Happenings on the Hill
2015 Spring Newsletter
In This Issue
Letter from the Ryerson PTO Executive Board
Dear Ryerson Families,
Upcoming Events
 June 8: PTO Meeting
 May 30: Royal Ryerson Fun Fair
 June 5: School Store
 June 8: Cultural Arts-Starship Dance
Theater
 June 10: Ready, Set Ryerson! All-School
Field Day2015
 June 16: Fourth Grade Celebration
 June 17: Yearbook
Past Events
 February 27: Talent Show
 March 20: Give to Grow MMXV
 March: Science Exploration
 March 13-17: 4th Annual Science Fair and
Ryerson Loves Science Week
 Square 1 Art
 May 6: Staff Appreciation Breakfast
 Bulletin Boards
 Garden Committee
 Box Tops for Education
Announcements
 2015 Calendar of Events
 Seeking Ryerson PTO Committee Chairs
The 2014-15 school year has been filled with continuing Ryerson
traditions and establishing new ones. For the Royal Ryerson Fun
Fair, we will once again welcome family and friends to our School on
the Hill for a day of games, prizes, food, and music. Ryerson’s Field
Day, always an eagerly anticipated tradition, will soon arrive with a
twist -- this year, Field Day will be an all-school event, with the whole
school taking to the fields to run, jump, laugh, and play. As our 4 th
graders, the Class of 2015, move on from Ryerson, they will celebrate
together one last time. And with the school year drawing to a close,
the Ryerson yearbook will serve as a memento of cherished
memories and exciting experiences of our children from 2014-15.
This year, we continued our support of the arts and sciences at
Ryerson. Through cultural arts, our children will have experienced a
diverse array of performing arts -- puppetry, dramatic arts, singing,
jazz, Chinese folk dance, and ballet. Our 4th annual Science Fair
provided an opportunity for children to complete independent
projects and present their findings at the Fair. In addition, we
expanded the Science Fair with hands-on science activities -- the
Operating Room, Roller Coaster Physics, and Spin Art Science -- and
brought back by popular demand the Marshmallow Challenge. We
continued our support of science in the classroom by funding one
High Touch-High Tech program for every child. And, to provide
extracurricular opportunities for science learning, we created
Science Exploration.
The Ryerson Talent Show was something new this year. Featuring
over 40 Ryerson students, the show was brilliant, start to finish. It is
apt that the Talent Show opened and closed with two 4th graders.
Opening the show, Isabel Stella sang I am Beautiful, joined by a cast
of Daniel Hand High School students and accompanied on piano by
Ron Soja; during Isabel’s beautiful and moving performance, there
was not a dry eye left in the audience. Closing the show, Lauren
Bettuchi tap danced to It Don't Mean a Thing; Lauren’s performance
was followed by the roar of the audience and the rush of children to
the stage.
Everything that the PTO is able to accomplish could not happen
without the time and talent of our dedicated volunteers, for which
we thank you all. As the new Ryerson PTO Executive Board for
2015-16 gets ready to take office, we hope that you will continue to
provide your support to the PTO. It has been a terrific year. Enjoy
your summer!
Newsletter Editor:
Carrie Burton
Ryerson PTO Executive Board
2014-15
Carol Ahlijanian
Karen Burns
Diane Infantine-Vyce
Linda Maniatty
Karin Staschke
Nancy Tong
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2015 Spring Newsletter
Upcoming Events
June 8: PTO Meeting -- Amendment of
PTO By-Laws and Articles of Association;
Election of PTO Officers
Please join us at our last PTO meeting of the school year on Monday, June 8 th, at 7:00 pm in the library. At the
meeting, the proposed amended Ryerson PTO By-Laws and Articles of Association will be put to the members
present at the meeting for a vote. Notice and review of the proposed amendments were given at the previous
PTO meeting on May 19th. In addition, new officers for the Ryerson PTO Executive Board for the 2015-16
school year will be elected. Candidates are: Carol Ahlijanian for President; Elizabeth “Bee” Gordon for CoVice President; Kevin Wolfe for Co-Vice President; Pam Schneider for Treasurer; and Michelle Menard for
Secretary. Diane Infantine-Vyce, a current Co-Vice President, will be returning to serve the second year of her
two-year term.
May 30: Royal Ryerson Fun Fair
Hear ye, hear ye! The honor of your presence is requested at this year's Royal Ryerson Fun Fair. The
festivities will take place on Saturday, May 30th, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Ryerson School. The Fun Fair will include
games, food, prizes, Take-a-Chance baskets, crafts, a cake walk, music, and much more. Thou have been
summoned to join in the festivities! If you would like to volunteer for the Fun Fair, please contact co-chairs
Kristen Waterman at kristinadubbs@sbcgloba.net or Beth Ackerman at pbandjeli6@cox.net.
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June 5: School Store
The Ryerson School Store has had a banner year this year. Once a month, just before the start of the school
day, the store is open for business. Students can purchase items such as notebooks, calculators, pencils,
erasers, pencil bags, crayons, and Ryerson T-shirts. Items are priced from $0.25 (animal erasers) to $10 (Tshirts), with plenty of options in between. The kids love practicing their math skills as they figure out what
they can afford to purchase.
All proceeds from the school store benefit the Ryerson PTO. Our last day for the school store is Friday, June
5th, 8:30 am to 9:00 am. Please be sure to send your child in with money for the school store on June 5th!
A tremendous thanks to chair MaryBeth Hughes, for managing the school store. Thanks also to all the
volunteers who have helped out this year, including Lisa Brown, Suzanne Owen, Kristi Sweitzer, Meghan
McGuire, and especially student helpers Nora Hughes, Noelle Soja, Elise Owen, Will McGuire, and Madeline St.
Pierre.
June 8: Cultural Arts – Starship Dance
Theater
For our last cultural arts program of the school year, we are excited to welcome Starship Dance Theater, led
by founder and artistic director Joyce DiLauro. Starship is a non-profit, community-based performing arts
program dedicated to bringing dance to the Shoreline Community. Dancers from Starship will perform
classical ballet variations as well as contemporary and modern choreography.
June 10: Ready, Set, Ryerson!
All-School Field Day 2015
This year, Field Day -- one of Ryerson School’s most memorable and exciting days -- will be an all-school
event! Led by PE teachers Sue Daub and Stephanie Jarvis, Field Day will be held on June 10th (with a rain date
of June 11th), from 12:45 pm to 3:10 pm. This year’s theme of “Ready, Set, Ryerson!” will showcase relay
activities, water games, team challenges, and some new surprises.
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2015 Spring Newsletter
Parent volunteers are needed to maximize the fun! Volunteer time is 12:15 pm to 3:10 pm. Look for a signup
from your room parents to volunteer at and facilitate a Field Day station. If you have any questions regarding
Field Day, please contact co-chairs Linda Maniatty at seaestalc@aol.com or Lei Jin at leij101@yahoo.com.
Hope to see you there!
June 16: Fourth Grade Celebration
As we bid good-bye to our 4th graders, the Class of 2015, we will honor them, “Ryerson style,” with high-fives
on the blacktop followed by a party during the Fourth Grade Celebration on June 16th. For each member of
the Class of 2015, the PTO will be making a gift of a Ryerson T-shirt. During the celebration, yearbooks will
be distributed to the 4th graders, and DJ Fred Muzer will play favorite musical selections. The Fourth Grade
Celebration is chaired by Maxine Howard and sponsored by the PTO. Helping to organize this event are
Jeanne Allen, Cara Rich, Sue Barrett, Gita Sullivan, and Stacy Bungiro.
June 17: Yearbook
The 2014-15 K.H. Ryerson E.S. Yearbook will be distributed to 4th graders during the Fourth Grade
Celebration on June 16th, and to all other students, who ordered a copy, on June 17th. Look for the yearbook in
your child's backpack. The yearbook co-chairs, Diane Infantine-Vyce and Karen Burns, would like to thank all
the parents, teachers, and paraprofessionals who took photographs during the year. Special thanks to the
teachers, who welcomed the photographers into their classrooms all year; the yearbook volunteers -Francoise Roth, Maxine Howard, Janice Wolf, Beth Ackerman, Beth Pantano, Noreen Slavin-Koscak, KerriAnne Moore and Kristin Waterman -- for all of their help with photos and/or layout; and Jen Carone and Kelly
Spooner, for their support. Most of all, THANK YOU to the AWESOME Ryerson students! We are always
looking for volunteers to help with pictures or layout. If interested in volunteering for next year or if you
have any questions, please contact Diane Infantine-Vyce at di.vyce@gmail.com.
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2015 Spring Newsletter
Past Events
February 27: Talent Show
On February 27th, Ryerson’s multipurpose room, filled to standing room capacity, was the place to be for the
first ever Ryerson Talent Show! Ryerson students, from kindergarten to 4th grade, took the stage to share
their talents with an evening of jokes, magic, dance, gymnastics, original song, instrumental performance
(drums, piano, violin), basketball, tae kwon do, poetry declamation, and dramatic monologue. We are so very
proud of all of our students stars: Isabel Stella, Grace Ackerman, Gavin Waterman, Keily Butsch, Noelle Soja,
Katelyn Zagami, Ella Beatty, Joshua Lee, Jonathan Black, Ben Lind, Sophia Lind, Madeleine St. Pierre, Kelly
Kelly, Maryclaire Pantano, Ashley Ball, Adam Stotz, McKenna Fisher, Luke Anderson, Tai Nuzzi, Jack Tanner,
Clare Berry, Rachel Lehman, Jane Barrett, Maev Webster, Grace Burton, Eden Woods, Antoinette Lowy, Alex
Marino, Emily Li, Kosette McPherson, Varenna Rogers, Emily Warner, Natalie Tanner, Eli Ackerman, John
Kelly, Norah Stotz, Michelle Jiang, Morgane Reed-Roth, Abby Ahlijanian, Meghan O’Keefe, Lasarina Webster,
Audrey Anselmo, Cali Anselmo, Colby Earle, Rosa Zullo, Kaleb Cohen, Bianca Sander, Kate Burton, and Lauren
Bettuchi.
Special recognition goes to chair Karen Burns, who did a tremendous job in conceiving and organizing the
Talent Show. Karen gives a big THANK YOU to all who volunteered to help, without whom the show would
not have been possible.
March 20: Give to Grow MMXV
On Friday, March 20th, the PTO Board hosted Give to Grow MMXV. The evening raised over $8,300! We salute
the stalwart souls who braved the dark and stormy night to attend Give to Grow and make the evening a
smashing success.
Co-chairs Beth Ackerman, Nancy Tong, and Kristen Waterman would like to extend a huge thanks to all the
volunteers who contributed to the success of Give to Grow MMXV: Jeff Waterman, who acted as auctioneer;
Jasleni Brito, Lisa Brown, Karen Burns, Martina Lind, Donna O’Connell, Caroline Sinofsky, and Jan Wolfgang ,
who conceived and led the Ryerson children’s art for the live auction; Beth Emerson, who headed take-achance ticket pre-sales; Karen Burns, who was responsible for all things financial relating to the event; Carol
Ahlijanian, Karen Burns, Diane Infantine-Vyce, John Lind, Laura Lynch, Linda Maniatty, Tim O’Connell, Beth
O’Keefe, Beth Pantano, Sheri Romblad, Caroline Sinofsky, Karin Staschke, and Lynn Voitans, who secured
donations for the live auction, silent auction, and take-a-chance; Carol Ahlijanian, Karen Burns, Carrie Burton,
Beth Emerson, Amie Freeman, Bee Gordon, Diane Infantine-Vyce, Lei Jin, Sheri Romblad, Pam Schneider,
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2015 Spring Newsletter
Elizabeth Solin, Karen Staschke, and Nicole Tanner, who volunteered at the event; and Kelly Spooner,
Elizabeth Solin, Jen Carone, John Wiggins-Strada, and all the talented and generous Ryerson teacher and staff
who supported Give to Grow MMXV with their time, talent, and generosity.
March: Science Exploration
This year, the PTO launched Science Exploration, an extracurricular opportunity for children to explore and
learn about science by engaging in hands-on science activities. In March, 24 students participated in the
after-school Science Exploration program with Cool-ology, during which time they investigated cool topics
such as chemistry, physics, and engineering. A big thank you goes to chair Linda Maniatty, who conceived and
organized Science Exploration. Due to the overwhelming response to Science Exploration, the PTO would like
to support expanded opportunities for extracurricular science programs at Ryerson. If anyone is interested
in helping with planning next year's Science Exploration programs, please contact Linda at
seaestalc@aol.com.
April 13-17: 4th Annual Science Fair
and Ryerson Loves Science Week
During the week of April 13th-17th, Ryerson celebrated Science Week. High Touch-High Tech presented
entertaining and educational assemblies: “Extreme Matter” for grades K-2 and “Making Waves” for grades 34. Other events during Science Week were Mystery Science Readers and “Stop-Think-Solve”-- Science Riddle
Day. The concluding and culminating event for Science Week was the Ryerson Recyclable Museum, for which
each class created a sculpture made from recyclable materials. You can view these wonderful, whimsical
sculptures on the Ryerson home page under “Earth Day Projects.”
Ryerson’s Science Fair was held on the evening of April 14th and provided a showcase for students to share
their projects with their family, friends, and teachers. Over 90 students, representing every grade,
participated in the Science Fair. In addition, the Science Fair featured hands-on activities to appeal to all our
young scientists:
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Operating Room
Roller Coaster Physics with Cool-ology
Spin Art Science
Marshmallow Challenge
Yale Peabody Museum “see-touch-explore” table with various animal artifacts and fossils
Huge thanks go to Nancy Tong and Karin Staschke, co-chairs of Science Fair 2015, for organizing an exciting
evening of hands-on science. In addition, special recognition goes to Michael Bettuchi for conceptualizing,
setting up, and running the Operating Room; Beth Emerson, for providing medical knowledge and invaluable
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2015 Spring Newsletter
assistance in the Operating Room; Beth O’Keefe and Amy Johnson, for running Spin Art Science; Carol
Ahlijanian and Carrie Burton, for managing check-in; Ryerson Science Committee members Amber Bishop,
Rene Chin, Jennifer Figurelli, Kelly Spooner, and Lynn Voitans, for planning and organizing Science Week;
Ryerson Science Fair volunteers Christine Ackerman, Peggy Bell, Erin Chester, Rene Chin, Sue Daub, Jennifer
Figurelli, Kim Kanabis, Lorrie Schaller, Elizabeth Solin, Kelly Spooner Lynn Voitans, and Marj Zotto, for
volunteering at Science Fair 2015; Arnold Heiser of the Yale Peabody Museum, for running the “see-touchexplore” touch table; Claudia Esposito of Cool-ology, for bringing Roller Coaster Physics to the Science Fair;
The Purple Bear and Jordie’s Toy Shoppe, for donating raffle prizes; and Kelly Spooner, Elizabeth Solin,
Jennifer Carone, Peter Leonetti, and all the teachers and staff who have supported Ryerson Science Week and
Science Fair 2015 with their time, talent, and enthusiasm. Last, but not least, congratulations go to each of the
Ryerson scientists who presented a project at the Science Fair!
Square 1 Art
Many of you are now enjoying your children’s artwork as mugs, mouse pads, and memo pads from Square 1
Art. Thank you to art teacher Mary Smith, in whose class the children created their masterpieces. Thank you
also to chair Beth Pantano, volunteers Haley Zimmerman and Colleen Anderson, who helped with this event,
and all the families who participated in Square 1 Art to make this fundraiser a success. Because of your
participation, the PTO raised $1,384.
May 6: Staff Appreciation Breakfast
The Ryerson Teacher Appreciation breakfast was held Wednesday, May 6, 2015. Organized by chair Beth
O’Keefe, the event was a huge success!
Thank you for your generous contributions which made this day truly special for the teachers and staff at
Ryerson. We would like to thank all the Ryerson Hospitality Committee who contributed to the event: Ari
Potter, Meg Sawyer, Beth Ackerman, Linda Maniatty, Pam Schneider, Heather Crawford, Kerri-Anne Moore,
Claudia Dunsmore, Suzanne Owen, Nancy Tong, Marybeth Hughes, Maxine Howard, Stacy Bungiro, Jess
Johnson, and Amy Handzel. The faculty and staff enjoyed all the goodies provided!
Hospitality would also like to thank those families who donated a gift card/gift to the teacher raffle that took
place as well. The teachers were pleasantly surprised by the 40 raffle gifts that had been collected. We would
like to thank all families who contributed, including the Lehmans, Anselmos, Sullivans, Calandrellis, Hughes,
Pantanos, Chais, Roths, and Elliots.
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2015 Spring Newsletter
Bulletin Boards
The Bulletin Board Committee consists of a group of crafty, talented artists who put together the lobby
bulletin boards for the Ryerson students, staff, and visitors throughout the school year. The boards are
decorated for various holidays and school functions. The chair is Kristen Waterman and Bulletin Board
Committee members Beth Ackerman, Lisa Brown, Jessica Johnson, and Meghan McGuire.
Garden Committee
Happy Spring! The Garden Committee has been busy with a much-deserved spring clean-up in the front
entrance and courtyard. Members of the Garden Committee have been pulling weeds, raking leaves, picking
up sticks, and spreading mulch. In addition, the Committee has added a new cover for the picnic table and repurposed an old watering can into a flower with some white cup flowers, hens and chicks, and snow in
summer. Now the warmer weather has finally arrived, the Committee is looking forward to adding more
plants.
As a result of the Garden Committee’s hard work, the grounds near the entryway to Ryerson are beautifully
landscaped, and the courtyard provides a wonderful oasis for Ryerson students and staff to relax and enjoy.
Tremendous thanks go to chair Sheri Romblad and Garden Committee members Beth Ackerman, Heather
Crawford, Ed Pantano, and Christina Woytowich, for their dedication to and talent in beautifying Ryerson.
Box Tops for Education
This year has been incredible! To date, over $1300 in Box Tops have been collected. Thank you so much to
all the parents and teachers who collected all those Box Tops and sent them in! The Box Top Team --Colleen
Anderson, Susann Boroczky, Heather Crawford, Kathy McEwen, Kerri-Anne Moore, June Nuzzi, Beth O'Keefe,
Beth Pantano, and Gita Sullivan -- have cut, sorted, and counted over 13,000 Box Tops since September! This
fundraiser is truly a collective effort between families, students, and staff. Thank you all so much for helping
to make it a tremendous year. As a reminder, please keep clipping your Box Tops during the summer,
and all year round!
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2015 Spring Newsletter
Announcements
2015 Calendar of Events
Click here for the calendar of events for the remainder of the 2014-15 school year.
Seeking Ryerson PTO Committee Chairs
The vitality of the PTO depends upon the involvement of our members. In the pages of this spring newsletter
as well as previous editions, you have read about the vibrant role of the PTO in the in the educational life of
our children at Ryerson. Below is a list of PTO activities for which the chair position is currently unoccupied.
If you are interested in chairing or co-chairing any of these PTO activities, please contact Diane Infantine-Vyce
at di.vyce@gmail.com.
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Book Fair [co-chair needed with Carol Ahlijanian]
Cultural Arts
Fun Fair
Give to Grow
Library
School Pictures
Science Fair/Science Week
Square 1 Kids Art
Talent Show
Toy Drive
Vision Screening
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