Lafayette Eagle Ledger Issue 1 copy 2

Where Our
Students
Soar!
December 2013 Volume 1
Upcoming Events:
School Holiday Assembly and Sing-a-Long-December 20, 2013
Winter Break- Dec. 20th- 1/2 day-Dec. 24, 2013 -January 1, 2014
Martin Luther King Jr. Honored-No School January 20, 2014
HAPPY NEW YEAR-2014!!!
Band is Back!
By: Katya Dominguez and Laurant Morris and Jasleen Puar
It has been many years since we have had a band program at Lafayette School. But finally, this year, fifth grade students will get a chance to have a band. The students have a choice of clarinet, flute, trumpet, trombone, percussion, or saxophone! Mr.Svendson, the new band teacher, will organize the instruments and teach students how to read music and play the instruments. Mr. Svendson had wanted to be a band teacher because when he grew up he had band teachers and he decided he wanted to be one.
He got interested in instruments because he liked music. He had to learn many instruments. Mr. Svendson’s favorite instrument is the trumpet. He played the trumpet when he was younger. Mr.Svendson started playing instruments at the age of ten. After that he kept playing.
Mr. Svendson attended Raritan Valley Community College and The College of New Jersey. His first day of teaching was a little crazy but fun. He was happy that he got to meet new people.
Mr. Svendson likes teaching music and he is glad to have this opportunity to teach his students music.
(Did you know that Mrs. Svendson also played baseball, basketball and soccer?)
Mrs. Fischer Gets A Promotion
By Joel Ramirez Did you know that we have a new principal? You probably already know her because her name is Mrs. Fisher. She used to be the assistant principal here at Lafayette. Mr. Gordon was the Principal of all the elementary schools and Smalley School. But since November 1, she took over as principal. Mrs. Fischer is now controlling 3 buildings and about 800 students. She will be in charge of Lafayette, LaMonte, and the LaMonte Annex. Mrs. Fisher says she’s really excited and she is happy to have the new position. SOMs HONORED!
We are proud to honor our students of the month (SOM)
for the past three months. These students set the example
for all students with good character and good academic
examples. The following students were presented with
certificates as they were honored at Bound Brook Board of
Education meetings:
September:
3rd Grade: Diego Garcia -Mrs. Durso’s class
4th Grade: Jordan Chaves-Ms. Banks‘ class
5th Grade: Oscar Vargas-Ms. Dunne’s class
October:
3rd Grade: Harnoor Singh-Mrs. Langoski’s class
4th Grade: Nicolas Ercolino-Mrs. Dushinka’s class
5th Grade: Laurant Morris-Mrs. Goldan’s class
November:
3rd Grade: Daniel Vadney-Mrs. Mott’s class
4th Grade: Giselle Hernandez-Mrs. Murphy’s class
5th Grade: Anahi Acevedo-Mrs. Conover’s class
December:
3rd Grade: Alexander Mora-Mrs. Pellegrino’s class
4th Grade: Jordy Chaves- Mrs. Petrusky’s class
5th Grade: Alison Hernandez-Mr. Kober
In Other News....
Enrichment Students Create Tie Quilts For
Cancer Patients
By Melissa Lam
Mrs. Schulman is working on a project with the fifth graders. We are making tie quilts to donate to Somerset Medical Center! Mrs. Schulman wanted to make the quilts because when she was given a chance to have an art enrichment program, she wanted to create a project where the students (US) learn new methods and give back to our community. She says that she has done this before with her family. They donated the quilts they made to their local community center. Mrs. Schulman also says that the hardest part of making a quilt is picking out the materials. She says the materials are all just hard to choose. According to Mrs. Schulman, making a quilt doesn’t take too long if you have the right number of people. She says it takes 2 hours tops. After all the fifth graders get a chance to help make a quilt, we will be donating them to Somerset Medical Centers-­‐ Steeplechase Cancer Center in Somerset, NJ. The quilts will be given out to the patients in the Infusion Center. They will be given out on December 18th. Maybe when you are a fifth grader, you will get to make a tie quilt. Mrs. Schulman and fifth grade students show off a quilt!! Looks cozy!
Holocaust Survivor Shares Her Story
By Melissa Lam
On November 18th, Miriam Gershwin, a Holocaust Survivor, came and spoke to all of the fifth grade students about her life in Germany during World War II. Her life changed dramatically when restrictions were placed on Jews. In March of 1936, her family moved to Lithuania and left her father behind. As the war went on, her family was forced to relocate many times. Finally, they were forced to move into a wire-­‐fenced ghetto. Life in the ghetto was not easy. Many captives were forced to work and some were sent away, never to be seen again. Her mother and brother were among these people. They were both killed. Mrs. Gershwin then told about being moved to a concentration camp. She lived in a tent with about 10 other women. They did not have a lot of food. They were forced to do hard work, and the guards were not very nice to them. They survived because they had each other. In 1944, Mrs. Gershwin was rescued and she was reunited with her father and brother who had been in Dachau, one of the worst concentration camps. They found their way to America, and settled in Springfield, New Jersey. She and her husband raised a family together. She has 2 children, 2 grandchildren and twin great-­‐grandchildren. She said that she is most proud of her family. She also told us that we should value our education because that is what will prevent anything like this from happening again.
After she spoke, we presented her with flowers to show our appreciation and respect for her. She is a true hero, and we will never forget what she told us. Miriam Gershwin speaks about her experience during the Holocaust.
Week of Respect and Anti Bullying!
Liam O’Reilly, Clayton Nicholson, Joseph
Molina and Michael Meola count donations
for St. Hubert’s Animal Center
ST.HUBERTS Helps
Animals
By Clayton Nicholson and Liam O’Reilly
Recently a woman named Ms.
Goldberg came in and talked to us
about an animal welfare control
center called St. Hubert’s. She
came in with a therapy dog named
Lucy, Lucy is a white lab and is 7
and a half. Lucy has met about
10,000 children with Ms. Goldberg.
St.Huberts finds animals, takes
them in and hopefully they find
them good homes. The thing that
Ms. Goldberg said that really stuck
out was PUPPY MILLS. Puppy Mills
are where puppies are put in tiny
cages. The females are bred over
and over so they make puppies for
animal and pet stores. So try not to
buy from pet stores. Try a shelter.
There is also something
called arms reach where you and
friends can have an impact on small
things. If you adopt an animal you
are helping close to you.
Ms. Goldberg told us that every
animal comes with a story. Here is
one about a cat named Lucas. He
was put in a dumpster by his old
owner and the sad thing is that he
was about the size of your hand. an
A man found him and he didn’t
know what to do so he picked up a
phone and called ST.Huberts. They
were very happy to be able to take
him in. When they did, they had to
feed him with a bottle for about 4
weeks!
If you want to help them you can
donate or foster animals for them.
They have a newsletter and a
website that you can go to.
Our school collected items on their
wish list. The whole school donated
151 items!!!!
Just remember to go to
www.sthuberts.org website and
help animals that need homes and
good owners.
Evie Pacholec and Lucy the therapy dog!
Lafayette is Going
Healthy!!!
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Peer mediators help us with respect!
By: Melissa Lam
Lafayette has decided
to start going healthy. That
means there won’t be too
much of the sugary junk
food. But that doesn’t mean
there won’t be any parties.
Since we’ve decided to go
healthy, we must have
healthy and nutritious snack
choices. For example, the
snacks below are all schoolapproved snacks for your
parties:
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Pretzels
Popcorn
Cheez-its
Fruit snacks
Cheese/Crackers
Applesauce
Nutella
Rice Krispies
Fruit kebab, fruit
cocktail, chocolatecovered strawberries
Goldfish
Baked Chips
String Cheese
Vegetables
Jello/Pudding
Raisins
Granola Bars
Some healthy drink
options are: Water and
juice
. Crazy Socks-We are not crazy about
drugs!!!
Our futures are bright if we are drug
free!!
New Teacher Round
Up!!!
Mr. Kober
Have you seen some new
faces at Lafayette School
this year? Well there is a
good reason. We have 5
new teachers this year
that are here all the time
with us. We conducted
interviews to find out just
who they were!
teachers. We
Interviewed Mr. Kober for the newspaper. Mr. Kober has been teaching for 1 year. Mr. Kober went to The College Of New Jersey. He decided to teach because he wanted to make a difference in their life and make them smarter. He teaches Language Arts and Social Studies.He hopes he can get his students ready for the NJASK.
Mr. Kober is the only male teacher in the fifth grade. He yells Awesome because every one can pronounce his name wright. He likes playing video games. He also hunts deer and turkey. He even eats the meat. MISS DUNNE
By: Clayton Nicholson and Andrew Sanchez
Miss. Dunne has been teaching for 4
years.She taught a little in college and
th
this year she is teaching 5 grade.
Miss.Dunne thinks the hardest thing
about teaching is making sure everyone
understands every thing. Miss Dunne
became a teacher because she said
“anything without kids isn’t that much
fun”, and that is why she is now a
teacher.
Miss Dunne went to college at The
College Of New Jersey, also known as
TCNJ.
Did you know Miss. Dunne donated 15
inches of her hair to kids with cancer
through Locks of Love. She did this
when she was 11
Miss Dunne feels great about teaching,
and she loves being a new teacher. Miss
Dunne’s favorite thing about teaching is
everyone she gets to see! In Miss
Dunne’s opinion she has the greatest
class.
Miss. Dunne has 2 brothers. One is
named Griffin. He is 25. The other is
Jameson who is 19. Her two best friends
in college were Taylor and Alyssa. Miss
Dunne played field hockey in high school
and ran cross country in college.
By: Steven Salmeron and Joel Ramirez
This year there are many new Mrs. Texiera
By Jason Valencia
Mrs.Texiera is another new
teacher to Lafayette. She has
been teaching for 12 years.
Mrs.Texiera taught in the
Bronx, North Brunswick, and
Harrison before coming to
Bound Brook. She also taught
at the Annex.
Mrs.Texiera went to college at
Kean University. She thinks
the hardest thing about
teaching is having enough
time to teach everything she
wants to teach.
Mrs.Texiera enjoys working at
Lafayette because everyone is
friendly. Mrs. Texiera likes
watching children’s faces
when they are excited about a
lesson and all the different
things they learn.
Mrs. Texiera has 3 boys -one is
11, the other is 9, and the last
one is 3.
Ms. Toal
By Melissa Lam
Another new teacher to Lafayette School is Ms. Toal. She says that she has been teaching for 6 years. According to Ms. Toal, managing your time is the hardest thing about teaching. She became a teacher because she loves children and teaching. She went to 2 colleges to become a teacher. One was Kean University and the other was NJCU (New Jersey City University). Ms. Toal says that being a new teacher in the building feels great. She was a little nervous, but finds it exciting. The best thing about teaching is that you can see the children grow and see how much they learn. Maybe, one day you’ll get to meet Ms. Toal!
Mrs. Mallon
By Katya Dominguez
Mrs. Mallon is a new teacher to Lafayette. She works with Mrs. Hucul teaching language arts and reading. She also works with Mr. Kober and his students in the same areas. She was inspired to teach by her 7th grade teacher. As a child Mrs. Mallon knew she wanted to be a teacher. She would always play school,and she would be the teacher all the time. Mrs. Mallon went to college at Saint Elizabeth, and then she went to Rider University. What she loves about teaching is working with kids, and share the love of learning with others. This is NOT Mrs. Mallon’s first year of teaching. She has been teaching for 11 years. Mrs. Mallon likes reading and writing. No wonder she is so smart!! Mrs. Mallon is a busy women. She is a full time mom and a teacher. She loves learning and she likes to be around children every day!
Mrs. Mallon feels like she is going to enjoy Lafayette School. Sports and Games!!!
Ms. Walker-­‐Teacher and Soccer Coach! Ms. Walker is the coach of the Junior Varsity (JV) Soccer team at Bound Brook High School. She says that teaching high school girls can be hard. She loves her job and she has lots of fun with her team. Her job is so much fun and she loves going to the games and seeing her team get better every time. Mrs. Walker says that her team is awesome and they listen while she gives them tips and advice. They use them on the field. Her soccer record is 2-­‐12-­‐1. Maybe someday, we can see them play!
Did you know that Ms. Walker just got married? Her new name is Mrs. Stearns!! Congratulations to her and her new husband!!
10 Things To Do Over Winter Break
1.Give yourself a whipped cream mustache with hot chocolate.
2.Build a snow fort and have a snowball fight.
3.Go see a movie. (Try “Frozen”)
4.Stay up late and wake up late.
5.Roast marshmallows over a fire. Get permission from parents though!!
6.Go shopping.
7.Scream “ Happy New Year!” at the top of your lungs on New Year’s Day.
8.Take naps for no reason.
9.Make snow angels.
10.Don’t have a good time, have an AWESOME time!!!!!!! J
By your winter fun experts!
Laurant Morris, Michael Meola, Joseph Molina, Lizbeth Marquez
Read and
Watch!
(Books and movies you may
enjoy!)
Frozen
By: Laurant Morris
Frozen is a movie about a
girl named Anna, a boy
named Kristoff, a reindeer
named Sven, and a snowman
named Olaf. They go on an
adventure to find Anna’s
sister Elsa (who has ice
powers) so they can bring
back summer. I thought the
movie was funny,
mysterious, a little sad, and
adventurous.It is definitely
one of Disney’s bests. It’s a
nice movie to see with your
friends
and
family. I Survived...
(A series for the history and adventure
buff!)
By Clayton Nicholson
I am doing a review on book called I Survived the Battle of Gettysburg , in the I SURVIVED series. It is about a boy named Henry and his little sister Birdie who are slaves. When they are about to be sold, they decide to run away!!!!! While they are running they run into some crazy happenings ,but the craziest one is when they run into a part of the Battle of Gettysburg.Luckily, they run into the Yankee battle camp! The north decides to take them in and they live a really good life. Henry helped the North by bringing ammunition to the soldiers. Life in the army camp was hard, but they adapted. Finally the day comes when they have to go to the final and scariest battle of the Civil War!!!!!!
My opinion on this book is: AMAZING BOOK!!!! I think Lauren Tarshish is a very good author and this is one of the best books she has ever written. She really out-­‐did herself. If you are looking for a good book with a bunch of thrilling events, and one that keeps you on the edge of your seat, then this is the book you want to read. One cool thing to check out is the very end of the book. It gives extra information about the Battle of Gettysburg that isn't in the book. This is one of my favorite books and I think that you should read it. Here are some more books in the series:
I Survived The Bombing of Pearl Harbor
I Survived The Japanese Tsunami I Survived The Sinking Of The Titanic
I Survived The San Francisco Earthquake
I Survived Hurricane Katrina I Survived The Shark Attacks
I Survived 9/11
*Coming soon: I Survived the Nazi Invasion
Advice-arena!!!
(We are kids who want to help other kids with problems that kids may have!
If you need advice, fill out a form and we will try to help you!)
Dear Advice Arena,
My parents are fighting. I don’t know what to do.
Signed,
Fifth Grader
Dear Fifth Grader,
We are sorry your parents are fighting, but we think we can help you solve it. We think you
should talk it out with your parents. We think it is better to express yourself and let them know
what you think and feel.
From,
Advice-Arena J
Dear Advice Arena,
Sometimes I don’t feel like I fit in. What can I do?
Signed,
A fifth Grader
Dear Fifth Grader,
Sometimes in our lives, we don’t fit in either. Maybe you could find someone with the same
interests as you. Then you will fit in with them. But, don’t worry, things will always get better.
From,
Advice-Arena J
Seen
Fifth Grade Salad
DressingPart
Around
Halloween Parade In the Halls!
Creating and Eating!
Lafayette!
All School Meetings Help us With
Responsive Classroo
Walking to School for good health!
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Lafayette Eagle
Ledger Staff:
Melissa Lam*, Clayton Nicholson,
Katya Dominguez, Jason Valencia,
Joseph Molina, Laurant Morris,
Liam O’Reilly, Michael Meola,
Jasleen Puar, Lizbeth
Marquez,Karen Gonzalez (photos),
Joel Ramirez, Steven Salmeron,
Andrew Sanchez, Jeremi Suarez,
Makayla Harris, Sava Floris, Anahi
Acevedo, Kim Morales
*Editor