Andover Elementary/Middle School
September 25, 2014
Dear AEMS Family,
Tonight is Open House for families of students in kindergarten through fourth grade. It is always a night filled with energy, enthusiam, and family time. When you arrive please go to the gym. There will be general introductions of all the staff members and then classrooms are open. Teachers will be in classrooms to welcome and talk with you. At the end of the evening there will be cookies and milk in the lobby.
I am willing to bet your child has been talking about Ga-Ga at home this week. Thanks to wonderfully talented and generous volunteers we have a superb Ga-Ga pit on our playground. The game is just as popular with kindergarten students as it is with eighth graders. The game’s roots originated in Israel. The word ‘Ga’ means Hit, so Ga-Ga means ‘Hit-Hit’. There are several variations on exactly how the game is played, but with Mr. Silversein’s help we have established rules that we feel are the most fair and encourage the most physical activity. Stop in and play!
Our playground structure now has three new sturdy and decorative roofs overhead thanks to volunteers and funding from Belletetes. Students in kindergarten through grade three had a chance to include their handprints under the roof. See if you can find your child’s print.
Box Tops for Education are still being collected. Box Tops are redeemed for cash which is directed toward the playground. We still have big plans for the playground and skate park and more work to do. A form is attached to this letter for collection. It is also fine to send box tops to school in a baggie. It really pays off for our school. There are two points in the school year when they are turned into the company but collection goes year round. Right now we have a push on to get lots collected by mid-October. Thanks!
The first meeting of the PTO will be Monday, October 20th at 6:30 in the school library. All are welcome!
Our cross-country team hosted their first-ever meet at our school yesterday. It was a school community effort. Middle school students were posting signs, carrying cones, and filling water jugs as they helped set up for the meet. Andover hosted Kearsarge and Shaker Road School. The boys got things started with David and Matthew Reynolds leading the way down the rail trail. At halfway David was 30 seconds in the lead followed by Matt, then Cyrus King, Tyler Champagne, River Turnbull and Colin Coolidge. At the finish David led the way for a 1, 2 finish with Matt for the second meet in a row. Cyrus gave it all and he had in a sprint finish with a Kearsarge runner, followed by Tyler, River and Colin to round out Andover’s day. The boys finished second in the meet beating Shaker Road. This was the first time the boys had beaten another complete team. The girls ran in a tight dual meet with Kearsarge. At the start all the girls sprinted into the tunnel together. When they returned after the first lap Sophia Reynolds was in second, followed by Brynne Makechnie, Sasha Mackenzie, Alexis Geyer, Alexis Plante, Madison Colby, and Cassidy Piroso. Andover had 3 of the top 5 positions and everyone was running strong. At halfway the meet was dead even between the two teams. On the second lap Sasha, Alexis, and Alex got into the top 9, with Sophia and Brynne holding positions 2 and 3 leading Andover to its first ever meet victory beating Kearsarge by 1 point 27 to 28. A big thank you to the Soccer team for all the smiles, high fives, dancing and cheering halfway around each lap.
Thanks,
Jane Slayton