RSS 2.0 FeedDecember 30, 2010, Bellmore Life
Bellmore students show their community service
Bellmore students focus on community service.
A relatively brief pre-holiday Bellmore school board meeting last week touched on some of activities students participated in before the holiday break.
Focusing on community service activities students have been participating in, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph Famularo noted that students have been participating in a variety of donation and fund drives.
Among them were:
• Reinhard families donated new pajamas to the Great Bedtime Story pajama Drive co-sponsored by Scholastic Book Club and the nonprofit Pajama program. The pajamas will be distributed along with a bedtime story from Scholastic to children in group homes, shelters, foster care and orphanages.
• The Reinhard Student Advisory Council is raising money for the Purple Heart Pups, an organization that raises puppies to help severely injured soldiers. After making a donation, students are given a star to decorate, which is then hung in Reinhard’s lobby.
• Winthrop students participated in a toy drive, and the Shore Road Student Council sponsored a toy drive for the John Theissen’s Children Foundation. Students brought in new, unwrapped toys, which will be distributed to children who are hospitalized over the holiday season.
In educational news
• Reinhard first-grade students visited the Theodore Roosevelt Bird Sanctuary in Oyster Bay, where they learned about Native American Indians.
• The PTA Cultural Arts Committee had the Reinhard gym transformed into a circus training ground, where professional circus coaches, aided by district physical education teachers, taught the students to juggle with scarves and balls, balance feathers, and spin plates.
• The PTA Health and Safety Committee arranged for Pirate Billy Bones to visit Reinhard and teach first-and second-graders about remaining safe in and out of their homes. The district’s social worker reinforced these concepts with classroom workshops.
• Winthrop Avenue third-grade classes visited Safety Town in Eisenhower Park. This program teaches students the rules for pedestrians, bicycle riders and motorists.
• Fourth-grade Winthrop student classes participated in a video conference with the Ohio Historical Society on how Europeans changed the Native American way of life. The children were introduced to several artifacts, discussed fishing and planting, and learned new vocabulary words.
• The PTA Cultural Arts Committee at Winthrop sponsored a performance of the Squeaky Clean Band. This character education show taught students the value of making positive change, accepting others and teamwork.
•Winthrop community service activities included the Student Advisory Council Food Drive in November and the December holiday toy drive.
• Fourth-grader Kevin Ivers won the Winthrop spelling bee.
• The Winthrop Cafeteria, now known as Winning Stars Café, has undergone a transformation. Winthrop students worked with John Dinaro, a muralist, to paint two murals that reflect the district’s vision of being a Community of Learners and the idea that each student is a Bellmore star. Students also painted stars throughout the cafeteria, some of them with the district’s core values written inside. The PTA Cultural Arts Committee provided support for this project.
• Shore Road students recently viewed presentations on personal and Internet safety and antibullying awareness. Johanna Mathieson, from Big Brothers, Big Sisters, provided information to the fifth-grade students on safety in the neighborhood, on the internet and when using electronic devices.
• Shore Road sixth-grade students watched the one woman show “Sticks & Stones” by Lyle Cogen and also attended Big Brothers, Big Sisters representative Johanna Mathieson’s presentation on personal and Internet safety.
In business news
The district earned $13,788 on its investments for the period starting on July 1 and ending on November 30.
