"Theseus and the Minotaur" May 17 & 18
The MED 4th & 5th Grade Drama Club presents "Theseus and the Minotaur" Friday, May 17 and Saturday, May 18 at 7 p.m. in the Chatham High School auditorium. This musical performance is based on the ancient Greek myth about a young hero who must defeat a man-eating mythical beast that lives in a labyrinth. Students adapted the story into a script, wrote their own scenes, and painted many of the sets themselves. The play is directed by Emilia Teasdale, with assistant director Kristen Clark and choreography by Brianne Collins. Admission is free.
Internet Awareness & Cyber Safety Night June 3
MED is hosting an Internet Awareness and Cyber Safety Night for parents of elementary aged children. Investigator Anthony Brahm of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, who is a member of the FBI’s Capital Region Cyber Predator Task Force, will give parents tips on how to keep their children safe online and provide ways for parents to effectively monitor their child’s social networking and other internet usage. This free program is for adults only, so please make childcare arrangements and join us in the MED cafeteria at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 3rd.
PARP Brings Author to MED
In conclusion to the Parents As Reading Partners (PARP) program at MED, the PTA had Nancy Castaldo in for an assembly. Castaldo is a former environmental educator and the author of many notable nature books for children including Deserts, Oceans, Rainforests, Rainy Day Play, River Wild, Sunny Days and Starry Nights and Winter Day Play. She is a member of the Chatham community and was happy to come and give her presentation to the same elementary school that her daughter attended.
WMHT Family Literacy Night
MED hosted a WMHT Family Literacy Night in the school library this April. WMHT outreach educators led a program designed to help children develop a love of reading and provide parents with tools to promote literacy at home. Families watched a video based on the book "Bear Snores On" and read stories aloud. Later, they made bear stick puppets and mouse bag puppets to act out stories with and each family received a take-home literacy packet that included a copy of “Bear Snores On.” This program are made possible through the Hudson River Bank & Trust Foundation.
STEM Club Gets Technical
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math, and students who joined MED's STEM Club this spring were exposed to problem solving activities that incorporated these areas of learning. One area the club explored was robotics. Students worked in teams to build LEGO robots, then used a computer to program them to do simple tasks. STEM Club is an afterschool program for select students in grades 3-5 and is advised by 4th grade teacher Mr. Stead. Purchase of the robots was made possible by a grant from the Chatham Education Foundation.
Hard at Work, Hard at Fun
MED students are hard at fun these days after school. The MED PTA is sponsoring a new After-school Enrichment Program this spring and Chatham elementary students are ready for hands-on fun and learning. Students are taking part in art, yoga, acting and improvisation, hands on nature projects, ceramics, cartooning, puppet making and ice-cream making. Next year MED will have an even greater selection of classes for students to choose from, when After-school Enrichment will take place in the fall and late winter. Read more...
School Supplies for Haiti
At a school-wide character education assembly held April 12, MED w
elcomed UN Peacekeeper Officer Kenneth Schemerhorn. Mr. Schemerhorn is stationed in Haiti and explained to the students how the country has been affected by a terrible earthquake that left thousands of people without homes, schools, or jobs. Schemerhorn and his fellow peacekeepers are helping out by building schools, and MED presented him with several boxes of school supplies that students collected for just that purpose. Schemerhorn is a Chatham parent and visited MED while home on leave. He will bring the school supplies with him when he returns to Haiti at the end of April.
Bees In Agriculture
2nd graders learned about the important role bees play in agriculture when Linda Fix from Fix Brothers Fruit Farm and Maria Zincio from Blue Hill Apiary visited MED.
Fix read “The Beeman,” which tells the story of a boy and his beekeeper grandfather, while Zincio brought in a beehive (with the bees removed) so students could see how bees live and how people harvest honey. Following her reading, Fix donated a copy of “The Beeman” to the MED library, on behalf of Fix Brothers Fruit Farm. Read more...
Web Weavers
Throughout February and March, select students at MED took an afterschool learning adventure in nature. The “Web Weavers” program was hosted by the Flying Deer Nature Center, which brought students out into the field to learn about things like animals and their tracks, birds and their secret language, and wilderness survival skills. This program is in its second year at MED and is supported by a grant from the Chatham Education Foundation.
Little China
Third graders participated in a six-week exploration of Chinese culture through MED's artsVOYAGE partnership with Spencertown Academy. Students explored Chinese language in both written and spoken form, studied the art and practice of calligraphy, and looked carefully at masterworks of Chinese painting. Each student created an original poem in Chinese style that revealed a thoughtful reflection on nature and expressed a strong sense of personal connection with the world. In music class, students learned about Chinese notation and rhythms, and composed original works of their own. A culminating performance showcased their talent for family and friends on March 22.
Bald Heads at MED Shine Light on Childhood Cancer
Students from MED joined faculty, staff, and students from CMS and CHS to stand in solidarity with children impacted by cancer by shaving their heads to raise money and awareness. Over $11,000 was raised for St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which funds childhood cancer research.The CHS Community Service Club hosted the 3rd Annual St. Baldrick’s head shaving event on March 17th. See more bald heads...
March Book Fair
Book fairs are a great way to get children excited about reading. Shown here, students browse the shelves at the MED Book Fair, which was sponsored by the MED PTA. In addition to the benefit of getting books into the hands of children, this fundraiser provided part of the funds needed for the PTA to bring other beneficial programs to our school.
Community Service Club Leads Assembly at MED
The CHS Community Service Club visited MED to promote a St. Baldrick’s event the club is hosting. The assembly was part of the 4th and 5th grade's “Putting Character Into Action” program and was led by sophomores Jen Elbert and Sam Engel (pictured), along with juniors Peter Palleschi and Hannah Gregg, who gave some background on the event and encouraged the MED students to help conquer childhood cancer by shaving their heads to raise funds for cancer research. The St. Baldrick’s event is Sunday, March 17, from 12–2 p.m. at Lagonia’s Pizza & Café. To register, visit www.stbaldricks.org and search "Third Annual St. Baldrick’s Event Chatham, NY," then click, "join." Questions, email club advisor Dawn Elbert or call 392-4142 x1014.
Charitable Drive Nets Truck Load of Food for Ghent Food Pantry
On the last day of February, a truck loaded with food rolled out of the MED parking lot on its way to the Ghent Food Pantry. In January and February, students in grades K-5 collected nearly 800 nonperishable food items as part of their school's "Putting Character Into Action" initiative. Students in the fifth grade leadership program promoted their school's food drive by creating posters and displays, kept tally as food streamed in, and helped load the truck when it arrived.
Read more...
First Graders "Face Time"
First graders had some "face time" with their teacher, even with her home on parental leave. Ms. Franks, who is teaching Ms. Mullens' class while she is out, wanted to bring technology and current events, like Ms. Mullens’ having a baby boy, into the class' Social Studies and writing lessons. Using an iPad with FaceTime technology, Ms. Franks set up a meeting between her class and Ms. Mullens, and each student got to interview her about her new son, Jackson. Parent volunteers were on hand to record the facts gleaned from the student’s questions, which the class later used to create a non-fiction book about Jackson.
Third Graders Study Weather
The MED conference room was a “whirlwind” of activity when meteorologist Kenneth LaPente of the Scotia-Glenville Traveling Museum visited the third grade to enhance their study of weather concepts. Mr. Lapenta brought along some of his tools of the trade and demonstrated how things like temperature, wind, condensation and air pressure all play a role in creating the weather we see here in NY. The students had a chance to get their hands on the instruments and conduct experiments like creating clouds and forming tornadoes in a bottle. Learn more...
