A Great Fall Season of After School Adventures!

Liza Jones Hards

Director of Auxiliary Programs

This fall the After School Adventures program filled The Elisabeth Morrow School with many interesting sights, sounds and smells during our eight weeks of classes.  Students were happy, engaged, creative and challenged. Beginning Chess students enjoyed learning the basics of chess while our Intermediate Chess class challenged their classmates in class tournaments.  Students were thrilled to participate in hands-on experiments and observations in Mad Science classes while Mrs. Milne’s “Science Alive” class also helped students learn more about our beautiful EMS Campus and lively animals in the Little School Science room.  Recipes from the “Simply Delicious” cookbook were mixed together and sampled in our Little School cooking class and fabulous t-shirt fashions were created in the “Fashion Design Stars” class. Sports in Little School and Intramurals in Morrow House kept our students active and moving and our Creative Dance class in Little School even got parents up and moving as part of an end of the session class share.  Students also had the opportunity to learn about the Chinese culture and language in our two Chinese language classes.  Other classes included “ Magical Mysteries”, “Friday Fun” and “Epic Adventures”.   The next session of After School Adventures will begin on February 4, 2013.  Class booklets and registration information will be available January 16.  We have many new and exciting offerings for our next session. For more information, please contact the Office of Auxiliary Programs at ext. 7150.  Thank you to our students and teachers for a great session of After School Adventures! 

Cooking in the Curriculum @EMS: 7 Good Reasons

Cooking? Are you serious?  Yep!  Here's why:

A child putting the steps to make "The Besto Pesto"
 in sequential order. (later followed up as an
independent activity to make a mini "recipe book."

1.  Sequencing - Cooking helps children in understanding procedure and ordering events to reach desired outcomes.

2.  Leadership - Cooking is a simple/low-stress means for children to direct their peers through assigning duties (as part of the recipe) to other children and overseeing the production of the final product.

3. Followership: Cooking allows children to understand the responsibility of teamwork, of being an effective part of a group working toward a specific goal.  Also, once given a "job," a student then must follow both spoken and written direction to fulfill their assigned task.

4. Math:  calibrating required ingredients introduces units of measure (amounts and temperatures) and an understanding of proportion.

5.  Gross/Fine Motor Skills:  chopping, measuring, stirring, peeling (under careful supervision) all works on the large and small muscle groups along arm, as well as developing hand dexterity.  

Middle School Cooking Club:  often featuring guest chefs
and the exploration of culture through cuisine.

6.  Tangible Results:  completion of a recipe offers a tangible and real result for the children.  Engagement is usually there as well, as the children get to eat the tasty results.

7.  Eating Right:  learning to cook introduces children to healthier food options.  Plus, at EMS, we often cook with our own vegetables (grown on campus), and children are more likely to try new foods if they've participated in growing them.

The Story Of Our New Sleeping Mats

by Beth Brennan, Lower School Head and Tricia Eickelberg, Director of Early Childhood

The Elisabeth Morrow School is a community of students, administrators, staff, parents, students and alumni, all of whom value an excellent education as fundamental in the lives of children and the adults they will become. The “4 C’s” Cooperation, Consideration, Compassion and Courtesy form the foundation of the school’s character education. This year an amazing example of how we, as a community, brought these values to life is worth sharing with all of you.

In the fall of 2011, I shared an idea with EMS parent Karen Toback, who at the time was the Little School PA representative for the year. We scheduled a time to chat and she eagerly came to my office ready to help. I told her a story about how a parent, some twenty years ago, volunteered to create resting mats for the youngest students here at EMS. They were still in use but they were all very worn. The children, however, still loved resting on them. She took one look at the old (but loved) sample and committed to help the children in Chilton House acquire new mats.  Thus, a yearlong joint partnership between “home” and “school” began.

A completion deadline for this fall had Mrs. Toback quickly out shopping for prints of fabrics that would work for both girls and boys. After sharing samples, we all agreed upon a bright and interesting print. Next, a flyer inviting all interested quilters to help with this project was sent out to our community. The call was answered and group met regularly throughout the spring. They cut and packaged fabrics and borders to distribute to all of the volunteer quilters. Much like an old fashioned quilting bee, they worked during the summer to complete all 100 mats for all six classrooms in Chilton House.

Our caring community is our strength; deeds such as this, and the people who work steadfastly to bring them to fruition, are what brings vitality and integrity to our school’s mission. To acknowledge this gift, the children in Chilton House designed their own quilt patches, which were hung together in our lobby as a symbolic way to pass along our thanks to all of our quilting volunteers. As well, at a recent sing-a-long, the children sang a thank you song (below). We hope the joining of children’s voices and words of thanks are inspirational for all of you to hear and enjoy.



Thank you… Karen Toback (head seamstress),  Georgia Silverman (Ella and Kara’s Grandmother),  Laura Cohen, Donna LoBue, Kim Kachakian, J. Grace Kim, Lily Reidel, Adela Skinner, Maria Staphos, Lily Lou, Tricia Eickelberg, Jen Cordover Family.

Beyond 3:00 PM: Auxiliary Programs at The Elisabeth Morrow School

by Liza Jones Hards

Director of Auxiliary Programs

Summer 2010


There is much more going on at The Elisabeth Morrow School than just classes.  Beyond 3:00 p.m., as many of our students gather their things to head home for the day, some of our students look forward to sticking around and gearing up for exciting adventures of a different kind (some even stay during school breaks!) Whether it’s aviation class, intramurals or just heading out to the playground for the afternoon, the goal of our program is to offer students a chance to explore interests and hobbies, while learning new skills and spending time with their friends and favorite teachers. 


AFTER SCHOOL


Between Child Care and After School Adventures classes, there is plenty of action on campus until 6:00 p.m. every school day.  This year we added many new classes to our after school lineup.  In Digital Photography, students learned the basics and then showcased their work in a portfolio show.  Parents were able to come see their child’s collection of images as well as those of their classmates.  Beginning Chess gave students the chance to learn techniques and strategies of the game from a professional instructor.  The Aviation class, run by the Hobby Quest Aviation Club (Ridgewood, NJ), provided students the opportunity to build their very own model airplanes.  Students learned to read blueprint plans and used tools to cut, level and sand pieces of the model aircraft. After building, students tested their designs, making adjustments in balance, air flow and weight as they flew their planes.


After School classes are also about just having fun.  Each week, students in our Friday Fun class participated in creative and fun-filled activities.  Among other things this year, they went sledding, had a scavenger hunt, planted flowers around the campus, roasted marshmallows and sang songs around a campfire.  Another fun offering this year was EMS Cooks, a class where various faculty members shared their favorite recipes and cooked up delicious treats with the students. Intramurals, led by Elisabeth Morrow Athletic Director, Andy Escala, provided fourth and fifth grade students with an introduction to the middle school sports program.  Finally, the Homework Club (see sidebar on page 6) was a popular and productive offering this year.

Students also have the option to stay beyond 3:00 p.m. as part of our Child Care program, known as Busy Buddies in Chilton House and EMS Friends in Little School (The Morrow House library offers study time for middle school students).  Busy Buddies and EMS Friends offer a mixed-age environment where children can play together, have snacks and even get some of their homework completed. Elisabeth Morrow models its Child Care program on the “neighborhood experience” philosophy of years ago, where older and younger children played together, creating games and activities, while learning the rules of play from watching each other.  Our Child Care program is also available on certain days when the school is open but classes are not in session, including faculty study days and parent-teacher conference days.


BREAKS AND CAMPS


Elisabeth Morrow offers a number of programs beyond the academic calendar. Our Spring Break Mini Camp, now in its fifth year, is held during one of the two weeks of Spring Break.  During this exciting camp, students participate in enrichment activities centered on a particular theme.  In 2009, the focus was on “Going Green,” and activities included recycled art projects and learning how to reduce our energy usage.  This year the theme was “Amazing Animals” and included field trips to Flat Rock Brook Nature Center and the Central Park Zoo in New York City.


June Express is offered to students in prekindergarten through grade five in the two weeks between the end of school and the beginning of Summer Explorations.  Students cook, play games, do arts & crafts, and have fun with friends in a relaxed atmosphere from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Students are also welcome to attend String & Jazz Week in the mornings and/or Eagle Sports Camp in the afternoons during the first week of June Express.


In the months of June, July and August, our Summer Explorations program is in full swing.  Students from Elisabeth Morrow, joined by students from other schools, come to our campus as “campers,” ready for new experiences and learning opportunities.  Offered in two three-week sessions for children between age three and grade six, Summer Explorations campers make use of all the amenities of our campus. 


Our youngest campers have sing-a-longs around a campfire, explore summertime themes through books and art, and participate in drama and music classes.  They even harvest herbs and vegetables from our many gardens and use the fresh-picked ingredients to cook delicious dishes.  Our older campers explore new interests and activities through various workshops during the sessions.  Filmmaking, Chinese brush painting, cupcake decorating, scrapbooking, math games, and writing are just a few of the many choices.  Afternoons are spent in arts and crafts, nature study, sports, games, and playground time.  There are also opportunities to venture off campus to take tennis or ice skating lessons or to take a trip to a minor league baseball game.  Every Friday, campers dive into theme days such as Pajama Day, Beach Day and the exciting Summer Explorations Camp Carnival. 


WHY AUXILIARY PROGRAMS?


An increase in student interest, popularity of choices and the fundamental need for after-school care for students of working parents has resulted in the significant growth of our Auxiliary Programs over the past several years.  To us, these programs mean more than entertainment and filling time until parents come to pick up their children. Our After School, Child Care and Summer Programs strive to provide the same quality of excellence Elisabeth Morrow students receive during the school day.  According to a parent of a Summer Explorations camper, “the variety and level of each of the classes creates a wonderful and exciting atmosphere that each child would look forward to every day.” At Elisabeth Morrow, providing opportunities for children to learn, especially when they are having fun while doing it, is important for us and that shouldn’t have to end because the clock strikes three, or the calendar rolls into June.