Mary Hogan Family Newsletter

Dear Mary Hogan Families,

We had such a great week at school - and beyond - this week. The best day of the school year for me came today at our Fall Fun Day. It was a chance for us to get together, to celebrate our awesome community, to care for each other and the land, and to get our bodies moving. We had SO MUCH FUN! And, I bet your child will be tired - and full of apples!

None of these amazing opportunities would be possible without the support of our community. Thank you to:

• Mary Hogan staff and teachers
• Our many volunteers
• Middlebury Fire Department
• Sunrise Orchard
• Champlain Orchards
• Middlebury College Cross Country Team
• Middlebury Police Department
• Middlebury Safe Routes

Enjoy the photos and stories below about today and Fire Safety Day, our other highlight of the week.

Best,

Jen

Saturday 10/18 9-11am - Fall Garden Clean Up Day!

Friday 10/24 - No School - Parent Teacher Conference Day

• Your child's teacher will be in contact with you soon about how to schedule a conference. It may be this day or within our conference window of 10/6-11/7.

Apples are the harvest of the month in October and your child is coming home with some today from the orchard they went to (K, 1, 3, 4- Sunrise Orchard and 2, 5 - Champlain Orchards). These apples will be tasty but in case you want to try a new recipe with apples in them, here are some from VT-Feed, who supports Harvests of the Month:

• Stovetop Cinnamon Apples

• Baked Apple Slices

• Apple Pie with Cheddar Cheese

• Mashed Butternut Squash with Apples

• Apple Crisp

The October challenge is for students to explore a "how to" book. They can learn words in another language or how to draw, make a new craft or a recipe, conduct a science experiment or a magic trick, and learn how to play a game, etc. Students can read and follow a recipe about apples and make something this weekend with the apples they brought home!! The other option is to read about an invention that someone else created.

We are asking students to show us their final project in the library or have an adult sign off witnessing that they used a book to create something!

We were so fortunate to have the Middlebury Fire Department come for the day to help all of our students learn about fire safety during Fire Safety Month! And, it was so cool to see how many parents of Mary Hogan students are volunteer firefighters!

Students got to learn about the fire equipment, how to keep themselves safe at home with smoke detectors, and all of the many ladders and equipment on the Fire Truck. Did you know that not all members of the Fire Department can drive the big fire truck? Only a few members are able to. How do you think this impacts the department? The visit really had us all thinking!

We had so much fun at Fall Fun Day. The day started normally, in classes, but it quickly brought us together with the 5th grade led All School Meeting. Then, we had a Fun Run. And then, students went to local apple orchards to pick and learn about the orchards. It was an AWESOME day. Below you will see photos and a bit more about each part of this new tradition!

The fifth graders led us in our All School Meeting and focused on our Learner Profile attribute of the month: CARING.

They really had us thinking about how we can be caring for ourselves, caring for others, and caring for our space (both our school, our land, and the orchards we were going to visit. They started with some mindfulness and teaching us how to say hello in Abenaki. They shared a land acknowledgement that they wrote. And, they shared about our Community Reads October Book - One Green Apple. They tallied how many of us love, like, and don't know how we feel about peppers. They inspired us with quotes, and shared walk and roll results for October. Wow! It was a full meeting and we also got to sing three times!

You can check out their slideshow HERE. It is especially fun to check it out with your kids and sing together.

Franny's class won the Muddy Boot Award today. They had the highest percentage of the class who walked, rolled, carpooled, or bussed to school on 10/1, our October Walk and Roll Day! Way to walk and roll, Kindergarteners.

We will have another Muddy Boot Award coming in the spring, so another class had a chance to up their game and take the trophy!

We had our first All School Fun Run in a couple years today and it was envigorating to get outside and move our bodies in the morning after All School Meeting. Mrs. Palmer and Ms. Bull set up a great course for K-2 around the fields and 3-5 that went off campus along Buttolph Drive and then back to Mary Hogan.

As a special treat for the run, we had members of the Middlebury College Cross Country team join us for the run. They led the warm ups for students, getting them ready to run, and they ran alongside the students, encouraging them to do their best. They were role models for how to keep going and keep trying even when it feels hard.

We took all of our students today to an apple orchard, where they could pick apples, explore the orchard, and more all with their little/big buddy!

Students learned about how to pick an apple in All School Meeting, so they could take care of the trees. And they LOVED finding the apples that made them happiest. One student even found an apple with a heart on it! Ask your child what they want to do with the apples they brought home. Some were plannning to much on them plain and others had hopes of apple pies. Many thanks to our whole community for supporting this trip to Sunrise Orchard and Champlain Orchards.

We encourage all students (regardless of grade) to have a change of clothes at school. You never know when you will need them. And...

We try to keep some clothing items on had in case of an emergency and we could use your help in collecting items that are frequently needed. We are looking for new socks and underwear for all genders (sizes 4/5T and young child sizes). We are also looking for pants of all sizes 4/5T through 14/16) to have on hand in case children have accidents at school and don't have a change of clothes.

All clothes can be brought to the main office. Thank you in advance!

We are so grateful to our family and community volunteers! If you plan to volunteer for an event or activity this year, now is a great time to apply or make sure your paperwork is up-to-date!

• Learn more about the volunteer process here.
• Check in with your front office if you've volunteered in the past to make your paperwork is up to date.
• Fill out this form if you've never volunteered before and plan to this year.

Want to know more about the Volunteer Process? Check out more information HERE.