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2007-08 Highlights |
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Kindergarten
student wins top prize
JUNE 2008—The
Middletown Elk's Club recently sponsored a drug awareness
poster contest at Chorley Elementary School and Ashley
Chavez, at left, a kindergarten student from Mrs. Downer's class, was
the first place winner.
Along with a certificate
Chavez also
received a $50 gift card. All participants were awarded
appreciation certificates by Mr. Fred Glass, Chairperson of
the contest from the Middletown Elks Club. |
 School sends
appreciation letters & supplies to soldiers in Iraq
JUNE 2008—Students at Chorley Elementary School got
busy writing to soldiers stationed in Iraq as part of a
school-wide service project in June.
Students wrote
letters of appreciation and created pictures to
send to soldiers along with other items like
toiletries,
magazines, puzzle books, candy and gum, among
other things. The school collected eight boxes of
items, all were shipped to Iraq along with the
letters.
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 Chorley first graders give back
Students visit St. Teresa's in Middletown
May
2008—First graders at Chorley Elementary School are
learning all about what the word "service" means this month
as students spent the morning of May 29 singing and mingling
with residents at
Saint Teresa's Nursing & Rehab Center in Middletown.
Each month
at the school students learn a new word and participate in
activities that exemplify its meaning. To illustrate the
word "service" students visited the residents to sing
several songs and pass out gifts while chit-chatting with
residents and enjoying some snacks and juice.
"We have taught the
students that "service" means helping others and wanting to
make a difference in their lives without expecting anything
in return," said first grade teacher Lorraine Pagliocca. "We
brought a little sunshine into the residents' lives." |
 Heads or tails?
School raises nearly $2,000 for Pasta for Pennies program
May
2008—Chorley Elementary School raised almost $2,000 for
the 14th-annual Pasta for Pennies program—a
national fundraising program in partnership with The
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).
More than two million
elementary, middle, and high school students participate
in the program nationally each year, bringing in their
spare change and donations to benefit the LLS School &
Youth campaign. The class raising the most money in each
school is then rewarded by Olive Garden
with a pasta party.
Chorley students headed to
the Olive Garden, on Route 211 in Middletown, on May 20
and enjoyed a luncheon in recognition their hard work and
efforts. Way to go!
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Students
celebrate love for reading with some help from school
officials, staff and our community
May
2008—On May 8, Chorley Elementary School hosted its annual Bookies & Cookies
Celebration where readers from the school, district, and
from the community came and shared their love of
reading with students.
Kindergarten and first
graders were treated to
cookies and juice while readers shared their favorite
selections throughout the day. Afterwards, Chorley students
got to try their hand at writing by
creating their
very own book.
Assistant Principal
Ivette Figueroa (pictured above) was just one of many district
officials to take part in the annual Bookies
& Cookies Celebration on May 8.
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From left to right are
Chorley Read Aloud participants Austin Gray and
Gracie Jones and Ariana Sorice. |
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Chorley students
read
at the Great New York Read-Aloud
APRIL
2008—Kindergarten and first graders participated in the
the Great New York Read-Aloud held April 16 at
the Orange-Ulster BOCES Center in Goshen.
Schools from throughout the
area sent their best readers to the event according to
Karen
Cierniak,
the school's librarian. Selected Chorley students read
various poems about animals before an audience of nearly
200 people and worked hard prior to the event practicing
poems with
Cierniak, which
paid off! "Chorley school is proud
of our star readers," Cieriniak said.
The event is a
celebration of reading that is held annually during
National Library Week. Participating students received a
certificate and new books courtesy of BOCES.
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Way to donate! Chorley
gives back
APRIL 2008—Students
and staff at Chorley Elementary School came out on top as
the school donated the most shoes district-wide to the
Shoe Drive School Scholarship Challenge. Shoes will be distributed to those in need in
our community. |
Students get a taste of healthy
choices
MARCH
2008—With Chorley students hungry and the fruit plentiful,
the school's first ever fruit taste test was underway.
Hosted by the district's Food & Nutrition Services on March
20, students were asked to try a
variety of fresh, exotic fruits and pick their favorite.
 Meg Oakes, a nutritionist
from the Orange County Department of Health Department,
passed out samples of mango, papaya, kiwi, star fruit and
coconut to students with some help from Kathy Perry, the
district's Food Service Director.
Most students were familiar with the popular fruit selection
mango, while others
tried star fruit for the very first time and to their
surprise liked the exotic fruit with a memorable name.
The goal of the taste
taste, said Perry, was
to introduce
students to different tastes and healthy snack selections.
The winning fruit, she said, will be worked into the
school's menus next month.
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Chorley students go
international
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Chorley
students show off their passports before heading off
to another country at the school! |
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MARCH
2008—Students at Chorley Elementary School are going
international! Students had their passports in hand during
the week of March 17 as they visited foreign lands like
Japan, India, Mexico, Israel, among others, as part of
international week at the school.
Each classroom at Chorley
selected a country as part of international week and
researched its people, culture, customs, and traditions.
Classes then shared their findings with peers through art
work, performances, and presentations. Students learned
about French cuisine, Mexican traditions, and got even got
the chance to learn how to say hello in Japanese as part of
the program.
This is the first year the
school has celebrated international week and plans are to
continue the event annually.
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Barbara Driscoll works with students at Chorley
during a conflict resolution workshop on Feb. 8. |
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Kids to learn how to work it out in workshop
FEB.2008—First
graders at Chorley Elementary School learned how to
“Work it Out” with some help from the Dispute
Resolution Center in Goshen again this school year.
Barbara Driscoll,
Facilitator, hosted several
40-minute conflict resolution workshops for classes
throughout the school on Feb 8.
Conflict resolution is an essential skill that helps
students deal with real life situations that they may
encounter.
Along with learning the ABCs of getting along with
others, students also learned how to manage their
anger and learned to solve problems through a variety of
different techniques like taking a deep breath, counting
to ten slowly and talking about their feelings.
According to Paul Saladino,
social worker, this is the third year the
workshop was conducted at the school.
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Jumping Jill shows kids all about fitness, food &
fun while visiting Chorley |
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Fitness,
food, and fun!
Students learn about the importance of staying
healthy and fit through interactive show
JAN.2008—When
Jill Jayne says jump, kids ask how high. Known as
Jumping Jill to her audience, the registered dietitian
with a Master’s Degree in Nutrition Education is the
creator of Jumping Jacks with Jill—an
interactive show that teaches children about nutrition
and fitness. Jayne brought her show to
Chorley Elementary School on Wednesday, Jan.
30, and got students moving and thinking about the
importance of exercising and eating healthy.
In
a time where obesity and
poor eating habits are at an all time high,
Jayne focuses on making nutrition and exercise fun. By
getting kids excited through theatrics and interactive
demonstrations and songs, students learn that food,
fun and fitness go together.
While at
Chorley, Jayne explained to students that
energy from healthy foods like dairy products, whole
wheat bread, vegetables and cereal, help to fuel their
bodies or help “provide gas for their cars.” Jayne
also showed students the differences between what
healthy and unhealthy foods look like and contain. For
instance, take soda. Most kids would get excited at
the thought of having some, but after listening to
Jayne explain the amount of sugar in the product and
how soda can make their “tanks empty” instead of
“full” students began to think twice.
Showing kids healthy alternatives and creating
awareness are only a few piece of the puzzle. Jayne’s
program also tackles the topic of exercise. Although
partial to jumping jacks, as one might expect, Jayne
demonstrated a variety of exercises that kids can do
to get their hearts, lungs and muscles moving.
 District helps to make a
difference one coat at a time
DEC.2007—Middletown
youngsters and members of our community are staying warm
this winter thanks in part to all of the coat donations
from students, faculty and staff district-wide, and
Art's Cleaners in Middletown.
After coats were
collected, Art's Cleaners prepared them to be
distributed to our community by cleaning and tailoring
them free of charge.
"The students really
gave to the community and this really included a large
number to RECAP and like organizations and individuals,"
said David Holliday, coordinator of the event and
director of federal programs/grants.
This
is the second year Middletown has partnered up
with Art's Cleaners and collected coats
district-wide for those in need.
 Kids get visit from mime
NOV.2007—Mime
Karen Montanaro visited students at Chorley Elementary
School on Nov. 16
for an Arts in Education performance where she conducted a workshop
introducing students to
the unique thrill of "speaking" without words.
Using the
vocabulary of mime, dance, and improvisation, students
watched as Montanaro experienced and expressed moods, feelings, and states-of-mind
without making a sound. Students learned about controlling
their movements and participated in some mime exercises with
Montanaro.
Montanaro performed a
few sketches for students and performed a soccer game slide
show for kids with the help of Principal Fred Griffin.
Click here to view a photo gallery!
Fire
Prevention fun at Chorley
OCT.2007—Kids
at Chorley learned all about Fire Prevention in October
2007 and had some fun in the process. Local firemen
visited the school, educating students on fire
prevention and discussing the importance of fire safety.
Hispanic
Heritage month celebrated
OCT.2007—Students
and staff at Chorley celebrated Hispanic Heritage
month at the school. Students had the chance to learn
about the Hispanic culture and learn the Spanish
language, as well as information about Hispanic foods, music and art. Biographies about
influential Hispanic-Americans were also read.
African music
and dance class gives kids a chance to learn about new
culture
SEPT.2007—Sounds
from the Ivory Coast were heard from a Chorley
Elementary School music room on Sept. 25 as Biboti
Ouikahilo, a professional dancer, drummer, and
choreographer from Syracuse, NY, taught an African dance
and music class to K-1 students.
As part of
Arts in Education programming, students learned a
variety of African dances from Ouikahilo, and his
assistant/wife Jill, as well as how to play different drums and
sing a variety of African songs. As a native of the the
Ivory Coast, West Africa,
Ouikahilo
shared his culture with students, explaining that dance
and music are used to express emotion.
Ouikahilo also spoke of the meaning of rhythm and then
let students make some music of their very own as they
got the chance to play drums and sing songs as a group.
Ouikahilo is the just one of the many artists
that will be visiting Middletown this school year. He is
the founder, producer, choreographer and dancer for the
Wacheva Dance Company, and since 2003
he
has been offering
classes like this one to groups across the state.
School welcomes new
assistant principal—Ivette Figueroa
SEPT.2007—This
September Chorley Elementary School welcomed it's new
assistant principal Ivette Figueroa. Ms. Figueroa comes to
Chorley after serving as assistant principal at Truman Moon
Primary Center, which also serves students in grades K-1. |
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This
page is maintained by Melissa
Cortellini, public information specialist, according to Web
publishing guidelines used by the Enlarged City School
District of Middletown. All rights reserved. This Web site was produced
by the
Capital Region BOCES Communications Service. © 2003 |
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