November 2013 archive

Happy Thanksgiving

I wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I hope that you have a chance to relax and enjoy your families. This Thanksgiving I am very thankful to have each of your children as part of my daily life! Every child has truly touched my heart. Have a great weekend!

Georgetown Holiday Program

Below are the details that Mrs. Bretz has posted about the holiday program on Dec. 3rd!


Georgetown Christmas Program
December 3, 2013
Fair Haven Ministries Church

6:30 – 7:00   K-2nd     
(Students report at 6:15)

7:45 – 8:15   3rd-5th   

(Students report at 7:30)

Where is the church?Address: 2900 Baldwin Street  Hudsonville, MI 49426.
Fair Haven Ministries is located down the road from Georgetown Elementary at the corner of Baldwin Street and 28th Ave.

What time do students need to be at the church?
Students need to report to their assigned classroom 15 MINUTES PRIOR TO THE PROGRAM.

It is very important not to be late so teachers have enough time to line students up in their riser orders, pass out props and make sure everyone who has a special part is accounted for. Please do not send your child to the classroom unsupervised or prior to their scheduled time.

Where does my child need to go when they get to the church?
There will be signs at the church directing you to your child’s classroom.
Below are the room assignments by grade:

K – Family Life Center
1st – 100 Wing
2nd – 400 Middle
3rd – 100 Wing
4th – 400 Middle
5th – Family Life Center

How long will the program be?
Each group will perform for about 30 minutes. There will be 45 minutes between the two programs for K-2nd grade students to leave and upper elementary students to arrive for the next program.

What order are the grades singing?

The grades are singing in order of age: Kindergarten perform first, then 1st/2nd grade, then 3rd grade and finally 4th/5th grade.

Can we save seats prior to the program?
No. The only reserved seats will be for the directors, videographers, and teachers.
Doors will open at 5:30 and seating is first come first served.
PLEASE be respectful and courteous to other families. Everyone wants a good seat and we will do our best to fit everyone into the auditorium.  Please try to keep young children on your laps and not to take up unnecessary seats in order to leave more space for others.  WCET TV will be taping and televising the program so that families who are unable to attend can still see it.

Is food or drink allowed in the church?
No food or drink is allowed in the church. This is strictly enforced.
We are so gracious to Fair Haven for allowing us to rent their facility and we need to abide by their rules.

Do the students need to wear anything special?
No. Most students love to dress up and will wear special Christmas dresses or “church clothes”, but there is no requirement.
The exception to this is if your child has a special part. Some parts require special costumes. Many costumes are provided, but some may have to be brought from home. If your child has a special part, they should have brought home a “congratulations” letter that would say if they need to wear or bring anything special. Please note that if your child has a special part that requires a costume, they may not have time to change and might need to wear their costume for the entire program.

How do students get special parts?For most parts, students audition during class time. Sometimes if I have simple parts I randomly choose students or choose random class numbers. I also keep track of every student who has ever had a Christmas program part from Kindergarten through 5th grade. Whenever possible, I try to give parts to students who have not ever had parts or who have not had parts in the past couple years. Typically, I will have about 50-100 students audition for a part. I narrow the students down to about 20 and put those names in a hat and draw a lucky winner. Although I would love everyone to have a part, having 600+ students and only a handful of parts each year is very difficult. I discuss this with the students and they realize everyone cannot have a solo part, but that EVERY single person is important to the success of the program. Most songs have special props or motions that involve everyone as well.

Tidbits

Below is information that I wanted to pass along…….

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3,  is our annual Holiday program!  More information will be coming home soon from Mrs. Bretz/Mrs. Van Rijs. 12/3 ~ Holiday Program (Grades K-2 @ 6:30p; Grades 3-5 @ 7:45p at Fair Haven Church).

 

HOLIDAY GIFT SHOP……… Hard to believe but the Holiday Gift Shop is right around the corner.  Classes will be shopping December 4-6. Keep an eye out for your student’s classroom schedule and money envelope to be coming home soon!  We will also be doing a Hudsonville Apparel order at this time.  More information will be coming home soon!  If you’d prefer to shop with your student the Holiday Gift Shop will be staying open until 6:30 on Thursday, December 5th so feel free to stop by to shop during that time.

 

Calling for healthy/salty snacks for our Walenta Warehouse. We need pretzels/animal crackers/vanilla wafers/  etc to be donated to our warehouse. Thank you! 🙂

 

toysTOYS FOR TOTS……….. Georgetown as a school is collecting toys for Toys for Tots this Holiday season.  The drop box is now located in the lobby out side of the office.  Some of you may have seen this already on TV, but we have joined in the collection with Channel 13 News.  Lets try to do our very best to make this a very happy Holiday season for many children in our area!  No matter how little or how large the gift,  it can bring a HUGE smile to a child’s face!!  This is a great way show our children that the Holidays are for sharing.  : )  The collection box will be in the lobby until THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12!!

Toys for Tots

Georgetown will host a TOYS FOR TOTS box this year. Click on the link and get to know more about this opportunity and how a fourth grader is leading the charge!  It will be stationed outside of our library (Media Center).  The box will be available from November 18 through December 12.

Calling All Excellent Typers! :)

If you have computer access at home, we have recommendations for a couple of websites for your child to practice their typing skills. Some of these sites can easily be located by going to the Hudsonville Public School Website homepage. Look for the link that reads Elementary Web Links

  1. Dance Mat Typing  http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/
  2. Typing Practice (lessons, games, and typing tests)http://www.freetypinggame.net )

 

It is very important that your child is using the correct fingering when they practice their typing so as not to fall into a bad habit of using the incorrect fingers.

 

Hudsonville Public Schools has set the following goals in keyboarding for your elementary child:

 

Fifth Grade has a typing goal of 20 words per minute by the end of the school year.

Fourth Grade has a typing goal of 15 words per minute by the end of the school year. 

Third Grade has a typing goal of 10 words per minute by the end of the school year.

P.E. Cares

The P.E. teachers are asking for donations of canned or non-perishable food items between Nov. 11 and Nov. 21! We will collect these items for a local food distribution. The class that brings in the most items will win a t-shirt and a special bowling trip with their class and PE teacher! Let us collect as many as we can! 🙂

Great Halloween Party! :)

 

Thank you to everyone who donated your time and/or items for the Halloween Party! The party was enjoyed by all! 🙂 A shout out to the moms who planned our fun activities and yummy food for our party!  I am hoping everyone had a safe time trick or treating! I am looking forward to seeing all of you next week at conferences! 🙂