Thanksgiving and Giving

Although this past week was a short one, school-wise, it was full of activities to remind our students of the history and significance of the Thanksgiving holiday and to focus on giving to others in need. The Humanities Club sponsored their annual Red Cross blood drive on Tuesday, November 20th. Students and staff donated blood to help boost supplies.

Canned goods were collected at both Jabish Brook Middle School and Belchertown High School to be distributed to area food pantries in order to help meet the needs of those who are less fortunate in our town. Our students donated generously to this project.

Thanksgiving Day was a day of glorious sunshine and an opportunity for the community to come out for our annual Thanksgiving football game between the BHS Orioles and the Pathfinder Pioneers. It was great to see so many students, families, and alumni out for the game! Unfortunately, this was not the year for a victory for the Orioles, but they played hard. Due to their outstanding overall record this season, the Orioles will be facing St. Joseph Central High School in the Western Mass Division III playoffs on Tuesday, November 27th, at Holyoke High School. Kick-off will be at 5:15 pm. We wish them all the best in the playoffs!

The School Committee will be meeting on Tuesday, November 27th, at 7:00 pm in the library at Swift River Elementary School. Click here to see the agenda. The Healthy and Safer Schools Committee will be meeting on Wednesday, November 28th, at 3:00 pm in Room 317 at Belchertown High School. Click here to see the agenda for this meeting.

The first of the winter concerts will be taking place on Thursday, November 29th, at 7:00 pm in the BHS Auditorium. Come listen to our high school musicians perform - 22 of whom auditioned successfully for the Western District Band and Choir and 14 of whom were recommended for All State Band - always a great evening out!

If you have any questions about this post, feel free to call me at 413.323.0423.

Best regards, Dr. Judith Houle, Superintendent of Schools

A Million Minutes of Reading Kick-Off

On Thursday, November 15th, 24 children gathered with their families to kick off our Million Minutes of Reading program! We began in the Chestnut Hill Community School Auditorium with a read-aloud of How Much Is a Million? by David Schwartz and Steven Kellogg. Local celebrities read this fun book aloud to the children, while images from the book were projected onto the screen. Thanks go to School Committee members Beverly Phaneuf and Richard Fritsch, Selectman Brenda Aldrich, Clapp Memorial Children's Librarian Jennifer Whitehead, Cold Spring School Principal Sandra Bremer, Swift River Elementary School Robert Kuhn, and Chestnut Hill Principal Brian Cameron for reading aloud to a very enthusiastic audience! Following the read-aloud, we all went into the CHCS library to enjoy some reading time together. Some readers brought books, some used books from our school libraries, some read alone, and some read together. It was a great evening of fun and reading.

So now our read-a-thon begins. It is open to anyone in our community who would like to join along. Children in grades K-7 will be encouraged to read at school and at home and the Clapp Memorial Library is encouraging its patrons to read with us. Reading logs for children and adults are available at Cold Spring School, Swift River Elementary School, Chestnut Hill Community School, and Jabish Brook Middle School, as well as Clapp Library. When participants fill one up, they are encouraged to return them to their school or to Clapp Library and take another to keep on going. Our goal is to read for a million minutes by January. Once we reach our goal, celebrations will be had at each of the schools. We'll keep you posted on our progress!

Check out pictures from the family reading portion of the night below:

Plan to join us for our reading adventure! As always, if you have any questions about this blog post, feel free to call me at 413.323.0423.

Best, Dr. Houle, Superintendent of Schools

Excellence in the classroom and on the field!

This past weekend was a weekend of excellence for our students. On Friday, November 9, 2012, the John and Abigail Adams Scholars were announced and recognized at BHS. This program provides free tuition to any state college or university in Massachusetts for those seniors who achieved MCAS scores in the top 25% of their class. I was privileged to award them with their letters and to recognize their achievements along with Mrs. Vigneux, BHS Principal.

John & Abigail Adams Scholars

Our boys and girls soccer teams won the Western Mass Division II titles on Sunday, November 11th! The girls outscored Monson, 4-0, the only other team in the league to be undefeated until Sunday's finals. The boys played hard against Monument Mountain, in a real nail-biter! The score was tied 0-0 until the last 48 seconds in the match, when we scored a goal. Monument Mountain fought back in the final seconds and were blocked by our goalie, who made a great save! Both teams are on to the state semi-finals on Tuesday, November 14th at Westfield State University. The girls will play at 5:00 pm and the boys will play at 7:00 pm. Good luck to everyone!

Our football team also successfully clinched the league title on Friday, November 9th, with a 35-8 win over Greenfield. Congratulations!

Our students also paid tribute to veterans over the weekend. Programs were held at BHS and SRE on Friday, November 9th. Families were invited to attend the annual program at SRE, where third graders paid a musical tribute to those who served and still serve our country.

SRE Third Graders present a Veterans Day Program

The CHCS band and chorus also participated in the annual town Veterans Day Program on Sunday, November 11th in the BHS auditorium.

Highlighted events for this week include the School Committee meeting on Tuesday, November 13th at 7:00 pm in the SRE Library. Click here to see the agenda.

Thursday night at 6:30 pm is the kick-off to our school/town Million Minutes of Reading read-a-thon. This event will begin in the CHCS Auditorium. Plan to join us for a good time with some great books! See my November 8th blog post for more information.

As always, feel free to call me with any questions or comments: 413.323.0423

Best regards, Dr. Judith Houle, Superintendent of Schools

A Million Minutes of Reading

The Belchertown Public Schools and the Clapp Memorial Library are partnering together to see if we can read for a million minutes between November 15, 2012 and January, 2013! Our focus is to get our elementary students to read for pleasure both in and out of school, and to encourage families to join in the fun!

We will be hosting a kick-off event on Thursday, November 15, 2012, at 6:30 pm in the auditorium at Chestnut Hill Community School. The evening will begin with a group read-aloud of How Much Is a Million? by David Schwartz and Steven Kellogg, featuring some local celebrity readers! After we finish the book, families will gather in designated areas of the school for some reading time together. Families are encouraged bring their own books or other pleasure reading materials, however, books will be supplied for children in grades K-6 to use for the evening, if needed.

If anyone is unable to attend the kick-off, they are still welcome to participate. Log books will be given to every student at school following the kick-off, and adults may pick up copies at their child’s school or at Clapp Memorial Library. When you fill up one log book, total up the number of minutes and request a new one from your child’s school or at Clapp Library. With everyone reading together, we’re certain we can reach this ambitious goal!

Everything you read counts! Books, graphic novels, magazines, and newspapers all count. Since we are focusing on reading for pleasure as a lifelong activity, we are discouraging reading tied to homework assignments as part of our million minutes. We hope everyone will join the fun!

If you have any questions about this post, feel free to call me at 413.323.0423.

Best regards, Dr. Judith Houle, Superintendent of Schools

Powder Puff Fun and Teacher/Paraprofessional Work

A fun time was had on Saturday, November 3rd, at the 4th annual Powder Puff game! There was a definite chill in the air, but our junior and senior girls played hard. Congratulations to the juniors on their 30-12 victory!

Junior girls offense on the move!

The boys dressed up and cheered on their respective teams and put on an impressive half-time show.

Senior boys trying to get the crowd going!

Junior boys add a stunt to their routine!

It was a great night of family fun and it was wonderful to see so many folks there!

Our teachers and paraprofessionals had a professional development day on Tuesday, November 6th. Teachers worked on creating standards-based units of instruction that align with our district curriculum and will lead our students to deep understanding of content in all grade levels. They came up with some great ideas that will be further developed over the next few months. Paraprofessionals had a menu of offerings. The morning was devoted to positive behavioral supports for students and the afternoon had elementary paraprofessionals learning how to support struggling readers in the classroom while secondary paraprofessionals learned how to use Microsoft Office 2010 as a tool for assisting students. All in all, it was a very productive day.

As always, if you have any questions about this blog post, feel free to call me at 413.323.0423.

Best regards, Dr. Judith Houle, Superintendent of Schools

GO ORIOLES! Congratulations on making the playoffs!

Rays of Hope - Water and Wind - and a Powder Puff!

It's been another eventful week in the Belchertown Public Schools. My husband and I had the privilege of walking with 125 athletes and 17 coaches/chaperones in the Rays of Hope Walk in Springfield, MA on Sunday, October 28th. This walk, sponsored by Baystate Medical Center's foundation, raises money for support and research for breast cancer prevention, treatment, and working toward a cure. Mr. Marchewka, our athletic director, encouraged the fall teams to participate in this worthwhile community service project. Leading up to the walk, teams held various "Think Pink" games and events to raise money toward this endeavor. Congratulations to the girls' volleyball program for raising the highest amount of $2,200.00 and the boys' soccer program for raising the second highest amount of $1,000.00. These events, coupled with individual donations have resulted in over $4,000.00 being raised for this worthwhile cause with more money coming in! Thanks to one and all for your efforts.

Happy athletes at the end of the walk!

Monday, October 29th, and Tuesday, October 30th, were focused on the arrival and departure of Superstorm Sandy. School was closed on Monday at the request of the governor; and downed branches, trees, limbs, and a few power lines forced cancellation again in the interest of student and bus safety on Tuesday. Our hearts go out to all those up and down the eastern seaboard who have suffered major damage in her wake, particularly in Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. Having lived through last year's unwelcome October storm, we know what they are dealing with in terms of loss of lives, power and services, as well as damage to homes, businesses and other services. Their road to recovery will be greater than ours was last year.

It looks as though we are in for some cold weather over the next few days, but don't let the chill in the air dissuade you from a fun event on Saturday, November 3rd at 5:00 pm, the annual BHS Powder Puff classic! Bundle up and come out to cheer on our junior and senior girls' flag football teams and our boys' cheerleading squads as we raise money to support class activities and enjoy a great time together!

Daylight savings time ends this weekend. Don't forget to "fall back" by setting your clocks back 1 hour on Saturday night. It's also a good time to remember to check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to be sure they are in good working order. Be safe!

As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me by phone: 413.323.0423.

Best regards, Dr. Judith Houle, Superintendent of Schools