December 2006 - Gilbertsville

VOLUME 17, NUMBER 4
December 2006
MISSION STATEMENT: The Gilbertsville-Mount Upton School District is committed to an educational environment that assures equitable opportunity for individuals to become
responsible, productive members of society. We will encourage individual excellence in students of all ages that they may gain a lifetime enthusiasm for work and learning.
Superintendent’s Message
Family Movie Night
This newsletter contains several reminders about holiday
Presented by GMU Building Level Committee
events coming up at the school. Please take a few moments to
The Polar Express
note when these programs will be taking place. There are winter
concerts presented by the Elementary, Middle, and High School
Friday, December 8
Music Departments, as well as the school musical with the Senior
GMU Auditorium, 6:00 p.m.
Citizens’ special preview, and the month ends with the Senior
Doors Open at 5:30 p.m.
Citizen Holiday Luncheon. I hope you will check on the dates
and times of these events and make an effort to come up to the
Free Admission
school and take part in them.
Refreshments Available
In addition to the cultural events noted above, the winter sports
Pizza
•
Hot
Dogs • Popcorn • And lots more!
season is now underway. The Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball Teams
will have their seasons in full swing by the time you receive this
newsletter. It should prove to be an exciting season for these
teams, so please stop up and catch a few games.
Attention GMU District Senior Citizens!
Finally, there are many interesting learning activities taking
It is that festive time of year again when the
place in your son or daughter’s classes. Many times teachers
Gilbertsville-Mount
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Board of Education Highlights
News from K-1
At their regular meeting October 3, the Board:
•Heard the Superintendent and members provide the following Positive Highlights:
- Congratulations to the staff for their efforts to offer
an impressive number of elective courses to Middle
and High School Students.
- Congratulations to Art Teacher Cheri Theis who was
selected as Teacher of the Week by WBNG TV.
- Congratulations to the Girls’ Varsity Soccer Team for
their 2-0 win over Franklin.
•Introduced to new teaching staff.
•Heard reports from the Principals on ELA Assessment
results and opportunities for enrichment in the Middle
and High School, including Advanced Placement and
college - level courses and 40 electives.
•Appointed winter coaches, Musical Director, an aide and
added two substitute teachers.
•Abolished two positions.
•Accepted a resignation.
•Initiated a security review of the school building.
•Adjourned at 8:55 p.m.
At their regular meeting October 17, the Board:
•Offered individual comments and vignettes as memorials
to deceased member Horst Simon.
•Heard the Superintendent and members provide the following Positive Highlights:
- The just concluded Scholastic Book Fair had gross
receipts of $2,200, of which $1,100 is paid to the
school to purchase books.
- High School mentoring under the Intensive Case
Management Program has been developed by the
LINKS Team and started.
•Heard a report by School Business Administrator
Jacqueline Foster, Incident Commander under the Emergency Action Plan, reported on the state of emergency
planning in the District.
•Approved the audit of the District’s basic financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006.
•A p p r o v e d S p e c i a l E d u c a t i o n C o m m i t t e e
recommendations.
•Accepted a resignation, appointed an LTA and added two
substitute teachers.
•Accepted a donation of a computer with gratitude.
•Agreed to District participation in a grant to improve
elementary science learning with SUCO.
•Met in executive session to discuss specific items and
negotiations.
•Adjourned at 8:56 p.m.
— Garrick Hoadley, Clerk
The K-1 classroom has been busy as we’ve welcomed in
winter with the themes of Scarecrows and Seasons, Family
and Friends, and Gingerbread. The students have been
focusing on decoding and reading comprehension through
theme-related materials. Kindergarten students have been
working hard on letters, sounds, and word families, and are
now halfway through the alphabet!
Students have discussed the four seasons and determined
their favorite, and then completed a persuasive writing
assignment to back up their ideas. We also completed creative scarecrow stories before we finished the Scarecrow
unit. In the math center, we used scarecrow templates to
teach us about place value.
During our Family and Friends unit, we each completed
our own family tree and discussed the diversity of our
families. This gave us a perfect opportunity to learn letter
writing as we wrote Thank You letters to a person in our
family who does a lot for us.
We are currently working on our Gingerbread unit, which
involves a lot of hands-on activities to keep us motivated
as we learn new skills including patterns, addition, parts
of a story, and comparing and contrasting.
— Jamie Privitera
K-8 Guidance News
Parent Night
Thank you to all who took the time to complete the
parent surveys that were sent home. With the information
that was gathered three Parent Night Workshops have been
scheduled; they are as follows.
December 11 — Helping your child be successful in school.
Study Skills / Homework Help, 6:00 -7:00 p.m. in the High
School Cafeteria
March 19 — Orientation for 8th graders going to 9th
grade
May 22 — Bullying and Harassment
More infor mation regarding time and place for
both March and May Parent Nights will be communicated through future newsletters and letters sent home.
You can also call the school with any questions that you
may have.
Red Ribbon Week
Red Ribbon Week was celebrated by students and
teachers in grades K- 8. This year’s theme was “Color My
World Drug Free.” Students had a great time participating
in themed days such as “Orange you glad I don’t do drugs”
(students wore orange) and “Drugs give you the blues”
(students wore blue). The purpose of Red Ribbon Week
Elementary Artist of the Month
is to educate and encourage students to be drug free and
live a healthy lifestyle. A BIG THANK YOU to all parents
who supported their children’s participation in this very
important event. I would also like to thank all students in
grades K- 8 who took the time to create a poster for the
poster contest. Everyone was a winner; all participants
received a special prize.
Banana Splitz
The student support group “Banana Splitz” for students
in grades 1- 6 has begun to meet during lunch times. Students who have had a recent life change in their family are
invited to participate. Students learn to identify feelings,
deal with conflict and learn positive communication skills.
Everything is going well and students seem to be enjoying
the time that they are spending with peers. If you have any
questions about Banana Splitz please feel free to call me
at 783 - 2207, ext. 118.
The Artist of the Month for this month is Marena
Zaczek. Marena is in Ms. Gauda’s first grade class.
We did pictures using string, paint and permanent markers.
The students could choose any subject they wanted, and
Marena chose a turtle because she likes turtles. Another
thing Marena likes is to make butterflies out of clay, and
to draw all kinds of animals. She likes to use a lot of pink,
purple and yellow in her artwork. Congratulations Marena,
for a wonderful turtle picture!
Classroom Guidance
In grades K-3 we have been learning positive ways
to keep ourselves and others happy, healthy and safe.
I have been reading to the classes from books that
reinforce positive character traits like caring, cooperation, respect, responsibility, giving and understanding.
We have also begun to talk about families and how they
are special to us.
At grades 4 - 6, I have been meeting in small lunch groups
to see how their year is going and address any concerns or
issue that any individual or group may have. In the Middle
School Advisory, time has been focused on understanding individual and group differences and respect for self
and others.
Greetings from Mr. T’s Class
It has been a very exciting time in fifth grade this
month . . . here are the highlights.
In social studies we completed our unit on Native
Americans with a visit by local archaeologists Rebecca
and David Moyer. We learned how archaeologists work and
even had the opportunity to hypothesize about the use of
some artifacts. After studying the ancient world we began
our study of exploration and early colonial life through the
use of primary sources.
Science has been exciting as well as we continue to
learn about the earth and its resources. We have had fun
collecting soil samples and making our scaled model of
the earth’s layers.
In ELA, we learned about Columbus’ exploration by
reading Pedro’s Journey which is a diary account of a
young boy’s experience on the ship. It was interesting to
learn about this event through the eyes of someone else.
After completing our research and making explorer mobiles
we wrote a “book recommendation” project on independently chosen science fiction books.
We also started our buddies program with Ms. Rassin’s
second grade! We made holiday dioramas and we enjoy
reading with each other on a weekly basis.
As you can see, we have been very busy! Remember to
ask your child about the projects, books, and their “most
important learnings” that they experience during the
school day.
Leadership Conference
On October 19, four eighth grade students were selected
to attend the Student Leadership Conference at SUNY
Oneonta sponsored by the Catskill Area School Study
Council. Students who attended were Terra ManWarren,
J.C. Merced, Kevin Davis and Amber Shaffer. The conference is an educational experience where students learn
various leadership techniques. The students who were
selected possess enthusiasm, confidence and the ability to
become role models for other students. Thank you to those
students who participated in this program.
Have a wonderful Holiday Season!
— Christine Harby, K- 8 Counselor
Captain Bree & Her Lady Pirates
Elementary Physical Education News
Coming Soon to a Musical Theatre near you.
An Elementary Chorus performance on Thursday,
February 8, starting at 7:00 p.m.! (Snow Date Monday,
February 12, at 7:00 p.m.) Mark your calendars!
— Anne Monaco, Musical Director
Elementary
Derin Fuller
Physical Education
classes have been
“rolling” their way
i nt o t he u p c om ing holiday season.
All classes from kindergarten to sixth
g r a de h ave b e e n
par ticipating in a
tumbling unit. We have been working on things such as
our strength, flexibility and balance, as well as a number
of tumbling skills. Many students have mastered the back
bend, forward roll, pumpkin roll, frog stand, and the head
stand. They have also learned the importance of having a
spotter. Our main focus during
the tumbling unit is safety,
which means lots of stretching, stretching, stretching!
We hope to conclude our unit
the first week in December
with the “Amazing Maze” and
an obstacle course. The next
unit will be fitness — just
in time for all of those “New
Year’s” Resolutions.
— Ms. Cole & Ms. Zehr,
Elementary
Nathan Whitehill
Physical
Education
and Lucas Seneck
Elementary Music News
This year the Elementary Winter Concert will be on
Wednesday, December 6, at 7:00 p.m. in the GilbertsvilleMount Upton Central School Auditorium. The Elementary
Band and Chorus consists of elementary students from
grades five and six. The students have been working very
hard on their band and chorus music. Among the pieces the
band will be performing is a piece called First Holiday Suite
by Mike Hannickel. This piece contains three selections of
music from all three winter holidays such as: Kwanzaa, The
Lights Are Shining; Dreydl Song; and Jingle Jazz.
The chorus will be performing at the concert as well.
Among the pieces they will be singing is Good Cheer which
is based on a medieval English song. The lyrics and the
arrangement of this piece were done by Audrey Snyder.
Some featured artists from the High School will help us
present this joyful tune for you. It should be an exciting concert with our programs decorated by some of our
own band and chorus students for this winter celebration.
We hope you will come out and see us!
— Anne Monaco, Music Teacher
October Soaring Eagles 3rd — 6th Grade
Booster Club Update
The Booster Club meeting has been changed to Tuesday,
December 5, at 7:00 p.m. in the Elementary Office.
Winter Concert
Presented by Music Department
Wednesday, December 13
GMU Auditorium, 7:00 p.m.
The Elementary School Soaring Eagles ceremony for
October took place on October 26. The topic for the month
was “Motivation.” Students receiving Soaring Eagles
awards were: Elaina Palada, Jacob Bedell, Courtney
Baker, Autumn Butler, Daniel Primrose, Ioana Tomoiu,
Michael Lewis, Angela Beers, Jonathon Davis and Kayla
Sullivan. Congratulations to all of our Soaring Eagles!
— Ms. Maxam
Featuring the Middle School Band & Chorus
and
The Senior High School Band & Chorus
Under the direction of Mr. Scott Franco — Vocal
Mr. Matt Oram — Instrumental
High / Middle School News
Middle School Reminders
Students need to sign up in the High School Office
in order to stay after school with a teacher or coach by
2:00 p.m. and with prior consent. Teachers need to know
who they will be working with and also who they are responsible for. Here is the list of when teachers are staying after
school for students to get extra help.
Monday — Mr. Grenier
Tuesday — Mr. Lange
Wednesday — Mr. Seigers
Thursday — Mr. Seneck
Other nights can be made available but by appointment only.
Students are to ride the late bus home or to be picked
up by a parent /guardian or person(s) identified as acceptable by parent /guardian on student information forms.
Students can not stay after and attend a school sporting
event or practice that is not their own. Students need to
be supervised at all times. The safety and security of the
students and school are our utmost concern.
Grade sheets are given to students on a regular basis and
need to go home with the student for parents to see. If your
child does not bring home grade sheets for more than two
weeks please feel free to contact the teacher.
— Christine Harby, K- 8 Counselor
Middle School students enjoy the warm Indian
Summer weather by eating lunch on our patio.
As we near the end of the first semester, many students
are working hard to improve their grades in one or more
courses. As parents, there are many ways you can help your
child improve his / her academic performance.
We send home progress reports and /or report cards every
five weeks, and our teachers call home to inform parents
of students’ successes and their struggles. But if you have
questions about your child’s progress in school, please don’t
wait to hear from us — simply give us a call or use the email
now provided on our website. By calling the Middle / High
School Office (783 -2207, ext. 103), you can leave a message
for your child’s teacher or counselor or arrange a parentteacher conference. By clicking on the email address for
the teacher, you can directly email the teacher regarding
questions and concerns you have. As parents and teachers,
we are partners in each child’s success.
In closing, I’d like to extend invitations to two special
events in December . . .
This year’s musical, Bye Bye Birdie, will be staged
on Friday and Saturday, December 1-2, beginning at
7:00 p.m. As we have done in the past, we will also be
staging a special dress rehearsal performance for Senior
Citizens on Thursday, November 30. Join us at 6:30 p.m.
for desserts, followed by a sneak preview of the show.
Our Middle / High School Winter Concert is scheduled for Wednesday, December 13. Please join us in
celebrating the achievements of our 7 - 12 choral and
instrumental students.
I look forward to seeing you at our basketball games this
winter season. Go Raiders!
— Mrs. Tonda Dunbar,
Principal
Girls’ Varsity Soccer Season
A time of learning and rebuilding is the best way to
describe the 2006 GMU Girls’ Varsity Soccer season. With
only a handful of returning Varsity players and limited
numbers, the Lady Raiders had an overall record of 2 -13
this season.
The team maintained good spirit and determination
throughout this difficult season. The drive to improve never
left the Lady Raiders as was evident in their very last game
of the season at Edmeston.
Finally with a team of 15 eligible players, the Lady Raiders left everything on the field and had no regrets taking
Edmeston into overtime and eventually losing 3 -2. Edmeston
had beaten GMU earlier in the season by a wide margin, and
was not prepared for the determined Raider Team.
Good luck to our graduating seniors Whitney Theis,
Andrew Wing, First Team Tri -Valley All - Star Sara
Szollosy, Captain Ashley Hughes and Captain Brittany
White.
Thank you and congratulations to the seniors, as well as
juniors Kelly McCarthy, Stephanie Antczak and Kerrie
Martin; sophomores Dani Conway, Jen Pedersen and
Katie McLaughlin; and freshmen Calli Hill, Courtney
Hillman, Taylor Antczak, K irsten Gonzalez and
scorekeeper Emma Stebbins.
— Coach Diters
Morning Mania
We have been very busy in Morning Mania as we celebrate the
beginning of our 5th year and embark on a trip around the world and
in our own backyard. Morning Mania kicked off at Open House with
our very special guests — Mrs. Tinny Wilkens and her daughter
Anissa — as they shared with us their Indonesian Culture through
music and dance. Everyone was invited onto the stage to perform.
We continued with our own concert on the Indonesian Bamboo
Xylophones.
The Gilbertsville Fire Department taught us all about
Fire Safety and then we practiced putting out “fires” with
extinguishers.
Miss Carkuff’s kindergartners sang Zip-a-dee-doodah. Mrs. Stensland’s third graders entertained us with
jokes. Jocelyn Duncan presented a program and pictures
about a deer with three antlers. The kindergartners and
first graders from Mrs. Privitera’s Class sang Itsy Bitsy
Spider and shared their new knowledge about spiders.
The 1st graders from Miss Gauda’s and Miss Lehtonen’s
class presented an Apple Poem and song.
More adventure and fun will be coming soon! Stay
tuned because we may need your help. Join us every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday at 8:20 a.m. in the Auditorium — a
Morning Program for kindergartens, first and second graders and their entire family!
MORNING MAN
MORNING MANIA
NIA
News from the Guidance Office
November Senior of the Month
November’s Senior of the
Month happens to be a male
who takes pride in his schoolwork along with his community. He is currently becoming
an Eagle Scout in Troop 44.
As a project he has helped reconstruct the nature trail here
at GMU. He is the National
Honor Society President this year and last June he was
GMU’s rep to American Legion Boys’ State. He is currently
a highly active member of our Cross - Country Team along
with our Varsity Track Team in the spring. It may seem hard
to find this gentleman in school because of his busy schedule which includes AP Biology, but when the opportunity
arises, he always greats you with a smile! Congratulations
to November’s Senior of the Month, Justin Pedersen.
Financial Aid Night
On Monday, December 11, the Guidance Department
will be hosting a Financial Aid Night. Mr. J. Lentner, a
Financial Advisor from the State University of New York
at Oneonta, will speak about the financial aid process.
The Financial Aid meeting will be held in the High School
Library from 6:30 -7:30 p.m.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
must be completed and submitted to apply for federal student financial aid and to apply for most state aid. Applying
online with FAFSA on the Web at www.fafsa.ed.gov is
faster and easier than using a paper FAFSA. The FAFSA
should be submitted as early as possible, but not before
January 1. Students and parents are encouraged to attend
the Financial Aid Night, and we look forward to seeing
you there!
Scholarship Information
The following websites have scholarship lists and college
funding information.
www.collegeboard.org
www.fastweb.com
www.collegequest.com
www.scholarship.com
National Junior Honor Society’s
Poinsettia Sale!
This year’s annual Poinsettia Sale for National
Junior Honor Society will be held November 20 through
December 8. We are selling pink, white and red 6½ inch
poinsettias for $10.00 and 8 inch burgundy poinsettias for
$15.00 each (there is only a limited number so orders will
be taken on a first come first serve basis). If you would
like to purchase these lovely holiday plants please see one
of our NJHS members or you may place your order in the
District Office. Please help support the National Junior
Honor Society by buying one of these lovely holiday plants.
Proceeds will help support local charities.
Happy Holidays!
— Christine Harby, NJHS Advisor
SAT/ ACT Dates
SAT I
January 27 — (registration deadline: December 20)
March 10 — (registration deadline: February 2)
ACT
February 10 — (registration deadline: January 5)
April — 14 (registration deadline: March 9)
Students may register for the SAT at www.collegeboard.
com and the ACT at www.actstudent.org
— Kate Walker, Director of Guidance
Pre - College Reading and Writing Class
The Pre-College Reading and Writing class welcomed
local resident and author Valerie Elbrick to the classroom
on October 6. Ms. Elbrick shared with us one of her published articles, a memoir dealing with the kidnap of her
father, Ambassador C. Burke Elbrick, when he was serving
in Brazil. The class learned about the memoir genre and
its differences from the more factual genre of autobiography. Ms. Elbrick led a workshop in which students wrote
freely in response to a prompt, and then had a chance to
share their work and receive comments from our visitor.
The students later turned this pre-writing into a finished
piece. We appreciate it when community members share
with us and hope to learn more from people who live and
work right in our own backyards.
— Jan Costello, Secondary English
Gilbertsville Kool Kidz 4 - H Club
On October 21 the Gilbertsville Kool Kidz 4 - H Club
went to Scrapbook Connection on Front Street in Binghamton. They went to make an altered clipboard with one kind
of theme. The 4 - Hers could choose from animals to seasons
to construction. The people who went were Ben O’Conner,
Elaina Palada, Blake Stensland and Brian Price. We all
did a different kind of theme: Ben did a construction theme,
Elaina did a horse theme, Blake did a frog theme, and Brian
did a dog theme.
— Elaina Palada, Club News Reporter
Bye Bye Birdie
News from the EXCEL Class
The 7th-12th grade production this year is well underway!
Our Senior Citizen Dessert Night Preview Dress Rehearsal
will be on Thursday, November 30, in the GMU Auditorium.
Dessert will be served at 6:30 p.m. with the dress rehearsal
of the Bye Bye Birdie being presented at 7:00 p.m. The major
performances will be on Friday, December 1, and Saturday,
December 2, at 7:00 p.m.
The story is based on two characters who run a show business called Almaelou who have a signed contract with the rock
star Conrad Birdie who was just told to serve in the army.
In order to get a hit song to make money before the company
folds under, the two characters go through many difficult and
comical situations to get to . . . well, we will not spoil the end!
The music and lyrics were written by Charles Strouse and Lee
Adams. The book was written by Michael Stewart.
Featured in our presentation are our busy New Yorkers:
Whitney Theis as Rosie, Luke Acanfora as Albert, Derek
Frank as Conrad Birdie, Rob Sickles as Ed Sullivan, Sarah
Wildfeir as Conrad’s guitar woman, Heather Lackos as
Mrs. Mae Peterson, and a teen trio of girls all played by
Sabrina Brooks, Tammy Lawrence and Blake Stensland.
From the small town of Sweet Apple, Ohio we find the
MacAfee Family which consists of Charley Wolinsky as
Mr. MacAfee, Katie Bakhuizen as Mrs. MacAfee, Nate
Sloan as Randolph, and Sam Brooks as Kim MacAfee.
In Sweet Apple we find many of Kim MacAfee’s friends who
are: Kerrie Martin as Ursula, Emma Stebbins, as Deborah
Sue, Khaya Palada as Margie, Kirsten Gonzalez as Alice,
Tyler Peck as Harvey Johnson, Sam Delaney as Helen, Jaci
Schaub as Nancy, Kayla Zinn as Penelope, Lilly Stensland
as Suzie, Joshua Strauch as Karl, and Chris Steckline as
Freddie. Of course, we cannot forget Kim’s steady Hugo
Peabody played by Travis Andrews. Also from the town
we find many citizens such as: Nick Sebeck as the Mayor,
Andrea Taylor as the Mayor’s wife — Edna, Alicia Sebeck
as Mrs. Merkle, Tim Sloan as Mr. Johnson, Alyssa Antczak as Phyllis and Phillip Carpenter as Lee. We also have
a Drum Majorette and some Conrad Birdie fans played by
Miranda Hill and Jenny Wilkinson. We cannot forget that
to keep the town orderly in a time of chaos we are in need of
police who are played by: Chrissy Rush, Dakota VanHouten
and Alexis Lanza. To let the entire town know what is going
on we need the help of our reporters played by Fernanda
Contreras and Vita Desio. Last, and certainly not least, we
have our new secretary employed by Mrs. Mae Peterson,
Gloria Resputin, who will be played by Bonnie Davis.
Please make a note to join us on Friday, December 1, and
Saturday, December 2, at 7:00 p.m. for a night of music and
entertainment as our characters unveil their tale.
— Anne Monaco, Musical Director
l-r: Katie Barringer, Courtney Birdsall,
Kristopher Fitch, Marco Lizzaraga, Tony
Lizzaraga, Devon Hopkins and Gary Doherty
The students from EXCEL class had a busy month.
They invited Morris and Edmeston schools over for a
Halloween / Fall festival. Each of the students put together
an art project or activity. They had to advertise their
project and explain how to play or make their project.
They also carved pumpkins for the Norwich Pumpkin
Festival. The Pumpkins read GMU EXCELS.
— Aaron Sorensen, Teacher
New Bike Rack for GMU
Many of you may have noticed an addition to the school
parking area this year, especially if you enjoy biking to
school. Luke Acanfora, under the direction and supervision of Mr. Alan Digsby, completed the construction of the
bike rack and motorcycle pad with the help of Troop 44
Boy Scouts. The Eagle Scout projects are designed to be
a leadership learning process for the Eagle candidate as
they plan and direct their fellow scouts in the implementation of the project. Those scouts who helped Luke were
Tim and Nate Sloan, Joe Acanfora, Tyler Peck, Peter
and Alex Schmidt, and Brad, Nate and Greg Talbot.
Mr. Digsby and his custodial staff also helped, particularly when the cement was poured on the day of the big
flood in June! Many thanks to all those who helped see
this project through to completion.
A Taste of Culture
GMU Spelling Bee & Geography Bee
Students in Spanish classes at GMU recently celebrated El
Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead, a traditional Mexican
holiday that takes place on November 1 and 2. In Hispanic
culture, The Day of the Dead is a celebration of life in combination with a festive yet respectful celebration of death. During
the middle of October, many Mexican families prepare to
celebrate the reunion of the living with the non-living. It is a
time to commemorate one’s ancestors and for “los muertos,” a
time to return home to make sure all is well and that they have
not been forgotten. Banners of cut paper are strung, skeletal
images appear and special sweets and toys are prepared for
the children.
In a variation of this, Spanish students brought in a photo or
drawing of a deceased or departed relative, pet or favorite object.
Each student shared with the class the special relationship they
had had with their departed and placed a small colorful object
on display (constructed with Play - Doh®) to honor that memory.
Afterwards, treats were enjoyed by all.
On November 8, Spanish students traveled to Albany to
experience culture through dance as presented by the Hispanic
Flamenco Ballet. Directed under the auspices of Jorge Ceron,
who began his career 13 years ago with the Boston Flamenco
Ballet, Ceron recognized the need to maintain the Hispanic
roots, thereby cultivating genre through artistic dances.
The students enjoyed two shows. Latin American Carnival
presented dance styles from Mexico, Argentina, The Dominican Republic, Brazil, Cuba and Puerto Rico giving students
the opportunity to appreciate the variety and quality of
cultural dances reflected throughout those regions. Spanish
Passion was a fabulous, intense and exciting blend of artistic
expression that included Flamenco and Spanish Rumba. Both
shows culminated with audience participation and interaction,
thus enabling the students to learn as they were entertained.
The musical compositions that enhanced the presentations provided a further understanding of the cultures, depicting their
origin and historical background. The experience drawn from
the presentations helped enlarge the scope of understanding of
multi-ethnic cultures for the students.
— Maria Sakoulas, Spanish Teacher
Join Buzzy Bees 4 - H Club
The Gilbertsville Buzzy Bees Cloverbud Club invites students in grades K-2 to join their club. You may join if you are in
the Gilbertville-Mount Upton School District. There is so much
you can do. If you join, you will do many different projects,
community service and go on club trips. The leader of the group
is Mrs. Schmidt. You will meet once or twice a month. This is
a fun group to join. You will do more things than are listed!
JOIN NOW! Call 764 - 8123 if you are interested.
— Kelsey Ross, 4 - H Member
10
Practice Round and Friday Movie Night
The members of the Gilbertsville-Mount Upton Central School Spelling Bee and Geography Bee will have
a non-elimination Practice Bee on Friday, December 15
at 7:00 p.m. in the Auditorium. Everyone is invited to
cheer on their favorite speller and geographer. The Bee
will be followed by Friday Night at the Movies at 8:00
p.m. The movie Akeelah and the Bee will be shown on
the big screen. Admission is free and snacks will be
available to purchase. Movie will finish at 10:00 p.m.
An inspirational drama, Akeelah and the Bee is the
story of Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer), a precocious eleven-year-old girl from south Los Angeles
with a gift for words. Despite the objections of her
mother Tanya (Angela Bassett), Akeelah enters various
spelling contests, for which she is tutored by the forthright Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne); her principal
Mr. Welch (Curtis Armstrong), and the proud residents
of her neighborhood. Akeelah’s aptitude earns her
an opportunity to compete for a spot in the Scripps
National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC and in turn
unites her neighborhood who witness the courage and
inspiration of one amazing little girl. Rated PG for
some language.
Changing the world . . . one word at a time.
The GMU Spelling Bee and Geography Bee will be
on Friday, January 19, at 7:00 p.m. Winners from GMU
will move on to the Regional or State Competition for a
chance to go to the National Finals in Washington, DC.
Health Office Guidelines for Head Lice
If your child is sent home with head lice, please
follow the instructions of the head lice treatment
and cleaning procedures in the letter you receive.
The day after treatment, your child(ren) must be
brought to school by a parent /guardian. You must
go directly to the Health Office and have his / her
hair examined BEFORE going to their classroom(s).
In order to maintain good health for all students, we
have a “NO NIT” policy for students returning to
school. If any nits are found, you will need to take
your child(ren) home and retreat the hair to remove the
nits before he / she returns to school. If your child(ren)
should get head lice, please notify the Health Office so
that the other children in the classroom may be checked.
This prevents further spread.
Thank you for your cooperation with this health
matter. If you have any questions, please contact the
Health Office at 783 - 2207, ext. 108.
— Carol Angelone, School Nurse
News From the Elementary Office
Did your child tell you about Fire Prevention Week?
The Gilbertsville Fire Department came with Zippy the
Clown and taught the K-3 students about fire safety, while
grades 4 - 6 also learned how to use a fire extinguisher.
All students learned the following: Stay Low and Go!;
Stop, Drop and Roll; check your detector’s battery; have
an escape route; and call 911 for help. Please take a minute
and discuss these points with your children.
The holiday season is upon us! Be sure your children are
dressed appropriately for the cold weather — we try to go
outside every day even if it is for 15 minutes. It is important for the students to get fresh air. Unless your child has
a doctor’s note stating they must stay in due to illness, we
will not be able to keep students in at recess time.
We ask that you label all your child’s clothing items such
as hats, mittens, boots, coats, etc. Lots of sweatshirts, coats,
hats, and mittens are accumulating in the lost and found.
Please have your child check out the box in the Nurse’s
Office. It is amazing that we can have glasses, brand name
clothes and even shoes that go unclaimed.
Our Elementary Winter Concert is coming on Wednesday, December 6, at 7:00 p.m. in the school Auditorium.
We are all very excited about it and the students have
been working hard preparing for the show. Safety Patrol
will be sponsoring a dinner beginning at 5:30, before the
show. Details will be coming out as the time approaches.
Please come and show your support. The snow date for the
concert will Thursday, December 7.
Our Morning Mania continues to be every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday at 8:20 in the Auditorium — it’s a
guaranteed fun time, so please try and join us. The December Soaring Eagles Program will be held Thursday, December 21, in the Auditorium. For the month of December we
are recognizing students who exhibit Responsibility.
Reminder, students will be dismissed at 11:00 a.m. on
Friday, December 22. They will not be provided lunch on
this day. Winter Recess begins December 22 and students
return to school on Tuesday, January 2. Please encourage
your child to read at least 15 minutes each day and study
their math facts.
I wish you a healthy, joyous holiday season and a peaceful New Year.
— Mrs. Volpi, Elementary Principal
Safety and Security at GMU
In response to news events and an ongoing concern for
the safety of students and staff at GMU, a new Safety and
Security Committee has been formed. The following people
will be members of this committee: Joe Zaczek (Transportation Supervisor); Alan Digsby (Operations and Maintenance
Supervisor), Jacquie Foster (School Business Administrator), Nancy Estabrook (HS Teacher), Tonda Dunbar (HS
Principal), Nancy Bakhuizen (GMU Parent Representative),
and Andy Skrobanski (Elementary LTA).
The committee will be meeting on the following dates
and addressing the following subjects.
November 14 — Accessibility to Building
December 5 — After School Students / Release of
S t u d e n t s ( K a r e n Vol p i / D e b
Ostrander)
January 2 — Building Evacuation Procedure
February 6 — Finger printing / Visitor Access /
Volunteers
March 6 — Bus Safety Procedures
April 3 — Sheltering in Place /Command Center
May 1 — Student Dress Code (as it pertains to
safety and security)
June 5 — Graduation (Mass Events)
The goal of this committee will be to formulate recommendations on improving the safety and security for anyone
who is a part of the Gilbertsville - Mount Upton Central
School community.
As always, we welcome input from the community on
this issue. If you have any expertise in a particular area or
a specific concern relating to safety and security which
you would like the committee to consider, please contact
Jacquie Foster at 607-783-2207, ext. 144.
— Jacquie Foster, Business Administrator
Winter Activities
To Keep You and Your Family Moving!
Keeping active during the winter months can sometimes
be difficult. Our elementary Physical Education classes
have come up with a few ideas to help keep everyone active
this winter!
•Take toys in the snow to
•Sledding
play
•Snowshoeing
•Snowmobiling
•Snowball games
•Build a snow fort, castle, •Snowboarding
or an igloo
•Skiing
•Take a walk
•Build snow sculptures
•Shovel your or a neighbor’s •Winter Orienteering
driveway
•Turn on some music and
•Make snow angels
dance around the house
•Build a snow family
•Go swimming at the local
•Ice Skating
YMCA
— Tina Cole & Cheryl Zehr,
Elementary Physical Education
11
December Calendar of Events
Fri 1
Sat 2
Mon 4
Tue 5
Wed 6
Thu 7
Fri 8
Mon 11
Tue 12
Bye Bye Birdie Production, 7:00 p.m.
Bye Bye Birdie Production, 7:00 p.m.
BJVVB @ Downsville
Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
GJVVB vs. Franklin
Elementary Concert, 7:00 p.m.
BJVVB @ Franklin
Elementary Concert, 7:00 p.m. (snow date)
GJVVB vs. Schenevus
BJVVB @ Schenevus
Financial Aid Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
GJVVB vs. Morris
BJVVB @ Morris
Financial Aid Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
(snow date)
Wed 13
Middle/ High School Concert, 7:00 p.m.
Thu 14 7/8 Soaring Eagles, 12:25 p.m.
GJVVB @ Morris Tournament:
JV vs. Charlotte Valley, 4:00 p.m.
V vs. Charlotte Valley, 7:00 p.m.
Fri 15
BJVVB @ Morris Tournament:
JV vs. Charlotte Valley, 4:00 p.m.
V vs. Charlotte Valley, 7:00 p.m.
Spelling Bee, 7:00 p.m.
Sat 16
GJVVB @ Morris Tournament
BJVVB @ Morris Tournament
Tue 19
Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
Thu 21
4 - 6 Soaring Eagles, 8:15 a.m.
Fri 22
Holiday Dinner, 12:00 p.m.
Mon - Fri 25 - 29 No School — Winter Recess
Wed 27
BJVVB vs. Odessa Montour, 6:00 p.m.
Fri 29
BJVVB @ DeRuyter Tournament
Sat 30 BJVVB @ DeRuyter Tournament
* Generally all basketball games begin at 5:30 p.m.
— Garrick Hoadley, Clerk
Good Luck Ashlea Osborne
Make Us Proud!
On December 27, Ashlea Osborne
will be traveling to the great state of
Hawaii to represent Upstate New
York in a National Softball Tournament from December 28 to January
5. She, along with 120 other girls
from around the countr y, were
selected from over 2,000 applicants
to participate. There are only five girls who were selected
from New York State and Ashlea is the only one not from
the New York City area.
Ashlea was selected not just because of her amazing
softball skills but because she is a role model in many
aspects of her life. She is not only a member of the Varsity
Softball and Basketball Teams but she also is very active
in her class.
If you see her before she leaves wish her luck, she is
going to do a great job!
I would also like to thank everyone who supported Ashlea
throughout this journey to an amazing experience.
— Tina Cole,
GMU Varsity Softball Coach
U
M
G
News from the SADD Club
GILBERTSVILLE-MOUNT UPTON
CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAI D
Gilbertsville
New York 13776
PERMIT NO. 1
693 State Highway 51
Gilbertsville, New York 13776-1104
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Gerald Theis, President
Lisa Carkuff, Vice-President
Harold “Manny” Button
Jose Gonzalez
Frederic Johnson
Parris Roseboom
Mark Talbot
Douglas A. Exley, Superintendent
Amber Birdsall, Editor
ECRWSS
BOXHOLDER
OR CURRENT RESIDENT
DCMO BOCES Printing Service • Norwich, NY
Have any empty ink cartridges, laser cartridges, or any
used cell phones at home or at the office? The SADD Chapter collects these three products and recycles them through
Funding Factory ®. Products can be dropped off at the Front
Desk, outside the HS Library, or by contacting any SADD
member! Thank you in advance for all your help!