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Tokeneke Wire
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December
22, 2011
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Friday,
December 23
Early Dismissal for Winter Break
Monday, December 26 - Monday, January 2
Weekly
Reminders
Mondays
Fifth grade Advanced Band rehearsals
at 7:30am in the Music Room.
Instrument lessons for all 4th &
5th Grade Band students on Mondays during the school day. Please remember
to bring your Band instrument to school.
Thursdays
Chorus
rehearsal for 4th and 5th graders - 7:30 AM sharp!
4th
and 5th grade Orchestra meets after school - 3:00-3:40 PM
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From
the Principal
Dear Parents,
Happy Holidays!!!
The Tokeneke faculty and staff want to wish you all our best
holiday wishes. We hope that you are able to enjoy this peaceful
time with family and friends and welcome the new year with the smiles and
joyfulness of our children. Personally, I want to thank you all for
your support and welcome over the past few months. Have a GREAT
holiday season and I'll see you all in 2012!!!
School resumes on Tuesday, January 3, 2012.
Sincerely,
Mary
Michelson
Mmichelson@darienps.org
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Tip of the Week
Besides your parents, what one adult do you look up to and why?
For more information, go to www.communityfunddarien.org.
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Tokeneke
News
After-school
Winter Session
Flyers for the winter
session of Tokeneke's After-School classes went home in backpacks last
week! Please look them over and sign your children up for some of
our wonderful classes including tennis, pottery, Legos, yoga, Mad Science
and the ever-popular Sports Spectacular run by Mr. Woodring! Also,
please note that Chess has been expanded to two classes to accommodate
the high enrollment. Class descriptions and more information can be
found at www.wingspanarts.org
(click on After-School Programs, then Connecticut Schools). If you
have any questions or have not received your flyer, please contact Tracy
Schiff (tbschiff@yahoo.com),
Cara Martin (carameade@optonline.net)
or Yvonne Dempsey (evosh67@yahoo.com).
Enrichment
Program
Enrichment will be running a program called "Currently
Attractive" for the 4th Grade students on January 4th, 2012.
The students will learn the power of magnets and use them to make
electricity. They will use the electricity to make light, heat and
sound and to build electric circuits. This program is run by High Touch
High Tech. Please contact Caroline Hanley at cnhealy@yahoo.com with any
questions.
Thank You --
Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF
This year Tokeneke proudly donated $1754.52 to Trick or Treat for Unicef.
Big "THANKS" to our hard-working children who collected Unicef
funds on our snowy Halloween!
Previously
Published Tokeneke News
From
the PTO Co-Chairs
On Tuesday, December 13th, the Board of Education approved
the school administration to add Foreign Language to the proposed
2012-2013 Budget. This budget will be presented to the Board of Education
on January 10th. We will keep you posted on more of these developments in
the new year.
Maggie Cellar + Katie Stein
IDEA
Winter 2011-2012 Screening Process
Throughout the next few
weeks, IDEA will be accepting recommendations for their winter screening
process. The winter process is open to all students in grades
1-5 who have not been recommended this past fall. Recommendations
will be accepted between December 15th-January 9th, 2012
If you believe your child
may be a candidate for IDEA, please let you classroom teacher or building
administrator know. To further assist you in your deliberations,
you are encouraged to visit the IDEA Program website at www.darienps.org/ideaprogram
for more information about the program and the identification
process.
Parents, who are
interested in recommending their child for the gifted program, should
follow the steps below:
- Write a
brief nomination letter to your child's teacher
- Download,
complete, and attach the "Parent Questionnaire" form found
on the IDEA website
- Submit
these documents to Miss Schultz's Main Office mailbox no later than
January 7th, 2012.
- Once all
nominations are received, the screening process will begin.
Gifted students,
in the Darien Public Schools, are those students in grades 1 through 9
who demonstrate or show potential for exceptional intellectual or
specific academic capability. They comprise 5 to 8% of the general
student population and their needs cannot be met fully in the mainstream
education environment.
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From the School
Nurse
Avoiding
Head Lice
The district
administration in Darien would like to make sure that all members of the
school community have clear and correct information about head
lice. Armed with this information, there is a better chance that we
all can remain lice free. A list of Frequently Asked Questions and
answers has been prepared so that we all can become better informed and
do our part to control head lice.
FAQS
ABOUT HEAD LICE
What are head lice?
They are small, tan
insects (less than 1/8" long) that live on blood they draw from the
scalp. They deposit tiny, gray/white eggs, called nits, on the hair
shaft close to the scalp.
Who gets head lice and
how?
Anyone can get head lice
even with good hygiene practices. Head lice are passed from person
to person by direct head-to-head contact or by sharing hats, brushes, or
other personal items. They do not jump or fly.
How can I help prevent
head lice in my family?
Remind your children to
avoid head-to-head contact with their friends and not to share items such
as hats or brushes. Check your children once a week for signs of
nits or lice.
How will I know if
someone in my family has nits or lice?
Itching of the scalp can
be a symptom of head lice. Nits and lice can be seen most easily
behind the ears and at the nape of the neck near the hair line.
What do I do if someone
in my family has nits or lice?
The American Academy of
Pediatrics recommends that you use a medication that kills lice and
nits. They warn that the chemicals are toxic and must only be used
according to the approved instructions. Check with your health care
provider especially if your child has allergies, asthma or other
pre-existing medical conditions. Lice and nits can be removed by
combing with a special fine-tooth comb. Report any infestation to
your child's school and other sports or social groups so other children
can be checked to prevent re-infestation.
What about the other
members of my family?
Only treat the child who
has the lice or nits. The hair of other family members should be
checked daily for signs of infestation.
How do you treat a home
or school for lice?
Lice cannot live away
from human contact for more than 48 hours. Infested articles of
clothing or bedding can be laundered in hot water and dried on the hot
setting. Vacuuming items that cannot be washed is a safe
alternative as well as keeping items away from personal contact (e.g. in
a plastic bag) for two weeks. Chemical treatment of the environment
is not necessary. Pets do not get lice or nits.
Are children excluded
from school because of head lice or nits?
Children who have been
treated for the condition are free to return to school.
Where can I go for more
information about head lice?
Good sites for more
information are - http://fairfieldct.org/Health/documents/HeadLice.pdf
or the National Pediculosis Association - www.headlice.org.
The information in this
document was also collected from: American Pediatric Association - www.healthychildren.org; Center
for Disease Control - www.cdc.gov/lice.
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Community News
Darien
Baseball/Softball Spring Registration
Last chance for regular
registration!! Registration fees increase with a late fee after December
31st.
To register, please go to www.dybs.org and select
Register Online on the left hand side of the page, then select the
appropriate registration program for your child.
Eligible Darien Little League
Baseball players are those boys who are a minimum of 5 years-old (and in
Kindergarten) and not older than 12 years-old, each as of April 30,
2012. Eligible Darien Little League Softball players are those
girls who are a minimum of 5 years-old (and in Kindergarten) and not
older than 14 years-old, each as of December 31, 2011.
For 2nd through 9th Graders, regular
registration will remain open until December 31, 2011, after which late
fees will apply. For Kindergartners and 1st Graders, regular
registration will remain open until January 31, 2012, after which late
fees will apply.
For
questions regarding Little League Baseball registration, please contact
David Williams at dwbbc@optonline.net
or Andrew Bogdan at abogdan@optonline.net.
For Softball registration questions, please contact Alison Feeley at feeley@optonline.net.
DAEG Math Enrichment
Program
DAEG (Darien Advocates for the Education of the Gifted) is offering a
second semester of the math enrichment program "Blast off MAth"
for 5th graders starting the week of January 23rd at Tokeneke. This
program is designed for students who are interested in working in a small
team to solve challenging math problems. We welcome new and
existing students! This 10-week session will begin with a quick review of
key concepts covered in the first half before moving on to the new math concepts.
This course will be taught by Tisha Saffa on Wednesdays from 3:00 to 4:00
pm. Registration will be available online after Holiday
break. If you have any questions, please email Patty Uhlman at p-uhlman@yahoo.com for
more information.
Previously
Published Community News
Closing Dec 23 - Regular Registration for 2012
Darien Youth Lacrosse
Regular registration for 2012 Darien
Youth Lacrosse is closing on December 23, 2011.
From December 24, 2011 through January 15, 2012, a late fee of $35 per
player will apply. Parents can register their children via the Register
Online tab on the DYLA website, http://www.dylax.com. The program is open to boys and
girls in Grades 1 - 8, and descriptions of each program can be found on
the website. Mail-in and drop-off registrations and non-credit card
payments will not be accepted except with prior permission from the
Registrar. Need-based scholarships are available, for which more
information can be found on the website or by contacting
Andrew Barnard, abarnard66@gmail.com.
New Year
Programs at Darien Town Hall - Darien Recreation Department
Fit Fridays - Boys & Girls - Ages 5-9
Jan 6-Mar 16, 4-5pm; $100/10 wk session
Rebounding, Zumba, Hula Hoop Dance, Yoga/Yoga Circus and Boogie Box Kids
with Jump Rope Sports (single & Chinese) are all added to the mix in
this fun high energy, and never boring fitness program for kids that
includes age appropriate nutrition and healthy lifestyle education. Our
exercise topic will change every two weeks so the kids can experience
many different way to exercise & stay fit.
Fit Fridays - Girls - Ages 10-14
Jan 6 - Mar 16; $100/10wk session
Rebounding, Zumba, Hula Hoop Dance, Yoga/Yoga Circus and Boogie Box Kids
with Jump Rope Sports (single & Chinese) are all added to the mix in
this fun high energy, and never boring fitness program for kids that
includes age appropriate nutrition and healthy lifestyle education. Our
exercise topic will change every two weeks so the kids can experience
many different way to exercise & stay fit.
To register or for more information, please visit: www.darienct.gov/parkrec
or call Parks & Recreation at 203-656-7325.
Darien Library Children's Programs
StoryTubes
is a video-creation competition in which kids create two-minute films
about a book they love. Videos can take different forms:
animated clip, dramatic performance, or just a simple booktalk (where
kids tell the audience a little about the book and why it's so
great). The Children's Library will make a camera and a room
available for groups to film with in December and January. Entries
are accepted between January 20 and February 20, and the contest is open
to kids ages 5 to 18. For more information, please visit darienlibrary.org/youth.
Tuesday,
January 10 at 6 p.m.
The
Children's Library invites kids in Grades 4 to 6 to a night celebrating a
year of Nutmeg nominees! Join us for trivia, puzzles, and
challenges, and the chance to win prizes as a group and an
individual. Registration begins on Monday, December 19 at darienlibrary.org/youth.
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Token
Winners
Congratulations
to our Token Winners!
Cameron Barlow
Anthony Pirone
Riley Cavanna
Dylan Demark
Ryan Adelman
Mikey Mercein
Emma Denson
Maddy Hult
William Harper
Devon Schiff
Iman Onbargi
George Thompson
Fiona Gosk
Sriram Pankanti
Millie Koorbusch
Morgan Jassey
Ellie Best
Katie Keating Alex Vogt
Aniket Verma
Gwen Thompson
Ian McCarthy
Christopher Conrad
Chase Cleary
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Submission
Guidelines
The Tokeneke
"Wire" is emailed every Thursday during the school year. The deadline for submission is
Monday at noon. Please send your submission in the text
of your e-mail, single spaced and left adjusted (no formatting), with
"Tokeneke Wire Submission" in the subject line to tokeneke.wire@gmail.com.
Please include a
contact name and e-mail address in the text of your submission for
questions we may have. We
do not accept download files, attachments, formatted text or flyers of
any kind. Submission does not guarantee publication. Text
may be edited. Submissions must be age appropriate and Darien school
and/or community relevant. Previous editions of the Tokeneke Wire
can be found at http://www.darienps.org/tokenekepto/tokenekewire.htm
Tokeneke Wire
Editors: Cathy Barrett, Pam Ha-Stevenson, Theresa
Minson
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