LINCOLN SCHOOL NEWS

DECEMBER 2009

Respectful, Responsible, and Ready to Learn

CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS – The Christmas program for grades 1-4 of Lincoln School will be held on Thursday, December 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the DCHS auditorium. Students should be in the band and choir hallway no later than 6:45 p.m. and are reminded not to dress too warmly for the stage. More specific information will be forthcoming. Lincoln School kindergarten classes will have their Christmas program on Monday, December 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the Lincoln School gym.

BRRR – WINTER IS HERE! – Please make sure that your children are dressed appropriately for the cold weather when they leave home in the morning. If your child is in need of winter clothing, please contact Mrs. Myran, our school counselor, by calling the school at 377-2308.

STUDENTS ENTERING THE BUILDING – Reminder that students are to enter the building from the playground except when they are late for school in the mornings (after 8:10 a.m.). This rule also applies on Polar Bear Days. Once again this is a safety issue since there is NO supervision on the front side of the building. Parents’ stopping in the middle of the street on Nowlan Avenue to let children out of vehicles creates a variety of problems.

“CONNECTION” PUBLICATIONS – Please continue to read with your child the monthly school publications that are sent home or that are also provided on the school’s web page. The responses to the questions must be returned to school in order for students to be eligible for the monthly drawing.

CAMPBELL SOUP LABELS - Thanks to everyone who participated in the Campbell’s UPC drive last year. We were able to get 2 new flat screen TV’s for use in the classrooms. Several more are needed to replace some 20+ year old ones that are still in use. This year’s drive will be starting soon so let’s see if we can top last year’s total. Remember that Campbells is now requiring the UPC barcode for submission rather than the front label as has been past practice.

READING – Most students are continuing to do well in working towards their reading goals for the quarter. As parents you can help by being aware of what your child’s goal is and how they are progressing. Individual goals have been determined and TOPS reports should accompany your child whenever each has attempted to improve his score. Your child’s teacher should be able to help if you have further questions or if you are not seeing these reports regularly. We have also established a “reading center” for students beginning each school day at 7:50 a.m. in the school library. Students must ask for a pass from playground monitors to gain admittance. In most cases, students should have reading material with them since this time is designed primarily for continued reading not for checkout of new reading selections.

CHARACTER COUNTS PILLAR OF THE MONTH - CARING – To demonstrate caring, one would show love, regard, and/or concern for the well being of others. The elements of caring include the following:

· Concern for others – to engage or involve yourself in the well-being of others as if your happiness were dependent on theirs.

· Compassion – sorrow or concern for the suffering of others accompanied by the urge to help.

· Empathy – the ability to share in another person’s emotions, thoughts, and feelings.

· Kindness – the possession of sympathetic or generous qualities implying an inclination to be charitable and to do good.

· Charity – the voluntary giving of money or other help to people in need.

· Love – deep and tender feeling of attachment or affection for a person or persons.

MANNERS OF THE WEEK FOR DECEMBER:

11/30 – 12/4: Don’t laugh at other people’s mistakes.

12/7 – 12/11: Greet people with a smile. Make eye contact.

12/14 – 12/22: Apologize sincerely and accept apologies from others.

CHRISTMAS ENVELOPE - It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so. It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas-oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it-overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma-the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly black. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he
swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat. Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them."
Mike loved kids-all kids-and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition-one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas,
and on and on. The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always
the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.
As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.
May we all remember the Christmas spirit this year and always.

DATES TO REMEMBER

December 9 – Early Out – 1:00 p.m. – Staff Development; Midterms go home

December 10 – 7:00 p.m. – DCHS Auditorium - Grades 1-4 Christmas Program

December 14 – 6:30 p.m. – Lincoln Gym – Kindergarten Christmas Program

December 22 – Early Out – 1:00 p.m. for Christmas Break

December 23 – January 3 – Christmas Break – NO SCHOOL

January 4 – Classes resume

January 15 – End of the 2^nd Quarter of School