This is a new presentation of in conjunction with Ridge Ranch principal Miss Jeanine Nostrame and teacher Miss Erin Ehlers. These stories are written by Miss Ehlers' students and reflect their views. We are sure that you will find them interesting.
CARING FOR OUR COMMUNITY
By: Sally Li and Jared Herrmann
Our school community is important to us because in order to learn we need a safe and clean environment! If we didn rsquo;t take care of it our environment would be polluted almost every plant, insect, and animal would suffer. Also our school environment would become unsafe, with glass and garbage coving the area.
In preparation for Earth Day Miss Ehlers rsquo; 4th graders teamed up with their Kindergarten Buddies to pick up trash around the school. We were surprised to find any garbage at all but we did! There was some cardboard, a few bottles, paper and even a baseball!
Soon we will be planting bulbs around the school in efforts to make Ridge Ranch an even better place. Our school will look more beautiful and cheery.
Keeping our community clean and beautiful is a lot of work but it was well worth it!
Even though Ridge Ranch is very clean and safe we, as students, can still be responsible, persistent, and aware of our environment. We are doing a great job, but lets set high goals and do even better! Every day should be Earth Day!
ACADEMIC UPDATE
By: Prachi Trivedi and Michael Faugno
On April 12, 2007, the 4th graders of Ridge Ranch School left for Trenton, New Jersey for a field trip. An hour and a half later, we had reached our destination! First, we walked through the heavy rain to the Annex Building.
There we learned how a bill becomes a law. Next, we went to the State House and visited the Governor rsquo;s office. John S.
Corzine wasn rsquo;t there because he was on a long trip. Then we went to the gift shop to buy souvenirs near the Old Barracks.
Of course, we couldn rsquo;t just leave for a field trip with our any preparation.
We watched a movie called School House Rock. By watching the short film we learned how a bill becomes a law so that we would be prepared when we went to Trenton at the Annex Building. The movie also taught us about the American Revolution.
We read and discussed many articles in our class textbook to learn about the way New Jersey government works and the events that took place during the Revolution!
Another fun way to learn about taxes during the Revolutionary War is to play a game with Mrs. Hulse, a teacher in our school.
We were lucky enough to do it! She used M M rsquo;s as tax money and the students had to take on different roles. We learned how it felt to be unfairly taxed!
A boy named David was the King. Half the class imagined themselves as colonists, while the rest were tax collectors and the Parliament. We had to think flexibly to understand what it felt like to live during that time in history.
It was a great learning experience, and when we were done we got to eat the candy! YUM!
Even though it was rainy, the trip was a great success!
It was cool to see what we are learning in books come alive!
LASSOING THE HABITS
By: Abby Kreczkowski and Laura Schweizer
Ridge Ranch had a walk-a-thon on April 11th. Students were persistent in trying to raise money for the school.
In the past students have raised enough money to help support purchasing a new playground. It is important to help give back to the school and this is a fun way to try!
As reporters of the Habits of Mind, we wondered what habits did the children use to be so successful?
We searched the halls of the Ranch lassoing every habit in sight. We surveyed ten teachers and with their help captured a few good habits!
Four of the ten teachers thought students managed their impulsivities during the walk-a-thon.
They shared with us that their students did not run or push even though the kids were excited. Way to go students who used the habit managing impulsivities! One teacher said that her students used the habit of listening the most.
The students were able to listen to the rules and apply them to what they were doing. They didn rsquo;t cheat and they were great sports. Congratulations listeners!
Five teachers said that their students used persistence during the walk. The children had fun doing as many laps as possible without running. Even when they became tired they kept going.
That is true persistence! The average was between 20-30 laps with a total of 50 laps on the lap card. Obviously the habits were a great help to the walkers!
Everyone had fun using the habits of mind during the walk-a-thon. If you would like to learn more about the habits ask your teachers. The habits will make your life better for you and the people around you!
Another goal of the Ridge Ranchers has successfully been met! Hopefully the money we raised will help us give back to our school, a place that gives us so much!
TEACHER FEATURE
By: Amie Patel and Eric Rosenberg
Do you know Mrs.
Hemmerly? Well if you don rsquo;t know her she is a Kindergarten teacher at Ridge Ranch. She loves going outdoors!
Some of the activities she does are running and taking her kids to the park. She is also interested unfamiliar languages like French and Spanish. Mrs.
Hemmerly loves Mexican food and she is always thirsty for Dunkin Donuts coffee! These are just a few of her favorite things, and there is much more to learn about this teacher!
Mrs.
Hemmerly is obsessed with her eight-year-old pug, Norman. When we entered her classroom to interview her we saw tons of Pug stuff! She also loves football, and she cheers for the New York Giants.
If you want to read a book she is sure to approve of try one by Eric Carle, Gail Gibbons, or Norman Bridwell!
Mrs. Hemmerly has not only taught here at the Ranch.
She has also taught at George Washington School in Wycoff. Why did Mrs. Hemmerly teach kindergarten in the first place?
She teaches that grade because she loves children that age, the projects are fun, and you get a lot of hugs every single day! We agreed you must be very responsible to handle this grade level but she says that she wouldn rsquo;t trade it for the world. They have learned so many exciting things like the life cycle of a baby chick and they have subtraction down pat!
So what does Mrs. Hemmerly think of her students? She thinks that her students are smart, kind, and almost ready for first grade!
Like any good reporter we were also curious about what her students thought of her. We took a few aside to investigate! Her students told us how kind she is and how she is fun and funny.
As students ourselves, we know that being kind is a really important character trait in a teacher. If Mrs. Hemmerly was not kind, her children would not want to come to school and they would be scared.
They wouldn rsquo;t learn as much and they would have low self-confidence. After we finished interviewing her students we saw how happy they were to go back into the classroom. Mrs.
Hemmerly really is a great teacher!
We selected Mrs. Hemmerly to be featured in this article, not only because her students think she is wonderful, but also because she recently received the TEACHER OF THE YEAR award!
It is such an honor to be teacher of the year we had to ask her how it felt! She agreed that it is a big honor and she feels proud to represent the school. She did not expect to be teacher of the year and neither did her students.
When they found out they were jumping up and down and yelling HOORAY!
That is the inside scoop on Mrs. Hemmerly!
It is always fun to learn about what your teachers do at home and what they think about their dreams. Mrs. Hemmerly has reached her dreams and she should inspire us to do the same!
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