Grand Island Charlotte Sidway School

Charlotte Sidway Elementary School News Web Page - 2008

2451 Baseline Road - 773-8870

Charlotte Sidway Elementary School District's Website

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Principal
Denise Dunbar

First Graders Fish at Eco Island - 2008

Teacher Mrs. Maureen Roussi is shown left with her students.

Mrs. Dianne Tiede shows a fish up close.
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   November 26, 2008 . . . Sidway teacher Mrs. Maureen Roussi and her first grade class were treated to a field trip to Eco Island last week to learn, "What Is A Fish?". Retired teacher and nature expert Mrs. Dianne Tiede took the students through several centers in the Eco Island building and dissected a trout that was freshly caught at Wegman's. The students learned about the different parts of a fish and made a picture of fish with scales. They also learned about the food chain, and that the most important part of the food chain is the sun.

Veterans Wall of Honor at Sidway - 2008

Pictured above are Mrs. Joyce Cowan's kindergarten class and Evan Linenfelser and Hannah Lambert
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    In order to help the children understand and appreciate the dedication and sacrifice of our veterans to our country, the children in Miss Joyce Cowan's Kindergarten Class at Sidway School, created a Wall of Honor representing the veterans in their families. After discussing the branches of the Armed Forces and the meaning of Veteran's Day, the children were asked to bring in the names of the veterans in their families and then placed a star to honor their service on the Wall of Honor. Each child felt a sense of pride in knowing that a family member showed such great bravery and courage in the defense of our country and are thankful for the freedoms we now enjoy.

Sidway Students Help Set World Record - 2008
   Charlotte Sidway School students helped to set a world record for the most people reading the same book on the same day. Children from all over the United States and from countries as far away as Japan read the book Corduroy by Don Freeman on October 2nd. 425,565 people participated in the challenge smashing the old record of 258,000!

Sidway Students Win Fire Truck Ride - 2008

Pictured below are Grand Island Firefighters and Sidway Principal Denise Dunbar; (front row left): David Schnell, Allison Hill, Vivienne Zacher, Rachel Soluri, Amber Morales, Marisa Estrada.
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    Six students from Charlotte Sidway Elementary School received a very special ride on a fire truck to school on Friday, October 24. These students were the lucky winners of a contest sponsored by the Grand Island Fire Company during the Company's annual Open House held on Friday, October 10.

Grandparents' Breakfast - October 2008

(Left) Paul and Donna Linenfelser and grandson, Sam Carpenter; (right) JoAnn and Dan Linenfelser and grandson, Mark Ramsperger.

(left) Grandparents Joan Fred, Jim Linenfelser, Skip Fred and grandson, Evan Linenfelser; (right) Carmela Kogler and grandaughter, Samantha Fluker

Ryan Pinzel is shown in his classroom with his grandparents (left) Bob and Mary Kopf and Linda and Carl Pinzel.

Teddy Linenfelser photos - Click for larger view
   These photos were taken on the first day of Grandparents' Breakfast at Sidway School on Monday morning, October 6, 2008. According to Sidway lunchroom manager, Sue McMahon, by the end of the week about 975 breakfasts will have served. "Bagels and danish were a big hit with most grandparents," Sue said. Many of us who enjoyed the opportunity to have breakfast with our grandchildren in their very own lunch room, remember eating our lunches in the same room in the 50s and 60s and other grandparents remember attending the school when it was only a one-floor building and lunches were eaten in the classrooms. The Grandparents Breakfast program continued each morning this week.

Students Pledge to Be Respectful, Responsible and Safe - Sept. 2008

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   The entire student body at Charlotte Sidway Elementary gathered together on Friday, September 12th for an assembly where they pledged to be respectful, responsible and safe this school year. The event kicked off this year's PBIS program.
   Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) is a program that teaches students three important core values; be respectful, be responsible and be safe. PBIS is a K-12 district initiative that promotes positive behavior. Faculty members wore their PBIS shirts in support of the program while the Charlotte Sidway bear and the Sidway bee both made an appearance and led the students in a cheer. Throughout the year, students are continually taught the importance of being respectful, responsible and safe in every aspect of their school day and at every grade level.

Sidway Students Give Wedding Shower For Miss Littlefield - 2008

Maura Rustowicz Photos - Click for larger view
   Miss Maureen Littlefield's Kindergarten kids held a wedding shower for her on May 8, 2008. Her mother, Mrs. Littlefield, sister, Mrs. Andrews, and niece and nephew, Elizabeth and Eric, were also in attendance. In addition to some wonderful gifts, the students made her stepping stones for her garden and a book full of wedding wishes for Miss Littlefield and Mr. Roussi.

Sidway Students Present "America the Beautiful" - 2008

Jodi Robinson Photo - Click photo for larger view
   The first grade classes at Sidway Elementary presented a Memorial Day show, "America the Beautiful," on Thursday, May 22nd in honor of U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country. Classes took part in three performances throughout the day due to the large crowds that always turn out for the young students' shows. Music teacher Mrs. Christine Clendening arranged and directed the presentation and accompanied the students on the piano. Librarian Mrs. Karen Beacher accompanied on the viola. The students sang nine patriotic selections including "You're A Grand Old Flag," "This Land is Your Land" and "America the Beautiful."

Sidway Student Artwork On Display At Library - 2008
   The Grand Island Art Department is pleased to announce that Sidway Elementary has been selected to display various student artworks in the Grand Island Memorial Library. A collection of both kindergarten and first grade artwork will be on display for the months of May and June in the meeting room of the library. Congratulations to those students who have been selected as Sidway’s artists of the month. More student art work will be displayed in the District-wide art show May 19, 2008 at Grand Island High School. The following students' art work is displayed:
Kindergarten
Brandon Smith
Madison MacNeal
Jason Sorri
Emily Reynolds
Brett Shickluna
Emily Kwiecinski
Ryan Pecoraro
Jack Pratt
Robert LeFevre
Anna Thompson
Michael Marino
First Grade
Linda Eichler
Rainer Dolmanet
Allison Ewert
Nicholas Hess
Bethany Wolcott
Samantha Bailey
Megan Kennedy
Allison Fluker
Evan Bedell
Tyler Russell

"Biscuit" Visits Sidway Students - 2008

(Left) Author Alyssa Satin Capucilli and Biscuit.
Jodi Robinson Photos - Click photo for larger view
   A very large puppy made a visit to Sidway School on Wednesday, April 30, 2008. 'Biscuit' came along with the author of his series of beginner reading books, Alyssa Satin Capucilli. Biscuit is the main character and his stories are well loved by Sidway students. The children went to three assembly programs during the day, decked out in "Biscuit Ears" headbands that they had decorated. The fitness room auditorium was decorated with many, many paw prints and pictures, all colored by Sidway students.
    Sidway is celebrating P.A.R.P. in conjunction with the author visit. "Parents As Reading Partners" encourages children to read with their families at home. P.A.R.P. and the author visit are sponsored by Sidway's PTA. Sidway librarian, Mrs. Karen Beacher, said, "We owe an enormous thank-you to our wonderful PTA for their support. These experiences encourage our students to begin a lifelong love of reading and learning!"

Sidway Elementary School
Creating the Critical and Creative Thinkers of Tomorrow - Feb. 2008

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   The classes of Mrs. Marge Benevento and Mrs. Pam Suszczynski participated in two tours of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery at no charge to the district or families. The Gallery and BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York have come together to present a new school, two-part pilot tour program. The goal of the program is to help students acquire better visual literacy skills for today’s highly complex visual world using the Gallery’s outstanding collection. The first trip, which took place on Tuesday, January 8, 2008, was a general tour of the Gallery given by their wonderful docents. The second tour on January 22nd was designed to help students sharpen their visual skills, verbalize responses to works of art, and work cross-disciplinarily in music, movement and art. They were given a chance to explore works of art inspired by music, works of art created by artists who are also musicians, and were exposed to the interpretation of parallel elements in art, music, the spoken word, and movement.
   During the interim, Mrs. Benevento and Mrs. Suszczynski developed activities for the children that would give them some experiences and background on the connections between music and visual art. They teamed up with Sidway Art Teacher Mr. Matthew Doherty, to allow the children an opportunity to create their own sculptures. These are presently on display in the glass case in the front foyer of Sidway Elementary School. In addition, the students were asked to listen to a variety of musical selections and use their imaginations to create drawings depicting the colors, shapes and lines which were envisioned in their minds.
   The successful completion of these exercises, along with both tours, helped the children to realize that art and music can be connected, that art can make you think of music and vice versa, that the museum is a place where artists display their work accompanied by a descriptive label, and where looking is encouraged and touching is not. This program was made possible by the generous financial support of BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York.
   These trips to the Art Gallery were a first-time experience for the children, but hopefully will not be their last. Friday afternoons are family times at the Art Gallery. Many Fridays offer free admission. Check out the Gusto, go the Gallery web site (www.Albrightknox.org), or call the Albright-Knox (882-8700) for times and activities.

Kristian Krantz, Artist Of The Month - January 2008

   The Art Department of the Grand Island School District is pleased to announce Kristian Krantz as the recipient of the K-12 Artist of the Month Award. Kristian, a kindergarten student at Charlotte Sidway Elementary School, has shown many great qualities that make him a model student not only in the art room but also throughout the school. Kristian loves to create art both in and outside of the art room. He enjoys drawing with markers and painting. The Art Department congratulates Kristian for all his hard work and wishes him nothing but the best and continued success with the arts.

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