THE BURR BUZZ: February 2018

CREATIVE ARTS & SCIENCES

Poet and Autor Lyn Littlefield Hoopes—February 28th & March 2nd

Creative Arts and Sciences Welcomes

Lyn Littlefield Hoopes

(4th Grade)

Explore the power of metaphor, rhythm, voice, and pattern in writing poetry. Lyn Littlefield Hoopes will help students develop strategies for writing poetry through imagination, listening for voice, creating similes, and using the five senses, vivid verbs, and breaking lines. Lyn emphasizes the joy of creating as she teaches a unique, simple, and original technique for charting each phrase of a poem. Often she creates a collaborative poem with the class, demonstrating how to discover its rhythms and patterns.

For 4th Grade

Feb 28th

8:45-9:15 Cafetorium

9:20-10:30 Ms Tice's class

10:30-11:40 Ms Bapat's class

12:30-1:40 Ms Li's class

1:40-2:50 Ms Bordman's class

March 2nd

9:00-10:15 Ms Tice's class

10:15-11:30 Ms Bordman's class

12:20-1:35 Ms Li's class

1:35-2:50 Ms Bapat's class

Join us! Parents are encouraged to attend, but no younger siblings, please. Thank you for your cooperation.

This program was fully funded by your generous donations to the Burr PTO and the Burr Wolf Fund. To donate, go to Burr PTO.org and click on "Donate."

CREATIVE ARTS & SCIENCES

Rob Aptaker and the Ways of the Wampanoag—March 2, 2018

Creative Arts and Sciences Welcomes

Rob Aptaker and The Ways of the Wampanoag

(3rd Grade)

Who were the first people of Massachusetts? We will learn about the Wampanoag People at the time of their first contact with the colonial settlers: their clothing, tools, toys, musical instruments, medicine, homes, transportation, agriculture and hunting/fishing/gathering and tools. We will get a glimpse of their family life, seasonal activities, social structure, recreation and culture. Our presenter, Rob Aptaker, will use music and a smattering of Wampanoag language to help students connect with the reality that a wholly different culture existed in Massachusetts and preceded the one they see here now.

DATE: March 2, 2018

TIME: 9:00-10:00 Cafetorium

TIME: 10:15-10:50 Ms. MacNeill

TIME: 11:00-11:35 Ms. Canning

TIME: 11:45-12:20 Ms. Oh

Presentation will take place in the Cafetorium, followed by workshops in the library.

Join us! Parents are encouraged to attend, but no younger siblings, please. Thank you for your cooperation.

This program was fully funded by your generous donations to the Burr PTO and the Burr Wolf Fund. To donate, go to Burr PTO.org and click on "Donate".

Thank you!

LUNAR NEW YEAR

Lunar New Year—Thank You

On February 17th, 2018, 20 families gathered at Burr School Cafetorium
and celebrated Lunar New Year. The event was sponsored by Burr School
PTO and co-organized by Burr families who celebrate this traditional
holiday. In the potluck party, families shared some home-made foods,
but right afterwards children went up on stage and showed talents in
singing and martial arts. There are traditional decorations placed by
the entrance, on the stage and on the walls. Burr PTO Co-presidents
Cristal Balis and Kristine Monroe participated in the event. Thanks
to the following volunteers: Alex Wen, Christine Cheung-Kwan,
Chunshao Ye, Fei Hua, Ming Su, Songmian Jin, Zhiqun Zhang, Ron and
Helen Huang, Jinjuan Wang, Olivia Tao, Jianhui Hu, Elise Person.

Thanks to the following families who brought in delicious dishes to
the potluck party: Alex Wen, Olivia Tao, Kristine Munroe, Jen and
Steve Sulewski, Christine Cheung-Kwan, Chunshao Ye, Fei Hua, Ming Su,
Songmian Jin, Lina, Zhiqun Zhang, Ron Huang, Allen and Lily Shu,
Katherine Vosker, Cristal Balis, Brenda and Jason Pring, Renee and Ben
Krikorian, Elise Person, Amy Yok-Ming Wong.

Book Swap — Thank you!

Thanks to everyone who submitted books and/or helped out with the book swap! We collected over 1,500 books. And your paper bags went to the art room!

Thank you to Raya Goldenberg, Anne Hynes, Ruchi Basin, Barbara Brousal-Glaser, Stacey Richard, Agnes Gee, Lisa Parker, Leah Schwartz, Cristal Balis, Christine Dutt, Louisa Hunt, and Deanne Salemme for all of your help collecting/sorting/setting up/cleaning up. And a special shout out to Annika Fockens and Hema Rao who came pretty much every day to help out! We all had fun and hope your kids found some great books!

-Krissy Munroe

Kindness Quilt

It is not too late to submit artwork for the Kindness Quilt! Part 2 of the Kindness Quilt will be put up on March 2 and the deadline for new submissions is February 28. Your child can participate by drawing a picture or writing what it means to him/her to be kind. Please use a letter sized sheet of white paper (8.5 x 11 inches) and return the artwork to Burr in your child's folder. Your child should write his/her full name somewhere on his/her work (the back is ok). All students who submit artwork will receive a small token of appreciation for their participation.

If your child has already submitted artwork for the Kindness Quilt and that work is not currently on display, it will be displayed after February break in Kindness Quilt, Part 2.

Why a Kindness Quilt? Burr has a school-wide focus on kindness this year. To kick this off, Principal Johal read the book What Does It Mean to Be Kind? to each class and started a discussion about how each of us can work to create a caring environment at Burr, where everyone feels welcomed and valued.

Participation in the Kindness Quilt is optional but we hope that every child will chose to participate!

THE BURR PTO PRESENTS

Book Swap

Thank you to everyone who sent in books for the Book Swap! The Book Swap is on Tuesday, February 13 with setup tomorrow. (Monday) We still have time slots open if you'd like to volunteer. The more the merrier!

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0d45aeae2ca5ff2-book

Flu Facts

Local rates of influenza-like illness (ILI) continue to rise. They’re already higher than in the past few years with weeks of flu season still expected. We understand many families are concerned, so here are a few flu facts to keep you in the loop.

ILI, which is a fever of 100 degrees or more and cough or sore throat, is how disease trackers measure the flu nationwide. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health posts a weekly flu update on their blog most Fridays with the latest information about how ILI rates are looking in the state. http://blog.mass.gov/publichealth/

It remains important for families to keep sick kids at home, in accordance with school policy. Students cannot return to school until they are fever-free for at least 24 hours, without medication like Tylenol, Advil or Motrin. These guidelines are also good common sense for adults in the workplace. The checklist below can help families determine when to stay home and when to return to school or work.

https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2016/07/xb/flu-symptom-check-list.pdf

The Newton school nurses continue to monitor illness in the schools and are available for any questions or concerns. It may seem elementary, but in conjunction with a flu vaccine, thorough handwashing is the best way to prevent all kinds of illness including the flu.

How to wash your hands:

Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap.
Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Be sure to lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.
Rinse your hands well under clean, running water.
Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them

If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in some situations, but sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs and might not remove harmful chemicals.

Flu vaccination for all people age 6 months and older continues to be recommended. It’s not too late get a flu shot. Visit www.newtonma.gov/flu or call 617-796-1420 to find out when the next flu shot opportunity is with the public health nurse at City Hall. Some information adapted from www.CDC.gov/handwashing and www.mass.gov/dph/flu

Burr students performed at John Hancock Hall

A group of Burr students brought a folk rap titled "Celebrating Chinese New Year" to John Hancock Hall on Feb 3rd, 2018. This folk rap was previously performed and loved by parents at Burr Lunar New Year Event in Burr cafetorium. The rap uses a pair of bamboo clappers to hand-produce rhythms, meanwhile narrates a variety of traditional events that are celebrate in Chinese New Year holidays. The audience at John Hancock hall including Mayor Fuller enjoyed this show.

Pictured are students donned traditional clothes in the backroom and led to the stage by Burr parent Hua, Fei and others.

Kindness Quilt

Special Education Parent Advisory Committee has several events coming up:

Special Education Parent Advisory Committee has several events coming up:

February 13th – Open Board Meeting - 7:15-9pm Ed Center, Room 217

February 28th – "Reducing Anxiety in Children" Presentation by Jessica Minahan, Special Educator and Behavior Analyst, author of “The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching The Most Challenging Students”- Newton North High School Auditorium, 7:00pm

March 20th - Open Board Meeting - 7:15-9pm - Ed Center, Room 217

April 10th - Open Board Meeting - 7:15-9pm - Ed Center, Room 217

April 11th - "Transition to Post-High School" - Presentation by Jill Curry, NPS Transition Specialist - 7:15-9pm - Ed Center, Room 210

If you have any questions about the events or regarding the SEPAC, please feel free to contact me. I am the liaison for the Burr School.

Lisa Holahan
lmf762@gmail.com
781-588-0837

Volunteers Needed for World Cultures Day Committee Chair

Looking for a way to volunteer or get involved with a fun community building event at Burr? The PTO is looking for someone to co-chair the upcoming World Cultures Event on April 8th. This is a great way to expose our kids to different countries and cultures, and/or share your family’s heritage with others at Burr. Last year we held an international potluck. This year we need a few more volunteer planning chairs in order to host an interactive fair with rooms/tables for individual countries or regions.

Please contact Leah Schwartz (leahks16@gmail.com) or
Hema Rao (hrao23@gmail.com) for more information. Thank you!

LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION

Lunar New Year Celebration—February 17

Burr School 2018 Lunar New Year Celebration.

The event will be co-organized by Burr families who celebrate this traditional holiday, i.e. Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and some south American nationalities. The event will have POTLUCK PARTY, CULTURE SHOW/DISPLAY and MULTIPLE SPORTS IN GYM. The potluck party by participating families will share authentic home-made foods, and right afterwards children will go up on stage and show culture related talents in singing, dancing, and instrument playing individually or in groups. Casual sports will be played in the gym in the meantime.

THIS EVENT IS SIGNUP REQUIRED. NO WALK-INS PLEASE!

On Saturday 2-17-2018, 11:30-2:00pm, CELEBRATING THE YEAR OF DOG! Sign up at bit.ly/burr2018 and be CANINE!

Please direct all your inquiries to Alex Wen guolinwen@gmail.com

Christine Kwan kwanchristine88@gmail.com

Zhiqun Zhang zizizhang2012@gmail.com

THIS YEAR WE'LL DO THIS AGAIN ON 2-17-2018, Saturday 11:30-2:00pm

POTLUCK PARTY: 11:30AM

CULTURE SHOW/DISPLAY: 12:30PM

MULTIPLE SPORTS IN GYM: 1:00PM

CELEBRATING THE YEAR OF DOG! Sign up here and be CANINE!

THE BURR ONLINE AUCTION: DONATIONS

Burr Online Auction—Call for Donations

Burr Community, We Need Your Help!

On March 19-25, 2018, the PTO will host its annual online auction, which enables us to provide critical funding to Burr School for everything from books and technology to classroom supplies and in-school programming.

We rely on the generous donations and volunteer work of Burr parents to make the auction a success! There are so many ways you can contribute, including:

• Donate a gift certificate or tickets. Have sports tickets? Donate tickets for a game! Have restaurant gift cards or other gift certificates that you don't plan on using? Donate them to the auction!

• Donate a service or product. Do you have a special skill that would benefit others -- woodworking, sewing, teaching a language -- or are you just generally handy? Let's package it into an auction item. Are you a fabulous cook or baker? Donate a sweet, soup, or pasta of the month for 3 or 6 months. Are you a business owner? Donate a service or product to the auction.

• Donate a vacation rental. Have a vacation home, timeshare, or apartment in the city? Donate a long weekend or a week-long stay!

• NEW! Donate a parent party. This year, we are hoping to add parent-hosted parties, which have been incredibly popular auction items at other Newton elementary schools. Not only do these events bring in much needed funds, they also provide a great opportunity to get together with other Burr parents and have fun! Neighboring schools have hosted a range of events, including Belgian Beerfest, dodgeball, Tacos & Tequila Night, Moms Movie Night, and wine tasting. Get creative! We can indicate in the online listing that your item is for Burr families only.

• Host a small-group experience for parents or kids. Would you be willing to host a dinner party for 6 or 8 based on your cultural culinary expertise? Or would you be interested in leading or hosting a cooking class to make something unique like homemade pasta or sushi? Do your kids love a particular activity that might appeal to other children? Let's turn that into a small group event we can auction off.

If you'd like to donate an item, host an event, have a question, or need help brainstorming a potential idea, please contact us auction@burrpto.org. Please note that all donations are tax-deductible.

We thank you for any help you can give to make this a successful auction year and to support all the PTO does!

BERTUCCI'S FUNDRAISER

Bertucci's Fundraiser—Wednesday, February 7th

The Burr Bertucci's Fundraiser is happening on Wednesday, February 7 from 11 AM-10 PM! Burr can receive up to 25% of proceeds. It's an early release day, so you can stop by for lunch OR dinner and it works for dine-in or takeout at the Newton location only.

In case you need a copy of the flier, here it is:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Dilkj8BYp8GzO-tlhHCiiQggU9NO0h18/view?usp=sharing

Go enjoy some pizza or pasta and help fundraise for Burr!

BOOK SWAP COLLECTION

Book Swap Collection—Monday 2/5 - Friday 2/9

Book swap collection and sorting is starting Monday, 2/5 and runs until Friday, 2/9. Put all books in a bag with your child’s name and their teacher’s name and have them leave their donated books outside the classroom where volunteers will collect them. Please no adult books, preschool books, or workbooks.

The book swap itself is on Tuesday, 2/13. We can still use lots of help this week and next week! Please sign up! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0d45aeae2ca5ff2-book

Questions? Email krissym@gmail.com