Wednesday Notice from The Grammar School

The Grammar School

Wednesday Notice

September 21, 2011

EDMUND BRELSFORD - 1931-2011

Edmund Brelsford, father of five and grandfather of six TGS students and alumni, passed away on September 11, 2011. As his daughter Alicia said, "He was passionate about TGS." During his long association with the school, Edmund served as Chair of the Board, drove and fixed the school bus, built ski trails and taught students to ski, did construction projects and repairs to the school building, performed on medieval instruments in concerts for the school as well as a wandering minstrel at the Medieval Faire, and in general helped out everywhere he was needed. For the past 36 years Edmund was a vital part of The Grammar School community. We will miss him.

FROM THE DESK OF STEVE LORENZ

Parent Information Nights

On October 4th and 6th The Grammar School will host our annual Parent Information Nights, formerly called Curriculum Nights. We have renamed and refocused these evenings for two reasons. First, the faculty has realized that our curriculum, in whole and in part, is available and well spelled out in our Curriculum Guide on our website and via Teacher Pages.

Secondly, a Parent Information Night allows the faculty to disseminate important, timely, and topical information related to, and in some cases beyond, the curriculum and allows for questions and answers.

This year's Parent Information Nights will be as follows:

*On Tuesday, October 4 at 6:30 pm, teachers of kindergarten through 5th grade will focus on mathematics in their classrooms. We hope you will come join us for an informational evening that will provide a hands-on opportunity to experience a math lesson in your child's class, as well as an overview of mathematic topics at your child's grade level. Classroom time will be followed by an opportunity to listen to short presentations by the teachers of Art, French, Music, and Library.

*On Thursday, October 6 at 6:30 pm, the 6th-8th grade teachers will host parents in your child's homeroom. This evening will allow our Upper School Team to discuss expectations, grading, progress reports, entertain questions, and more. We are hoping that our new Life Skills teacher, Karen Blumberg, will be available to join each class to introduce herself and give a brief overview of her program.

*On Thursday, October 6 at 6:30 pm, Ken Brautigam will host preschool parents. Ken will share an overview of his program, talk about specific upcoming events, and leave time for questions, answers, and discussion.

Back To School Potluck

What a fun evening! Thank you to everyone who attended and was part of this wonderful social event. Many folks commented that we should get together more often, particularly during the winter months.

Food for Irene Victims

Thank you for the wonderful outpouring of donations of varied items for victims of Tropical Storm Irene. We have divided the donations so that they will go to four area food shelves or emergency centers. These are in Wilmington, Wardsboro, Brattleboro, and Bellows Falls.

Steve

Head of School

MEDIEVAL FAIRE UPDATES

Just a reminder!

The Medieval Faire is Saturday, October 15th! Thank you to those who have signed up already! Please remember, it takes a school (TGS) to make this Faire happen - if you haven't signed up yet, please do so!

We will have a workday Friday, September 23. Come one, come all! Come help repair and spruce up signs, props, and structures. Anyone can help. Needed: painters, carpenters, and seamstresses or tailors!

Interested in photography? Want to be in charge of the photo booth?

Do you have any pumpkins, flowers, or corn stalks you would like to donate for decorating?

Do you have a 10 by 10 tent we can borrow for the Faire? Contact Jaja!

Can you read Tarot Cards? Palms? Tea leaves? We are looking for a Fortune Teller! Interested? Email Jaja at jajalaughlin@hotmail.com.

SPORTS

The 7th-8th team played Compass School yesterday - the score was 5-1 TGS.

Photo by Catherine Dail

Fall Sports practices have started. NO PRACTICES ON FRIDAY, OCT. 14 (Medieval Faire setup). Please check the calendar for games, meets, and schedule changes. Parents are responsible for transporting their children to and from games and running meets.

The fee for all sports is $20/student for the fall season. Please pay Tammy in the office. To sign your child up for a sport, please email Mary.

K-1-2 Soccer: 3:15-4:00 pm

Mondays (coach Beth Henkle) and Fridays (coach Paul Hopkins)

3rd-4th grade soccer: Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:15-4:30 pm. Head coach Ray Hutchins (See 3-4 soccer flyer )

5th-6th grade soccer: Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:15-4:30 pm. Head coach Ken Brautigam

7th-8th grade soccer: Tuesdays and Fridays 3:15-4:30 pm. Coaches Chris Harlow and Bruce McIntosh (We will try to schedule an away game for one of the teams on Tuesdays, to avoid having to share a field.)

XC Running: Wednesdays 3:15-4:30 pm

Head coach Charlie Boswell

Wednesday, September 28 is the first Kurn Hattin race at Kurn Hattin Homes in Westminster. Course walk begins at 3:30. Please pick your child up from school promptly at 3:05 pm.

ORDER TGS T-SHIRTS AND SWEATSHIRTS!

Order your TGS dragon or school logo apparel by next week, Wednesday, Sept. 28! Order forms are available on the school website on the school store page. Please email Mary if you have any questions.

STUDIO INSTRUMENTS NEEDED

We're looking for a couple of keyboards and guitars to borrow for 7th and 8th grade Studio this fall. If you have one you'd be willing to loan to a student, please email or call Alli at ext. 108.

PUTNEY FOOD SHELF

PUTNEY FOOD SHELF: This is a school-wide, yearlong community service we instituted a few years ago. Each month a class leads the collection of donated non-perishable food items and toiletries. All are welcome to donate at any time. There is always a box outside the main office for your donations. FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER THE SIXTH GRADE IS THE CLASS COLLECTING. A box is in their homeroom should you wish to bring items there. Thank you for your generous support of our school's local community.

Wednesday Notice Submissions

Please email Tammy with any submissions for the Wednesday Notice by 11 am on Tuesday.

ART NEWS!

Great Gallery Shows for Kids in NYC

I hope you will visit the art blog to see recent updates about art at The Grammar School. There are some wonderful shows in Chelsea right now, if you happen to want to make the trip south. See pictures and details on the art blog.

http://tgsartpage.blogspot.com/

A QUICK GUIDE TO COMPOSTING, RECYCLING, AND TRASH AT TGS

Through our waste disposal vendor, Triple T Trucking of Brattleboro, TGS composts all food, paper, and cardboard waste. We recycle plastic, metal, and glass containers.

Classrooms and common kitchen areas are equipped with food compost, paper compost, and trash containers. A container for plastic, metal, and glass recyclables is located on each floor of our buildings. Homeroom teachers discuss sorting waste with their students, and we ask you to help us by sorting your trash when you're visiting TGS. We are always looking for ways to cut down on what we send to the recycling center or landfill. We ask for your support by using re-usable containers whenever possible. Thank you.

COMMUNITY NEWS!

Harlow Farm is offering a Winter CSA this year!

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a program that benefits the farm and the members who participate. Harlow Farm CSA members secure a local, organic food source for their families, provide long term care and security of agricultural land and open space in Westminster and provide funds to the farm. As a community, the risks and rewards of farming are shared. This was most recently illustrated in the devastation caused by The Flood, although some crops were lost this was a banner year for tomatoes! Harlow Farm CSA is a little different, it is a debit style CSA, meaning that members join at a comfortable level, then twice a month, members choose the product and amount they want for their families then come to the farm to pick up. As this is a Winter CSA, it will include frozen vegetables such as beans, tomatoes and peppers, berries, poultry, pork, stored veggies such as potatoes, carrots and cabbage, fresh eggs, processed foods such as jams and pickles, and baked goods, and fresh winter greens grown on the farm in a new green house. The next deadline for a 10% credit is September 30, employee group membership benefits include an additional 3% credit, and delivery to your work place, if you are interested in becoming a CSA member, email jeanettestaley@myfairpoint.net or call me at 376 0038.

Save gas! See Movies! Support Putney! This week @ NEXT STAGE CINEMA: West Side Story & Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Movies right in the center of Putney! Saturday, Sept. 24th @ 7:30PM, the classic WEST SIDE STORY. Tuesday, September 27th @ 6:45PM, the final film in our Paul Newman series, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. Next Stage is Putney's own large format community movie theatre featuring a 22' screen, surround sound, and fresh popcorn! Movies every Saturday & Tuesday! In the old Federated Church @ 15 Kimball Hill. Please visit us on Facebook/Next Stage Arts. "Like" us for upcoming schedule info and hope to see you at the movies!

100,000 Poets for Change - September 24, 2011, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the River Garden on Main Street.
Ours will be one of 600 Events - in 450 cities, town and hamlets - 95 Countries, all dedicated to the health of earth and all inhabitants. Celebrate the solidarity of worldwide words and the resilience of our state in the wake of Irene.
Share an original poem, a song, a piece of music, a chant, a rant, or incantation. Each participant will have a maximum of three minutes at the mic. All ages are welcome to take part and listen. Our reading will be aired on the web side by side with poets from Albania from Zimbabwe. Please join us at the River Garden. Let me know if you are interested and/or want more information.
Verandah Porche: verandahporche@gmai.com 802 254-2442
http://www.bigbridge.org/100thousandpoetsforchange/

David Hogan and Charlie Boswell at the Harpoon point to point bike ride to raise money for the Vermont food shelf. David was recognized for raising over $1,000, and Charlie for volunteering to drive the TGS bus to help bikers in need of assistance.

Save the date! Windham Child Care Association is hosting the first annual Fall Into Art celebration on Friday, October 21 at the River Garden in Brattleboro, from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Enjoy hors d'oeuvres, live music, a gallery of beautiful art work by area artists and children, and the chance to own a framed piece of art work. Tickets are either $35, which includes a beautiful piece of framed art to take home - or $10, which includes food, fun, music, and gallery browsing! Tickets can be purchased from Ken Brautigam here at TGS, or at Baker's, Vermont Artisans, and Windham Child Care in Brattleboro. Call 254-5332 for tickets or more information. Come Fall Into Art on October 21!

River Gallery School of Art classes
Fall classes begin the week of Sept 19th - enrollment ongoing. Individualized approach to painting, drawing, and sculpture in an environment where we nurture each child's free imagination. Opportunities to experiment with non-traditional forms of working to open students perception of art, encouraging free movement between different two and 3D media. Art materials include pencil, pastel, acrylic, oil, collage, basic printmaking, found object sculpture and basic construction. Please call the school to enroll.

HORSE - Free lease
Appendix QH mare, 15.3hh. Well schooled in huntseat and dressage. Easy keeper, sound for trail and regular work on the flat. Needs a confident advanced beginner or intermediate rider. Stands nicely for vet/farrier. Shots and coggins updated in August, and last had her hooves done on September 8th. Owner is living abroad and seeking full lease arrangement for one year, with the option of extending the lease after the first year. Use of tack, winter blankets, grooming gear all included. If you're interested in coming to meet and ride this lovely mare in Putney, please give me a call or send an email: Leelee Bookwalter, 802-380-4896, singingshepherdess@gmail.com.

Eagles! Join wildlife biologist Chris Martin who will discuss the re-population of Bald Eagles in VT & NH, with emphasis on the Connecticut River Watershed. Wednesday Sept 21 @ 7pm. Free & Open to the public at the Rockingham Free Public Library, 65 Westminster Street, Bellows Falls.
Sponsored by a partnership of The Nature Museum at Grafton, Rockingham Library, and Ascutney Mountain Audubon Society, and partially funded by the TransCanada Corporation. Call 802-463-4270 for more information.

CLOTHING COLLECTION - Once again, a friend who is a social worker in Keene and I are collecting clothing, toys, and books to give to children in homeless shelters. Winter clothing for all ages and sizes, adults included, is needed, and blankets and sleeping bags are priceless. Please drop donations off at the upper building and I will make sure they get to Keene as quickly as possible. It is hard for me to hear that many of these children have never owned a book! If you have multiple copies of picture books, please consider donating one of them.Thank you in advance. Laurie Fichter lfichter@tgs-putney.org

FOUND - White crocheted poncho left in theater at Graduation. Email Alli if it's yours.

PIANO FOR SALE OR LOAN: Hamilton small upright in good condition. Call Felicity Ladd at 387-5944.

AFTER SCHOOL MUSIC LESSONS available on Friday afternoons at TGS. Are you interested in your child learning to play the saxophone, clarinet, or flute? I have found a terrific teacher! Please contact Anita Dunlap at 802-579-8001 or blkmtfrm@sover.net for more info!

Jason Koerber (saxophone, clarinet) performs regularly with the Keene Chamber Orchestra, the Keene Jazz Orchestra, the Half Diminished Swing Band & The Jacksonville Blues Band. He is also a former member of the Tom Foolery Band, the Josh Evans Trio & the funk band Giza. Jason has appeared as a soloist with the KSC Chamber Orchestra and with the Pink Floyd tribute band Liquid Floyd. He has also performed with the Raylynmor Opera Company, The Hugh Keelan Ensemble & The Monadnock Chorus & Orchestra. Jason currently teaches saxophone and clarinet at Vermont Academy - Saxtons River VT, The Putney School - Putney, VT, The Open Music Collective - Brattleboro VT, Peterborough Music - Peterborough NH and Elm City Music & Movement - Keene, NH. Jason has studied saxophone with Scott Mullett, Harvey Kaiser, Mario Bernardo & Craig Sylvern. He has studied clarinet with Richard Sanders & Mario Bernardo and flute with Robin Matathias. For many years he also taught flute at Amherst and Mount Holyoke Colleges. He attended Harvard College and the Juilliard School of Music and studied with Douglas Royal, James Pappoutsakis, Julius Baker, Harold Bennett, Marcel Moyse, and Keith Underwood. He has recorded for MusicMasters and Opus One.

NEXT STAGE CINEMA - Come out and support Putney's own movie house!!!!! Next Stage Cinema @ 15 Kimball Hill is in full swing, showing films every Tuesday and Saturday on a 22' screen with surround sound!

CELEBRATING OUR 51st YEAR!