VOLUME 14, ISSUE 4 DECEMBER 2017

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1 THE BLACKBIRD BUGLER JEFFREY P. VIVENZIO, PRINCIPAL VOLUME 14, ISSUE 4 DECEMBER 2017 IT S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR! It is hard to believe Thanksgiving has passed, and we are fast approaching the holiday season! While November was a short month of school it was certainly busy with many wonderful events. We were honored to celebrate Veterans Day with a wonderful breakfast hosted by our PTA, staff and student council. This was our 3rd year hosting the breakfast and the number of guests continue to grow. Our 5th grade chorus ended the morning with a wonderful song and the event was another huge success. We have an amazing community here in Voorheesville. Our Handchime Choir, led by Mrs. Beauregard, kicked off the first of many performances through the holidays. On November 26th they performed at the Tree Lighting Ceremony right here in the village. With the high winds and cold weather, it was a bit chilly and challenging but they did a great job. Their next performance will be at Crossgates Mall on December 9th. If you haven't had a chance to see them in action, be sure to come out to Crossgates as it is quite a show. We also had American Education Week and a number of parents came in to visit our classrooms. We love having the opportunity to invite our families in to see our classrooms. We truly appreciate your support as well. In the next few weeks we will have our Parent Conferences, scheduled for December 8th, 13th and 15th. On these days, students will be dismissed at 11:30 a.m. so please plan accordingly. On these half days, families are only scheduled for minutes of time with their teacher, so it will be important to cover the important information during this time. We look forward to meeting with all of you and celebrating the success of your children. If you have not had the opportunity to sign up for a conference, please contact your teacher immediately. Attached to this bugler you will find an article for The Bugler Junior. We hope to have a few more articles included over the next few editions as our writer s club continues to put their articles together. We continue to have many opportunities for families to get involved with the school in many ways. Whether it is by volunteering in your child s classroom or supporting through the PTA, or through our Go Beyond programs we appreciate the support you are able to provide. We certainly couldn t do it without you. As we continue to move into the mid-year mark, please never hesitate to let me know if you have any questions. You can contact me via at jvivezio@voorheesville.org or by phone at Jeffrey P. Vivenzio Principal Veterans Day Breakfast Upcoming Dates of Interest December 1st 1st semester ends December 9th Hand Chime Choir Performs at Crossgates 2:30 p.m. December 11th - BOE Meeting 7:00 p.m. HS Library December 8th, 13th & 15th Parent Conferences. Students 11:30 December 15th Cheepers for grades 3-5 December 21st Kindergarten Holiday 2:20 p.m. in the large gym. December 25-January 2 Holiday Recess January 8th BOE Meeting 7:00 p.m. HS Library January 9th PTA Meeting 7 pm at VES January 10th District Wide Spelling Bee (PAC)

2 PAGE 2 THE BLACKBIRD BUGLER All About Chorus with Dr. Morgan THE BUGLER JUNIOR Fifth Graders are so lucky to have chorus with Dr. Morgan. She likes to work with so many kids and she cares about them so much. Chorus is on days 3 and 6 for the whole fifth grade. Chorus happens to be in the small gym because the fifth grade is so big! In chorus you get to sing all the songs you learned all year in front of your parents. Dr. Morgan has been teaching chorus at Voorheesville Elementary School for 26 years. She also worked there as a music teacher for 26 years and she started in September She loved music since 2nd grade because she loved dancing to classical music. Dr. Morgan loves teaching music. Did you know that Dr. Morgan is not just a chorus teacher she is also a music teacher? She really enjoys music because she gets to know all of the kids and she loves teaching the kids too. Dr. Morgan loves to sing the songs that she shares with her kids. Personally, I ve enjoyed learning from her since Kindergarten. Dr. Morgan makes kids feel welcome, feel good about themselves, and she makes them happy. To all the younger students, get ready to sing with Dr. Morgan and make yourself proud. The piece was written by: By Laura Stampalia

3 PAGE 3 THE BLACKBIRD BUGLER IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION Please use the following directory for your convenience: Voorheesville Elementary School Jeffrey P. Vivenzio Principal School Nurse: Colleen Brackett Ext. 506 Attendance Office: cparker@voorheesville.org or Ext. 514 Kid s Club Program (afterschool) Christine Abelseth, Director Transportation Department: Mike Goyer Ext. 508 Priscilla Clark Ext. 521 Remember to sign-up for SNN! With the cold weather coming we all know bad weather can t be far behind. Please take the time to sign-up for SNN (School News Notifier). You will receive s about early dismissals or closings due to inclement weather. This will allow immediate updates about events and procedures at V.E.S. Please visit for further information. You will see the icon on the home page of the school district website. As the cold weather is rapidly approaching, please note that we will go outside for recess as long as the temperatures are at or above 20 degrees. Please be sure to send your children with the appropriate clothing (hats, gloves, jacket, snow pants and boots) in order for them stay warm!! Parents - please remember to call the attendance line before 9:00 AM if your child is sick or will be late to school. This will eliminate receiving a verification phone call. You may also send an to cparker@voorheesville.org Also if your child is coming in late, please don't forget to come in to the main office and sign them in. PARKING REMINDER Please do not park behind the school, as this parking lot is only for Maintenance Vehicles. We ask that you continue to park in the lot across the bridge, and also drop your children off with our aides at this location. Not only is this for their safety (behind the school is unsupervised), but keeping the back lot free for our buses ensures more space in the Main Lot. We thank you for your support.

4 KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION FOR 2018/2019 Parents are asked to call Ms. Parker at the Voorheesville Elementary School ( ext 504) or if you have a child who will be entering Kindergarten in September of Children must be five years of age on or before December 1, 2018 to register. There will be a parents only information meeting on Thursday, March 8 th, 2018 at 7:00 pm.

5 Volume 1 No. 5 December 2017 Tis the Season...For Holiday Treats It is the time of the year when your friends and family bombard your home with tasty homemade treats. It may seem like every time you turn around a new plate of holiday goodness with waiting for the taking. So, how do you help your family stay on track during the holidays? You and your family can enjoy treats in the coming weeks with a few simple steps: 1. Give a daily limit. Allow your family one small cookie or chocolate every day. 2. Eat mindfully. Teach your children how to take the time to enjoy a treat without distractions. Avoid giving treats to your child while he/she is watching TV or doing another activity. 3. If you keep treats in your kitchen, you and your family are more likely to indulge. Avoid leaving the tasty treats on the counter where it is easy to impulsively grab a treat all the time. 4. Remember to get back on track after the holidays. Remind your children that the holidays are a special time to celebrate, but getting back to normal eating is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Simple Switches Greek Yogurt for Sour Cream. Greek yogurt is higher in protein and lower in fat than sour cream. Plus it contains probiotics which are a digestive aid. Honey or Pure Maple Syrup for Refined Sugar. Sugar is sugar, but natural sweeteners are less processed. Which means your body will be able to digest them easier. Frozen Vegetables for Canned Vegetables. Frozen vegetables are picked and packaged at their peak ripeness, so they still have all their nutrients. While canned vegetables may have added chemicals and sodium and they may have lost some of their nutrients throughout the process. Getting Vitamin D In the cold winter months we tend to get less exposure to the sun, which means our bodies are making less vitamin D. Consider adding these foods to your family s diet over the winter months to increase their vitamin D intake. Milk G Salmon G Tuna G Mushrooms G Greek Yogurt G Eggs Focus On Fitness This month pick two exercises that you can perform daily. Pick one exercise that your child is good at and one that they are not so good at. Each day have them perform both exercises to the best of their ability. Record how many repetitions of the exercise they can do at the very beginning of the month and how many they are able to do at the end of the month. Your child will see an improvement in both the exercise that they are already good at and the one they re not so good at. Seeing this improvement will encourage them to continue exercising and show them the benefits of daily exercise. Have them do the one that they are not so good at first when they have the most energy. Consider picking one exercise that works the upper body, like push ups, and one that works the lower body, like lunges. If your child enjoys the two exercises consider adding a third exercise that works the core, like the plank. These should be short workouts, 5 minutes or less, that can be done at any time with the whole family.

6 Q & A My kids won t eat their vegetables. What can I do? Keep trying, but don t have a battle with your child. It can take exposures to foods in order for your child to accept different foods. Try to find different ways to prepare vegetables. Continue to provide the vegetables you know your child likes while trying continued exposure to a variety of different vegetables. If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health. -Hippocrates Sugar. Friend or Foe? Sugar has received a lot of bad press in the last several years. You may be left wondering why sugar is bad for you, what foods have sugar, and when it comes down to it, what you re supposed to feed your family. Sugar can be naturally occurring or added to food. Fruits have naturally occurring sugars that make them nature s sweetest variety. Other foods have sugar added to increase palatability. You may think it is easy to identify food with added sugar. Candy, cake, and ice cream are obvious sources of added sugar, but have you thought about yogurt, bread, or crackers as sources of added sugars? Many years ago when low fat was the main diet trend, manufacturers removed fat from food and added sugar. If fat wasn t replaced with sugar then the food would be tasteless! Foods with added sugars have empty calories. Empty calories are calories that are not paired with other high quality nutrients. A cookie with added sugar does not have the wholesome vitamins and minerals that come with a sweet orange. Added sugars and empty calories can contribute to weight gain, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, tooth decay, and dementia. As a rule of thumb, if sugar is naturally occurring, then it is more than likely a healthy source. If sugar is added to food then it is generally considered an unhealthy source. It isn t necessarily true that sugar in itself is bad substance, but when sugar dominates your family s diet, then undesirable health outcomes may occur. Be cautious of major sources of added sugar: cakes, cookies, ice cream, pies, soda, juice, breakfast cereal, and sports drinks. Eat and drink these items in moderation. You can also check labels for added sugars. At this point in time, you have to look at the ingredient list to determine if food has added sugar. Unfortunately, both added sugar and naturally occurring sugar is included under the heading of Sugar on the Nutrition Facts Label. Fortunately, new labeling laws will differentiate naturally occurring sugar from added sugar on future Nutrition Facts Labels. In the meantime, remember not to worry about sugar that occurs naturally in food, but look to avoid added sugar in packaged foods. Sleep for Better Academics and More! Did you know that children who get adequate sleep typically perform better in school than those who don t? In addition to performing better in school, getting enough sleep will also provide your child with more energy throughout the day, wake up in a better mood, and even have a stronger immune system. Each child is different but it is generally recommended that elementary aged children get between ten and eleven hours of sleep each night and middle school students between nine and ten hours each night. Consider the tips below for ensuring quality sleep for your child each night. Turn off all electronics one-half hour before bedtime. Make sure your child doesn t have a full stomach, but also that they re not going to bed hungry. Have a set bed time each night and don t stray from that bed time more than one hour on weekends. Have a set routine. Having a set routine each night will help your child s body recognize that bedtime is nearing. Limit other activities in bed. If your child only uses their bed to sleep their bodies will naturally associate the bed with sleep increasing their likelihood of falling asleep quickly. Avoid caffeine after school. Caffeine is a stimulant that speeds up our heart rate which can make it difficult to fall asleep. Kids Quest Health aims to provide parents of elementary and middle school aged children with practical health and wellness knowledge and tips that can make a big impact on the current and future health of their children. Kids Quest Health is composed of a team of health professionals including a registered dietitian, health educator, physical education teacher, and certified personal trainer. Kids Quest Health is not intended to treat any medical conditions. Please consult a physician before making any serious changes in diet or exercise.