LIGHTS ON

Afterschool Alliance Project

October 26, 2017

One Planet is joining in the Lights On project to promote the important work afterschool programs in our community. Please join us for:

HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL

JOIN US FOR SOME HALLOWEEN FUN!

When:  THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26th,

3:00-5:30pm

What: Fun Carnival Booths, Games, Food, Fun!

All are welcome: Kids, parents, guardians, school staff, community members!

To Register: Email Jola Labejsza at jlabejsza@wrvsu.org

by Monday, October 23rd.

FREE EVENT

And so it starts - we are having a typical fall weather today with rain and wind, bringing down the leaves. The carpeted driveways and back roads look very picturesque while there is still lots of reds and yellows of the trees for all to admire. Autumn arrived late this year but it still hasn't failed to show us its beautiful face.

One Planet children were lucky to enjoy one of the last warm days during our second half-day field trip, to VINS Nature Center. At first, the kids brilliantly answered questions about reptiles and at the end of that session, they got to pat a turtle and touch a corn snake, a very pretty one, even though I preferred to only admire it from a distance.

Then we went on  to observe some truly magnificent birds of prey, in their enclosures, at first, and then out in the open. We got there during feeding time, a fascinating and naturalistic scene, for boys mostly. The finale of the show was watching some of the birds, like red hawk and others, fly very close over all of us, gently touching some of the children's heads with their feathers, much to their delight. It definitely was a day to remember!

We are still taking advantage of this fall beautiful weather☺feeling so fortunate to live in this special Valley. At the opening day, our Superintendent encouraged all schools to take more time for physical activities, giving Swedish educational system as example.

Our school is taking notice (the forest area is expanding and gaining popularity!) and so is One Planet Afterschool Program. We are grateful that our enrichment program teachers are incorporating this idea into their programs.

Here is a moment  from Ms. Mugford's "Big Group Games" captured in this vibrant photo.

We have been enjoying these exceptionally hot days lately (at least the kids did!) by staying outside longer, having picnics with watermelon and healthy snacks which always taste better when eaten outside. And of course we make sure to have plenty water on hand.

Last Friday we walked to our local Farmer's Market, not for the first time since this is something One Planet kids really enjoy interacting with the vendors who in turn like sharing their knowledge and goods. Our own Music teacher, Ms. Holly Mugford, was doing face painting and that was a great hit with all the children as the photo shows.

We'll definitely go back.

Hello 2017/2018 School Year!

As you can see One Planet students are already enjoying it! We have started with a GAP program during which we spend as much time outside as we can and we have been so fortunate to have had this nice weather lately!

What you see in this picture is One Planet returning students who have actually planted the veggies that they are "selling" (and sampling themselves) in their store last year as part of their enrichment program with Ms. Marcella Carroll.

Speaking of enrichment programs, we are starting them again next week! Informational packets were sent home with the students earlier this week. Please look them over as soon as you can and sign up your child/children for at least some of our exciting and educational programs. You can always try a "drop-in" to see if your child will want to continue but please give them that chance to enjoy the outdoors with their friends, have a healthy snack, get help with their homework, participate in a fun program and then have free play - most kids choose Legos, no surprise here.

Please contact me with any questions. Thank you!

Today, for the first time this year, our after school program students wanted to go inside as they said it was too hot! We did stay outside for 45 minutes so I could understand - this sudden change from "too cold" to "too hot" is a lot to take. Time for splashing in some kind of water body! It will happen soon as we only have 6 1/2 days of school left.

Before that happens, we are still busy with fun activities. Not just fun but educational and practical. Our students have been involved in the process of starting school's vegetable garden from painting signs when it was still snowy outside, to planting and eventually sprucing up the greenhouse. Under the guida
nce of our Spanish and FCS teacher, Marcella Carroll they cleaned and painted the entrance. There is even a palm tree adorning the front wall!
I am positive that they will be very proud watching the vegetables they started from seeds grow.

It's not just "work" here. We take out the scooters once again for spins around the skate park, play ball, make fairy houses and just enjoy the outdoors.

To wrap up a fun and interesting year we are planning a pizza and ice cream party next Monday - the children voted and that's what they decided they would like to do as a culminating event. Photos to come in the next and last blog of this school year!

Welcome Sunshine!

The sun feels good today, especially after all that we have gone through lately - two major snow storms. The weather reports called them winter storms, but shouldn't they be called Spring Snow Storms ? I guess that might remind us too much of the fact that indeed Spring started two weeks ago but winter is still holding on tight, at least for another week...

To take advantage of being forced to be indoors more than our students would have liked, our enrichment teachers created fun and educational activities. During Paper Engineering program with Anne Stiebing, children created their own playgrounds, models of imaginary house rooms (I could see a potential for future interior designers there!) and backyards with swimming pools and more. 

Lego League Jr. has been a great success - no surprise there! It never amazes me how the kids whom I think I know pretty well come up with new designs and how focused they are when building their creations with whatever materials they are being handed in. 

And finally, Spring has been on our minds while students with the help of Mrs. Carroll painted signs for the vegetable garden they will be working on and even already planted some seeds today with more to come once the temperatures go up and the sun shines more often. Can't wait!

In the meantime, while we still have lots of snow on the ground, our students joined Stockbridge to visit Rochester Forest Ranger Station. We cannot thank the Rangers enough for how kind and patient they were when teaching our students survival skills, the art of snowshoeing, showing them different kind of animal skins (they could touch and try to tell), meeting rescue dogs and of course Smokey the Bear. It was a perfect day to (hopefully) say good-bye to Winter.

Wishing everyone lots of sunshine,

Jolanta Labejsza, Rochester OnePlanet Site Coordinator 

We got snow!

I hope that everyone had a sweet and special Valentine's Day. After school children came to us all happy and sugary, carrying their half eaten treats and even a container of some leftover pieces of a yummy cake to be shared with friends and teachers. Finding a cute Valentine on my laptop warmed my heart - if any holiday teaches our children to spread sweets and love, let's keep it!

The other thing that makes our kids happy is the fresh snow we have recently got ... and lots of it! We have been outside when it was snowing and on all the other days to sled, ice skate and climb snow mountains! Forts and caves are being made anew, promoting collaboration while having fun, breathing fresh winter air and taking in beautiful valley views that we are lucky to be surrounded by.

Quality afterschool and summer learning programs keep kids safe and healthy, inspire learners, help working families, and support Vermont's vision for education. In addition, afterschool and summer programs are places to get healthy snacks and meals, participate in fun physical activities, and stay out of trouble.

We need to ask our legislators to support state funding of $2.5 million to the ELO Special Fund in the General Fund Budget FY18. An annual appropriation of $2.5 million would help to ensure all high-need communities in Vermont get the financial support they need to make sure that kids and families have access to quality afterschool and summer learning programs. We need to ask the legislature to support H.270, a bill that would create structure for ELO Special Fund.

To help advocate for this, I attended the Vermont Afterschool & Summer Learning day at the Vermont State House in Montpelier on Feb. 16 and met with our Legislators in the hope that they would support funding these programs. You can help too, by calling and writing our representatives  with stories, data and information about how children will be affected if funds are cut.

Thank you!

Next week winter vacation starts and when we come back to school on March 8, One Planet will go into Session III with some new and exciting programs. Packets with all that information are going home with students this week and will also be published right here.

Happy New Year!

One Planet finished last year with a great program led by Carrie McDonnell, our Director, on December 20th, a half day. It was an afternoon filled with fun holiday activities, like making decorations, gingerbread house and best of all gingerbread cookies which some children were patient enough to wait to take home but some ate them right there! They looked and were delicious as the photo below shows:

The new year started with fun in the snow or ice, which we had a lot of. Unfortunately, some days were just too icy but some were in between when snow "bails" could be made and transformed into all kind of structures, a scientifically creative adventure!

Speaking of science, we have had a couple of weeks of tinkering, a unique form of STEM learning. Students were making tops with materials that can be usually found in every house, like screws and washers - amazing how a little imagination and skill can work wonders!

And what a wonder it is to be able to roast marshmallows in winter, which is what our children have a chance to do during the outdoor program which includes cooking outside and exploring our nearby forest. The kids come back with rosy cheeks and lots of things to tell.

That's what we like them to experience - new things or old things which can be seen in a different light and in various scenarios.
Knowing that they come to us after a whole day of school, we make sure that they get a chance to move a lot. First, it's time outside around the playground, then also during the programs we offer. Even Spanish is not just learning new words but also dancing around to lively Spanish music with our own Spanish teacher Ms. Marcella Carroll. 
We can also create music during the International Drumming program with Ms. Holly Mugford, The kids have certainly been having fun being loud!

One more thing that we have wanted to do outside is ice skating but unfortunately the weather hasn't been cooperating. We are optimistic, though, and got a box of ice skates ready with our students' names on them. And once we actually did skate and the kids had lots of fun. Here's to hoping there will be more days like that!