East End Information For November 5, 2014
During the week of October 20-24th, East End recognized the importance of character
education and the prevention of harassment, intimation, and bullying. School Counselor
Nicole Rivlin and Librarian Allison Longley taught whole group lessons to each class
during library time. Lessons focused on what children should do if they witness or
experience bullying, name calling, teasing, and other negative behaviors.
Each classroom teacher discussed how everyone can be “peacemakers” at home, in school,
and around the community. Books to support this theme were read. Each student made a
pledge to promote peace. Students showed their commitment by signing a cut-out of the
dove, a symbol of peace. The doves are displayed in the community room.
On Tuesday, October 28th students participated in Mix It Up At Lunch Day as part of a
national campaign that seeks to break down the barriers between students and improve
intergroup relations so there are fewer misunderstandings that can lead to conflicts,
bullying and harassment. Students sat at different lunch tables and were encouraged to
make new friends.
Third and fourth grade students participated in a writing contest where they discussed the
meaning of respect and how they could earn the respect of others. Students Jennifer Van
Buren, Erick Lozada, Serge Ngoma, Heily Jaime Marquez wrote the winning essays.
They were invited to a special tea party to utilize their good manners.
Principal John Ferguson is proud to announce this month’s recipients of the “Good
Character” awards. Each student will be presented with a certificate and a pin at the
November 5th assembly. Student recognized for their efforts are:
KINDERGARTEN
Evan Collazo
Vanessa Mirra
Maria Mastriano
Mia Dabreo Bird
Nicole Garcia Castellanas
Amy Torro
Quentin Walker
Kamila Posada
Mia Hernandez
FIRST GRADE
Ciara Brown
Yareli Ramirez
Jazlynn Almonte
Abraham Rivera Toscano
Jaylynn Almonte
Benedict Sokolowski
Gabriela Andahur
Fayruz Shabazz
Daniela Cifuentes-Escobar
Victor Mejia-Leal
SECOND GRADE
Kaitlyn Sanichar
Emely Barillas
Andres Ortega
Jazmin Reyes
Sergio Mejia-Sarmiento
Mary Rivera
Kailyn Mendoza
Jada Pinzon
Naomi Tucker
Dennis Arias
Sreya Chaparala
THIRD GRADE
Destiny Mazariegos
Nicholas Brady
Shelsea Escobar-Reyes
Cassandra Bellucci
Bisleisy Cordon
FOURTH GRADE
Alexis Collao-Lizano
Daisy Dong
Jennifer Van Buren
Darrell Cogdell
Theo Desipris
VOCAL MUSIC
Maria Cuautla/K
Gabriela Andahur/1
Abdiel Gomez/2
Destiny Rodriguez/3
Jennifer Van Buren/4
Yassin Hassanein
Valery Mejia
Brandon Sailema
Helena deBang
Hailey Jamie
Alex Ortega
Julissa Ramos
Zachary Gonzalez
Lillian Munoz
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
Maria Bautista/4
ART
Edwin Perdomo/K
Benedict Sokolowski/1
Jermaine Smallwood/2
Kytaya Reed/3
Madison Smith/4
LIBRARY
Jason Barnoski/K
Nia Prather/1
Helen Escobar-Andrade/2
Corey Cady/3
Desirae Acevedo/4
ESL
Hillary Rodriguez/3
Maria Moya Muso/4
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Vanessa Miranda/K
Oliver Perez Castillo/K
Angie Olivo/1
Jordyn Barcelo/1
Manuela Roncancio-Roldan/2
Andres Ortega/2
Destiny Mazariegos/3
Jeidi Hernandez-Mercado/3
Bryan Lopez/4
Joffre Yumiguano-Vallejo/4
Pen Pal Connections:
Starting next week, Ms. McFadden’s fourth grade students
will be writing pen pal letters to Ms. Morino’s class at East Amwell School in Hunterdon
County. The students will correspond about the differences between growing up in a rural
town, with horses and cows, and the more suburban town of North Plainfield. While
working on their letter writing skills, the students will be discussing what all the students
have in common and building relationships. Ms. McFadden hopes that the students can
meet their new “friends” with a trip to East Amwell School in the spring.
Pumpkin Week:
Mrs. Forino's Kindergarten class was busy the last week of October
participating in many Pumpkin Week activities. We adopted a classroom pumpkin (named
Daisy, voted on by the class), and used it for many different math activities. Among these
activities were hugging the pumpkin and guessing the circumference , holding the pumpkin
and guessing it's weight, looking inside and guessing how many seeds were inside the
pumpkin, and voting on what type of face to make for our class jack-o-lantern. After each
activity we made an anchor chart and displayed them in the hallway for all to see. The
children had a lot of fun practicing different math skills with our pumpkin all week!
The Doctor Is In:
4th grade students in Mrs. Porter’s room 6 are all about respecting
each other! One of our projects began with students brainstorming and recording words and
phrases that bother them because they are mean, negative, and hurtful. For each idea that
we added to our chart, we put 1 drop of blue food coloring into a clear jar of water. In no
time, we were all "feeling blue." We decided to stomp out these negative words by tearing
them up, stomping on them, and bringing them outside to the dumpster where they
belonged! Our project continued with students brainstorming and recording all of the kind,
considerate, polite, and helpful words and phrases that they love to hear. Can you believe
we filled 6 huge charts? At the end, we were all feeling sunny and happy and after adding a
cup of bleach to our blue water, we had sunny yellow water to remind us to be kind and
respectful. Another project involved “Dr. Porter” and 21 patients, all having a card stating a
different illness or injury. One by one, students came to my doctor's office and stated their
injury. In each case, Dr. Porter put a band-aid on their right hand and gave them 1 aspirin
(Skittle) to "fairly" fix their needs. In no time, students began to realize that their needs
were not being met at all! A discussion ensued that fair does not always mean, "the same"
and that rather, fair means giving everyone "what they need to succeed." Room 6 shows
respect!
Mustang Minute:
Once again, East End’s gymnasium was transformed into a “Spooky
Gym” during the week of Halloween. All students had the chance to enjoy a holiday themed
obstacle course to help promote a healthy, physically fit lifestyle. Said PE teachers Corrine
Cecala and Todd Vanderputten, “This annual tradition is a fun way to remind students
that exercising and physical fitness is very important, especially with all the candy
around.” Both teachers reported that the students had a “devilishly fun time.” Music
Teacher Diana Van Hise’s classes accomplished a wide-range of activities to kick-off the
fall season. Singing songs of autumn, and reading such works as The Headless Horseman”,
the students learned about the dynamics of tempo, voice pitch levels, and how to
incorporate such expressions in singing and reading. In addition, the second grade class
listened to a classical piece of music entitled, In the Hall of the Mountain King, discover
that repetition , dynamics, tempo, and pitch all contribute to creating the story in music.
PTO President Claudia Capodiferro was happy to announce that the Grand Prize winner
of this year’s book fair raffle was Mia Hernandez from Ms. Oliver’s kindergarten class.
Mia won a basket full of books. Book Fair Chairperson Samantha Bartley in a letter to all
the volunteers stated, “You have all made an amazing contribution to a successful book fair!
With your help, we were able to exceed our goal and have placed over 900 books in the
hands of our children and teachers.” On Friday, October 19th, East End’s community room
was location of the annual Halloween Family Fun Fest. With over 200 students and parents
attending, the students showed off their most creative and scary costumes. The PTO
sponsored the event and provided refreshments, music, activities, and a costume contest, to
make for a monstrous good time. In addition, the PTO will be sponsoring a “Trunk or Treat”
event on Halloween, in which children “trick or treat” at each parked vehicle for candy.
Cars will be decorated in various Halloween themes. Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Holbrook’s 4th
grade class ended their study on the American Revolution yesterday with a play. The
students began with an overview of the causes of the war, a demonstration of the Boston
Tea party, and brought to life the many conflicts of this time period. The students then
recited the 10 Amendments to the United States Constitution. The period ended with a
discussion between Principal Ferguson, Mr. Maroun, district supervisor of social
studies, and the students on how those amendments affect our lives today. Mrs. Holbrook
and Mrs. Lewis explained that throughout this unit the students compared the beliefs of
the founding fathers and the impact it has on present day society. Congratulations to those
4th graders for a job well done