Dear Genet Families!
Happy Friday Everyone! I hope you and your child(ren) had a great week with us here at Genet. In walking the halls, I observed a lot of great learning and activities taking place. Our Dress Alike day was entertaining! So many creative ideas were on display at Genet and even a few students dressed as me, which was a wonderful surprise. Genet staff “twin’d” it up with our Team Davis shirts in support of Mrs. Davis.
Our Family Reading Night was a tremendous success! A special thank you to all of our staff and families who attended. We had a record high number of students who came back to enjoy a few stories from Genet Staff and our Mystery Reader, Chief of East Greenbush Police Elaine Rudzinski. I would like to thank her for taking time out of her busy schedule to visit Genet and be part of our event. It was wonderful and I will look forward to this fun event next year.
I would like to provide a special shout-out to two of our 5th grade students, Allison Hutton and Saige Keenholts, who entered a contest at the East Greenbush Library for designing their mascot. Both students worked hard on their designs and both we selected as finalist for the contest among over 40 applicants. Allison designed “Charlie” a green elephant and Saige designed “Benji the Book Dinosaur.” Allison’s design was selected and chosen as the winner. I would like to also thank our art teacher, Mrs. Letourneau, for promoting the Arts program within the community and letting our students know of these wonderful opportunities to showcase their talents. The Art Department in our district is going to work together with AIIison and her design to turn it into a digital image. This image will be used to create bookmarks, placed on the EG Library newsletter and on other items as well. Congrats to both Allison and Saige on showcasing their talents in our community! We are proud of your hard work!
The “SOUPER” Bowl is here! It’s the battle of the soup can! Genet will be collecting soup cans January 21st—January 31st. All cans collected will be donated to the Northeast Regional Food Bank. The class that collects the most soup cans will win a pizza party sponsored by the PTO.
As a reminder, Genet is working to support the Albany Ronald McDonald House. We will be partnering with the Ronald McDonald House during the month of January as part of our school-wide read-a-thon! I encourage our students and families to keep reading!
Updates from the Art Room, by Mrs. Letourneau
First graders are starting their colorful mixed-media Folk Art Landscapes. They will be swirling their paint brushes onto bright paper, using white paint to create soft textural clouds. Students will learn about how we can create a transparent (see-through) effect with the brush, as well as a foreground, middle ground, and background for their landscape design. Fluorescent oil pastels are a favorite among our students, as they will be producing patterns on long strips of overlapping paper which will represent hills, mountains and fields. Lots of drawing, painting, cutting, tearing, and gluing is involved in this neat project, reinforcing those fine motor skills.
After second graders are finished painting their clay fish using a variety of metallic paints, they will be ready to begin their metallic marker owl project. Students will learn how to paint a tree trunk with branches forming the letter ‘Y’. They will then mix and dab green and yellow paint onto the paper, representing foliage. Drawing and designing the owl comes next. We will look at different species of owl images, as a reference. Students will use metallic markers and gel pens on black paper for the details, and draw fun pattern designs they would like to incorporate. The owl is cut out and glued down onto one of their tree branches.
Updates from the PE Department by Mr. Jones and Mr. Leyhane
In Physical Education, students are finishing up a bowling unit. Next week students will begin a Volleyball unit. Each class will start by learning basic skills and drills, and progress to actual volleyball games. We currently have registration forms for youth volleyball and boys and girls youth lacrosse. If you are interested, forms are located on the table in the gym. Missing an item of clothing? Several items of clothing (sweatshirts and light coats) have been left in the gym. Anything that has been left in the gym has been placed on the table in the gym for students to look through if they are missing something.
A list of upcoming events at Genet:
- January 14, 2020 – Parent Workshop @ CHS 6-8 PM – Focus: Keeping The Tech in Check
- January 17, 2020 – Congressman Tonko’s Visit to Genet – Presentation to 5th Grade
- January 17-19th, 2020 – WinterFest
- January 20, 2020 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day – No School
- January 30, 2020 – District Wide Choral Presentation @ CHS – Grade 4 and 5 – Permission slips were sent home this week. Please sign and return to your child(ren)’s classroom teacher as soon as possible.
Thank you for your continued support of Genet and have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Wayne Grignon
Principal