November 1, 2015

Greetings,

As we wind up an amazingly beautiful October, we thought we'd take a last look at activities from the past week...

Team Building, 5th Grade-Style

Fifth graders hit the road for a day of team building at East Stroudsburg University's Marshalls Creek outdoor ropes course.

Grade unity, self-reflection and challenge, respect, collaboration, communication, and community building were just some of the goals of the day. Click the photo for more images from the day.

Meet Eric Wight - and his friends Bacon and Cupcake

Author/illustrator Eric Wight (left), creator of the Frankie Pickle series, was on campus Thursday to introduce us to his newest creations. He recently illustrated Everyone Loves Bacon,

and the students at Lower School town meeting were treated to the first-ever reading of his next book, Everyone Loves Cupcake.

The young authors and illustrators heard how Mr. Wight works (he uses a computer to create his pictures), how long it takes to illustrate a book (a couple of months), and were encouraged to write their own books. What a 'big opportunity' to hear from a professional author!

Supporting our neighbors

Friday was not just a day to 'party' -

Swain's 5th-8th graders first participated in a long-standing tradition, that of doing community service. The students fanned out across the Lehigh Valley, cleaning parks (as 5th grade did, right), reading to little children, and spending time with older adults. Other students stayed on campus to do clean-up projects and help in classrooms with younger students. We think Mrs. Swain would be proud!

Buddy fun

A more recent tradition is the "Halloween Obstacle Course" that PE teacher Carole Henning puts together each fall in The McCann Center. Using holiday themes - and a lot of creativity! - she creates a course for the younger students to use their bodies and brains. Older students assist the smaller ones as they make their way around the course. It's one of many popular buddy projects, where older and younger students get together for shared activities and friendship. (Pictured, a 'mirroring' activity - click for more photos from 8th grade and Kindergarten)

Celebrating Halloween

Creativity was on parade at our annual Halloween events on Friday! Before two large - and appreciative audiences - the PS and PK students (morning) and the K-8 students (afternoon) showed off their colorful and imaginative costumes. The parades were followed by celebrations featuring games and activities.

A special 'hats off' to fourth grade teachers Karin Reger and Sarah Kleppinger for their appearance as an immigrant and a "realistically tall" Statue of Liberty - even more fitting as their social studies curriculum focuses on Ellis Island and its place in US history (and yes, Miss K marched in the parade - although we're not sure how she got up and down the stairs!).

Click on the photo to take you to galleries of both parades and the Middle School party; check teacher galleries for more photos of their students and parties.

This Week on Swain's Facebook...

We met several of the PS and PK class pets ... cheered on those faculty who tried out an archery clinic offered by Coaches Henning and Reed ... looked ahead to our "Sweet and Savory" Sale on Tuesday, to benefit our Athletic Department ... and shared our Halloween photos, including this one of our own "Cat in the Hat" and his friends Thing 1 and Thing 2 (sans signature blue hair).

Thank you for reading this edition of Swain Stories!

The Swain School
1100 South 24th Street
Allentown, Pennsylvania 18103