APRIL 2016

Announcing 2016 Teachers of the Year!

Congratulations to these outstanding and deserving teachers on being named 2016 Teacher of the Year! Superintendent of River Edge Schools, Dr. Tova Ben-Dov, presented Ms. Leigh Anne Kaufmann, Ms. Kelly Wendrychowicz and Ms. Angel Linton with awards for their honor. All three teachers have been teaching in River Edge Schools since 2007, and they were honored to be named Teacher of the Year!

​Ms. Leigh Anne Kaufmann, left, is a Special Education Resource Room teacher at Roosevelt School.
Ms. Kelly Wendrychowicz, middle, has been a first grade teacher at Cherry Hill for nearly a decade.
Ms. Angel Linton, right, is a Special Education teacher in the Building Bridges Program at New Bridge Center.

photo courtesy of northjersey.com

Spring Has Sprung at Roosevelt!

Mrs. Poole's class planted marigold seeds with master gardener, Mrs. Sandy Zenkel (Ms. Poole's mother).  Students learned the parts of a plant and what plants need to thrive.  We also used our "how to" skills from writer's workshop to create posters that show the steps for planting a seed. What a fun and educational morning in kindergarten!

Sign of the Beaver at Cherry Hill

Ms. Holmes class enjoyed the spring weather in the courtyard at Cherry Hill School.  The students were reading The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare in connection with their Native American Social Studies unit. As they listened to the historical fiction novel, they learned many details about living in the wilderness and the relationships that formed between settlers and Native Americans in the 1700s.

International Day at Roosevelt

The Lyra Ensemble played for Roosevelt School's International Day on Friday, April 1. They performed pieces that represented compositions from around the world including an arrangement of Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro," (Italian Comedic Opera and Mozart's German/Austrian heritage), "Orientale" by Melvin Lauf, "A Gaelic Offering" by Catherine McMichael and a piece called Tiko-Tiko, a Latin-American traditional Samba piece. Lyra had the kids up and moving for the Samba, drawing while using their imagination to depict the music, and introduced some of the extended members of the flute family (bass, alto and piccolo). The Lyra ensemble is a Flute Quartet that formed last year, and includes members Kristin Bacchiocchi Stewart (her son and daughter are in Roosevelt School --1st grade and Kindergarten respectively), Anna Meyer, Ellen Deerberg and Ryu Cipris. They each bring a unique experience to the ensemble with their performance, teaching and outreach backgrounds. They have played on several concert series in their short time together and look forward to many more concerts and assemblies for schools in the future. 

Video Below: Part of the Lyra Ensemble performance             Photos Below: Students participating in the International Day events

Celebrating Earth Day

Our children are the future, and the fate of this planet is not only in our hands but in theirs, too. Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, on which day events worldwide are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first celebrated in 1970, and is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network and celebrated in more than 193 countries each year.  Miss Taylor's Kindergarten class at Roosevelt created "Litter Bugs" using recycled products for Earth Day!

Wax Museum at Roosevelt

Every year Roosevelt Schools looks forward to the 3rd Grade Wax Museum!   It's not just how great the kids look, or how much the guests "ooh" and "ahh", it's also in recognition of the fabulous presentation that each 3rd grader displays.  The students learn so much throughout the steps of the biography project and have tons of fun getting to this special day! The 3rd graders began by researching a famous person who made an impact on others' lives. They then used the information that was learned to create a poster which included a cinquain poem, a map, a timeline, and photographs.  The students also prepared a speech highlighting important events in the famous person's life.  On the big day, the student's dressed up in costume, portraying the well-known historical figure, and recited their speech at the Wax Museum while standing in front of their backdrops or posters. The 3rd Graders had so much fun presenting the Wax Museum and it was a huge success!

Multicultural Awareness

Kindergarten classes put on a multicultural show lead by Ms. Kelly Zacher.  Children sang songs from around the world including "Alouette" from France,  Fanga Alafia from Nigeria, "The Mexican Hat Dance" from Mexico and a Korean Folk Song.  Students began the show with "It's A Small World" and ended with It's a "Multicultural World," a song taught to all Roosevelt Children during Ms. Zacher's music classes. Congratulations on such an outstanding performance!