April 7, 2017

RBS Principal’s Notes

April 7, 2017

Thank you for supporting our Family Fun Night last Friday night.  Despite the weather, it was a great success! 

Thank you, too, for supporting our Book Fair this week!  I hope you were able to stop by and see how our rooms were transformed into a fun and engaging campsite!  Our volunteers do an INCREDIBLE job, and I feel so fortunate to have them!  A HUGE thank you to Lauren Wilensky, Anne Lewis and Heather Noonan!

IN THE NEWS:

Fourth Grade Play

I hope many of you were able to attend our annual Fourth Grade Play last night.  This year’s play was Once Upon A Dream.  As always, the students were SPECTACULAR!  I am always proud to see the number of RBS students who continue on this path through their years in Bedford.  Many of our students go on to have roles in the McKelvie, Lurgio and BHS productions.  A big thank you goes out to our teachers, Mrs. Munz, Mrs. Duhaime, Miss Ferns and Mrs. Read for pulling off such a wonderful event!

Regional Invention Convention

Congratulations to the following RBS winners in the Regional Invention Convention this past weekend:

Grade 3:

Andie Nugent – Technology Award and K-12 Inventor’s Challenge

Advika Govindaraju – Best Rube Goldberg

Colin Fitzgerald – Special Needs Invention Award

Grade 4:

Emmerson Danish – Inventor’s Choice Award

Julia St. Hilaire – Original and Unique Invention

Andy Dell’Orfano & Jack Noonan – Best Overall Rube Goldberg and Best Rube Goldberg for 3^rd-5^th grade.

RBS Spirit Week (April 17-21)

Monday, 4/17:  Favorite Color Day

Tuesday, 4/18:  Sports Day (*BHS Varsity Lacrosse Boys & Girls teams will be reading to classes)

Wednesday, 4/19:  Wacky Wednesday

Thursday, 4/20:  Holiday Day (Dress for your favorite holiday)

Friday, 4/21:  RBS Spirit Day 

Mother/Son Dance (Luau Theme)

Moms – mark your calendar!  Our annual Mother/Son Dance is scheduled for Friday, May 5^th.  More information coming soon!

Book Drive

A former RBS student (Sydney Leyden) is conducting a book drive for families in need.  Please take a look at THIS FLYER for more information.

Lizzy and Katy Obukhov Memorial Amphitheater Fundraiser

Manchester Community Theatre Players will present the New Hampshire premiere of Yours, Anne a musical work, based on “Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank.  March 31^st to April 9^th.  Yours, Anne is the first official fundraiser for the Bedford Children’s Foundation, which is raising money to design and build the Lizzy and Katy Obukhov Memorial Amphitheater in Bedford, NH.  Not only is this fundraiser in honor of former RBS student, Katy Obukhov, it also stars another former RBS student, Ella Weintraub.

Flyer

Art Supplies Donation (BHS Senior Project)

As part of her Senior Project, Julie Vyhanek, a student at Bedford High School, is accepting new/lightly used art supplies to be used at the Elliot Hospital for Art Therapy.  A donation box is located in our main floor hallway if you would like to contribute.  Please click here for more information about her project.

PTG News/Information

• ColorBlast 5k Run/Walk – Sunday, June 4th @ 10:00 AM

The PTG is excited to announce that registration for our first annual ColorBlast 5K Run/Walk is open!  Register today and mark your calendar for a super-fun, family event!  Not a runner?  That’s OK.  You can walk, skip, hop, twirl, dance or stroll your way through six color stations along the 5K route that starts at Lurgio Middle school on the BHS/RAL campus.  Be sure to wear white for maximum color affect (you will be blasted with food safe colorful powder).  All funds raised from this event will go back into our schools!

We are looking for volunteers and sponsors for this great event. If you or your business are interested in sponsoring the event or volunteering, please contact us at bedfordcolorblast@gmail.com, or for more information please visit www.bedfordptg.org.  This event is presented by Derry Medical Center.

• YANKEE CANDLE: Due to parent interest, we have reopened our Yankee Candle sale for online ordering only.  Get your Easter and Mother’s Day online exclusive gifts shipped direct.  Shipping is free on orders $100 or more and 40% of sales go back to the PTG.  Online ordering is available through June 1^st. Group Code #999965479

• HELP WANTED:  The PTG is looking for someone to coordinate our ORK (Opportunities Reaching Kids) program for the elementary schools.  This coordinator will be responsible for all ORK programming- such as Eyes On Owls, Tanglewood Marionettes & Bat Presentations, across the three elementary schools (Memorial, Peter Woodbury, and Riddle Brook).  This person must have good communication and organizational skills (flexible hours & work from home).  For more information please contact Sue Jennato at bedfordnhptg@gmail.com

Bedford DI Fundraiser

Beford DI had great success at the DI State Tournament last weekend at BHS.  5 of our teams won the opportunity of competing at the Global Finals in 

TN is May.  While the experience of going to the Global tournament will be priceless, it will cost the teams who choose to accept the invitation a considerable amount to make the trip.  Bedford DI is busy organizing fundraisers, and this Monday they kick it off their annual Ecosmith, shoes, bags, and belt fundraiser.  In order to get credit for the special fundraiser, all items must be placed in the blue bags inside the boxes in the lobby of your school.  Ecosmith takes shoes in all conditions, even that one shoe/sneaker who has lost its mate!  All clothing and fabric in regular bags can go directly into the Ecosmith bin in the parking lots. 

DI Fundraiser Flyer

Executive Functioning and Mindfulness Messages

Executive Functioning

Great Bosses Prioritize and make a Plan.  Prioritizing means figuring out what is most important.  Once you figure out what is most important, or what should happen first, making a Plan is easier.  The best Prioritizing and Planning tool you often have is directions.  Directions that you read or hear will tell you what is important and how to get a job done.  Always listen to or read the directions, so you can get your job done and be a great Boss of yourself!

Mindfulness

This is our last message.  Remember, Mindfulness helps, so just breathe!

When we are focused and paying attention to our thoughts, feelings and choices, we have a much greater chance to change those thoughts and feelings that are not helping us in life and in school.  When we understand this, we see and feel the difference!

REMINDERS:

2017/18 School Calendar

The school calendar for next year can be found HERE.  The last day of school for the 2017/18 is Wednesday, June 13^th.

Bedford Food Pantry – Items Needed for Children

Food Insecurity is a growing concern across the nation and right here in our own backyard.  Nearly 350 adults and children in Bedford qualify for food stamps and more than 167 families in Bedford meet the income standards for the government’s free school lunch program. 

If you are able to donate these items (these are ongoing donations), please bring them by the Bedford Food Pantry at the Bedford Presbyterian Church, 4 Church Road, Bedford, NH.

Parents/guardians, please contact the school guidance counselor or school nurse if you would like your child to participate in this program. 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 3-14 – Parent/Teacher Conferences

April 6 – RBS 4^th Grade Play (RBS Gym)

April 7 – Official Report Cards available on Power School

April 10-18 – Passover

April 14 – Good Friday

April 16 – Easter

April 24-28 – Spring Vacation

March 31, 2017

RBS Principal’s Notes

March 31, 2017

Family Fun Night is tonight!  I hope to see everyone there.  We have some great baskets and silent auction items as well as music, Italian ice, popcorn, raffles, face painting and more!

IN THE NEWS:

Book Fair

• Our Happy Camper Book Fair is set-up for next week’s big event!  As you can imagine, it looks great…as usual!  A big thank you to our RBS Book Fair Committee for all of their planning, organization and creativity! 

RBS Book Fair hours:  Monday – Thursday (April 3-6) 8AM-7PM in rooms 216/218 (upstairs).

• We are still looking for volunteers.  If you can help, it would be GREATLY appreciated.  Please sign up using Sign Up Genius.

• HERE is the link to the Book Fair Book Talks that we filmed.  We created QR codes to attach to the books at the book fair.  Students and parents can scan the QR code on the book and watch a video preview of the book.

Last Day of School

The tentative last day of school is Monday, June 19^th.

Destination Imagination State Tournament 

Bedford DI welcomes New Hampshire Destination Imagination (NH-DI) State Tournament to Bedford High School on Saturday, April 1^st, 8AM – 6PM.  There is a snow date for Sunday, April 2^nd, but please check website for up to date information and a schedule of events. www.nh-di.org

NH-DI will be hosting the event where the top scoring teams will be competing for a chance to go to Destination Imagination Global Finals in Knoxville, TN, with almost every state and 20 countries.  Destination Imagination is a fun, hands-on system of learning that fosters students’ creativity, courage and curiosity through open-ended academic challenges in the fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), fine arts and service learning.  Participants learn patience, flexibility, persistence, ethics, respect for others and their ideas, and the collaborative problem solving process. 

Good Luck to the 7 teams representing Bedford DI!

BHS Save the Bees Club Event – CANCELLED

The Save the Bees event that was supposed to take place tonight at the high school has been cancelled due to the weather.

Safety Educator

Please click HERE for the March/April edition of Safety Educator.

PTG News/Information

• HELP WANTED:  The PTG is looking for someone to coordinate our ORK (Opportunities Reaching Kids) program for the elementary schools.  This coordinator will be responsible for all ORK programming- such as Eyes On Owls, Tanglewood Marionettes & Bat Presentations, across the three elementary schools (Memorial, Peter Woodbury, and Riddle Brook).  This person must have good communication and organizational skills (flexible hours & work from home).  For more information please contact Sue Jennato at bedfordnhptg@gmail.com

• Please join us on Thursday April 6^th at Shorty’s in Bedford.  Every first Thursday of the month Shorty’s will give the Bedford PTG 15% of all sales when patrons show this flyer or simply let your server know you support the PTG.  Good on Dine-in and Take-out, all day long!

• ColorBlast 5k Run/Walk – Sunday, June 4th @ 10:00 AM

The PTG is excited to announce that registration for our first annual ColorBlast 5K Run/Walk is open!  Register today and mark your calendar for a super-fun, family event!  Not a runner?  That’s OK.  You can walk, skip, hop, twirl, dance or stroll your way through six color stations along the 5K route that starts at Lurgio Middle school on the BHS/RAL campus.  Be sure to wear white for maximum color affect (you will be blasted with food safe colorful powder).  All funds raised from this event will go back into our schools!

Executive Functioning and Mindfulness Messages

Executive Functioning

Bosses need to organize what they learn, so they can keep track of information.  Here are two strategies to help:  Maps and Webs help us to picture how to organize main ideas and supporting details in what we want to write.  Strategy Cards are index cards with a question and a remembering strategy on one side and the answer on the other.

Mindfulness

Now that we have practiced focusing our attention with our breath, here is an exercise to try at home:  Rise and Fall

Lie on the floor.  Place an object on your stomach.  As you breathe in and out through your nose, improve your focus by watching the rising and falling of your belly and the object on it.  Try to do this for one minute without letting the object fall off your stomach.

iRules: What Every Tech-Healthy Family Needs to Know About Selfies, Sexting, Gaming and Growing Up

The Bedford High School Counseling Department is thrilled to welcome international speaker, Janell Burley Hofmann, to campus on Thursday, April 6^th! The author of the original iRules Contract will workshop with students throughout the day and will present “Parenting Generation Tech: Educate, Empower, Engage” to parents that evening. This free event will begin at 6:00 PM in the BHS Theater and is open to the community. 

Janell Burley Hofmann is the author of the book, iRules: What Every Tech-Healthy Family Needs to Know About Selfies, Sexting, Gaming and Growing Up. She is also a speaker and consultant on topics like technology, media, health, relationships and personal growth.  Janell Burley Hofmann engages readers, clients and audiences in relevant and meaningful conversations igniting personal empowerment, awareness and purpose.  Janell serves families, schools and communities in a partnership that will positively impact the lives of children and teens.  She is a two-time TEDx presenter and was a featured speaker with SxSW.  Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Good Morning America, USA Today, National Public Radio and thousands of international media outlets. 

iRules Contract

REMINDERS:

2017/18 School Calendar

The school calendar for next year can be found HERE.  The last day of school for the 2017/18 is Wednesday, June 13^th.

Yearbook – LOOKING FOR VOLUNEER(S)

Our current yearbook coordinators are looking for a co-coordinator.  This would be someone who is willing to work with a team to help organize picture inputs from all of the classes, photograph special events, layout yearbook pages, etc.  Much of the job can be done from home and after hours (or on a flexible schedule).  No specific skills are required, but it really helps to be organized.  If you’re interested, please contact Linda Dinndorf (lindad.bedford@icloud.com) or Jen Spector (jen.spector@gmail.com).

Art Supplies Donation (BHS Senior Project)

As part of her Senior Project, Julie Vyhanek, a student at Bedford High School, is accepting new/lightly used art supplies to be used at the Elliot Hospital for Art Therapy.  A donation box is located in our main floor hallway if you would like to contribute.  Please click here for more information about her project.

Bedford Food Pantry – Items Needed for Children

Food Insecurity is a growing concern across the nation and right here in our own backyard.  Nearly 350 adults and children in Bedford qualify for food stamps and more than 167 families in Bedford meet the income standards for the government’s free school lunch program. 

If you are able to donate these items (these are ongoing donations), please bring them by the Bedford Food Pantry at the Bedford Presbyterian Church, 4 Church Road, Bedford, NH.

Parents/guardians, please contact the school guidance counselor or school nurse if you would like your child to participate in this program. 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

March 31 – RBS Family Fun Night

March 31 – End of Quarter 3

April 3-6 – PTG Book Fair (Rooms 216/218)

April 3-14 – Parent/Teacher Conferences

April 6 – RBS 4^th Grade Play (RBS Gym)

April 7 – Official Report Cards available on Power School

April 10-18 – Passover

April 14 – Good Friday

April 16 – Easter

April 24-28 – Spring Vacation

Family Fun Night

March 30, 2017

Dear Parents,

I wanted to let you know about our plans for tomorrow night’s RBS Family Fun Night.   While there will most likely be snow tomorrow and tomorrow night, it looks as though the worst of it won’t occur until later in the evening.  That said, we will still be having our Family Fun Night as scheduled.  In order to get folks home at a safe and reasonable time, we will be ending at 7:00 PM rather than 7:15 PM.  We will still be having two sessions—4:30 & 6:00 PM, however, if you’re scheduled for the 6:00 PM session, please feel free to come earlier.

I would also like to share with you our Silent Auction offerings.  Please click HERE to take a look.

As always, the RBS staff and I greatly appreciate your support of our school!

Sincerely,

Molly McCarthy