Port Jefferson elementary, middle and high school music students and their families attended an evening performance of the New York Philharmonic at the newly renovated David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center on Nov. 22. Attendees enjoyed the orchestra's concert program featuring “The Planets” by Gustav Holst while also catching a glimpse of Thanksgiving parade preparations along 5th Avenue.

Date Added: 11/28/2023

What do a college professor, a doctor, a detective, a scientist, a businessman and an ASL interpreter have in common?

They are all parents of first graders in the Port Jefferson School District!

Allison Giannusa’s, Miegan Rowett’s and Laura Kelly and Paige Lohmann’s classes invited parent volunteers to host centers to share their careers and how they contribute to the community. The students were very engaged and asked thoughtful questions, viewed instruments, graphs and more that the parents provided.

This event complemented the first grade social studies curriculum, to encourage students to gain a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the different components of a working community.

Thank you to community members Dr. Ansari (philosophy professor), Dr. Berges (physician), Mr. Leavey (detective), Dr. Luk (scientist/professor), Mr. Peters (tech start-up company) and Mr. Sheprow (ASL interpreter) for sharing your talents and professionalism with our students!

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Date Added: 11/22/2023

Students, staff and families helped to make the annual food drive at Edna Louise Spear Elementary School another successful endeavor. Under the leadership of elementary guidance counselor Jessica Peterson, the school community once again showed its generosity in aiding others with over 40 shopping bags filled with nonperishables that will benefit local families.

Thanks to fifth graders Lukas Peterson, Jared Hernandez, Kolton Kozikowski and Trip Nenninger for helping to prepare the groceries for delivery!

Date Added: 11/22/2023

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, the second-grade classrooms of Carleen Parmegiani and Darlene Wells at Edna Louise Spear Elementary School were filled with gratitude as students participated in a festive autumn-inspired event with parents, grandparents and younger siblings.

The students created and shared a slideshow and song and completed a gratitude journal and an activity on how they are thankful for each other. Family members also helped them create a unique holiday craft in which they wrote on strips of orange paper what they are thankful for, attached them together to form a pumpkin shape, added leaves and vines in green paper for a finished product of a table centerpiece for their home’s celebration of Thanksgiving.

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Date Added: 11/21/2023

Edna Louise Spear Elementary School librarian Mrs. Meg Hoon tapped into her creative energies to share a timely lesson on gratitude. Recently, she read Peter Reynolds’ “Our Table” to a fourth grade class. The story focuses on a family’s connection at the dinner table before life, distractions and technology pulled them all away from one another. After reading the story Mrs. Hoon gave groups of students a gratitude game board that she created with questions about a person, place, thing, food or friend that each student was grateful for. The students rolled a die and whatever color they landed on they shared answers to that question.

“We are all so busy in our lives, it was a great way for students to connect with each other over the game,” Mrs. Hoon said.

The lesson was part of a larger Culture of Care initiative where teachers are proactive and students are motivated by the positive effects of monthly themes, which in addition to gratitude include courage, empathy, friendship, inclusivity, kindness, reflection, respect and wellness.

It is a broad and holistic approach to the concepts of the story they read: to gather at a table, with connections and respect, to make memories, share their thoughts and ideas, and revel in time spent together.

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Date Added: 11/21/2023