Glebe Street Students to Vote for State Butterfly
Students at Glebe Street School will take part in a vote in computer class as part of a contest to officially adopt a New York State butterfly.

Students will review information on five butterfly nominees, as provided by the office of Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther (D-Forestburgh), after which they will cast their votes.  Results will be submitted to Gunther's office and tallied with other schools from across the state, with a winner to be announced by the end of November. Legislation will then be drafted and the New York State Legislature will officially adopt a state butterfly.

Gunther said, "This is an exciting opportunity for our youngsters to become involved with the legislative process in New York, while having fun at the same time."

Third Graders Paint Like Picasso
Third grade students at Glebe Street were fortunate to receive an interesting and very exciting art lesson about Pablo Picasso from Matt Roth, local artist and owner of the Roth School of Art in Johnstown.

Mr. Roth, whose daughter Julia is a third grade student at Glebe, spoke to the children about Picasso’s various styles of painting, with an emphasis on cubism, the style Picasso is perhaps best known for. Mr. Roth explained that, in his efforts to find truth and meaning in objects around him, Picasso felt that it was necessary to view objects through multiple perspectives.

Students were given an opportunity to better understand this concept first hand, through a drawing lesson fashioned in Picasso’s cubist style. Mr. Roth assembled a still life collection of featuring several objects and students were then given about three minutes to draw what they saw directly in front of them. The table on which the still life was displayed was then rotated, giving students another view of the objects. After a second rotation and third perspective, students began to add color to their abstract creations. The students were amazed to see their own artwork transform and imitate Picasso’s cubism.

Look for these works of art to be on display at the Glebe Street School Art Show on May 21.

Missoula Children’s Theatre Assists with Rumpelstiltskin Production
Through the generosity of our PTA, and the hard work chairperson Lisa McCoy, together with several parents and grandparents, the Missoula Children’s Theatre came to Glebe Street Elementary School for a week long residency. During this time, the theatre company’s actors and director, with permission from parents, led approximately 60 students in rehearsal techniques, strategies and acting skills (sometimes for four or more hours each day), Monday through Friday. The long days and hard work culminated in two excellent performances by the children, who presented the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “Rumpelstiltskin,” replete with props, sets, lighting, costumes, make-up and choreography.

The Missoula Children’s Theatre is a non-profit organization based in Missoula, Montana. The company works with children across the globe to create quality performances, helping children to gain stage experience, self-esteem, a sense of community and teamwork, as well as improvement of reading and communication skills. Enjoy these pictures from rehearsals and the performance.

The Incredible Egg
Kindergarteners in Mrs. Quinn’s and Mrs. Vosburgh’s classes, first graders in Mrs. Livingstone’s and Mrs. Wilson’s classes, third graders in Mrs. Wager’s and Mrs. Woods’ classes and fourth graders in Ms. Greco’s and Mrs. Coleman’s classes are all studying chicken embryology through the Cornell Cooperative Extension Embryology Program.

As a first science experiment, they labeled and discussed each part of an unfertile, raw egg. They were also introduced to “My Pyramid,” learning how an egg fits into the food groups and gaining an understanding of the nutritional value of an egg, while taking note of how many foods list eggs as an important ingredient.

In further experiments, the students will come to understand the structures and functions of living organisms and an organism’s interactions with the environment. The students have been able to get a “sneak preview” by candling un-hatched eggs to see what is inside. Candling fertile eggs before they are set identifies cracked eggs; also, while fertile eggs are incubating, candling helps to detect which ones are developing into embryos and allows the observer to watch the embryo grow without damaging the egg. While growth and development changes often take place over a period of months or years, chicken embryos are much different, with huge changes happening in just days and weeks (21 days to be exact).

When all is said and done, there should be a classroom of healthy chicks! The children will then learn the social hierarchy of chickens, known by the metaphor “pecking order,” and see how a chick survives in an environment different from its own original habit (adaptation). Throughout all of these processes, the students will use the scientific method to observe, draw conclusions and record results, each grade at their own cognitive level.

Arbor Day Poster Contest Winner
Arbor Day will be on April 25 this year and, at Glebe, it will be celebrated in a very big way, with ceremonies, plantings and activities. One of these activities, participation in the National Arbor Day Poster Contest, began earlier in the year. Many students from our school  created beautiful posters for consideration in the contest, with fifth grader Tyler Lawyer’s poster being selected as our winner. Tyler's poster is now going on to be judged in the national contest; it will also be displayed throughout our school and will appear on the invitations to our Arbor Day ceremony this year. Good luck in the national contest Tyler and, thank you for giving us such a beautiful poster!

Wouldn't you like to be an Adirondack Kid too?
Glebe students learned what it really is to be an Adirondack Kid on September 28. That's when the VanRipers, the family of authors who write the popular "Adirondack Kids" series, came to speak with the third, fourth, fifth and sixth graders about their books, local history and writing fiction based on events right in their own back yard. 

Sixth grader, Andy Camara was very excited about the visit from the VanRipers.  Andy’s enthusiasm was part of the impetus for the PTA bringing the authors to the school.  “I’ve read every book in the series,” said Andy.

After introducing, first hand, the stories and characters that have captivated so many imaginations, the VanRipers held a question and answer session for the students.  “Since their visit, we haven’t been able to keep the books on our shelves,” commented Mrs. Ellithorp, Glebe school librarian.

Chillin’ at Recess with Cool Activities
Whenever possible, the students at Glebe Street Elementary go outside for recess. Activities include snow-football, downhill sledding, making snow-sculptures and, sometimes, even forts. One thing is for sure, when outside recess ends, there are nearly three hundred ruddy-faced, happy and satisfied children coming back inside, ready to learn for the rest of the afternoon! Please be sure that your child is prepared each day for outside play. To help students and parents remember what they will need to be ready for fun in the snow, we have adopted the following mnemonic device this winter: Before (boots) Going (gloves/mittens), Have (hats) Special (snow pants) Clothing (coat)!

Faculty Provides Inspiration through Creativity
As part of their professional development, the Glebe faculty, working with art teacher Ms. Bintz, constructed “pennants of pride,” intended to provide a small glimpse at things that are important and inspirational to them. These pennants, the creation of which can be seen here, were installed in the school’s hallways during the month of April, in a sort of reverse sharing role with the students.

Glebe Recycles Program
Glebe is going green! An arrangement has been made through the recycling department of the Fulton County Department of Solid Waste for every piece of dry, flat paper that would usually be discarded to instead be recycled. Glebe staff and students will save the paper (colored, printed, etc.) in specially labeled recycling boxes provided by Fulton County Solid Waste. On a weekly basis, students will take a special wheeled container around to each classroom to collect the boxes and empty the contents into a dumpster from Fiber Conversion, Inc. The dumpster will then be hauled away and the paper will be used for blown insulation in homes and buildings. Recycling at Glebe helps to reinforce for our students what it means to be good stewards of the earth. In the future, we anticipate extending our recycling efforts to plastics, cans and bottles. Special thanks to Diane Woske of the Fulton County Department of Solid Waste, and parent coordinator Virginia D’Amore, for helping us to become more green at Glebe!

Glebe Sixth Graders Say Goodbye
Glebe Street Elementary School celebrated their beloved sixth grade graduates on June 25, 2008 with a ceremony, highlighting their achievements over the past academic year. Cheers & Congratulations to our sixth grade graduates. We will miss you! Best of luck to all of you! Remember – PANTHERS ROCK!