Arbor Day Creates a Project Based Learning Experience
Arbor Day is an important day of learning at Glebe. This year we celebrated the benefits of trees and growth and stewardship with a program of poems, songs, readings and drawings.  Speakers included Superintendent Sullivan and Mrs. Kay Cole of the Mayor’s office.

The fifth grade classes designed posters for the event, one of which won the national contest regionally! The title of the poster contest was “Trees Are Terrific.”

Student Council members, under the guidance of their advisors, wrapped three hundred red and white pine seedlings for each child and staff member to take home and plant. The seedlings were provided by Mr. Peter Goderie of Goderie’s Tree Farm.

Our library TA, Mrs. Buchner, together with her son, Sam Ellithorp, gifted a beautiful copper beach tree in memory of Chris Ellithorp. The tree was planted near the site of our new playground and we hope that it will thrive and grow to shade our Glebe students during playtime! Prior tree plantings include a Bradford Pear in 2008 and a beautiful Catalpa in 2007.

Students and PTA parents also planted an array of vegetables and flowers in the school garden. It is anticipated that their eventual harvest will enable us to make delicious soups for a local soup kitchen in the fall. An added benefit of the garden will be history – the three sisters patch will provide first hand opportunities for our students to study the farming technique of our land's first human inhabitants. Click here to see Arbor Day photos.

Mother’s Day Traditions
Annually, second grade students perform a rite of passage from the primary to intermediate grades. It is the Mother’s Day Program, lovingly coached by Mrs. Leibowitz and Ms. Sponenberg, where each student is given the responsibility to perform, for many of them, their first school recital of poems, self-crafted solo speeches, and ensemble songs and skits. Oh – and, of course, the moms just love the event, as well! Enjoy these photos from the Mother’s Day program.

Mr. Livingstone, I Presume
Thanks to the Glebe PTA, who share our school’s belief that children need to experience a wealth of hands on science instruction, each grade level is visited by the Scotia Glenville Traveling Museum presenters every year. In this picture a fifth grade student shows a little humor as he shows the magnifying effect of a piece of convex glass. Students study everything from light to biological science, and always have a memorable experience to bring away. Click here to see additional photos.

Student Council Hits the Trail
Our active student council recently partnered with the Johnstown Lion’s Club to clean up the community Rail Trail. About thirty of our students, together with Mr. Frenyea, Mrs. Smero, Mrs. Flanders, parents, and one canine friend named Murphy, helped clean an entire stretch of the trail. It was a fun way to show Panther Pride, and the good that a small group of dedicated individuals can do.

Daisies and Tigers and Glebe, Oh My!
The Glebe Garden is a project that many are taking part in. We were fortunate to have Daisy Troop 2087 (pack leader Jennifer Dennet) and Tiger Cub Pack 69 (Amy VanNostrand, pack leader) to help sift rocks and weeds out of our soil one night. This was part of their community service project, and of great benefit to the soil! Thanks to the kids of Troop 2087 and Pack 69 the soil is now ready for planting! We had a lot of fun. Thank you kids!

Project ACES Day
May is National Physical Education month and the first Wednesday in May is deemed Project A.C.E.S. Day, standing for "all children exercising simultaneously." To celebrate this day, on May 6 our Glebe Street staff and students learned the "Cotton Eye Joe" and danced it together in the front parking lot at the start of the school day. As you can tell from these pictures, a great time was had by all!

Physical Education Student Leader Awards
In a ceremony at Hudson Valley Community College on May 4, 24 Greater Johnstown School District students were recognized by the Capital Zone of the New York State Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance with the Sandy Morley Physical Education Leadership Award. Click here to read more.
 

Glebe Students REACH FOR SUCCESS at the Academic Fair
On March 19 Glebe Street held its annual Academic Fair. This was a very special year, with almost 100-percent student participation. Various projects were displayed, including volcanoes, a magic show, cooking exhibits, dinosaur projects and science experiments. As a special feature, fifth and sixth graders delivered PowerPoint presentations on the fifty states, Ancient Egypt, and Internet safety on the computer. Fourth graders had their own Colonial America exhibit, complete with baked goods and students dressed in Colonial attire. It seemed to be an exceptionally exciting and successful year for our fair and we can’t wait to see what our students have to offer next year! Click here to see several photos of students and their projects.

Aloha! Luau Beach Party
The Glebe Street PTA sponsored its annual Luau Beach party on Friday, March 13. This is a reward that cultivates family/school cooperation and celebration of our school's success! Many of our students and their family members attended, dressed in their beach gear, and danced the night away Hawaiian style, participating in dance and limbo contests. There were tropical snacks for all to enjoy, including pineapple and lemonade. Once again, we all enjoyed a fun, exciting evening together in our gymnasium, decorated with huge palm trees and beach scenes. What a way to kick off the spring season!

Student Council Sponsors Spirit Days
Our student council is so much more than just an organization of fifth and sixth graders. Once each month, council members get together under the direction of the fifth and sixth grade teachers to bring celebratory fun to the student body through Spirit Days (see pictures of the most recent “Team Jersey Spirit Day”). The council also enlists our students in community service, including food drives, singing for senior citizens, fundraisers for many valuable community service organizations, participation in county clean-up days and staff recognition events. 

100 Days – Can You Believe It?
February 12 marked the 100th day of the school year at Glebe Street! In celebration, pencils and awards were given to all students for being 100 days smarter and a piece of cake was enjoyed by everyone. Projects were displayed that included such things as 100 stickers, 100 popsicle sticks, 100 buttons glued on a purse, 100 Dr. Seuss words and a puffer fish with 100 quills (pictured on left). Great fun was had by all! See more 100 Day photos here.

Peer Reading Program is a Wonderful Learning Experience
The Peer Reading Program at Glebe Street School has taken off! Kindergarteners are paired up with sixth graders on Wednesday afternoons for about fifteen minutes of reading fun. The students alternate between staying in their own classroom and going to the room of their new "friends" to read.

Once a week, fourth grade students also practice reading with fluency and expression to an appreciative audience of first grade students. First graders are exposed to a variety of literature, as they are read to one-on-one by a fourth grade peer. 

In addition to the academic benefits, students also have an opportunity to develop their social skills, as they interact with peers in a different age group. The key to the Peer Reading program’s success is the excitement and enthusiasm both groups bring to this activity. Enjoy more peer reading photos here.

Glebe students study America’s greatest works of art through Interdisciplinary Art Lessons
Through the Picturing America Grant, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Glebe has in its possession 44 beautiful works of art and a lesson plan guide. You may have noticed some of the works hanging prominently in the main hallways (they can also be viewed in the library).

Our art teacher, Ms. Bintz, delivers grade level lessons each Wednesday from 1:00-1:30 pm., leading students in a rich interdisciplinary journey through any one of the pieces held in our collection.  One can visit the NEH’s Picturing America site to view all of the works, as well as lesson plans.

D.A.R.E. Program - Keeping Our Children Aware One Lesson at a Time
Glebe Street students in first, third and sixth grade are participating in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Program. Over the next several months, Officer Jones of the Johnstown Police Department will provide three instructional sessions for both first and third graders during the educational day, as well as ten comprehensive sessions for sixth graders. The program will conclude with a D.A.R.E. Graduation at Glebe Street Elementary School and a sixth grade D.A.R.E. Dance at Knox Junior High School (look for date announcements in the Glebe Street newsletter). For in-depth information about the D.A.R.E. America program, please visit www.dare.com.

Staff Makes Magic Happen
Glebe Street school staff work hard each day throughout the school year (and in the summer too) to provide access to district curriculum and NYS learning standards, helping our students to become lifelong learners and great readers and mathematicians. Day in and day out, working within the guidelines of Response to Intervention (RTI), our staff members help each child to learn to their fullest potential.

They occasionally take time before and after the students are in school to connect with the important vision of being lifelong learners themselves. Staff members recently collected their creative aspirations in the art room, where they designed magic wands with the theme of “Reach For the Stars” to tie-in with our school-wide reading programs. The wands will be on display with student art work at this year’s art show.

Staff were also recently invited to participate in a High Tea with the principal. While highlighting the tea ceremony customs of China, Mr. Crankshaw shared with them experiences from his recent excursion to China through the United States Chamber of Commerce. Opportunities to make such collegial connections outside of the instructional day are important to our Glebe Street team. 

Accelerated Reader Program
Glebe students have taken the Accelerated Reader program to new heights this year. With opportunities to take AR quizzes daily in the computer lab, as well as attending AR Family Fun Nights each month, they have managed to accumulate 10,485 points. Glebe Street students have demonstrated they really know how to reach for the stars with AR! Click here to see AR photos. Our top accelerated readers for each grade level are:

First Grade- Noah Massey, Charles Trzaskowski, Alyssa Bevington
Second Grade- Alexander Jennings, William Cha, Nolan Hayes
Third Grade- Zachary Pedersen, Alex Van Deusen
Fourth Grade- Abigail Trzaskowski, Julia Bevington, Raina Danylak
Fifth Grade- Juliet Sear, Jonathan Bearden, Stephen Camarra
Sixth Grade- Brian Cha, Rachel Hansen, Emily Colasanti

Reach for the Stars with PARP
Parents As Reading Partners (PARP) is a program designed to foster the love of reading by asking parents to set aside 15 minutes daily to read with their children. One of the most important skills our children learn is reading - it creates a strong, positive influence and builds a foundation for a lifetime of significant benefits.

Glebe Street Elementary School’s "Reach For the Stars” PARP program will take place over the five week period between March 1 and April 5. We invite you to celebrate the importance of reading in our lives by participating. Spending just 15 minutes a day reading with your child helps them to "grow as a reader" and raises the potential for academic and lifelong success, as well as helping them to become a lover of reading. No one is ever too old to be read to. Take this opportunity to participate in many simple and enjoyable activities to get your family reading together and establish good reading habits that will last a lifetime.

WHOOSH!
It’s officially winter and the kids at Glebe are spending most of their recess time having fun in the snow and on the slopes in back of the school. Proper outside winter play-gear, plenty of sleds and lots of good white stuff enables plenty of exercise in the fresh, cool air, as seen in these photos! Parents and caregivers are reminded that children need to come to school prepared each day with the following items: coat, hat, gloves, snow pants and boots. When the occasional piece of snow gear is forgotten, we have donations of some temporary outside clothing to loan out, ensuring that most students can still go out to play. However, boots and snow pants are hard to come by, so extra donations are always appreciated!

Second Grade Panthers “Helping Paws” Animal Rescue
Prior to the holiday break, Ms. Sponenberg arranged for our second grade students to enjoy a visit from some furry friends and the folks at Helping Paws Animal Rescue. They shared pointers on animal care and responsibility and told about success stories of animal/family adoption. Having visits like this is so important - our students learn empathy, responsibility, and how to care for animals and each other! Our focus on community connection at Glebe is important to our education. Thank you for sharing, Helping Paws! To see photos from the visit, click here. To see the Helping Paws Animal Rescue site, please go to http://www.helpingpawsrescue.com 

Knox Student Council Visits Glebe Primary Students
Recently, a terrific group of Knox Junior High students, under the direction of advisor Mrs. Gloria Bruno, spent some peer time with Glebe’s kindergarten and first graders. The Knox students handily helped their little friends in Mrs. Vosburgh’s, Mrs. Quinn’s, Mrs. Livingstone’s, and Mrs. Lisicki’s classrooms to complete a holiday craft, while teaching holiday customs and so much more in the process. Kindergarten students made beautiful pins, while the first grade students made cut-out crafts demonstrating the customs that they had learned about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Enjoy these photos from the visit.

Student Council’s Caring Character a Bright Spot Shining through the Season
The student council at Glebe Street, consisting of 55 caring children led by four wonderful advisors, meets monthly to focus on ways to develop leadership, sponsor community-minded activities and cheerlead for positive school spirit. The council was especially active during the holiday season, sponsoring fundraisers to earn money for charities.

One of the most motivating and successful fundraisers was the “Holiday Bright Spot.” By contributing 25 cents, anyone, child or adult, could honor a person who is a real bright spot for them. The “bright spot’s” name was printed on a beautifully designed paper ornament, which was then posted in the building. Originally, the project was to be limited to a huge central tree, but due to the overwhelming generosity of our community and the caring attitude of our students, we soon found the tree to be too small to accommodate the ornaments. We then began filling entire bulletin boards and doors with wreathes full of bright spots. Through the Bright Spot campaign, the student council raised over $325, which they elected to contribute to five different charities – Warm the Children, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Northeast Regional Food Bank, Mountain Valley Hospice, and the James Brennan Humane Society.

We’re very, very proud of the accomplishments of our Glebe Street Elementary School Student Council, which regularly sponsors school spirit days, staff appreciation events, community giving campaigns and other unique and wonderful programs.  Congratulations to the members for the success that has come from much hard work and the happiness felt by others fortunate enough to benefit from your help! Thank you also to the four caring advisors (Mr. Frenyea, Mrs. Smero, Mrs. Flanders and Mrs. Jones), who give freely of their time to enable the kind of leadership development in our Glebe Street Panthers that really counts!

Forty-First Hanging of the Greens
Rumor has it that since the beginning of time (well, at least since the opening of Glebe Street Elementary School in 1967), our students have celebrated a neat custom called “Hanging of the Greens.” On this day, a week or so before the holiday break, all staff and students gather in the halls of the school to ring in the season, light the tree, and hang the greens (wreath and swag), as seen in these photos. Mrs. Tyler does a super job of familiarizing the students with a comprehensive menu of carols and holiday songs. Participating in this custom year after year is a great tradition that brings our community together – and celebrates that very strong sense of family that is special and particular to Glebe Street Elementary School.

Singing and Playing Can’t be Beat!
Strike Up The Band and Sound the Full Chorus! Nearly all of the eligible fifth and sixth grade students at GSES participate in a musical ensemble. The ensemble students learn as much about themselves through their involvement in band & chorus as they do about the rudiments of reading, listening and performing music. During preparations and performances, the music students, under the direction of Mrs. Tyler (vocal music) and Miss Healy (instrumental music), learn important musical and personal skills. During Glebe’s recent Winter Concert (see photos), everything from “Hot Cross Buns” to holiday medleys and a full-blown choral cantata was performed to a standing room only audience. When children are at the center of it all, the parents and families really come out to call and offer support! Congratulations to the staff and students involved for a very successful performance season and special thanks to Mrs. Ermie (school secretary) and our custodians (Mr. Henry and Mr. Heimer) for their assistance.

PTA Delivers Fun with Santa’s Workshop &  Book Fair
The Glebe Street Parent Teacher Association, alive with parental involvement, helps to provide character-building programs and social and emotional enrichment opportunities for our students. The PTA’s effective and generous support allows for special events like Santa’s Workshop and the Winter Book Fair, shown in these pictures.  Through Santa’s Workshop, our children created beautiful, thoughtful, inexpensive crafts to give during the holiday season, while the Book Fair was designed to encourage reading excitement. More than 125 students and their families showed up to take part. Thank you, PTA, for assisting in developing our children’s well-being!

PTA Fall Festival Was Fantastic Fun For All
Our wonderful Glebe PTA held its annual Fall Festival on Friday, October 24. It was one of our best events yet, with many students, parents, grandparents and friends taking part in the exciting evening!

The attendees participated in many different crafts and games, including a pumpkin toss relay, face painting, a spooky feel box and a witches’ brew snack table. An “Animal Land” fundraiser was offered for the first time, with families creating their own stuffed animals to dress and take home. The Sefrin family won our Scarecrow Making Contest, earning them a Family Fun Night Basket filled with games and snacks for all to enjoy!

As an admission fee, participants were asked to donate a non-perishable food or personal care item. This was perhaps the biggest success of the festival, as the donated goods cart became filled with numerous boxes that will be given to the local food pantry. What a great way for Glebe to collectively “pay it forward” to our community! Enjoy these photos from the evening.

Reflections Program 2008-09 – “Wow!”
The Reflections Program, sponsored by the National PTA, provides an opportunity for all children in our school to express themselves creatively, as creativity adds to every child's learning experience. Students can choose to submit artwork in five separate categories: literature, photography/visual arts, dance choreography, film production and musical competition. Each project must be based on the 2008-09 theme “Wow!”

To provide initial inspiration, a Reflections Workshop was held on September 24 (see photos). All students at Glebe are now strongly encouraged to close their eyes, reach deep inside, empower their imaginations and use this wonderful opportunity to WOW us with some great projects. Entries are due to the Glebe Street PTA by November 10, 2008.

New SDM Enrichment Clubs for Fourth & Fifth Graders
Nearly 60 fourth and fifth graders have signed up to participate in the three new monthly enrichment clubs being offered at Glebe Street with the assistance of our wonderfully generous PTA. All students who expressed an interest were included in recent meetings of the Reading Club (a book discussion group), the Culture Club, and the “Panther Prints,” a student-authored writing/newsletter group.

Lunch with the Principal
Glebe students who show good character traits are rewarded with “Panther Points,” developed by our SDM character education program, with support from the PTA, to give positive recognition to students for the good things they do. Students may spend their Panther Points at the Panther Point cart, or enter them in a monthly drawing to win lunch with the principal. This event brings together K-6 students who exemplify the great character qualities we work so hard to instill every day. Students are selected at random at the end of the month from among those who have put their “Panther Points”’ into a jar - but no student is ever selected twice, making it possible for nearly 140 Glebe students to have a chance for selection throughout the year. The luncheon is always a big hit and fosters a nice relationship between the principal and the students, while reinforcing excellent behaviors. See photos from our September 2008 Luncheon.

Open House Ushers in New School Year
On Tuesday, September 23, Glebe Street Elementary hosted an Open House, welcoming children, parents and teachers to the 2008-09 school year. The evening began at 6:30 p.m., with an address by Principal Crankshaw and teacher introductions. Students then escorted family members to their classrooms so that they could meet their teachers and experience first hand the nurturing and exciting environment of the school. Parents also learned about opportunities to support their child's education by participating in dozens of PTA programs throughout the year. Individual projects were on display for all to admire, an information table was set up to provide the community with views of the new playground to be built at Glebe and tours of our vegetable and flower garden were given. Special thanks to the Warren Street PTA for serving refreshments (Glebe's PTA returned the favor during Warren's open house). The event was a great success with nearly 100 percent participation, and was enjoyed by all who were able to attend! Click here to see photos from the evening.