STAR June 2012

The
Hastings
STAR
Spring 2012
Maria H astings Elementary
Hastings’ 1st Science Fair
Inside this issue:
By Betty Gau
How can you get a banana to ripen
faster? What floats and what sinks? How
much weight can a water turbine lift?
These are some of the questions Hastings
students investigated and answered at the
Science Fair in early April. Over 90
students from Kindergarten through 5th
grade participated in the Science Fair by
displaying their science experiment results.
In preparation for the fair, there were two
Brainstorming sessions held after school for
students to learn about the rules of the
science fair and explore ideas to develop
their project. Students then registered
for the fair and submitted their project
idea. The projects were done at home in
groups and individually. At the
Science Fair students presented their
problem, hypothesis, procedure, data,
results and conclusion. Parent
volunteers dressed as Visiting Scientists
donning lab coats donated by Shire, Inc.
went to each student display and
reviewed their scientific research. Every
student scientist received an award.
Technology
Update
2
Multicultural
Potluck Dinner
2,5
Lexington
Schools Are
Going Green
3
PTA Expenditure
4
Free & Easy Ways
to Support
Hastings
5
Mini-Grant
Spotlight
6-7
Lexington 300th
Celebration
8
SPAC
8
Jeans & Jewels
10
Project ACES
11
(Continue on Page 9)
All About Our Playground
The Web, A Personal Favorite
th
By Tony Kim, 5 grader
Out of all the new playground
equipment at Hastings, my favorite has to
be the web. While climbing the structure,
you can glance around the field from a
bird’s eye view. Over the months, climbing
the web has become more competitive and
a lot of students are taking their recess
time to race their friends to the top. Some
of my friends can climb as fast as a
cheetah! It takes them less than a minute!
The web is also actually very
simple, just a mixture of patterns
put together. Maybe that’s the
secret to climbing it fast. Did you
also know that so many people
started climbing on the web that
some of the teachers had to pull
them off? For about two months,
the teachers had to closely watch us
climb. Even so, the web attracted
Page 1 of 12
many students including me.
I’m ready to bet that many
students in the future years
will feel the same way about
the web.
(Continue on Page 12)
The Hastings Star Spring 2012
Technology Update At Hastings
By Principal Mrs. Louise Lipsitz
Technology at Hastings is growing
by leaps and bounds! We use
desktop and laptop computers across
all of our classrooms, however, there
is so much more that enriches
learning for students. As the year
ends, we are planning for several new
types of technology for Hastings.
First and foremost, the building will
be fitted throughout for wireless
access over the summer.
We currently have two classrooms
equipped with SMART Board
technology. These are interactive
screens that enable a teacher to
project documents from a computer,
write directly on the board, and move
print around on the board with the
touch and drag of a finger. Next year
three more classrooms will have this
exciting interactive technology.
We will also have a group of iPads
to use in classrooms, expanding the
opportunities for students to use
these tools for accessing applications,
creating movies, and sharing their
learning with classmates. Beyond the
building iPads, Special Educator
Bonnie McCall has received LEF
funding for an additional group of
iPads. Her work with the iPads will
focus on using them to support
students with specific apps matched
to their specific learning styles.
Our classrooms are well equipped
New!
 Wireless access
 3 more SMART Boards
 iPads
 ELMOs in Art and Music
rooms
 Clickers
All with technology integration
specialists’ support.
with ELMO document readers, but
our specialist classes would benefit
from them as well. There will be
additional elmos for use in art and
music rooms next year.
Finally, we will have a set of
clickers, handheld devices that
provide immediate input from
students with visual representations
of their feedback. Teachers will be
able to pose a question and have
students respond by using the clicker.
Instantly, their answers are graphed
on the screen, providing information
for both teachers and students about
children’s understanding of the topic.
While having this technology in the
building is exciting for everyone, it
would not be utilized to its full extent
without technology integration
specialist Betsy Peterson. Her
commitment to helping every adult at
Hastings gain competence and
confidence with technology is
contagious. We are also fortunate to
have assistive technology specialist
Rachel Kuberry consult with teachers
at Hastings. Her expertise broadens
teachers’ repertoires of ways to use
the technology tools in the school.
Hastings’ 12th Annual Multicultural Potluck Dinner – Photo Gallery
Photograph by Reiko Miyamoto (Continue on Page 5)
Metropolis of Boston Youth Dance Group performed Greek dance after the dinner.
Page 2 of 12
The Hastings Star Spring 2012
Lexington Schools Are Going Green!
By Lin Jensen and Bettina McGimsey
If I could change the world, I
would Make people more ecofriendly.
End Global Warming.
Help the environment.
Stop Pollution.
…
These are the wishes of Hastings
fifth graders in their yearbooks.
Having been a parent volunteer for
two fifth grade yearbooks so far, I
have noticed that caring about our
planet has been a common theme (in
addition to “There would be no more
wars”, “I would cure cancer”, “There
would be longer vacation”, and
“Money would grow on trees”, that
is). Little did I know that
opportunities to help preserve the
environment abound right at our
school’s cafeteria.
•
•
Did you know how much waste
is going through our children's
cafeteria every single day? (The
answer is about 100 pounds in a
school of 500 students – Hastings
has over 420 students.)
Did you know that at Bridge
Elementary, its lunchtime
•
•
recycling program has
successfully more than
halved the cafeteria's
100 lb. per day waste,
which equals to a
reduction of about 5
metric tons (10,000 lb.)
per year?
Do you want to be a
role model for your
kids and make a difference in
helping our planet?
An extra credit: are you ever
curious about at which table, with
which friends, your child sits?
With the support of our town,
Hastings PTA
is starting up
an exciting
recycling
initiative that
began at
Bridge and is
moving to all
Compost,
the other
34
schools in
town. We are
establishing a
new
committee
with a group
of volunteers
who will
work with the
children at lunchtime to help them
learn about recycling. The program
may start slowly - most likely one day
a week at the beginning. All levels of
help are very much appreciated - how
much time you would like to volunteer
is up to you – whether an hour per
week or an hour per month, to lead the
committee or work as a volunteer for
whatever time you could spare. We
envision a rotating schedule like the
one the library volunteers use.
If you are interested in this
great opportunity to work with our
kids and to help protect the
environment at the same time,
please contact Lin Jensen
(plea3@yahoo.com), Bettina
McGimsey
Lunchtime Recycle
Daily Statistics (lb.)
Page 3 of 12
True
Trash, 11
Milk
containers
9
Trays, 5
Plastics, 4
Liquid, 40
(bmcgimsey@alumni.virginia.edu)
or Becky Barrentine
(e.barrentine@gmail.com). Let's
give our children a way to make a
difference while teaching them
skills they will use their entire life!
(Not to mention the chance to see
your child socialize with his or her
friends.)
Data and images courtesy of Eco Bridge.
The Hastings Star Spring 2012
How You, Through Your PTA Involvement , Supported Hastings This Year
By Becky Barrentine and Lisa Mazerall, PTA Co-Presidents 2011/2012
This year’s Hastings PTA had a
fun and exciting year hosting events,
curriculum enrichment programs
and fundraisers while providing
overall support to the teachers,
students and parents.
This pie chart shows where the
PTA spent its budgeted funds
through May 2012. Additional
expenses will be incurred between
closet at Hastings to name just a few
items.
Mini Grants- $3,030
These mini-grants enabled our
teacher’s to fund items and
programs outside of the LPS school
budget including,
• Several Raz Kids subscriptions
• CD Players and audio books
PTA Expenditure
through 5/2012:
$34,015
now and the end of the year.
PTA Expenditures through
May, 2012 is $34,015, out of which
the four largest areas of expenditure
totaled $23,130. They are detailed as
follows.
School Enrichment- $6,200
This covered numerous initiatives
including, a brand new pottery kiln
for the Art Room, books for general
classroom reading, recess equipment,
supporting the 5th grade field trip
and Moving On Ceremony, an Elmo
projector and a new PTA supply
• Magazine Subscriptions
• PT/OT Equipment
•
Social Thinking Curriculum
items
Classroom Supplies- $6,650
The PTA was able to give every
classroom as well as ILP and ELL
teacher additional funding this year
for discretionary classroom supplies.
ACT-$7,250
This year’s ACT Committee
hosted two All School Performances:
Women of the World a cappella
Page 4 of 12
Group and a Balinese Music
Workshop. Grade level
performances included:
• K- Mother Goose
• 1st Grade-Mister G
• 2nd Grade- Native American
Program
• 3rd Grade- Magic of Maps
• 4th Grade- Jeff Davis, Folk Singer
• 5th Grade- Valerie Tutson, Story
teller
The $4,900 in Committee
Expenses accounts for the yearly
expenses of all of our dynamic
volunteer committees and their hard
work. We had a successful year of
fundraising, events and programs
including the Multicultural Potluck
Dinner with Greek dancers and a
variety of country tables, the Family
Friends Program which always goes
the extra mile to support our Boston
students and the Beautification
Committee which made
improvements to Hastings’ gardens.
All of our fundraising efforts were
very successful this year including:
the Harvest Run (October 2011), our
Evening Parent Fundraiser- Jeans
and Jewels (January 2012), Holiday
Marketplace (November 2011), and
Square One Art (Fall 2011). These
fundraisers were so successful
because of YOU, your contributions
both in terms of volunteer efforts and
monetary donations. Because of this,
the Hastings PTA had a successful
and fun 2011/2012 school year and is
financially healthy for the remainder
of the school year and next year.
The Hastings Star Spring 2012
Free And Easy Ways To Support Hastings
By Becky Barrentine, PTA Co-President 2011/2012
There are several ways we can
raise funds for Hastings without
spending an extra penny. Three that
come quickly to mind are BoxTops
for Education, Target’s Take Charge
of Education, and Stop & Shop A+ .
a full list of products go to
www.boxtops4education.com.
Another free program is Target’s
Take Charge of Education. Adults
who have a
REDcard
can enroll
this credit
card in the
TCOE
program
and 1% of
Boxtops for Education is a giveaway program that has families clip all REDcard purchases will be
donated to Hastings. Cards need only
coupons off the labels of products
they buy. The coupons are collected be enrolled once, go to
www.Target.com/tcoe. Currently 10
and redeemed for cash. Kleenex,
families have enrolled their cards and
Pillsbury and Betty Crocker, Hefty,
earned $1,400 for Hastings.
Avery and Yoplait are just a few of
Our third major program is the Stop
the brands that participate in this
&
Shop A+ program. In 2010, our first
program. Each boxtop is worth $.10.
year in this program, 40 families
Hastings is on track to collect more
earned roughly $50. Now in our third
than 3,000 boxtops worth roughly
year, 240 Hastings families and
$300 this year.
friends earned $3,118.33 and all
Families should be aware that
Lexington schools earned over
boxtops carry expiration dates and
$14,700. Just last year all Lexington
we discard many expired boxtops
every month. Let's all work to send schools combined earned less than
$3,600. Money from this program
the boxtops in on a timely basis so
goes directly to discretionary
we can earn more rewards for our
spending for the school and covers
efforts. Money earned from this
items such as technology purchases.
program goes to the PTA's general
funding. For more information and
As fabulous as
these numbers
are, we –
Hastings and
Lexington - lose
roughly 1/3 of
registrations
due to S&S database errors. If your
name doesn't match 100% with the
database, you don’t get registered.
Always check your receipt to see if
it states your A+ earnings. If not,
you are not in the program. Also, as
many of
you know,
this
program
requires
annual
registration.
Thanks to
all in the
community
for
supporting
Principal Mrs. Lipsitz holding the
these
check of $3118.33 by Stop &
programs.
Shop’s A+ Program on June 8.
12th Annual Multicultural Potluck Dinner - Photo Gallery
(Continued from Page 2)
Page 5 of 12
The Hastings Star Spring 2012
The Mini-Grant Spotlight
- Your generosity and support come to life in our classrooms!
st
By 1 grade teacher Tammy McBride
First grade students, Marc Battista (left) and Karin
Minemoto (right) discuss how a PTA Mini-Grant for
guided reading books have provided them more choices
of books on topics that interest them.
“When we got new non-fiction books it taught me a
lot of facts. It is nice to have more choices for books. I
paid more attention when we read the book Chocolate.”
~ Karin Minemoto
“I asked Mrs. McBride for books about Space at my
just right level. I got the book and I felt excited”
~ Marc Battista
Fourth grade students (in order from left to right)
Arjun Delity, Ezra Erives, Rohan Purandare, and
Antoinette Tam share about how a PTA Mini-Grant
for a Math Think Tank has given them an
opportunity to work together to develop new
strategies for challenging and enjoyable math
problems. These students have even asked to work
on this during indoor recess time.
“I really like working together to solve problems.
It challenges the way you think.”
~ Ezra Erives
“I like having a goal to work toward.”
~ Antoinette Tam
“The problems are mixed so we can develop
strategies for each type.”
~ Arjun Delity
“I always liked Math. I want to do Think Tank
more often because I enjoy it. I also like to work as a
team.”
~Rohan Purandare
Page 6 of 12
The Hastings Star Spring 2012
The Mini-Grant Spotlight
(Continued from page 6)
"It is so helpful to
have a variety of
recess materials to
engage all types of
learners. The kids
have enjoyed the
novelty of artistic,
musical, and athletic
games to connect
with peers at recess."
ILP Teachers/Staff
Each first grade classroom received 5 portable listening centers from a generous PTA
Mini-Grant. Ria Singh, Marielle Nandy, Alan Zhang, and Aashna Sahani (pictured
from left to right) were eager to talk about how this equipment is used and enjoyed by
first graders.
“When I can touch the words while hearing them it helps me learn new and
interesting words.”~ Aashna Sahani
“The portable listening center lets me sit where I want…where I am most
comfortable and I can press pause when I have a thought.” ~ Alan Zhang
“It teaches you more about reading with expression because you can hear how
someone says it. “ ~ Marielle Nandy
“I like the listening center because you can hear the story very clearly.” ~ Ria Singh
Page 7 of 12
The Hastings Star Spring 2012
Hastings Celebrates Lexington’s Tricentennial
By Audra Myerberg
As Lexington celebrates its
historic 300th birthday, Hastings will
be joining in on the birthday fun.
Starting with a kick off assembly
during All School Meeting in
September, Hastings will bring the
past to life to get the students excited
for a fun filled year. Colonial singers
will perform in period costumes and
sing music from 1713 and beyond.
Rumors of Mariah Hastings herself
joining in on the fun have also been
floating around the halls.
Each grade will dive into our
town’s history through specially
crafted curriculum designed by
Lexington Public Schools social
studies and science heads. Students
will use their language arts and
creative talents to help create a one-
of-a-kind time capsule. Can you
image what future students will
find?
By now you have all seen the
beautiful Lexington 300 bookmarks
that went home with your children.
They will continue to serve as
informational pieces with fun facts
and an amazing scavenger hunt your
kids can do over the summer.
Hastings will also create an allschool event to showcase student’s
works throughout the year. This
event will be a great opportunity for
parents to come into the school and
see how Hastings students are
learning about Lexington’s vast
history.
Furthermore, the Big Backyard
Team is considering helping arrange
a tree to be planted a Hastings to
commemorate the historic birthday.
There are so many great
opportunities for Hastings students
to get involved during the school
year. We hope you will join your
children as they learn about our great
town and get excited about her 300th
birthday.
Learn More About the Lexington SEPAC
By Jennifer Yaar
The Lexington Special
Education Parent Advisory Council
(Lex SEPAC) is a group of parents
and care providers dedicated to
providing the community with
information specifically targeted to
the educational development of
children with special needs. We are
also a support network and
sounding board for families of
children with special needs. We
work together to facilitate
communications between families
and the administrators and staff
members of the Lexington Public
Schools.
This year we featured speakers on
topics ranging from Executive
Functioning Strategies, Preparing for
Post-Secondary Transition, Emergency
Preparedness, and Understanding
Neuropsychological Evaluations. We
also hosted presentations and Question
and Answer sessions with
Superintendent Dr. Paul Ash, Director
of Student Services Linda Chase,
Barbara Ostrom, Sherry Coughlin,
Martha Bakken, and Beverly Hegedus.
Page 8 of 12
The Lex SEPAC executive
committee is planning meeting
topics and focus areas for the
upcoming 2012-2013 school year. To
learn more about what the SEPAC
does, how you can get involved, and
to share your ideas, please contact
Jennifer Yaar at
Jennifer.yaar@gmail.com. For more
information about prior events and
membership, please see
www.lexsepac.org.
The Hastings Star Spring 2012
1st Science Fair - Photo Gallery
By Sanjay Padaki
Page 9 of 12
The Hastings Star Spring 2012
Jeans & Jewels: The Most Fun Ever Raising More Than $30,000 For The PTA And Our
children!
By Becky Barrentine, PTA Co-President 2011/2012
WOW! What a night! Over 200
guests attended the Jeans & Jewels
FUNdraising event and enjoyed
delicious hors d'oeuvres and
desserts, great music and company,
and the fun of bidding for an array of
unique items and experiences from
gym memberships, gaming with
teachers, to a ride to school in a
Lexington fire truck.
Saying thank you to all who
worked on this amazing evening
doesn't begin to cover our gratitude.
The PTA and the entire Hastings
Community give a big thank you to
Lisa Gelormini and Ann-Marie
Whalen who, as co-chairs of Jeans
and Jewels, labored for more than a
year on this event, envisioning and
then delivering a successful and
fabulous FUNdraiser. A huge thanks
to the following parents who led sub
committees and spent months
working on all the details:
Entertainment Coordinator Lisa Clough
Event Publicity - Pamela Thomas
& Elizabeth White
Family Solicitations - Christie
Keebaugh & Maureen Lynch
Faculty Solicitations - Brianna
Nadelberg & Heidi Pasternak
Ice Luge & Signature Drink
Coordinator - Maria Barrett
Ticket Sales - Dawna Cellucci &
Betty Gau
Volunteer Coordinator - Bobbie
Basta
Web Development, Marketing &
From left to right: Ms. McBride, Ms.
Publicity - Lisa Cassidy
And we'd also like to extend a
special thank you to Melissa
Stewart, Hastings Mom and owner
of Primrose Floral and Event Design.
Although Melissa was not an
"official" member of the Jeans and
Jewels committee, she made a
significant contribution to the event
in providing the beautiful floral
arrangements.
In addition, a huge number of
individuals donated their time to
help subcommittees as well as create
and donate delicious food and other
items that helped ensure a fantastic
Auction Close-Out - Lin Jensen,
Jenn Voss & Tina Weber
Culinary - Shannon Kreytak &
Gale McLaughlin
Decorations - Charlene Caruso,
Mary Erdman & Audra Myerburg
Kacamburas, Ms. Sweet, and Ms. Grime.
Photograph by Tammy McBride
night of music, dance and fun. And,
of course the night couldn't have
happened without the support and
help of Hastings faculty (donating
over 20 "fun with faculty" items),
families and friends by both
donating auction items and joining
us for this special evening. This was
truly a community effort to benefit us
all.
Our hats are off to all of you. Hip,
hip, hooray! And a bottomless thank
you to you all.
Photographs by Audra Myerberg
Page 10 of 12
The Hastings Star Spring 2012
Hastings Moves With Project ACES
By Bettina McGimsey, PTA Co-President-elect 2012/2013
On Wednesday May 2, Hastings
was on the move! As part of the
worldwide event Project ACES (All
Children Exercise Simultaneously),
the entire school gathered on the
blacktop to do some stretching led
by PE teacher Katie Boudreau.
Once everyone was limbered up,
they were off for 15 minutes of laps
around the school. All of Hastings students, faculty, and
administration - walked, skipped, or
ran the course. Fifth graders
buddied with kindergarteners,
teachers walked and ran with
students, and a few kids led the
pack and circled the school, by some
accounts, six times!
The brainchild of Len Saunders,
PE teacher extraordinaire, Project
ACES seeks to motivate kids to
exercise and thereby improve their
health and combat obesity. Every year
since 1989, on the first Wednesday of
May, millions of children around the
world exercise together simultaneously.
Many thanks to Katie Boudreau
for bringing this amazing program
to Hastings for the first time this
year! Let’s make it an annual
event!
Photographs by Kristine Arena
Page 11 of 12
The Hastings Star Spring 2012
All About Our Playground
(Continued from page 1)
Wonders of the Orbatron
th
By Anju Minemoto, 5 grader
Jump! Hang! Push! Spin! Those
are the rules for the Orbatron, which
is my favorite piece of equipment on
the playground. Spinning
equipment makes you dizzy, but the
Orbatron doesn’t! That’s one reason
I like it. I like going super fast,
especially on the Orbatron. The
wind pushing against my face feels
fantastic! It’s like you’re flying
(almost). The Orbatron has a lot of
bars you can climb on. There are
four small, red bars that connect
with the center pole. I like climbing
and hanging on those. Try this!
Gather a group of friends and see
which one can stay on the longest.
Wouldn’t that be fun!
Rules?
th
By Libby Danielson, 5 grader
The new playground structures
that Hastings got last summer have
been very addictive to students out
at recess. Kids love them because most
of the structures can spin at any rate
you want them to go. Those spinning
structures include the tire-swing, the
globe, the high spinner, the tulips, and
the merry-go-round. The “Web” gets a
lot of attention because kids love
climbing all over it. With climbing the
web, kids get exercise while having
fun.
Piled with all that fun is a bit of
negativity. Even though students love
the new playground structures, they
want fewer rules for certain rides. For
example, according to the rules, on the
tire-swing you can't do any whips
while pushing it. “Whips” are a type
of way to push it. If you do push it
like that it will spin really, really fast.
As a consequence, you’d get the
whistle blown at you, which means
you did something you were not
supposed to do.
Another ride that kids say they
want to change the rules on is the high
spinner. A major rule right now is that
you can't push anyone's body to get
someone spinning around. However,
the kids don't like that rule, because
the only way to get someone spinning
around is by pushing them.
This is what I want to know,
“Will it be a more fun or a less safe
environment on the playground if
you change those rules to the kids’
perspective?”
Fun Tire Swings
th
By Megha Prasad, 5 grader
The new recess equipment at
Hastings is really fun. The tire
swings are my personal favorite.
They can swing side to side or all
around. You can have people
pushing you or do it all yourself.
The best thing about them is that
they don’t squeak or make
unsettling noises like some old ones
at other parks do. Another good
thing about the tire swings is that
they have two of them and three
seats each so six people can ride at
the same time. I really like the new
recess equipment at Hastings.
Photographs courtesy of students’ families.
In this issue: Graphic design by Lin Jensen and Tina Weber. Edited by Becky Barrentine, Lin Jensen, and Bettina McGimsey. For
suggestions, questions, submissions, or joining the Star Committee, please email to Lin Jensen (plea3@yahoo.com). Electronic version of
this issue can be found on Hastings School’s website http://lps.lexingtonma.org/Page/1241.
Page 12 of 12
The Hastings Star Spring 2012