Adventurers Team

Team teachers: Pam Wise/Joplin James

This week in Adventurers . . .

Adventurers Share talents, have a field day and make crafts:

 Songs, recitals, bike tricks, pogostick tricks, magic, martial arts, gymnastics, artwork, and many others.

  Field day was a lot of fun including various relay races, three legged race, and an obstacle course, tug-a-war. Thanks to Shawn, Tina, Ginger, Lisa.

  Craft day was a wonderful time for a variety of creations. We hope you saw the magic crystal wand, bracelet, bookmark, Flower fairy, etc.

Thanks to Heather, Marna, Aimee, and Leslie.

The Year 2007-2008 in Review:
 Our final class meeting ended with each Adventurer sharing memory of the year, and created an amazing list, including such things as favorite science tables, lost teeth, math activities, writing projects, special days (100^th Day, Valentines Day, MLK day, Craft Fair, Jog-a-thon, etc), field trips (Flynn Center, Green Mtn Audubon, Sleepy Hollow, Shelburne Farms, Montshire Museum, etc), special guests that helped us learn about trees, mammals, water, some special visitors from Switzerland and Singapore,and much more.

Adventurers invests in helping people:

The Adventurers Team was generously given a gift from the Schmitt family of $75 to invest in Kiva.Org as a microloan in developing countries. This is a wonderful concept in which we were able to see and learn about people who are trying to start a small business and just need a little capital to get going. The class carefully considered many possible candidates and finally chose to make three loans of $25 which will be paid back over the next twelve months, at which time Adventurers can reinvest in another project.  During that time we can check in on their progress, make sure they are making their repayment and also learn about other lenders and proposals. 

The first of the three the students selected is Morn Yang, a farmer in Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia. She cultivates her rice twice a year. During the dry season, she grows vegetables. During the rainy season,  Morn Yang grows rice but she cannot cultivate it well because she has insufficient plow equipment. Consequently, she needs to ask for a loan to buy plow equipment in order to better plow her rice field.

Celso is a craftsman. He works on pottery (making crafts out of clay). The abilities to work with clay are passed from one generation to the next and it was his mother, a renowned local craftwoman, the one that taught Celso since he was little to work with the clay creating different types of figures like: jars, vessels, pitchers, and decorative animals. All his pieces are handmade, because in this way they are more precious and are highly valued especially by foreign tourists that visit the country and want to take a beautiful keepsake back to their home countries.  Celso needs a loan to invest in expanding his workshop.

Felix Alonso Ramirez started working at a very young age in a service station where he stayed for 15 years. His wife worked as a school teacher. With the passage of time Felix was tired of being an employee and decided to start his own business. He bought a mini bus and he works as the driver. Felix is married and has three daughters. He is so proud to have provided his daughters with a good education because today all three are excellent professionals.
     We encourage you to visit the Adventurers Kiva lending page by going to the Adventurers homepage or http://www.kiva.org/lender/scs5342to . Learn about how they are making out and how you can support these and others with a mini loan.

“The Sound of Music” DVD:

  The  DVD’s were sent home to everyone who requested one. If you did not received it, try digging it out of your child’s backpack, or let us know if it did not arrive successfully.    We can make some more if necessary.

 All donations for the DVD’s will support the Adventurers Performing Arts Fund.

Summer Birthdays/”Thank-You!” Celebration:

    Thanks to Tina, Randy, Marna, and Heather, Kim for making our final celebration such a success. 

 

Please!  Return  Accelerated Reader Books:

   We’re missing some of our Accelerated Reader books.   Please check thoroughly around your house and drop them off at the front office.

Family Picnic/CLass Sleepover:

It was fun to see Adventurers families at the end of the year picnic and what a beautiful evening. Thanks to all those who contributed to a well balanced potluck and to those who helped with setup and cleanup.

After saying goodnight to parents, Adventurers marched back to the classroom for the evening activity, including a farewell tribute to those moving on to third grade

   Our special guest this year was artist and performer, Teresa Davis. We can thank Teresa for the inspiration for our “Sound of Music” production. She generously loaned us the abridged script, the wonderful backgrounds and even some of the costumes. Teresa lead Adventurers in a story telling activity in which students created animal masks and then in groups created a totem and acted out a story. It was a lot of fun and the students got to keep their masks. Teresa offers many fun, dramatic, creative programs over the summer and throughout the year, which we would highly recommend. For more info goto:   http://www.davisstudiovt.com/

  Then we took some time to acknowledge and say farewell our wonderful group of second graders. We have many wonderful memories of each of them and it was nice to have this moment at the end of the year to reflect on their time with us. We will miss them next year, but look forward to frequent visits, passing in the hallways, and from time to time for many years to come as the grow and learn.

    After a “bedtime” snack (thank you!), Adventurers settled down, from their busy day for a restful night. It’s always a magical sight to see all those bouncing and boisterous children all sleeping soundly. It’s a memorable event for Adventurers and a golden moment for us to end the year with. It’s been a pleasure to have your children with us this year.

  The Adventurers Team is a wonderful community of families. We greatly appreciate all you have done to make this school year such a success; not just those who have been able to join us for trips and special activities in the classroom, but to everyone who supported our efforts by reading with your child at home, supporting homework activities, and everything you do to help your child come to school prepared to learn.

-      Joplin , Pam

JJames@cssu.org/ PWise@cssu.org