The Fun Fair Committee is very excited about this Saturday's Renaissance Fun Fair! Thanks to all who stepped forward to fill our volunteer shifts. Without your help, we couldn't put on a successful event. There are still 15 open shifts so if you haven't had a chance to sign up yet, please click here to see if there's a shift that you can fill.  

 Tickets and Wristbands were sent home in Thursday's Folders (in flat, reused credit card/bank statement envelopes).  Please check to be sure you received your pre-order.  If you did not, please contact Ann-Marie Turnage.

 
We can still use items for the class sports basket (5th grade) and the class cooking basket (3rd grade) so if you haven't already, please send in items Tuesday or Wednesday or contact Gretchen Govan. 

Click here to read the Insider's Guide to the Fun Fair which includes great information on the logistics of the Fun Fair.  Don't forget to drop off your yummy baked goods for the Bake Sale on Friday or early Saturday morning. Click here for all the details.  And, don't forget to bring some extra money for our very popular teacher, basket and iPad raffles.

See you all Saturday at the Fair!

Fun Fair Co-Chairs,
 Trisha Downey and Kim Johnson

Auction Season is officially closed for 2012.  Thanks to Julia Nelson and her team (Roger Moskowitz, Delia Swigart, Amanda Abraham, Pam Freedman, Margaret Waagner, Roxanne Lumme, Betty Ende, Cheryl Ginyard-Jones, Melinda Miller, Gina Manning, Carole Kopp, Yoonhee Lee, Johanna Cole, Stewart Andrews, Maryam Redjaee, Joy Molony, Julie Hay, Ivette Timmins, Alison Edward, Courtney McMahon, Lisa Plaskow, Rachel Deutch, Katy Beach, Melissa House, Lori Boerner) for an amazing event!  

If you want to make arrangements to pick up your items on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday this week or some other time after that if you can't pick them up at Fun Fair, please contact Julia Nelson.  Otherwise, the items will be available for pick up in the Computer Lab (hallway near the gym) from 10 am - 2 pm at Fun Fair on Saturday.  We hope you enjoy your purchases as much as Chesterbrook School enjoys the funds they supplied!

With some of the PTA's most exciting and fruitful annual fundraising events completed (the Auction), or on their way (the Fun Fair), now is a great time to check out the activities the PTA funds, and take pride in knowing that your efforts and funding enable great things for our children and the Chesterbrook community. 

Many of us are already aware of the fun social activities put on by the PTA because they have participated in them.  Perhaps you enjoyed the recent International Night, where the PTA gave Chesterbrook families the opportunity to taste the world all in one place (left photo above), or the storyteller Jim Weiss at Family Fun night (right photo above). 

If you missed these great community building events, don't worry.  The PTA isn't done yet.  Coming in April is fun just for adults: parents "Night Out," with food, drink and LIVE music!  The social calendar is rounded out in May with the popular Family Movie Night.

Our PTA dollars are often not seen at work by parents because they happen during the school day.  The PTA allocates a few thousand dollars a year for various enrichment programs prized by the children. This year, these include a Maryland Science Center presentation for the entire school, the Magpie Show, and the LM Project.  Also, our PTA dollars bring the ever popular Brain Show in June.  

Additionally, the PTA has directed substantial sums of money to school acquisitions and improvements.  Last year these included a new gym floor designed to convert to multi uses and a new outdoor volleyball court.  Thanks to the PTA, improvements to the track are also on their way.

For the 2011/2012 school year, these allocations will include $20,000 of instructional materials used in the classrooms.  Also included are materials for art and music, equipment for PE and recess, funding for field trip transportation and additional materials to be used for REACH. So far more than $5,000 of Book Fair profits have gone to the school's Media Center for books and other library improvements with more to come from the spring Book Fair.  Profits from the 2011 Summer Quest program will provide $25,000 of critical information technology for the school (see the following article for more details on technology in our school). 

And, the PTA continues to support the ongoing Library Mural project (in the Media Center) which illustrates historical events which children will study during their years at Chesterbrook Elementary.

For this school year, the PTA has initiated some new programs and partnerships to benefit the school and community.  In the fall, the Health and Wellness committee launched healthy snack Friday.  We also partnered with our neighbor serving veterans in the community, Vinson Hall, in a 5K race. 

Finally, let's not forget the teachers! Some examples include: a Back to School Night dinner; money for each teacher to help defray their own costs for supplying items for classroom materials; and in December, a holiday breakfast.  During Teacher Appreciation Week, the teachers will be feted with a luncheon.  Additionally, continuing education opportunities for teachers are made available through PTA dollars.

Last month, we covered a host of technologies our kids are using at Chesterbrook. Since then, parents who attended the February Principal's Coffee had the opportunity to an interactive demonstration of these technologies courtesy of Principal Fuqua and School Based Technology Specialist, Kurt Kohls (left photo below).

One major technology item demonstrated by Mr. Kohls that has been installed in all classrooms is Mimio. Mimio turns any whiteboard into an interactive whiteboard. Many people have heard of Smartboards and may have wondered why Chesterbrook doesn't use them. Mimio is similar to Smartboard technology, but significantly improves on cost, functionality and portability. The MimioXi bars are magnetically mounted to each whiteboard in the classroom and transform the traditional writing and erasing teaching methodology. It gives teachers the flexibility of having blank pages on which they can write notes, create lessons with images and pictures, and also makes it possible to run any software application.  Webpages can be easily projected onto the board, and the interactive pen, which works like a mouse, can also be used to highlight, point, add notes, etc. Besides this, teachers have also been given MimioPads, allowing them to move about the room and still use their computers. They can take notes from anywhere in the room.  Unlike with Smartboards, which are mounted with hardware in specific classrooms, Mimios offer portability, allowing installation in non-traditional classrooms, such as P.E., music, art, library and special education classrooms.   

 

A student response system called MimioVotes is also being incorporated within various lesson plans. These allow each student to log in their own answers as teachers poll their classes.  Teachers also have access to the MimioView, a document camera which magnifies images, books, and microscopic slides so that students can view them from anywhere in the room.  The MimioView can also be used as a webcam or for recording movies.   

Mrs. Leung uses the microphone to project her voice through the classroom soundfields and her student uses the marker made interactive through Mimio technology.

In addition to Mimio and all the great technology we covered in last month's article, no article on technology would be complete without a nod to our classroom soundfields installed a few years ago, which are in all classrooms. Teachers have their own microphones, worn around the neck, which enhance their voices so they are heard clearly throughout the classroom without vocal strain.  Students make use of the microphones for everything from show-and-tell to oral reports to help project their voices. Soundfield hardware is consistent throughout the building and its functionality allows for teachers to record lessons. Their lectures, discussions taking place in the classroom and even videos being shown can be recorded and turned into Podcasts. 

 

Though the county does provide some funding for technology, Chesterbrook is fortunate to have an active PTA that supplements its technology account, allowing Mr. Kohls flexibility to purchase more upgraded technology than we would normally be given by the county.  

 

"We are very fortunate to be able to use the Summer Quest program to continually enhance the technology program here at Chesterbrook," said Mr. Kohls. "We pride ourselves on having cutting edge technology available to our students, so that they may practice and learn on real-world devices such as iPads, document cameras and laptops that can handle the software they are utilizing."     

 

BIO - This is Mr. Kohls' 8th year as a FCPS School Based Technology Specialist, all of which have been at Chesterbrook. Prior to that, he worked at Flint Hill Elementary School in Vienna as a 2^nd grade teacher. He was a history major in college and has a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education from George Mason University. Mr. Kohls is a native Northern Virginian, and is a proud product of FCPS. Together with Mr. Levesque, he has started a business based on QR Codes and fitness. In his spare time, he volunteers in Boy Scouts with his older son, and helps coach his younger son in baseball. He also enjoys golfing and spending time with his family. He lives in Vienna, Virginia, with his wife and two sons (ages 11 1/2 and 9). 

 

Although we did not get awarded funds for the Transurban-Fluor Hot-Lanes Grant application we submitted, the PTA has allocated funds so that Chesterbrook School can put in a work order to begin the renovation of the school track. 

Chesterbrook Elementary School looks forward to repairing its track so that another generation of McLean youth can begin a lifelong passion for health and fitness!

Sixth graders serenaded the student body with various selections including the annual Preamble to the Constitution song last Thursday.

Parents of rising 7th graders please join us for "Parent Insider: Help Your Student Thrive at Longfellow" on Tuesday, April 17th from 7 - 8:30 pm in the Longfellow Middle School Lecture Hall.   Hear from counseling staff about the ins and outs of life at Longfellow, from lockers and clubs to late buses and lunch. Uncover the meanings of mysterious terms such as "Yagottawannas" and "Lancer Time." Listen in as a developmental psychologist shares what REALLY goes on in the adolescent brain. There will be ample time to ask questions of current students and experienced Longfellow parents.

Attend this free event to get the inside scoop on life at Longfellow! Contact person: Katie Hanusik, 703-442-9114, hanusik@msn.com

March 6 -- PTA Meeting 8:30 am

March 6 -- Principal's Coffee 10 a.m. - Cafeteria - Mr. Fuqua will talk about how the level IV curriculum will be infused into the general education curriculum for the coming school year

March 7 -- SOL Writing Test (Essay) Fifth Grade

March 8 -- Miss Jorgensen's Class Play 9 am and 2 pm

March 9 -- Fun Fair Set-up 3:30 - 6 pm

March 10 -- Fun Fair 10 am - 2 pm

March 13 -- Kindergarten Orientation 7-8 pm

March 14 -- Fourth Grade Parent FLE Review 6:30 pm

March 22 -- Grade Two Showcase 10 am and 2 pm

March 30 -- Third Quarter ends

April 2-9 -- Spring Break!!