The Core

Hello Orchard Parents & Guardians,

We had a strong turn-out at our PTO Meeting on Monday for the Master Planning & Visioning for a new middle & high school. There was a lot of useful information presented from board members, architects and district administrators. I am sure there will be more presentations in 2020 but if you want to catch another preliminary one, Rick Marcotte Central School is hosting on December 2nd and Chamberlin Elementary School is presenting on December 10th.

Please take note: Puppets in Education are joining us on the Thursday we return, Dec. 5th. The puppet troupe does an amazing job presenting sensitive issues such as Sexual Abuse and Bullying Prevention to all students. We are mandated by law to teach these subjects every year so we mix it up by having the puppets join us every-other year. You are invited to join us, the schedule and more information are provided on the attachments just below.

Check out our UNICEF total, it's a remarkable feat! A special thanks to Lisa Charlebois for her volunteer work. This is always a great opportunity to teach our students about the importance of giving and charitable work.

We have Parent Conferences and the Orchard Book Fair next Monday & Tuesday. I hope to see you but if not, school is back in session on Monday Morning, December 2nd. Thank you for your support, we love our Orchard Community. Have an awesome Thanksgiving and an awesome week; take time to read with your child.

Mark Trifilio

Safe travels to all who are away for Thanksgiving!

The Orchard School Book Fair: This event has begun! Support our library and pick up some awesome new books for you and your family! The Book Fair is a unique fund-raiser focused on raising money for our wonderful library. A portion of the profits on all sales comes right back to our school. You can also buy books for your child's classroom that the teacher has pre-selected.

The book fair runs Monday and Tuesday during Parent-Teacher conferences. Email Dayna Lorentz (daynalorentz@mac.com) for information or to volunteer!

Do you have PTO questions? Please find us online:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/orchardschoolpto

Website: www.orchardschoolpto.org

Email: orchardschoolvt@gmail.com

Konstella: https://www.konstella.com

The Orchard School Green Team is participating in a marker recycling program this year. Please send your child in with ANY used markers you have around the house—including highlighters and dry-erase markers. They will be converted into materials that can be used not only to make asphalt and roofing shingles but also to generate electricity to heat homes, cook food, and power vehicles. A drop-off box is in the art room. For more information, visit http://www.crayola.com/colorcycle.

Thank you!

Farm to School this month is getting cozy! With our long winter approaching, it’s important to know how to adopt hygge practices. Hygge is a Scandanavian concept, meaning a sense of coziness that leads to contentment and wellbeing. Hygge may involve the artful use of candles, good food with good friends, reading an excellent book in front of a warm fire or a hand-crocheted blanket made with a pleasing pattern. The word hygge was originally a Norwegian word which means well-being, perhaps from the word hygge which means hug.

To create hygge in the classroom, were turning off lights and sipping on some herbal tea. We put:

Lemon Balm, for a tart, lemony taste, and to brighten us up with a boost of energy.

Anise Hyssop, to sweeten in it’s licorice way and to open up our hearts to our friends.

Hawthorn Berries, for it’s fruity tang and tendency to lighten a heavy heart.

And Ginger, to warm us with it’s spice!

We added a bit of honey to sweeten and soothe, and ta daaa! Our golden winter potion was complete. You just need a small amount of each herb, and it should steep for about 5 minutes in just boiled water.

Maybe on the next snow day, you can relax and sip on some hygge tea!

It looks like our Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF is done. It's amazing but this was our best year yet! We went to the bank and almost broke the machine, but we also broke a record!!! We collected $2,274.98 despite the terrible Halloween storm! With a big thank you to all the amazing Orchard trick-or-treaters! OVERALL UNICEF TOTALS:

2015 - $1001.14
2016 - $1968.27
2017 - $2096.73
2018 - $1823
2019 - $2,274.98

I am looking for Orchard community members to join our pit band for our upcoming production of Peter Pan. This is an original Very Merry Theatre adaptation with songs written by our Director, Don Wright, and local music legend Bill Mullins. I have written orchestrations and can easily write more parts, so really any and all instruments can join. I do welcome High School age musicians, but not younger. Rhythm section instruments don't necessarily need to have strong music-reading skills (I have lead-sheet style music you can use), but other instruments will need to be able to read music.

These details are approximate, but here's a basic outline of the schedule:

• Band Practice TBD, week of 1/13
• Tech/Dress Rehearsal: 1/19 12-4
• Dress Rehearsal: 1/20 afternoon
• Dress Rehearsal: 1/22 afternoon/evening
• School Show: 1/23 around noon
• Evening Show: 1/24 & 1/25 evening

Please reach out to me at ashleyobrienmusic@gmail.com if you are interested!

Thanks,

Ashley - Music Director, Peter Pan @ Orchard School

Our Scholastic Book Fair wraps up next week during Monday and Tuesday's Parent Conferences. Please make plans to visit the library sometime between the hours of 8 AM and 5 PM on Monday or 8 AM and noon on Tuesday to be involved in shaping your child’s reading habits and supporting the purchase of new books for our library. Thank you to Dayna Lorentz and the wonderful PTO volunteers for their help in organizing a successful Book Fair.