Guidance Notes by Sue Pronchik

April has been a busy month in the counseling department, supporting the PSSA’s and Terra Nova assessments along with the typical duties of Child Study, observations, testing and special education paperwork. On April 10^th –I hosted a parent meeting on “Safe and Healthy” touches, sponsored by Victim Services of Montgomery County. This program will be presented to the students in grades 2 and 4 on April 30^th. I also hosted Muffins for Mom’s and we read and discussed the book “Best Friends, Worst Enemies; Understanding the Social Lives of Children”. This was a great opportunity for the Brooke moms to share thoughts, concerns and solutions to childhood social issues.

On April 14^th, Mariel Zummo and I organized an assembly featuring our Brooke classroom in Kenya! Yes, Jim Nowak came down and showed the students the results of our philanthropy project from last year. There is a classroom named the Brooke classroom and we are hoping to raise enough money to build another classroom this year. Our goal is to teach kids that they do have the power to change the world J Our Walk-A-Thon was held on Monday 4/21 to raise money for this cause.

I will soon begin the last group of the year this Wed. –Stress Management –to assist children with anxiety issues. Lastly, I thank the board for sponsoring my trip to the Pa. School Counselor’s Association conference in Lancaster, Pa. My workshop, “The Power of One”, focused on the role of the bystander, in respect to the bully and target. It was very well received –thank you for the opportunity to present.

Physical Fitness by Nancy Kodish

We went to Special Olympics on April 17^th.  The weather was beautiful and the athletes had a great time.  We came home with many ribbons. We are currentlycompleting our President’s Council on Physical Fitness Test – Students are running the mile run in grades 1-4.

Media Center by Jean Novis

Books and literature presented to Brooke’s primary students in their Media Center classes during the month of April focused on spring and Earth Week themes. In order to reinforce the theme of the stories as well as reading and writing skills, various worksheets on these subjects were completed. The Primary Classes also continued to work on book parts and book arrangement in the Media Center.

The Intermediate Classes were involved in a variety of reading, writing, and research activities throughout the month. The Third Grade classes learned the history of the original teddy bear through a nonfiction book on that subject as well as developing a writing activity through story recall and sequencing the story’s events. The Fourth Grade classes continued to develop their research skill through electronic and print encyclopedias.

From the Reading Room by Marilyn Nepps, Ed.D.

The theme of our third Reading Is Fundamental (R.I.F.) book distribution, “The Life of a Pond”, was selected to coincide with the building of Brooke’s pond on April 18^th. Each grade level researched some aspect of a pond --- how to build a pond, how to care for a pond, and the plants and animals that live in or near a pond. Student representatives shared their grade level’s research on the televised morning announcements. One of our fourth graders interviewed Mrs. Mary DeAngelis, our Environmental Science teacher, on WBRK-TV to introduce all students to the concept of a man-made pond. Our Art teacher, Miss DiGuiseppe and Mrs. Karen Pizzuta, a parent volunteer created a fabulous bulletin board in the lobby detailing what is found in and near a pond.