Friday, November 22, 2019
Happy Friday Brandt Community –
We had an incredibly busy week! Between some special programs and events and our everyday academic endeavors, our students and staff made the most of the time we spent together. As we prepare for the upcoming short week, let’s looks back on these past five days.
With thanks to our PTO and the organization Namaste Hoboken, our staff and students had the opportunity to learn about Diwali, a celebration and time of year near and dear to the hearts of many members of our diverse learning community. During assemblies this past Wednesday, students viewed a presentation providing facts about Diwali, heard students read Diwali-inspired poetry, got some fantastic yoga instruction, and even had the opportunity to learn a “Bollywood” style dance number. Thanks especially to Manasi Khedlekar, Ritu Bhatia, Chetali Khanna, Neha Malik, Michelle LaRue, Pooja Uberoi, Vera Sirota, and Chesleigh Meade for helping to organize and coordinate a successful event.
Thanks as well to the folks from Pomptonian, our district’s food service provider. They arranged an excellent health and wellness fair for our students. This past Thursday, each class got the chance to spend some time at the fair, perusing the various displays and learning about the importance of healthy choices and nutrition. Feedback from students and staff was overwhelmingly positive. They had the opportunity to sample some food and drink items and see some chefs in action.
As I walked the hallways and through classrooms, the staff continues to engage the students with exciting and meaningful lessons. A common theme for some of our writing assignments this time of year always seems to be about helping turkeys create some elaborate disguises. The creativity of the children really got a chance to shine through those assignments, from a literacy and visual arts perspective. Some Thanksgiving-themed math word problems focused on determining serving sizes for recipes as well as how much you would need to cook to feed all of the guests at feast. In third grade science, the looks on the faces of the students as they worked with electromagnets were priceless. Other writing assignments included opportunities to express what students are thankful for, as well as writing letters of thanks to our Veterans. In math, some of our grade levels had the chance to create objects and scenes using specific shapes. It was very cool to see squares, triangles, rectangles, and rhombuses transformed into dogs, phoenixes, and unicorns! Truly, great things are happening in the classrooms at Brandt.