OPEN HOUSE AND ALL-SCHOOL FORUM NIGHT
Current and prospective families are invited to Open House, scheduled for Tuesday, January 12, Nursery through 8th Grade, from 9:00am to 1:00pm and from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. During the day hours, parents, siblings, and prospective students can visit classrooms, meet teachers and student guides, and tour our campus. Open House is a great way for parents to get a sense of the school and to experience for themselves our atmosphere of learning and happiness. During the evening hours, visitors will have the opportunity to speak with teachers and administrators, view curriculum materials, and see the (quiet) classrooms. (Snow date is January 20.)
On Thursday, January 21, at 7:00pm, please join us for School Forum Night, for Nursery through 8th Grade. This is an opportunity for parents to get a glimpse of their children’s upcoming year of schooling. Join us for a conversation with faculty about your child’s education. Registration and reenrollment are coming up, and now is a good time to plan for next September. You’ll learn what the developmental benchmarks are at the next level in terms of organization, social development, reading ability, mathematical reasoning, and physical and spiritual growth. It’s an evening for parents and teachers to join together to prepare for the children’s next steps. Both current St. Martin’s families and families thinking about St. Martin’s for their children next year are welcome and will find the evening profitable.
ANNUAL FUND UPDATE
Thank you so much to faculty, staff, Board members, parents, and friends of St. Martin’s-in-the-Field who gave through December 31, 2009. The Annual Fund has raised over $24,000 in just two months! Currently 7th Grade is in the lead in the participation contest with Full-Day Pre- K a close second. Keep those donations coming! Donations can be mailed to St. Martin's in the- Field Day School 375-A Benfield Road Severna Park, MD 21146 Attn: Vicky Walton. (donors)
TWO MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS AND OTHERS TRAVEL TO HAITI TO VISIT OUR SISTER SCHOOL, LA RESURRECTION, IN GROS MORNE
On Wednesday, January 13, two middle school students, Charlotte and Haley, and their mothers, Anne Minor Kurtz and Kim Hale-Carney, along with our chaplain, Rev. Julie Nelson, Anne Andrews (head of the middle school), and Dan Tootle (the head of our Haiti Partnership) will travel to Haiti to visit the students at the La Resurrection School. The purpose of the trip is to better understand how we might help La Resurrection School. To see their needs first-hand will help us to know how to direct our assistance.
La Resurrection School is located in Gros Morne, Haiti, which is about 80 miles north of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. The school has approximately 700 students, ranging in age from 5 years old to 20 years old, in grades kindergarten through 13. Some students walk more than an hour each way to attend school every day and often eat their only daily meal while at school. There is no available public education. Support from St. Martin’s-in-the-Field makes it possible for the school to operate.
The drive from Port-au-Prince to Gros Morne, though only some 80 miles, will take more than 7 hours. The roads in Haiti were built in 1915 by the U.S. Army and have not been repaired since that time. The roads are so full of potholes and cracks that cars must travel slowly—making for a long, hot, bumpy ride. The group arrives in Port-au-Prince by airplane on Wednesday evening and will make the drive to Gros Morne on Thursday. Friday will be spent at La Resurrection School, where they will be delivering supplies and gifts donated by St. Martin’s church and school families. Charlotte, Haley, and their mothers will spend the day in a classroom with other children near their age. Mrs. Andrews has agreed to teach three English classes for the older students, aged 17-20. Mr. Tootle will spend the day meeting with the administrators and learning about the current needs of the school. Rev. Julie will be taking her video camera to various classrooms so that all of us can get a sense of the school and Haitian atmosphere upon their return.
Saturday the group will travel to villages around the mountain to see where some of the students live. On Sunday the group will worship at the local Episcopal church and then spend the day in the Gros Morne marketplace. Monday brings the long, hot, bumpy car ride back to Port-au-Prince where they will all get a long-awaited shower. There is no running water and no electricity in Gros Morne. Tuesday will offer some time to visit Holy Trinity Cathedral, the Episcopal Cathedral in Port-au-Prince. The cathedral is home to the Holy Trinity Music School whose choir, Les Petits Chanteurs, has visited us at St. Martin’s twice in recent years. We look forward to seeing some old friends there. Late in the day the group will board a plane to return home.
Please keep these travelers in your prayers.
HOT LUNCH TO SUPPORT OUR SISTER SCHOOL IN GROS MORNE, HAITI
Monday, January 11, will be Hot Lunch for Haiti Day for Pre-Kindergarten through 8 Grade. Please send in a check for $5.00 to your child’s teacher (marked LUNCH or DONATION), made payable to St. Martin’s Day School, by January 8. The $5.00 meal will include a drink, hot dog, apples, Tater Tots, and dessert. Students will eat together in the Parish Hall during their regularly scheduled lunch time. ALL PROCEEDS will go directly to our sister school, La Resurrection, in Gros Morne, Haiti. La Resurrection School, the only available schooling in its area, is in dire need of our financial support. Proceeds will support teachers’ salaries. La Resurrection administrators are good stewards of their funds, but this year they have been unable to pay their teachers. It is important to support the teachers in order to support the children. La Resurrection operates on a bare-bones budget, educating and feeding students for just $80 per child per year. That’s $80 per child per year! Haiti is the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. On January 13, Charlotte Kurtz (grade 7) and Haley Carney (grade 6) and their moms, along with Head of Middle School Anne Andrews and the Rev. Julie Nelson, and Dan Tootle, head of our Haiti Partnership, will travel to La Resurrection (see newsletter article). They will be bringing funds and gifts from our students. Thank you for your support.
CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION VISITS ELEMENTARY STUDENTS
Our CBF instructors Melissa and Julia returned in November and December to continue our studies in Grades 1-4. This year we are making a strong effort to spiral our outdoor environmental education through the grade levels. We have partnered with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the largest conservation organization dedicated solely to saving the Chesapeake Bay watershed, to take advantage of their educational outreach programs. Our goal at St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Day School is engage our children in the wonders and beauty of our local environment so that they will learn to love and care for it.
We are part of the coalition of “No Child Left Inside,” a national educational effort to get children actively immersed in the outdoors. We draw on the disciplines of science, physical education, art, language, math, and technology to awaken children to their connections with the natural world. Maybe you saw 1st graders using sweep nets to identify habitats of insects. Students created a bulletin board comparing their home habitat with insect habitats. The follow-up class introduced the concept of food chains in our Chesapeake Bay area. We played Predator/Prey outside the church office area and made five-level food chains to display outside the classroom. Stop by to see what we’ve learned. Survival of the Maryland Chesapeake Bay blue crab was the theme in 2nd grade. The students studied the life cycle of the blue crab by drawing pictures, composing diagrams, and completing an outdoor obstacle course. In December, preparing for winter was the theme. Animal shelters and food sources came to life on their “Ready for Winter” mural, located in the Elementary hallway. Please take a look!
Our Chesapeake Bay Foundation partners will return in mid-January and once a month until June. Our students will have the opportunity to observe and interact with the seasons of the Bay.
GREEN REPORT
Help our school without spending a dime! Here is your chance!!
Collect used giftwrapping paper, junk mail, anything paper—not cardboard—and deposit it in our Paper Retriever (the yellow & green) dumpster at the back of the school. Please remember that the dumpster is available even though school is closed. Our school gets money by the pound for the paper we collect. Easy, right? It also makes more room in your recycling containers at home for other items. Here is another way for us to make “free money.” Our green recycling collection box has arrived! It is located outside the office in the Parish Hall. Please deposit your old cell phones (just remove the memory card), used or broken I-pods, and your used ink cartridges and toners. Please note that we do collect the big toners used in offices. They can be placed inside the base of the collection box. Just lift the top and place them in the box. The larger toners are taken to Office Depot for store credit. These credits are used by the school to purchase office supplies, thereby supporting our school’s operating budget. The smaller cartridges and other items are sent to eScripts, from where we receive a quarterly check. We appreciate all the help our school families give us. These suggestions make it very easy for all of us to help our school and the environment. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at cristina.decker@comcast.net.
SPAN WINNERS
Art students Emily Ingrao (grade 3), Christi Hickey (grade 4), and Layne Bullock (grade 2) have had their artwork chosen from hundred of submissions by the Severna Park Assistance Network (SPAN) to grace the greeting cards that are sold to raise money to help our neighbors in need. Their artwork, selected for its special appeal, will be printed on greeting card stock. To have three students’ work picked for this program is an indication of the high quality of St. Martin’s-in-the-Field art program, taught by Mrs. Sue Maloney.
SPAN provides food and financial assistance to people in our community who are facing a crisis. Supporters of
SPAN include schools, churches, civic groups, local businesses, and private donors. The primary areas that SPAN serves are Severna Park, Millersville, Arnold, and the Broadneck peninsula; secondary areas include Crofton, Crownsville, Glen Burnie, Ferndale, Linthicum, Odenton, Pasadena, Severn, and Fort Meade.
The greeting cards are sold through local businesses and proceeds from the sale help SPAN help neighbors in need. Emily, Christi, and Layne are happy that their artwork was chosen and are very pleased to play a part in helping others.
YEARBOOK UPDATE—PHOTOS AND LOVE NOTES
If anyone has pictures taken of students on field trips, school fundraisers, holiday events such as Christmas, or outreach and mission activities, WE NEED PICTURES for this year’s yearbook. Pictures from all grades will be useful. We can never have too many to choose from. Please either email the pictures to smaloney@stmartinsdayschool.org or send in on a labeled disk. Label the disk by school year, month, event, and, if desired, student names. If all else fails, give your camera to Harriet Petrocelli, and she will download the pictures. Please continue taking pictures throughout the year, and all the options will still be open for getting the pictures to the yearbook. Thank you!
Now is the time to purchase Love Notes. These are personal message from families to students, teachers—anyone you want to remember for the year. Order forms have been sent home, but if you need more forms, contact Sue Maloney or Harriet Petrocelli. -Yearbook Staff
LETTER FROM MARCIA KOKOSKI, PA PRESIDENT
Dear St. Martin’s Families,
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a fantastic break and was able to fit in some relaxation during the busy holiday season. 2009 was a great year for the St. Martin’s Parents’ Association, and I am looking forward to another great year in 2010. If you have not had a chance to attend a meeting yet this year, we would love to see you and hear your input.
We have a lot of great events coming up in the next few months. We are looking for volunteers for the Preschool Movie Night, Spaghetti Dinner, Teacher Appreciation Week, and the Gala Auction. If you would like more information on these events or would like to help, please email me ASAP at mkokoski@foxdentechllc.com.
The PA is always looking for new faces with new ideas. Our next meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 2. We will serve refreshments and are inviting our teachers to attend. This meeting will be a great opportunity to hear our teachers’ wish list items and make suggestions on items you would like to see the school consider.
Hope to see you next month. Thank you for all the support you give the PA.
Sincerely - Marcia Kokoski
MOVIE NIGHT—JANUARY 22—NURSERY THROUGH FIRST GRADE
MONSTERS VS. ALIENS Pack up the children, bring a blanket to spread, and settle down to watch MONSTERS VS. ALIENS. Sponsored by the Parents’ Association, Movie Night is set for Friday, January 22, at 6:00 p.m. Proceeds go toward supporting dinners at a local homeless shelter. Pre-order your Zquito’s pizza (cheese only, family meal, $15.00; includes 4 drinks. By the slice, $2.00.) by Tuesday, January 19th. Pizza will not be available to purchase on Movie Night. Order forms have been sent home in student backpacks. All orders must be prepaid. We need volunteers to set up, serve pizza, and help clean up. If you can volunteer or if you have questions, contact Renee Luse (410-573-1211).