All posts for the month November, 2014

December 2014 Bookworm Schedule

“Reading is fun!A book is like a garden, carried in the pocket.”

Chinese Proverb

Welcome back from Thanksgiving Vacation… hope everyone did lots of reading!

Tuesday, December 2 – Mrs. Kimball will be at school to read, 9:30 AM

Thursday, December 4 – Mr. Lange will be at school to read, 8:30 AM

Friday, December 5 – Fellowship Breakfast at the Valley Grange Hall at 6 PM (that’s not a mistake–breakfast at night!) All are invited… bring a breakfast dish to share! For menu information contact Mr. Boomsma or Mrs. Annis.

Tuesday, December 9 – Mrs. Kimball will be at school to read, 9:30 AM

Wednesday, December 10 – Christmas Concert at 5:30 PM in the PCSS Gym! More information here!

Thursday, December 11– Mrs. Lander will be at school to read, 8:30 AM

Tuesday, December 16 – Mrs. Erwin at school to read, 9:30 AM

Thursday, December 18– Mrs. Lander will be at school to read, 8:30 AM

Monday, December 22 – Friday, January 2 is vacation! Hope you get lots of books for Christmas!

Holiday Bookworm

 

Leave a comment
by Walter Boomsma on November 25, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Area Community Information, Bookworms, Community Service, Education
Tagged , , , , ,

Posted by Walter Boomsma on November 25, 2014

https://valleygrange.wordpress.com/2014/11/25/december-2014-bookworm-schedule/

Dictionary Day at Ridgeview Elementary

Mr. Boomsma demonstrates the pruning hook to some seriously interested students.

Mr. Boomsma demonstrates the pruning hook to some seriously interested students.

Mr. Annis, Mr. Carroll and Mr. Boomsma recently truck-pooled to Dexter carrying along the staves, RFD mailbox and several cases of dictionaries–a sure sign that another Dictionary Day was about to happen in our area. This is our first year in AOS 94 and weren’t the kids excited!

One young lady thought perhaps the “pruning hook” was used to get prunes off trees–not an unreasonable guess when you think about it. English is a strange language and she perhaps demonstrated the value of a dictionary!

We have one more Dictionary Day to go this year. Harmony Elementary School will be our last but certainly not our least recipient of dictionaries through our “Words for Thirds” initiative. When we put away the props, we will have visited with six schools and twelve classes. Most importantly, we will have placed a dictionary in the hands of over 200 third grade graders.

Special thanks to Mrs. Hersey for coordinating our visit–and to the staff and teachers for helping us begin what we pledge to make an annual event. We also appreciate the community support we receive when fundraising for this project. Contributions can always be sent to Valley Grange, c/o Mary Annis, 28 Orchard Road, Dover Foxcroft ME 04426.

Winston Churchill said, “There is no finer investment a community can make than putting milk into the mouths of babies.” We think putting dictionaries into the hands of third graders is a close second.

Ridgeview third graders get ready for a "dictionary race."

Ridgeview third graders get ready for a “dictionary race.”

 

Leave a comment
by Walter Boomsma on November 18, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Area Community Information, Community Service, Education, Words for Thirds
Tagged , , , , ,

Posted by Walter Boomsma on November 18, 2014

https://valleygrange.wordpress.com/2014/11/18/dictionary-day-at-ridgeview-elementary/

Kids Say “Thanks!”

Mrs. Kennedy's PCES Third Graders included a thank you photo.

Mrs. Kennedy’s PCES Third Graders included a thank you photo.

Reading the thank you letters kids send for their dictionaries is almost as much fun as handing out the dictionaries! The kids usually have some fun things to say and will often add a colorful drawing to demonstrate their artistic flair. Here are a few of their comments selected randomly.

“Thank you to you and the Valley Grange members for the free dictionaries. I now know the capitols of mostly all of the states. Also I liked Captain Battick’s whistle and his sword. He also has a cool uniform and hat. My dictionary is awesome. It even shows sign language too. And thanks for the dictionaries again, Logan.”

“Thank you to you and Valley Grange members. I love this dictionary. I always wanted one of my own dictionary. You can look up anything in the world! Tell Captain Battick I said hi, Caline”

“Thanks for the dictionaries and telling us what the words mean. I had a great time. I hope I can come again. Where was the first Grange built? I hope I can come again, Gage.”

“Thank you for letting us come to your Grange. I loved the part when we did a dictionary race. I also loved the part when we got to the meet the Navy Captain. Can we come back again soon? The dictionarys are very helpful to us. Thank you! Kassyde”

“I liked the field trip a lot. And Captain Battick was cool so much a lot. And thanks for the dictionaries. I read it a lot. Jesse”

We should perhaps explain that Captain (Jack) Battick is a featured guest when the kids come to Valley Grange. He explains the role of Navy in the Civil War as part of the history of the Grange, formed shortly after the war was over.

So far this year we’ve visited Milo and Brownville Elementary School and we’ve been visited by Piscataquis Community Elementary School and SeDoMoCha Elementary. Our next trip is taking us to Ridgeview Elementary School in Dexter on November 13, and we wrap up 2014 Dictionary Days with a visit to Harmony Elementary. We will have given out over 200 dictionaries this year when we have finished. Parents of home schooled third graders are urged to contact their local school to arrange for a dictionary–our goal is to reach as many kids as we can!

PCES-PatSM

Mrs. Patten’s PCES Third Graders show off their dictionaries.

Leave a comment
by Walter Boomsma on November 6, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Community Service, Words for Thirds
Tagged , , , , , ,

Posted by Walter Boomsma on November 6, 2014

https://valleygrange.wordpress.com/2014/11/06/kids-say-thanks/