"Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well."  Voltaire

Renee believes that due to everyone's dedication and support of Terraset, she will leave her term at the end of this school year with a "financially secure and sound PTA that is organized and ready to deal with the upcoming financial difficulties that Terraset may experience" due to forecast budget cuts.

 

Best wishes to the PTA board for 2009-2010 from all of us!

 

Meet Tim Ogden, one of Terraset's special education teachers. You may have noticed him, roving the halls at Terraset, sometimes with a few students, sometimes without. You maybe have wondered just who he is and what he does. Tim's job is an important one, he is part of a team of teachers who help those children who may need a little extra assistance in school.

 

Tim primarily works with the 6th graders, though he does occasionally work with the younger grades. The children he works with, each of whom have an individualized education plan, generally have a specific learning issue or emotional struggle. They may struggle with a subject, like math, or have trouble socializing well with other children. Tim works with these children one-on-one or in small groups to help them meet their goals. 
           
Although Tim, with a degree in psychology, has worked in the special education field for twenty years, he is a relative newcomer to Terraset. He began as a long-term substitute and ended up staying on as a full time teacher. Previously, he was a counselor to adolescents in Leesburg. Of working in the special education field he says: "There is not much more exciting than seeing a child learn a new concept or develop mastery over a difficult concept. To know that you can provide them an opportunity to develop is what I enjoy in both special education and the school environment."
           
One can tell that Tim, with his open smile and friendly attitude, loves his job. And the children like him, as can be clearly seen by the readiness in which they talk with him. However, he will admit there are challenges. One of his biggest challenges is finding time to meet with all the children who need help, and for this he commends the Instructional Assistants. He asserts that they are an important part of the team and they help provide support when he is not available.
 
Tim Ogden, along with the rest of the team of special education teachers, help bridge those gaps in learning and foster in children a sense of accomplishment and mastery over important skills.

 

Rachael Boatwright decided to homeschool her children for a while, looking for the right educational solution for them. "I really believe in educational choice, whether it be public schools, charter schools, private schooling, homeschooling or any of the educational philosophies contained within from Waldorf to Montessori to radical unschooling" she said late one afternoon. "No [one] choice is better than the other, it is only different." However, at the beginning of this school year, she decided to try the public system again. 
 
Mother of 2nd grade student Trevor, kindergartner Rachael and pre-school-ager Ariel - Devon returned to the public school system too! As a volunteer! And what a volunteer she is. Devon has been helping with GRACE Art in Trevor's class, re-shelving in the library, the occasional field trip or classroom party in Rachael's class, and most recently, you will have seen her name in the by-line of some TouchPoint articles as she is now helping with the newsletter too!
 
"I volunteer to keep my face in the school" she said. Devon hopes that by getting to know her, the teachers and staff will get to know her children. "I think that can benefit the kids." She also thinks it's a lot of fun to help in the school, and she wants her children to see that one can give time, without monetary gain, and enjoy it. In addition, she sees volunteering as a way of instilling in her children an important value - helping others. "It's so important to raise our children to be unselfish and helpful to others who need it. I hope I am setting a good example to them."
 
"By volunteering I have learned that the teachers and staff are really super friendly, wonderful people! I've learned that the school really DOES need my help. I really do enjoy spending my time there and wish I had more time to give so I could help out in a greater capacity. Volunteering, especially within the classroom, has also dispelled some of the negative views of public school I held for so long."
 
Devon enjoyed homeschooling her children immensely. "Homeschooling is something I might go back to ... [but] school gives the kids built in friends who they can see every day." She also values that the children get so many opportunities such as language, art classes, and music. She appreciates that they get to meet other adult role models and learn to deal with people who aren't at all like their immediate family.
 
Outside the school, she recently started volunteering for Golden Retriever Emergency Assistance Team (GREAT) Rescue as a Transport Coordinator. "I basically find volunteers to transport the dogs from point A to point B... [and I] hope to get more involved with Rescue for both dogs and cats."
 
Devon's favorite activity is "reading for my own pleasure and reading aloud to my children. We devour chapter books together - we're currently reading Tiger Rising by Kate Di Camillo. I also read a lot for my own pleasure and will read anything I can get my hands on. My kids know if they see me with my nose in a book, that I am very unlikely to move to another activity until I am finished my chapter." Clearly, Devon is a great role model in more ways than one!

This is an opportunity for parents of rising kindergartners to meet the Principal, Mrs. Ellen Cury, and to learn more about how kindergarten classrooms are managed within the context and philosopies of education followed at Terraset ES.

 

A kindergarten registration meeting, to which rising kindergartners are invited, will be held at 1:30pm on Monday, May 11.

 

Our GRACE Art portfolio for April is Edward Hopper, born in New York in 1882, he died 1967.

 

Hopper was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker. His style, called Representational Art, depicts a realistic image of the artist's subject. While most popularly known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching. In both his urban and rural scenes, his spare and finely calculated renderings reflected his personal vision of modern American life. (Source: Sherry Maker, Edward Hopper, Brompton Books, New York, 1990, p. 6.)

Even if you have never seen Edward Hopper's paintings before, many of them might look familiar to you. That's because he painted pictures of real, everyday things. Hopper derived his subject matter from two primary sources: one, the common features of American life (gas stations, motels, restaurants, theaters, railroads, and street scenes) and its inhabitants; and two, seascapes and rural landscapes. Regarding his style, Hopper defined himself as "an amalgam of many races" and not a member of any school, particularly the "Ash Can" school.  (Source: Sheena Wagstaff, Ed., Edward Hopper, Tate Publishing, London, 2004, p. 13.)

 

Edward Hopper was an introspective person, who enjoyed and looked for quiet and solace. Many of his most personal paintings depict solitary figures, usually lost in thought, sometimes at work, at other times reading, or just waiting. He also liked to depict nautical subjects, architecture and cities.

During GRACEArt classes this month, docents will discuss the artwork properties of subject, content and composition and lead students in a discussion of techniques that can be used to give the feeling of depth to paintings and drawings. Students will then complete a project using the one-point-perspective drawing technique to demonstrate how to create a focal point in their artwork.