Friday Announcements                                   Date:  February 13, 2004

Dear Parker families,

I had an experience recently that was notable and the significance of it to Parker didn’t occur to me until later. I want to describe it because for me it demonstrates the importance of just one little aspect of Parker that we can probably all relate to. But first I want to outline a few similar anecdotes.

One of my first impressions of Parker was formed several years ago, in January, when I attended an information session. My husband, son and I were searching for an alternate school and like hundreds of other parents over the years we listened carefully to the administrators and teachers as they described the numerous differences between Parker and other schools. At one point during the introductory remarks, a young man was introduced. He confidently walked up to the podium with briefcase in hand and proceeded to explain to the audience why he valued being a student at Parker. He looked approximately the same age as my son and I know the student now, he was in Division 1  at the time of that information session.  I remember thinking, how unusual it was that such a young student could present to so many strangers in a large gymnasium.

Throughout the first year as a Parker family we enjoyed Café Wednesday each time there was one. At the second or third such evening a Division 1 teacher casually suggested that my son should consider performing. The fact that this teacher didn’t even have my son as a student in class, but knew that he liked to write poetry, was really special. By the final Café Wednesday in June of his first year at Parker, my son was on the program!  The performance brought tears to my eyes and I remember thinking, how did this happen?

During our second year as a Parker family I attended a CES National Conference. Here, I watched Division 1, 2 and 3 students present and facilitate workshops. These conference sessions are highly professional and attended by educators from all over the United States. The students from Parker were articulate, relaxed and totally engaged as presenters. Many adults commented on the poise and meaningful contributions each student was capable of. I remember thinking, WOW, this is so amazing!

Last spring was my first opportunity to experience a Gateway. It is truly exciting to see your student present to a small group of teachers, parents and friends. I think what impressed me the most about the Gateway was the commentary made by the students in the audience. Each student took his/her turn to express his/her observations about the person “gatewaying” and always included sincere, supportive remarks. They were particularly insightful and made me realize how well they knew the student who was “gatewaying”. With absolute ease, these students spoke and contributed in a meaningful and honest way. I remember thinking, how wonderful it is to see friends express their thoughts and give a part of themselves publicly.

I could go on, and my guess is that most of us could add examples of what I’m illustrating. All of these scenarios highlight the ability that Parker students have to speak in front of large, medium and small audiences. This probably isn’t an earth shattering observation. But all of the situations I described were planned, or staged or rehearsed to some degree or another. This brings me back to the beginning of my letter.

I was part of an almost impromptu gathering of teenagers and their parents from my town. The goal of the meeting was straightforward and simple. We needed to come to a consensus regarding the schedule for a course that the young people plan to take.  What we all anticipated to be a friendly discussion turned into a heated situation. The students will be the ones taking the course so they were asked specifically for input. Because there was obvious tension in the room, it would be an understatement to say that they were “on the

spot”. As we went around the group, the only two students who had the courage and wherewithal to voice their opinions were from Parker!  They spoke without hesitation and told us not only what they thought but why!

 Later, I was struck by the contrast. The other students, who are great kids and successful in school as well as other endeavors could not find their voices. I can understand how these students must have felt. When I was their age, I too, would have been mute in that setting which was dominated by adult opinions.

 I’m thinking, how fortunate we are to know our children are learning such an important skill at Parker and how proud I am of the results of Parkers' commitment to their students!

Sincerely,

 

Sheila S. Hayward

Parker parent

 

 

February, 2004

Monday, 16 - President’s Day - No school

Tuesday, 17 - Friday, 20 - Winter Recess

Thursday, 26 - Skiing Program (leave at 3:45 p.m. back at school 8:30 p.m. sharp)

Thursday, 26 - Health Advisory Council Meeting at 7:00 p.m. in Room 1

Friday, 27 - Semi Formal Dance for 7th, 8th and 9th grades only

 

 

PLEASE  MARK  THESE  DATES!   (Subject to change)

March, 2004

Wednesday, 3 - Café Wednesday

Friday, 12 - Faculty Work Day - No school for students

Wednesday, 17 - Spring PLP Conference Day (no classes) (Please note change of date)

Tuesday, 23 - Parker Matters, Session II - Letting Go…And Hanging on For Dear Life (7:00 - 8:30 p.m.)

Tuesday, 30 - MCAS Test for 7th and 10th graders

 

April, 2004

Tuesday, 13 - Parker Matters, Session III - Homework… HELP! Part II

Wednesday, 14 - Café Wednesday

16 - Early Release (noon dismissal)

Monday thru Friday, 19 - 23 - Spring Recess

May, 2004

Sunday, 16 - Parker Classic Road Race

Monday, 17 - Friday, 28 – MCAS and Stanford 9 tests for grades 7,8,9 and 10

Friday, 28 - Early Release (noon dismissal)

Monday, 31- Memorial Day - No school

 

Mini-Grant Application Form

 

Please return to the PEF Box in the office by Monday, February 23

 

Dear Parker Community,

 

The PEF Board will be meeting soon to distribute funds from the recent holiday bazaar and other fundraising activities. If you have an idea for enriching the education of students at Parker, please fill out this form and return to the Parker office. Questions? Call Maryellen Grady (978) 486-4064 or Joan Shankle (978) 779-6301.  Please remember to obtain Teri Schrader’s signature prior to submitting this to the PEF.

 

Name:    ________________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________________

Daytime Phone: ________________ Evening Phone: ________________

Project Title:  ___________________________________________________________________

Co-Sponsors  (if any):______________________________________________________________

A Brief Description of the Project and Benefit to Parker Students: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Total Amount Requested: _______________________

(Please attach an itemized budget for projects over $500 including 3 different estimates if applicable.)

Adjustments that can be made if project is not fully funded: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

 

If this grant is awarded it is expected that the recipients upon completion will provide a written report or other tangible demonstration of how the grant money was used and the benefits to the Parker School.

 

If funded, I (we) agree to carry out the goals of this project in accordance with the description and budget contained in this application or in accordance with any adjustment which is subsequently approved by the PEF. In the event that we do not carry out this project for whatever reason, we agree to account for and return all unused funds to the PEF forthwith.

 

Sponsors Signatures:  _____________________   _____________________   _________________

                                                _________________________   _________________________    ____________________

 

Principal’s Signature  (Required): _____________________________________________ 

 

Please add other sheets as necessary.

 

Thank you to the family of Stephanie Stoumbelis for their donations of supplies to the nurse’s office.  All contributions are greatly appreciated!

 

Coaches are needed for the Spring: 

       Middle School Softball Coach

          Volunteer Track and Field Assistants

 

 

 

Division I A/H

MANY THANKS to the parents who helped to chaperone the Pequot Museum trip yesterday!  Thanks to you, things went very smoothly, and the students benefited and  enjoyed their visit.

 

Students need to have their Native American choice reading books ready to go right after vacation, so if they have not acquired or ordered them, now is the time.  It would be great if students could get a head start on reading some of the books over vacation, too.

 

If there is a "down" stay-at-home day with nothing to do, please remind students, especially returning ones, that vacation is a great time to do revisions! 

 

 

Division II A/H

Students finished their wonderful work with the Civil War and Reconstruction unit on Thursday by sharing their artistic expression pieces.  Students sang and played songs, read poems, and presented their paintings.  Throughout our event, students, teachers, and community members saw and heard how deeply our kids could explore difficult texts and create

beautiful, meaningful art.  What better way to end a unit? 

 

This break students should work on revisions as needed and rest; we have lots of fun and hard work planned for our next unit focusing on the Great Depression.   

 

 

Division I MST

An enormous thank you to all of the parents and community members who attended the "Evening with the Stars" exhibition night.  It was an incredible success!  Our students received so much valuable feedback and were given so many wonderful compliments...the sense of pride in their work was astonishing.  We wrap up our study of Space this week and when we return from break we launch into our Physics unit.  We're really looking forward to this unit...it is rich with experimentation and hands on activities.  It also allows us to really explore some fundamental and essential math and science concepts.  Watch out Newton here we come!

 

Division II MST

Students have been formulating their science scenarios this week.  They should have a scenario and guiding questions around an area of either stem cell, cloning, or the human genome.  After break, we begin the process of putting together oral presentations which will begin on Friday, February 27th.  These will be assessed.  In addition, students need to prepare a typed outline as well as a final annotated bibliography for the 27th.

 

This week students explored angle relationships on Geometer's Sketchpad.  Afterwards, students defined various pairs of angles such as vertical angles, linear pair of angles, corresponding angles, alternate interior angles and alternate exterior angles.  Then students formulated conjectures about these angles.  After break students will continue proving conjectures about these angles.

 

Division II is in need of large sponges to wash table tops with.  If you can send some in that would be appreciated.

 

 

This week in Janice's and Lisa's Div 2 classes, students handed in their fictional stories about an immigration experience, and either finished watching "La Ciudad," the movie, or worked on taking an inventory of what they have done in Div 2 Spanish so far. Students also handed in their journals which will count towards their Reading project. In Div 3, students dove into the story "En este Pueblo no hay ladrones" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

 

Emily's classes began listening to and analyzing tejano music this week.  After break, they will continue to analyze music and lyrics and prepare for writing their own song lyrics as part of a writing piece. 

 

 

This week in Alan's classes:

This week in Alan's classes, students participated in tag games, rope jousting, ping pong, Steal the Bacon, vaulting and the climbing wall.  Division one students worked on revising their behavior change project.  Students identified responsible ways for safely using medicine and explained the importance of information found on (Over the Counter)

medicine.  They also handed in phase three of their Behavioral Change project.

 

This week in Deborah’s classes:

This week in Deborah's Wellness classes we have had a revision day to get caught up on the Behavior Change project.  Phase 3 was due on Thursday.  Students also learned about proper hand washing techniques and food safety.   Prisoner dodge ball and team hand ball were the activities keeping students on there toes!

 

This week in Laura’s classes:

In Laura's Wellness classes this week, we were treated to swing dance lessons by a guest teacher!  Students learned a little about the history and etiquette of social dancing, and had the opportunity to practice some dance steps to some great swing music!  We hope to offer more lessons in the future.  Behavior Change "news blurbs" were due on Tuesday, February 10.  Have a safe and relaxing vacation!

 

 

Reminder:  The next Health Advisory Council (HAC) meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 26 at 7:00 p.m.  Agenda items include:  Wellness Emotional Health Unit,  Internet filtering policy discussion, 18 year olds in our school, and role of parents in curricular decisions among others.  Please contact Mary Ann for more information.

 

 

Driver’s Education with Mike’s Auto School – Classes begin Wednesday, February 25

Cindy Paradise from Mike’s Auto School will be starting Driver’s Education classes again beginning on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 from 1:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will continue until Wednesday, May 19, 2004.  You must be

16 years old by March 1, 2004.  The total cost of the 10-week course is $340.00 due on Wednesday, February 25, 2004.  Please pay Mike’s Auto School by banker’s check, money order or cash only;  no personal checks will be accepted.  There will be no classes on Wednesday, March 17, and Wednesday, April 21, 2004.  Please sign up on the bulletin board outside the front office.

 

 

Math Team

Freshman Meet #3 is on March 3, 2004 at Hudson High School (7-9th graders) Topics include:  ‘Graphing on a Number Line’, ‘Operations on Polynomials’, ‘Set Theory’, and ‘Perimeter, Area & Volume’.

 

Varsity Meet #4 is on April 7, 2004 at Bartlett High School.  Topics include: ‘Elementary Number Theory’, ‘Algebra I’, ‘Open Geometry’, ‘Logs, Exponents & Radicals’, and ‘Trigonometry’.

 

Practices are during Choice Block with Dina in Room 17 and on Mondays after school with Dina and Amy in Room 24. Please see Dina or e-mail dinaz@parker.org for more information.

 

Math Team is looking for drivers for the above meets.  Please contact Dina dinaz@parker.org if you are interested in driving.

 

The 10th grade and 12th grade AMC Competitions will take place on Wednesday, February 25th. Please speak with Dina or e-mail dinaz@parker.org for more information.

 

 

 

 

School Supply Drive for Ecuador

 

Matt’s advisory is going to be holding a school supply drive over the next few weeks.  This drive will provide poverty stricken kids in Ecuador, South America basic school supplies so that they too can have a good education.  Matt has a brother in Ecuador and he emphasized how little supplies he had to teach and how his students were suffering from it.  We would like to help these kids! 

 

For our drive we are asking the Parker community to donate a variety of small school supplies (not paper because it eats up packing space and weight).  Some of these include:

 

·         Pencils

·         Pens

·         Notebooks

·         Children’s books

·         Folders

·         Erasers

There will be a donation box in the lobby, or you can bring them to Room 13.  Thanks, Matt’s advisory.

 

 

♫♪ ♫♪  Music at Parker       ♫♪ ♫♪

 

The Parker Jazz Band is in its seventh year under the direction of bandleader, Frank Bonanno.  The band is continuing to perform to rave reviews, and is expanding its repertoire of jazz classics and contemporary music.  Students have the opportunity to develop their ensemble playing skills as well as improvisational skills.

 

Band practice will be held after school on Wednesdays, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.  All musicians with at least one to two years’ experience on their instrument and a working knowledge of basic scales are welcome to join.  We are asking students to make a serious commitment to the band, and to attend band practice on a regular basis, because ensemble music requires the musicians to develop together.  Frank also strongly encourages students to continue with individual lessons on their instrument.

 

The fee for the Jazz Band will be $90 for the second term (February - June), to cover the costs of music and instruction.  Scholarship money is available by request.  The first practice will be Wednesday, February 25. 

 

If you have any questions about the Jazz Band, please see Laura Rogers.

 

 

 

Parents!

It's Parker Road Race time again - Sponsors Welcome!

 

Last year the Parker Classic Road Race received over $8000 in sponsorships from local businesses and corporations.  Would you and/or your company like to help sponsor the Road Race? 

 

Sponsor Benefits:

 

·        Sponsor acknowledgement in press releases to all papers serving our 38 towns, in the weekly announcements sent to the 300 Parker families and listing on www.parker.org /PEF road race

 

·        Sponsor name in all race fliers

 

·        Sponsor signs and banners will be prominently displayed on race day

 

·        Sponsor Logo on race T-shirt given out free to runners

 

Classes of Sponsorship:  

 

·        Major Sponsor                         -$1000+          Front T-shirt logo

 

·        Supporting Sponsor                  -$600             Back T-shirt Logo

 

·        Participating Sponsor                -$300              Back T-shirt with smaller Logo

 

·        Cooperative Sponsor                -under $300   All the above benefits except the

     T-shirt

 

Any support is welcomed.  If you own or work for a business who would like to help by being a sponsor please contact Jane Matson at wjtmats@rcn.com (978) 772-3742 or Mary Feeley at mefeeley@charter.net  (978)433-9392.

 

 

From Indian Hill Music Center – A workshop for adults and teens entitled “Mysteries of Recorded Music Revealed” will be offered by Grammy Nominee, David Moulton.  To register or for more information please call, (978) 486-9524 or visit www.indianhillmusic.org.

 

Also from Indian Hill, “Jammin On the Hill” a coffee-house featuring local artists.  Prospective performers should contact Rachel Edelman at IHMC to request a spot at (978) 486-9524 Extension 113 or email Rachel@indianhillmusic.org.  Coffee-house dates are Friday, February 13 and Friday, May 14, 7:30 – 10:00 p.m.  Cover charge is $5.00.

 

 Menu for week of February 23

Monday –   Cheeseburgers (Veggie burgers available)

                                Roasted potatoes

Lettuce & tomato Slices

Fruit Dessert

                                Milk

 

Tuesday –   Chicken Pot Pie

                                Mashed Potatoes

Fruit Dessert

                                Milk

 

Wednesday – Pizza Day

 Thursday -   “Flower Power” Chicken Patties

Curley Fries

Carrot Sticks & Ranch dip

Fruit Dessert

Milk

 

Friday–   Spaghetti & Meatballs

                                Garden Salad

Garlic Bread

                                Fruit Dessert

                                Milk