January 2, 2018 Herkimer Journal General Herkimer School Issue 3 GH had a very busy DECEMBER!!! Read all about it in this month s issue. BOOKS, FUN, KINDNESS, and so much more. Mrs. Grieco General Herkimer s Book Fair It was all about books in November and December! Besides Barnes and Noble, our PTO held a Scholastic book fair from November 27th to Dec 1st. Thank you to the PTO, Mrs. Grieco, and Mrs.D for making this fun and great book fair possible. General Herkimer s PTO MAKES THINGS HAPPEN In More Ways Than ONE! By Evalysse Balboa On December 9th, I attended BARNES & NOBLE DAY as a member of both student council and Herkimer Journal with my family. It was really a great activity. First, as you walked in, there was a gift wrapping station where GH teachers were wrapping presents. Then we went to a table where student council members were helping children make crafts such as book marks. One of the best things was every GH student who attended got to pick out a book valued at $12.00. As if that were not enough, there were clowns making balloon animals, Mrs. D Ambrosio reading a story book to a group of students, the choir singing songs, and the orchestra playing holiday tunes. Many thanks to Mrs. D, Ms. Bell, Mr. Kishman, student council volunteers, parents, students, and all the teachers who came to this wonderful event. As if all of the above didn t brighten our holidays, today our class visited the HOLIDAY SHOP. We were able to buy inexpensive presents for friends and family. Lastly, we had a special night on December 19th, called GH Holiday Happening s VENDOR FAIR. Besides a whole bunch of vendors selling their goods, Santa made an appearance. We enjoyed cookies and milk, candy canes, and we received sticker books. Again, thanks a ton to all who made this a happening event!
GH Holds an Anti Bullying Assembly By Jaymihsynn Haley We were very fortunate on December 5th to meet Natalie Zumpano who spoke to 5th and 6th graders at General Herkimer. She really stressed the difference between CONFLICT and BULLYING. First she explained that conflict is when both people are upset and neither has more power over each other. For example, it can be just a disagreement. Let s say there is one bathroom pass and two people need it. The two people solve this problem by coming to an agreement. Ms. Zumpano said, It happens naturally as a result of a difference of opinion. On the other hand, bullying is when one person is a target or victim, and the other is the aggressor. The aggressor has more power over the victim. For example, one student gets picked on by another every Tuesday and Friday and feels helpless. It is repeated behavior such as verbal like name calling, or physical like kicking. The bully NEVER feels bad and continues to repeat the same motion. She used a very informative power point presentation and ended with a profound quote. In a world where you can be anything choose to be kind. December Events of Music By Jesalina Walton By Jaymihsynn Haley Ms. Johnson s band students preparing for their concert performance. Dancing away the night to DJ Music was a blast. All the students who attended our December 15th dance really enjoyed themselves. Mr. Kishman s orchestra practicing before the concert. Then GH Winter concert on December 21st, as usual was truly beautiful. All the choirs under Ms. Bell s direction sounded amazing. Mr. Kishman s orchestra and Ms. Johnson s band completed the night with many musical talents. Thank you all for making both of these events a success.
General Herkimer s Pennies For Pets To Benefit Stevens-Swan Humane Society By Dianndra Frazier Student Council and Herkimer Journal have partnered up to collect donations for Pennies for Pets. There will be activities to raise money for a good cause until January 24th. You will see two large decorated donation containers. One will be at the security desk in front of the school, and the other will be in the 5th / 6th grade hallway manned by HJ and student council members every morning. Each homeroom teacher will have a small collection container in their room, so please bring in your spare change. In addition it does not need to be just pennies! All forms of money is acceptable. Adults can even make out checks to: Stevens-Swan Humane Society. Lastly, on Wednesday, January 17th, HJ and student council members will be holding a popcorn sale. All the money raised will be donated to Stevens-Swan Humane Society to help all the pets in need. UGLY SWEATER DAY By Bianca Braddy On December 21st, GH had its annual UGLY SWEATER DAY. To start with, the Rogowski Brothers were very interesting. Mr. G. R. must have wanted to be a crazy cat lady, and Mr. S. R. must really like horses. Judge for yourself by the photo below. Students did an awesome job, especially the sparkles and bows. I noticed that the younger grades had a better participation rate than the upper grades. The teachers out-did themselves. I especially loved all the lighted necklaces and sweaters. They made the building light up with holiday magic.
General Herkimer s Stuff the Bus By Geri Teal Mrs. Rizzo organized a program to help needy families in our community. We collected toys for children who might otherwise not have a present to open on Christmas morning. We asked everyone at GH to bring in a toy donation to fill the bus on December 14th Mrs. Rizzo told me that she loves Christmas and she has grandchildren. Mrs. Rizzo said, I can t imagine any child waking up on Christmas morning and not having a toy to open. When I asked Mrs. Rizzo where the toys go, she told me, The Birnie Bus picks them up and the toys get separated at the garage. Various organizations distribute the toys to needy families. Thank you Mrs. Rizzo for organizing this project. A thank you should go out to everyone who made STUFF THE BUS such a success. PBIS ASSEMBLY By Rashondan Burks Our Awards Assembly took place on Wednesday, November 29th. The 5th grade students (which I am part of) performed an impressive presentation on ORGANIZATION about using the place value chart in math. The song was sung by Ashley Houck with all the 5th graders doing the chorus. It was sung to the beat of Taylor Swift s Shake it off. It was a great reminder to all students how important organization is. I was truly fascinated by Ashley s singing as I am sure you were. Congratulations to all the PBIS and 6th grade HONOR roll award students. Remember GH students to always try your best! Also, if your parents have not signed up for class DOJO yet, remind them so they know what is happening at GH. Sixth grade HONOR ROLL students from left to right: Steven Zaw, Nathan Holmes, Carter Nyugen, Mrs. Dudek & Mr. G. Rogowski at Barnes & Noble Day. with Santa. Back Row: Ilvana Kendic, Kyleigh Jones, Marcella Zielinski, Julianna Joseph, KoKo Jackson Again on December 21, PBIS held a great assembly with Grade 4 performing. Congratulations to all the students who demonstrated flexibility and all the DOJO top point winners.
Talking Eggs (A Fairy Tale) By James McNaughton Siti Mohammed s Review A girl named Blanche is the main character in the story. Her mother made her do all of her work instead of doing it herself. Her older sister named Rose was a lazy person just like her mother. Blanche walked every single day to fetch water and she met an old lady who wanted water from Blanche. One day Blanche ran out of the house because her sister and mother were being so cruel and mean to her. She went and sat on a log and met the same old lady and told her what had happened. I think that this story was so similar to Cinderella. You can tell because she has a mean older sister and a horrible mother and the old lady was like her fairy godmother. PS you should really read this book. Kimora Kessler added I think if you get the chance to read this amazing fairytale you should! Blanche was the very sweet one. The mother was very cruel and mean to Blanche. Blanche was forced to do all the work. Blanche also had to walk 2 miles everyday to fetch water for their house. One day that was very much different. An old woman was standing near the well. The old woman asked for a drink, and Blanche of course gave her some. Are you wondering what happened next? Find out by reading this story. I guarantee you ll love it. The Lightning Thief (Author Rick Riordan) Review by Egypt Walls Roberto Clemente Review by Geri Teal In the Lightning Theif the main characters in the book are Percy, Grover, Annabeth, Percy s mother Sally, the big three (aka) Posiden, Zeus, and Hades. This book was very fascinating to me. For example, Percy and his friends had adventurous and mysterious journeys along their quest. Percy is a troubled kid and has ADHD as he says in the story. He s also been kicked out of Yancy Academy, the private school that his mother put him in several times. Also a little later in the book Percy, Sally, and Grover got into a big car crash during the hurricane. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were sent on a quest by Chiron who is also a centaur. Now getting into the middle towards the end of the book Percy and his friends end up in the Loutus Casino in Los Angeles, but it wasn t a real casino. Percy was the first one to figure out that it was a trap to make them stay there until the summer solstice. After they reached the studio for the underworld they made their way to Hades. They started to make conversation with him until Hades called his minions to kill them. Also he had to make a choice of leaving his mother or taking her with him or leaving one friend or leaving one behind. In the end. Well the end. I could tell you, but I won t!!! Percy and his mother can have a good life. or will he??? Literature Corner New HJ members are working on book reviews to get some writing tips. The side two students enjoyed the same fairy tale, so this issue has two reviews from our Wonders Readers. Have you ever read Roberto Clemente by Jonah Winters? If you haven t, and you love baseball, you really should. Roberto Clemente lived on an island in Puerto Rico where baseball players were plentiful. He was very poor as a child and played with a softball, and then a baseball over his child and teen years. Fans thought Roberto was a jolt of electricity because he lead a national league in batting 4 times in the 1960 s. In 1972, Roberto died in a plane crash while trying to transport food and supplies to victims of an earthquake. In my opinion this is a very interesting biography full of facts about Roberto Clemente! When you read his life story, you will discover even more facts that I didn t tell you about. Welcome New HJ Members! About time -Bruce Kosclniak Today you too can get a book all about time, with an impressive history of time keeping you re sure to learn something, because I know I did. You will learn about how the Ancient Egyptians to Early Greek and Italian inventions played a role in time telling. Personally, I couldn t imagine a world without clocks and calendars but people found ways to tell time. Well time is ticking - make sure to get About Time I won t spoil it by giving away more. Review By Tatiyana Fosu
GOOD LUCK, BEST WISHES, YOU LL BE MISSED Mrs. La Mark, Mrs. Smith, & Mrs. Faustino!!! 8 1 20 aley H PPYihsynn A H Jaym By Mrs. Vivacqua s Literature Club creates a bulletin board. A FEW MORE CHOIR PICTURES