Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Winter Warmth Not Hard to Find At Stonehedge

No Bullying Here!


Last week all first grade children spent the morning immersed in messages about friendship. The anti-bullying message can be a difficult concept for young children to understand and to deal with independently. This special day focused on defining bullying, identifying the many ways to be a kind and caring friend, and learning how to solve problems when faced with conflict here at school. Students did cool activities, sang songs, listened to stories and watched a video that coordinates with our school’s effort to be bucket fillers.  Different thoughts about friendship can be seen throughout the entire hallway. Thank you to the first grade team of teachers for coordinating this day!

Click HERE to view a video entitled, "How Full Is Your Bucket?"

Students buddied up and wrote out descriptions of why they are thankful for their friends.



Character Education: Developing Caring and Compassion
Compassion for others is a character trait that young children need to develop and adults need to foster. When children feel compassion and express it through acts of kindness, they make themselves better people and the world is a better place. Miss Finger and Mrs. Schweitzer’s classes were proud to lead this month’s character education assemble.  Children watched a video called Boomerang(Click here to view.)  which demonstrated the power of Random Acts of Kindness.  They witnessed how individuals put others’ needs and feelings before their own needs and most importantly, expected nothing in return. This is a good time of the year for students to extend a helping hand and foster compassion and empathy for others.

Students were sent home with a list of ways they could perform random acts of kindness. They are encouraged to pick one and write what they did to be helpful on the paper hand that also came home. The hope is that the walls of the school will be lined with green helping hands!

During the assembly, second graders showed how quickly acts of kindness can spread by starting several lines of handshaking to spread compassion.

Many families have done exactly this by sending in donations for our very own Stonehedge PTA Giving Tree. If you intend on making a donation, please remember that the deadline (December 12)  is quickly approaching. Thank you in advance for the outpouring of support for our Stonehedge families and the Samaritan Center. 


 First Grade HEDGE Award Winners
Jackson Austin, Lainah Baker, Jayden Carlisle, Brayden Carvel, Crystal Clark, Addison Connelly, Evan Dufford, Sarah Domin, Harper Flynn, Ashley Foss, Elizabeth Friers, Evan Grebenevich, Ethan Harvey, Dhiraj Jampana, Payton Jeffery, Mason McAloon, Katie McDonough, Stella Mikhailova, Alice Pratt, Ayesha Rehman, Daniel Schiffer, Logan Scott, Clayton Watkins, Daniel Yatsula, Za'nigh Yost, Landyn Young


Second Grade HEDGE Award Winners
Angelina Allen, Justyna Apps, Keira Braun, Gianna Caraccio, Alex Cardone, Audrey  Diddle, Makayla Dunham, Mark Gabello, Tommy Gozzi, Gabriella Hinman, Thomas Levison, Yuliana Melnik, Ryan O'Connor, George Ponto, Peyton Rosenthal, Jonathan Shoults, Ava Spraker, Jayden Torrance, Paul Toumbacaris, Kyra Vargas, Angelo Vrabel, Ariana Welsh, Hannah Wood


Performers Delight at Winter Concert
Yesterday students throughout the school enjoyed a winter assembly with delightful, seasonal music performed by the fourth and fifth grade chorus as well as the fifth grade orchestra.






Please remember: If you have a change of plans for your child's dismissal, you must send in a note ahead of time. Forms were sent home earlier this year and more are available through the office. 

Also: When winter weather is predicted, stay tuned to Dr. Brown's twitter feed, the website, district facebook page, the West Genesee app, and the local radio and television stations for information on delays and cancellations.