in which the students acted out a story. It was Editors: great to meet an author of such fun books that many Mrs. Salzman Ms. Melamed students are now reading. Flag of the Day Wagner Farm The By: Eric F. By: Jessica N. Chicago Tour By: Chloe F. Flag of the Day happens the week of the West World Tour. During lunch period, third and fourth graders receive 3 clues and are shown a flag. Then they try to guess what country the flag All the third grade classes belongs to. The students received participated in the Chicago clues such as: “this country bus tour in October that took produces 220,000 tons of This year all fourth graders went them to many historical chocolate a year.” The flag for to the Wagner Farm, one of the sites like the Firehouse, the the third graders is different last historic working farms in Chicago History Museum, than the one for the fourth Cook County. The Glenview where we ate lunch, Clarke graders. The third graders Park District purchased the House, the Board of Trade farm in early 2000. The Wagner received clues for these flags and the Opera House. Some Farm is an 18.6 acre farm starting on Monday: Australia, preserved for educational third graders had a picnic on Belgium, Austria, Netherlands, purposes. When you go there the museum campus on and Egypt. The winners of third you can do tons of activities like: Lake Michigan’s shore. grade were Mr. Johnson's class, milking a cow, learning about Some classes also saw Ms. Hand’s class and Ms. chickens, seeing the Wagner's Millennium Park. They left Shapiro’s class. The fourth house in the 1920’s, and the school at 9:00 and came learning how to make a very graders received more challenging back at 3:00. At the yummy lunch! One thing we flags and clues. The fourth learned about was the Firehouse they saw the spot graders received clues for these difference between straw and where the Chicago Fire flags: South Africa, Dominican hay. Straw is used for animal started and looked at all the Republic, Singapore, Chile and bedding, and hay is used for old fashioned fire equipment. Bangladesh. Ms. Meyer’s class some of the farm animals to They also went inside the fire won. The Lunch/Recess Council has eat. Also we learned that your truck to see what it looked phone line and your neighbor’s decided to start a trivia question like. The firemen explained phone line used to be because everybody loved a fun connected. This was called a everything about the activity at lunch. The Flag of the party line. So if you picked up Chicago Fire. The Chicago Day activities helped kids learn the phone you might hear your tour was a great experience about geography. neighbor talking to someone for the third grade classes. else. Plus, if you had a lot of Students learned a lot more kids like the Wagners did, then about Chicago for their they would most likely share a Chicago study. bed. How would you like it if you had to share a bed with your brother or sister?! I suggest that you visit the Wagner Farm. If you want to have a great deal of fun - go. Because that is where you can learn to be a real genuine farmer! Did You Know? The MS Explorer ALL ABOUT Honduras By: Harris L. By: David S. WEBKINZ WORLD Honduras is a country near Mexico. It borders Guatemala, By: Camryn W. El Salvador and Nicaragua. It Breaking news is in North America. It is in Webkinz World: 43,443 square miles, about Go on to today’s the size of Tennessee. The activities and language Honduran’s speak is click on Spanish. Honduras has about Webkinz quick 7,400,000 people living The MS Explorer hit an draw and this there. Honduras’ capital is Tegucigalpa, which means iceberg and sank 75 is how it works. On the bottom miles north of the “silver mountain”. The Arctic Peninsula on there is a number. You take the country is a democracy now November 23, 2007. The coin and you scratch the blue but it is one of the poorest MS Explorer sank in and if you get the same number countries in Latin America. water that was 25° and 2,000 feet deep. There you get an exclusive item. Also Honduras got its independence was a 10 by 4 inch there are new Webkinz. They from Spain in 1821 and its gash in the hull of are Collie the Penguin and the Independence Day is on the ship that people September 15. During their Charcoal Cat. At the Kinzville think was made by ice. revolution Tegucigalpa was The MS Explorer was Academy there is a new class. completely destroyed but after 246 feet long and It is fashion class. Five models 2,400 tons. All of a the war it was rebuilt. sudden there was a come out and you try to Honduras’ revolutionary war loud bang and then a memorize what they are wearing. was a lot like America’s. The passenger reported sea Then they go back in and you try President’s name is Manuel water in their cabin. to select the clothes they were Zelaya. Honduras has 595 km Everyone on board had of railroad. There are many to wait in life boats wearing. At the curio shop you mountains in Honduras and it for three to four can search for gems. If you find hours before a borders the Caribbean Sea. Norwegian ship came to a gem, it could be the gem of There are Mayan ruins in rescue them.