KES NewsletterVolume 17 May 10, 2013

Dates to Remember

May 13 - 17Grade 6 to Nature's

Classroom

May 23KES Teacher Retreat/Four

Winds Subs

May 25Killington Stage Race/KEEPERS fundraiser

May 27

Memorial Day/ No Classes

May 29K, 1, & 2 to CSCAesop's Fables

May 30

Grade 2 to Marsh BillingsRockefeller Naitonal

Historic Park

Grades 4, 5, & 6 to Ft.Ticonderoga

May 31

End of Year School Dance7-9 PM, Grades 4,5,6

June 1

Trek To Taste

June 3Grade 5 Science Fair

June 7

KEEPERS Meeting @8:15AM @ KES Dining Hall

June 10

KES Field Day &Community Pot Luck

Picnic Lunch

K-6 Step-Up Day

June 11P@K Graduation

June 12

WUMS Step-Up Day

June 13KES K & 6th Graduation

@ 9 AM

June 14Grade 3 & 4 Play

Intergenerational Walk & Roll To School DayParents, Killington Active Seniors, faculty, and Killington Elementary School(KES) students participated in a 4/10 mile walk to school on Wednesday,May 1st celebrating Vermont's Intergenerational Walk & Roll to SchoolDay. Town Constable Whit Montgomery and KES Safe Routes to SchoolChampion, Betsey Bianchi, led the group of more than 50 students. Many thanks to Hemlock Ridge Condo Association, KES, the KEEPERSparent's group, the Town of Killington, Vermont Safe Routes to SchoolProgram and Casey's Caboose for their help in making KES' May 1stWalking Wednesday a reality. The artistic KES Walking School Bus was created by Beth and Peter Hikeand KES students.

Yo Leonardo! A Celebration of Art and Music Students, parents, and special guests enjoyed a celebration of art andmusic at the KES spring concert. The evening included a delightful preschool performance, third gradersdemonstrated their newly acquired skill in reading music and playing therecorder, the instrumental band performed, and students sang songs aboutfamous artists throughout history. With much gratitude, we thank our musicteacher, Christine Morton, for a terrific display of the music program sheleads for students at Killington Elementary. We also thank Beth Hike andPatty MacLauchlan for their assistance with the set design, the backstagesupervision provided by Maria Garland, the talented choreography by KimGaines and Melissa Knipes, and we thank our art teacher, Lisa Kaija, fordesigning the set and the hall gallery with student art displays.

KES Last Day/Noon

Dismissal

Fourth Graders Celebrate the Sugaring Season

Fourth graders, their parents, and involved community members recentlyenjoyed a delicious pancake breakfast topped with their own scrumptiousmaple syrup. Students harvested, boiled, and bottled the syrup right here atKES, sometimes holding class in the sugar shack! While dining during thebreakfast celebration, students entertained guests with recitations of theiroriginal poetry. Thank you to M.B. Neisner for flipping pancakes in the kitchen, thank you toSteve Finneron for sharing his expertise in sugaring year after year, andthank you to Mrs. Garland, her fourth graders, and all of the parent helpers!

Jump Rope for Heart and for Life Led by physical education teacher, Greg LaBella, KES studentsparticipated in numerous contests and trials at a recent Jump Rope forHeart event at the school. It was a day filled with lots of heart healthyexercise, teamwork, and camaraderie. As a follow-up to Jump Rope for Heart, Ms. New England, Janelle Howard,visited students and displayed her skill at jumping rope, a talent she sharesin her competitions. In addition, Ms. Howard shared with our students animportant message: to believe in themselves and to follow their dreams.

Congratulations to PBS Kids Writers' Contest Winners! A very special congratulation goes to Hannah Black, Devin Ziegler, AlexRice, Ryan Rogers for their recognition in the PBS KIDS GO Writers'Contest! All four students submitted their writing and artwork and are invitedto read their story at a special "Storytime" around the state. We are proudof these third graders!

Celebrating Earth Day All Year Long

In celebration of Earth Day, students recently sang a fun song anddiscussed what they could do to help sustain our Earth. The focus of thesong and the discussion was to reduce, reuse, and recycle. All KESstudents then participated in an early green-up day on Wednesday, May 1stwith a walk up and down Schoolhouse Road seeking all specks of trash. Thank you to our students, to Nurse Sudol for organizing the green-up effort,and especially to Dave Cleaves and Gail Flynn, for making sure all of us atKES remain diligent in our efforts to recycle, reduce, and reuse! Be sure to read the following fifth grade "Earth Day" essay in thisnewsletter.

Loren M Pepe, Principal -------------------------------------------------------------

Earth Day by Tristin Black This year we learned that it's important to take care of our environment. Oneway I learned this was from ecosystems we built. We had a terrarium andan aquarium. We polluted our ecosystems with road salt to see the realeffects it can cause. Road salt is the material plow trucks drop when it isicy. But sometimes when cars go by they splash the road salt, and it goesinto the nearby roots of plants and burns their roots. Sometimes the road

salt gets splashed into streams, which leads into oceans or lakes. This isreally bad for animals in the water. This is bad for us because if plants diethen they can't produce oxygen to breathe. Road salt is bad for the waterbecause we drink water and if the water is contaminated when we drink itwe could get very sick. Road salt is very bad for land and water animalsbecause land animals drink from the contaminated water and get sick whichis bad for humans because we eat animals. Road salt is also bad for wateranimals because if their habitat is contaminated then they will die and thatis bad because humans also eat water animals. And all of this damage isonly from one chemical and there are many chemicals in the world. It's important to take care of our environment because we need to take careof our ecosystems by recycling and making sure we try not to litter. Thiscan help because if we keep animal habitats clean then they can live longerthan if their habitats are polluted. This is important because we need food tolive. We can help stop pollution by first recycling bottles and cans. Then we haveto make sure we never litter. Finally you can help by walking around yourcommunity with a trash bag picking up bottles and cans to recycle andtrash. It's the little things that make the big difference.

Guidance Update by Mary Hoag The 6th grade Buddies (our peer mentoring program) will be winding downwithin the next week. Our Buddies have spent the second half of the yearacting as big friends and mentors to some of our younger students duringthe school day, making a difference for these students and the schoolcommunity. THANK YOU Buddies! The CSC student mentors had their last visit with us on April 30. We arethankful for the time and efforts of these young adults, sharing their energyand enthusiasm with our students in weekly team building activities. Other news..... Hot off the press! We have the currently very HOT title"Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" by Susan

Cain as well as "Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying andRediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy" by Emily Bazelon inour guidance lending library. Please see or call Ms. Hoag if you would liketo borrow either of these (or the many other) guidance related books. And finally....please check out the guidance link on our KES website for anew section on children and trauma (we have hard copies, too, in theguidance office). With what seems like a year laden with traumatic eventsplaguing New England (globally, of course, as well)...we've been inundatedwith news, images, discussion and worry about the safety of our world atlarge. Traumatic events, whether natural or man made, have an impact onour children; even seemingly remote events make their way into our homesand thoughts. Please refer to this resource guide for information, or pleasecall/e-mail our counselor, Mary Hoag, with your questions/comments(mhoag@wcsu.net). Have a great spring!

Celebrate National Trails Day at Trek to TasteAnnouncing the 5th Annual Trek to Taste-a celebration of local food and localtrails- June 1, 2013. Join a guided walk, or grab a map and head off along one ofthree spectacular routes in Vermont's National Park and Woodstock's Town Parks. Each trail leads to samples of delicious farm-fresh treats prepared by area studentsand community groups-and you'll also encounter family-friendly arts and craftsactivities, trail games, trail work demonstrations, community health exhibits, andmusic. Return to the National Park Forest Center after your walk to enjoy local ice

cream and great music. See http://trektotaste.info/.

Kids - Celebrate MOM and Spring May 9th

by Marion AbramsOn Thursday, May 9th the Roger Clark Memorial Library in PIttsfield ishappy to host our first after school program in our new space. Come readyto make a SURPRISE present for mom for Mothers' Day, and take out anew library book or two! Snack provided. The program begins after schooland ends at 5pm. Kids can ride the school bus to the library wheresomeone will meet them and walk them into the library.

We encourage you to sign up by emailing Traci your child's name, age andschool. Her email is tracitempleton@hotmail.com.

PARENTS:Children of all ages are welcome to attend our programs. However, children2nd grade and younger require a parent present. Parents are encouraged toaccompany an older child who may benefit from your guidance. Parents areresponsible for their children while they are attending library programs,including when the child is dropped off by bus, or when the parent choosesto leave the building or program site. This program starts at 3:45 and endspromptly at 5 pm.

Killington Elementary School 686 Schoolhouse Rd. Killington, VT 05751 Tel. 802.422.3366 Fax. 802.422.3367 www.kesvt.org

Contact InfoSheila Pilsmaker, Admin. Asst., spilsmaker@w csu.net