(LAST ) Cooke Center Grammar School Newsletter (Of 2013!!

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Francis Tabone, Head of School Cindy Surdi, Assistant Head of School

Jeanette Hopkins, Childrens Author, Visits CCGS

Another mysterious twin sighting. This is no chance encounter! There are forces at work which defy logic.

Dates to Remember:
December 20th1/2 day for students December 20thPTA at CCGS December 23-January 1st, Holiday Break January 16th Family support series #3 at CCA, 6:30 pm January 17th No school for students

We recently were lucky to have Jeanette Hopkins visit our school. Jeanette is a long time educator and author of several childrens books. The Ladybug Waltz, and her newest The Juggler can be found in our classrooms. Jeanette gave us a wonderful reading and answered many questions about how a book goes from an idea to a final product. Ms. Liebov, and Distefanos class participated in several activities regarding Ms. Hopkins books, and had the background knowledge to ask in-depth and insightful questions. Ms. Hopkins then taught our students and staff how to juggle! In light of her most recent book, The Juggler, everyone received a set of juggling balls and some instruction. By the end of the lesson, students were juggling bowling pins, chainsaws, and other items you regularly see in the circus. Not really, but we did get a good basic lesson on how to get started.

In this issue: Jeanette Hopkins Dr. Janet Hon 1 2

Roger Nembhart Presents 3

What a way to end the year!!! HAPPY 2014 TO ALL CCGS FAMILIES AND FRIENDS

Ms. Hopkins is inspired from those around her, including her grandchildren. The stories, artwork and ideas all come from her environment and experiences as a teacher. On this recent visit she was heading over to the Tenement Museum to do some research on her newest book. We look forward to her next publication and hoe she will visit us again soon! Everyone had a great time. Visit Ms. Hopkins at http://www.jeanettehopkins.com

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Doctor Janet Hon

Cooke Center Grammar School is graced with some of the finest professionals in their fields. Janet Hon has been one of those professionals who has advanced the movement (specifically Mind Body Move) program to incredible heights. Dr. Hon is currently the chair of the Occupational/Physical Therapy department, and direct service provider of physical therapy services. I wanted this to be the first mention in print of Dr. Hons new title. She received her Doctorate of Physical Therapy this December. After several years of hard work and diligence, we now refer to Ms. Hon as Dr. Hon.

In the United States, the American Physical Therapy Association has mandated that all programs for physical therapy be at the doctoral level by 2020, and 213 of 232 physical therapy programs have already transitioned to the DPT. Thus advancing the quality and service of its providers. Physical Therapists are healthcare professionals who specialize in the restoration or optimization of physical functioning for work or play. They utilize various physical modalities including exercise and manual hands on therapy for muscle strengthening, increased range of motion, decreased pain, better posture and improved ability to complete the days activities. Our students typically have physical and strength issues that compromise their ability to perform typically adaptive skills during the course of a day. Dr. Hon and her team provide the core treatment for fine and gross motor growth. CCGS has extremely dedicated services for the provision of OT and PT services. Why? Because walking, moving, holding a pencil, understanding your body space, communication, endurance, physical fitness, health, sustaining attention, organization, riding a bike, running, jumping, playing, holding objects, grasping utensils, holding hands, and a lot of other essentials are covered by Dr. Hons department. From all of us at CCGS we congratulate her on this major accomplishment. We thank her for her incredible service and dedication to the profession.
LAST WEEK!! Did you read for the Annual Shoe Issue! A comprehensive look at what types of footwear you and your child should be wearing. Presented to you by the Physical/Occupational Therapy Department

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Computer Science Education Week:

Last week was an exciting one for educational technology, for at least 3 reasons. December 9th through December 15th was Computer Science Education Week, a span of days devoted to promoting computer-based instruction, activities and their developmental benefits in schools. 7

During CSEd Week, many schools, teachers, and students, including our own, specifically participated in a worldwide campaign called the Hour of Code. The Hour of Codes main intention was for students (and learners of all ages) to spend at least 60 minutes lear ning or practicing the basics of coding and programming, to help them become or grow as a maker, a creator, an innovator. President Obam a recorded a video on the eve of CSEd Week to urge kids to not just play video games, but learn to program them code too. Learning about code and programming not only prepares students for the growing demand for individuals with such skills, but also strengthens a number of conceptual, cognitive and problem solving abilities. The website and organization code.org is one of many websites promoting CSEd Week and the Hour of Code. In fact, code.org created a number of their own self-contained Hour Code activities, which nearly every CCGS student, from Grade 1-2 through middle school, engaged in last week (the Kindergartners got some hands-on time with Hexbug robots this week, and perhaps theyll learn to other robots when theyre older). Our students worked on Hour of Code puzzles on both our laptop computers and iPads. They joined over 17.5 million others who learned an hour of code last week. More amazing than that was the collaboration, teamwork and communication between students that I saw in here in the media room, as many found success by working on Hour of Code puzzles together (working in small groups is an ideal model for learning code, an efficacy we already know and see in group work across our students school activities). In addition to the Hour of Code, Scratch Day also took place during CSEd Week, this past Saturday, December 14th to be precise. Scratch Day is all about Scratch, an MIT tool created to make coding and programming fun and approachable for students, who manipulate colorful blocks of code that snap together, to make animations, games, videos and more. Scratch Day is actually a worldwide event for Scratchers to learn the basics of the now -online program, to develop their skills, or share their expertise with others. I had the wonderful opportunity to assist our Technology Specialist Ian Toledo at a Scratch Day event on Saturday at the Marymount School, where he guided both kids and adults in a wonderful Scratch activity of his creation, that skillfully combined drawn art and coding to create a sprite with a running animation. I highly encourage everyone to learn about Scratch and similar coding sites, which a number of our Cooke students have done with through lessons led by Ian and myself, in the past. Though CSEd Week was a mere seven days, I believe the benefits of it, more of Hours of Coding, and tools like Scratch will last much longer. Below are some links to learn more about the resources mentioned above, and feel free to check them out with your children! http://code.org/ http://learn.code.org/hoc/1 http://scratch.mit.edu/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XvmhE1J9PY Roger Nembhard Technology Integration Specialist, CCGS