School Shooting Tragedy

The tragic events of the school shooting in Florida on Wednesday were extremely saddening. As educators and parents, it is difficult to comprehend such heart-wrenching events.
Our thoughts extend to all those affected, and we acknowledge the bravery of the first responders, staff, and students who reacted so quickly to ensure the safety of others.

We recognize the impact these types of events can have on our school community. Each one of us is affected in a different way. And, yet, the impact is undeniable. As we are faced with getting back to our everyday life, we write to assure you of the priority we place on the safety and security of our students each and every day. As news of the tragic events of the school shooting in Florida have begun to unfold, our thoughts have immediately turned to our own ongoing efforts to ensure that our school is a physically and emotionally safe environment for every student. We have a crisis/safety team at Johnny Appleseed School that works hard to make sure we are current with all our saftey measures and procedures.  As a district we continue to use a hybrid of the A.L.I.C.E. model. Site based Administrators are trained with this approach and students have practiced once so far this year.  We will continue to be vigilant in our review of current emergency protocols in our ongoing effort to ensure student safety, and we will use the information gleaned from these unfortunate events to strengthen the already strong protocols we have in place.

Speaking with your child about this tragic event is difficult. Should you find that your child is struggling to process the events from Wednesday, you may find the following resources  helpful online (and with printable versions):

Talking to children about Violence
Tips for talking to students about school shootings
Managing your distress in the aftermath of a school shooting
Coping in the aftermath of a school shooting

As we move forward, we are reminded of the importance of the community and the connectedness we share. The safety of our school is very important and our first priority.

Sincerely,
The Guidance Department
Melissa Hopkins, Karen Russo, and Katie Ruggles

Upcoming events sponsored by Project Apples in Leominster

Project Apples/Leominster CFCE-2017

Winter Stroll & Gingerbread Festival on Saturday, December 2 from 3-5 pm- Downtown Leominster & Tata Auditorium! Project Apples will be at Tata Auditorium, where we will have paper gingerbread people available for decorating and embellishing! There will be holiday stories, games, and children can help to decorate the large Gingerbread House. Stroll through downtown for additional fun activities!

Family Fun Night- Blast Off into Outer Space on Wednesday, December 6 from 6-7pm at the Leominster Library! Explore space with us! Our stories will be The Sky is Full of Stars and Our Stars, and then children will design their own straw rocket, explore moon phases, and make a telescope. This program is suitable for children ages 3-7. Registration begins on 12/5; call (978)534-7522 ext.4 starting 11/29

 Parent Workshop- No Senseless Behavior with Jeanine Fitzgerald on Thursday, December 7 from 6:30-8:00 at United Methodist Church! This free workshop will guide parents on challenging behaviors, why they happen, and ways to focus on behaviors as a way of teaching children based on their needs. Call (978)534-3038 to register, limited childcare is available.

Daddy/Caretaker and Me Brain Building Afternoon on Saturday, December 9 at 3pm at Leominster Library! Children ages 3-7, along with their Dad/Caretaker, are invited to join us for a reindeer story, and building a wooden reindeer with Robert Leduc, using real hammers and nails. To register, call (978)534-7522 ext. 5 starting 12/2.

Storytime & Winter Walk on December 18 at 10:30 at Barrett Park, Barrett Parkway!

Listen to wintery stories, explore animal tracks & footprints, and create a snowy craft. Call (978)534-3038 to register.

Playgroups

Tuesdays and Fridays 10:00-11:30- call (978)534-3038 for availability and information.Project Apples, Leominster CFCE is a program of Leominster Public Schools, and is sponsored by the Mass. Department of Early Education & Care.

Parent Workshop-Thursday November 2nd 6-8pm.

Parent Workshop Series

Featured Presenter: Jeanine Fitzgerald, Certified Human Behavior Consultant & Specialist. Jeanine is an engaging speaker and owner of The Fitzgerald Institute of Lifelong Learning.

Parenting in a Complex and Complicated World

November 2, 6-8 pm

6:30-8:00pm

Fall Brook Elementary School- DeCicco Drive, Leominster

Call to register: Project Apples- (978)534-3038

 Parents become a significant influence in family life through example and leadership.  Learn strategies to take action which will be most effective in your situation.  Learn to create a plan for a nurturing family culture where all family members deeply and genuinely enjoy being together. Limited Childcare is available upon request.

Empathy Building Activities You Can Do At Home

Activities for Teaching Empathy Skills 

(from http://preventingbullying.promoteprevent.org/8-empathy-activities)

Activity 1: Labeling Feelings

Ask children to describe and label how they might feel in these three different bullying situations:

• If they saw someone being bullied
• If they were being bullied themselves
• If they bullied someone

Explain that bullying can lead to strong feelings, such as anger, frustration, and fear. While it’s okay to feel these feelings, it’s never okay to react by doing violent things, such as intentionally hurting someone. Say that if we all work together to prevent and stop bullying, no one in our group will ever need to experience these feelings as a result of bullying.

Activity 2: Different and Similar

Discuss the man ways that children are different from one another. Prompt them with examples, if needed.

• Some children are big, and others are small.
• Some children run fast, and others run slowly.
• Some children like to play with blocks, and others like to draw pictures.

Ask, “What would our group be like if we were all the same?”

Elicit that while at first it might be fun, since we’d all agree on everything, eventually it would get boring, since we would never try anything new, every race would end in a tie, etc. Explain how the differences among us make our group stronger, more interesting, and better able to do different things. Discuss the fact that bullies may bully other children simply because they are different—they try to make differences seem like bad things or weaknesses, rather than the strengths they are.

Now discuss the many ways children are similar to one another. For example: All children eat, sleep, grow, and have feelings. And, most importantly, all children feel hurt when they are bullied.

Summarize by explaining that we should all agree to appreciate our differences, recognize that no one likes to be bullied, and never bully someone simply because he or she is different.

Activity 3: Helping Others Feel Better

First, use these questions to discuss with the group what children can do to help others feel better:
1. How can you know how someone else feels?
          Possible answers: Listen to what they say, ask them how they feel, look closely at their face and body, watch what they do
2. How can we recognize when another child is feeling bad or left out?
          Possible answers: Making a sad face, not laughing when others laugh, crying, not looking at anyone, playing alone
3. How can we cheer up children who feel bad and help them feel better?
          Possible answers: Pay attention to them, pat them on the back, ask them if they’d like to play with you

Next, use role-playing to help children practice recognizing a child who is feeling hurt and helping the child feel better:

• Have the group divide into pairs.
• Ask one child in each pair to pretend that he or she has been bullied and feels bad, while the other child pretends to be a bystander who tries various ways to make the bullied child feel better.
• Have the pairs of children switch roles and repeat the activity.

Discuss with the group how the bystanders could tell that the bullied child was feeling hurt and how the bystanders made the bullied child feel better.

Activity 4: Acts of Kindness

Discuss how an act of kindness is the opposite of bullying because it helps another person feel good instead of bad––it gives a person a good feeling rather than takes away a good feeling. Ask children to describe one nice thing they did for someone else, how it made the other person feel, and how it made them feel. Have each child plan one act of kindness that he or she will do that day for someone else in the group.

At the end of the day, have children report on their acts of kindness. Ask:

• How did this act of kindness make you feel?
• How did the person receiving the kindness feel? (You could ask the giver for his or her perceptions, then have the recipient confirm whether those perceptions are accurate.)
• How do you think you would feel if you had done an act of bullying, rather than an act of kindness?

Conclude the activity by pointing out that doing an act of kindness is not only a great thing to do for someone else, it makes you feel good, too!

Activity 5: The Golden Rule

Ask the children if they’ve heard of the Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would want them to do to you.” Point out that this rule could also be phrased as “Don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want them to do to you.” Ask them if children who bully are caring about other children’s feelings and treating other children the way they themselves want to be treated. Discuss examples of bullying-related things they would not want other children to do to them and why they would not do those things to others. For example:

• I wouldn’t want someone to say I’m stupid, so I won’t say “You’re stupid” to anyone else.
• I wouldn’t want someone to pull my hair, so I won’t pull anyone else’s hair.
• I wouldn’t want someone to say mean things about me, so I won’t say mean things about anyone else.

Then discuss things that they would like another child to do for them and that they might do for another child in return. For example:

• I’d like someone to invite me to play, so I will invite someone to play.
• I’d like someone to tell me that I drew a great picture, so I will tell someone that he or she drew a great picture.

End the activity by reminding the group to treat other children the way they would want to be treated.

Activity 6: Modeling Helpfulness

Discuss the ways that bullying behavior leads both the child who bullies and the child who is bullied to disrespect each other and feel like enemies, rather than friends. Then use pictures, stories, puppets, or other concrete props to model examples of the many ways that children and adults can show that they care about other’s feelings and can help each other. Discuss how caring behaviors make both the giver and the receiver feel happy and good

Give Away Day (clothing and much more): Saturday 10/7/17 at 8:00 a.m.

This Saturday, 10/7, at 8:00 a.m.

Give Away Day!

FREE items:  Art, Appliances, Books, Clothing, Furniture, Household Goods, Linens, Toys, and so much more.

Where:  Church of Christ 

592 West Street

Leominster, MA 

Free-Anxiety Resource for Kids and Teens

Here is a link to the free electronic book, "Playing with Anxiety: Casey's Guide for Teens and Kids" 

by Reid Wilson and Lynn Lyons 

Playing with Anxiety e-book download

There are great strategies and ways to explain anxiety in child-friendly terms that you can read with your child or have them read on their own (grade 3 and up).

Spring Testing Fever

Effective Test Taking Skills 
(Test Anxiety: Assessment to Intervention presentation by Dr. Nathaniel von der Embse, Assistant Professor of School Psychology at Temple University, 2016)

• Self-talk: staying focused and relaxed
• "I can do this. I'm going to try my best and get through it."  
• Memory download
•  If appropriate-write down all the definitions, formulas, etc.
• Behavioral momentum
• building confidence through answering easier items first
• Plan of attack
• Budget time based on point values
• Knowing key aspects within directions
• answer format, length, space restrictions
• Different strategies for different question types

Helpful resources
Academic anxiety
Casbarro, J. (2005). Test Anxiety & What You Can Do About It. Port Chester, NY: Dude Publishing.