More than 60 future varsity stars representing the Minisink and Otisville Little Leagues stepped up to the plate to join the fun — and what a night it was! The festivities were capped off with a thrilling 9–8 varsity comeback win over Warwick Valley! Amazing!
These young student athletes — clearly future varsity standouts — were all smiles as they received their “Rising Star” bracelets, rounded the bases alongside varsity players, and even scored big by getting all the varsity player autographs they wanted! From dugout chats to on-field memories, it was a home run evening filled with mentorship, teamwork and plenty of heart.
What a beautiful display of paying it forward, beginning to build a future lineup by showing how much fun the game is, and reminding these rising stars that with practice, hustle, and love of the game, anything is possible!
May the Fourth be with you!
IS fourth-grade teacher Jenn Kemmerer and IS music teacher Deanna Feuerbach are bringing a galactic spark to their classrooms today, May 4, with their very clever Star Wars character attire! Their playful tribute comes from the famous line “May the Force be with you,” a phrase central to the Star Wars series’ mythology about an energy that connects all living things.
Fans cleverly turned it into “May the Fourth be with you,” transforming the date into a lighthearted celebration of imagination, storytelling and a galaxy far, far away, proving that even a school day can feel a little more epic!
Band:
Elizabeth Claus, Flute
Leah Galligan, Saxophone
James Karpinski, Trumpet
Adrien Kusztykiewicz, Horn
Dejana Rosa, Clarinet
Chorus:
Julianna Andrade, Alto
Isabelle Decker, Alto
Nicolas Ellert, Alto
Hanna Elman, Soprano
Kenzie Ferdula, Alto
Mariyah Fonrose, Soprano
Penelope Greenberg, Soprano
Helen Huchital, Alto
Everly Johnson, Alto
Carla Lajara, Alto
Jemma Marsala, Alto
Gracelynn Morse, Soprano
Jillian O'Sullivan, Soprano
Alaina Paredes, Soprano
Devin Paredes, Soprano
Jandi Romualdo, Soprano
Finley Rossi, Soprano
Emilee Vernatter, Alto
The Elementary All-County Music Festival brought together talented young musicians from across the county to perform in bands, choruses, and orchestras. It featured rigorous selection processes to showcase elite elementary school performers, overseen by the OCMEA.
Deanna Feuerbach’s IS third-graders recently took turns performing for their peers, while their classmates practiced being respectful, attentive, and wonderfully supportive audience members. When it was their moment to perform, students could choose any instrument in the classroom to perform with! What a fun way to build confidence while also cheering one another on!
A big, thank you to the IS PTO for purchasing the new steel drums that now bring even more joy and rhythm to the classroom. We appreciate you!
Thank you to the awesome IS PTO for organizing and hosting such a great night!
Geometry with area is about studying shapes and figuring out how much space is inside them. The area tells how many square units are needed to completely cover a shape, like a rectangle or square. Students learn to find area by multiplying the length and width, and they also use models like grids to help visualize it. In lessons such as Eureka Math Grade 5 Module 5, this helps connect shapes with multiplication and even fractions.
A fun part of the math work included using their arms to model and represent lines and angles to demonstrate their knowledge! Take a peek!
Enjoy some great sandwiches, salads or soups at Panera in MIddletown and support the High School's FBLA Club! Details are in the flyer below, and thanks for sharing!
Joan Giardina’s IS fifth-grade art students recently created optical illusion artwork!
While their artwork is physically flat, on paper, it’s designed to appear three-dimensional, moving or warped. It creates this illusion by manipulating visual perception through geometric patterns, precise color relationships and techniques that trick the brain into interpreting depth where there is none. WELL-DONE, everyone!
Following the concert, students will complete a reflective assignment in which they will analyze the initial practice recordings alongside the culminating performance. They will identify specific areas of improvement—both individually and as a full ensemble—gaining insight into their development and the collective progress of the group.
Physical education teachers sometimes use beach balls to teach volleyball to slow down the pace of the game, allowing beginners and younger students time to get into position, track the ball, and develop proper form without fear of injury. The lightweight, soft, and slow-moving nature of beach balls increases success rates, builds confidence, and enhances hand-eye coordination!
Currently, the class is reading E.L. Konigsburg’s "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler." It’s the story 12-year-old Claudia Kincaid and her brother Jamie, who run away from home and find refuge in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. While cleverly hiding for more than a week, they stumble upon a mystery surrounding the museum's recent acquisition of an angel statue that may have been sculpted by Michelangelo. Along with Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, they are among the book’s main characters.
Learning how to decipher character traits is an important skill because it helps students become thoughtful, analytical readers and stronger writers, while also building important life skills like empathy and critical thinking.
Their students will then use their newfound knowledge to choose one of the characters and write a short narrative about one of the characters introduced in the novel, using the first person point of view.
“The students loved brainstorming and then sharing their thoughts and ideas with their partners and class,” said Mrs. McKeon.
Character traits are descriptive adjectives outlining a person's unique personality, values and behaviors inferred through their actions, words and thoughts. They define who a person is, encompassing both positive and negative qualities and influencing how they interact with the world.
National “Schwa” Day was April 7! Who knew? IS reading teacher Erin Todd, ES reading teacher Valerie Zubikowski and ES second-grade teachers Megan St. Clair and Sarah Kocot did! They went all-in on the fun and created some adorable activities to honor this “tiny-but-mighty” sound!
The schwa (ə) may be the quietest vowel in the English language, but it’s also the most common — a soft little superstar hiding in unstressed syllables of words like “about,” “sofa” and “banana.”
Even though it rarely takes center stage, the schwa helps our words glide smoothly and naturally. That’s why this unofficial holiday gives students, teachers and word-loving humans everywhere a chance to cheer on the sound that does so much…while asking for so little.
Whether you’re a budding linguist or just someone who appreciates a quirky language celebration, National Schwa Day is the perfect reminder that even the quietest sounds deserve a big round of applause.
Understanding the schwa is important for young readers because it helps them make sense of the many English words that don’t sound the way their spelling suggests. Since the schwa appears in thousands of unstressed syllables, recognizing it strengthens decoding skills, improves spelling, and leads to smoother, more natural reading fluency. It also helps young students notice patterns in prefixes, suffixes and word structure, giving them stronger morphological awareness. Most importantly, understanding the schwa reduces frustration and builds confidence by showing readers that these “mystery vowels” actually follow predictable patterns.
It's ULTIMATE DISCOUNT CARD time!
Support the great work of the Minisink Valley PTO by purchasing a card....or two! Order by May 15 by scanning the QR code!
Or: click here: https://mvpto-discount-cards.square.site/
Before the break, McKayla Murphy’s IS third-graders hopped into spring by creating the most adorable fraction bunnies! Each student designed a cheerful bunny that showed off their growing confidence with fractions—right down to writing each fraction in word form. These creations were not only cute but also a fun way to show what they’ve learned!
• A fraction shows how many parts of a whole you have.
• The top number (numerator) tells how many parts you’re talking about.
• The bottom number (denominator) tells how many equal parts the whole is split into.
• 1/2 means the whole is split into two equal parts, and you have one of them.
• Fractions can be written in words, like “one-third” or “three-fourths.”
• Fractions don’t always come from circles—shapes, sets of objects, and even number lines can all show fractions!
• If two fractions look different but cover the same amount of space, they are equivalent fractions (like 1/2 and 2/4).
Aimee Hardy’s IS third-grade library students are continuing to develop library and computer skills that are essential for everyday learning and research. For example, they’ve been learning how to access school databases and locate information using online encyclopedias. Students are also discovering that online encyclopedias function differently from search engines like Google. Instead of typing full questions, they are practicing how to use keywords and specific topics to find relevant information.
In addition, library students are building important and practical digital skills. They are learning how to copy and paste images, search for and summarize information, and properly cite their sources. Students are also practicing basic document editing skills, such as editing images, changing fonts, and typing their responses clearly. These activities help strengthen both their research abilities and their overall computer literacy—skills that are critically important as they progress into higher grade levels.
While brackets are busting and buzzer-beaters are dropping this March Madness season, give your own future star a shot — sign your 4th through 8th grader up for our FREE Girls Basketball Spring Instructional Clinic!
• Open to all district girls in 4th through 8th grades
• DATES: Saturday, April 11 and Saturday, April 18
• 9 a.m. to 12 noon in the High School Gym
The clinics will be directed by Coach McDonald with assistance from players in the Minisink Valley Girls Basketball program. The camp’s goal is to provide quality instruction and inspiration for young district athletes. The camp is free of charge, though donations towards the Girls Basketball Program are optional, but welcome. Activities include individual skill instruction and competitive team play. The players may be separated into two levels according to their age and ability. Participants will be expected to wear sneakers and dress appropriately.
Here's the registration link: https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLScQbIcAlyC6xV.../viewform
We love it when our students share their talents! Today, March 17, Intermediate School fourth-graders Hailey Hoffman and Laila Loftus shared their Irish Step Dancing talents by visiting classrooms and demonstrating their artistry!
Irish Step Dancing is a traditional form of dance from Ireland where dancers keep their upper body still while performing quick, precise movements with their feet. It’s usually done to lively Irish music and can be performed solo or in groups.
•The rigid upper body style became popular to show off fast footwork clearly.
•It gained worldwide fame through shows like Riverdance.
•Dancers wear special shoes: “hard shoes” make clicking sounds, while “soft shoes” are quieter and used for lighter dances.
•Competitions, called feiseanna (pronounced “fesh-uh”), are held all over the world.
•Costumes are often very detailed, with bright colors, curls, and Celtic-inspired designs.
These clever and creative leprechaun traps were set out yesterday by McKayla Murphy’s IS third-graders in their classroom! While no leprechauns were caught, these mischievous characters left some very fun treats behind to let students know they were onsite when they arrived to class this morning!
Leprechaun traps are creative, kid-made, decorative crafts set on St. Patrick’s Eve designed to "catch" a leprechaun. Usually made from household items like shoe boxes or jars, they're baited with gold coins, shamrocks, and glitter, often leading to a fun St. Patrick's Day tradition where the trap is found "sprung" with a small treat left behind.
Elementary school kids love making leprechaun traps because it merges imaginative play with hands-on STEM engineering, tapping into the magic and mischief of St. Patrick’s Day. The activity allows children to use creativity to design clever traps from household items, fostering critical thinking, while anticipating the fun reward of potential leprechaun “gold” or treats!
Approximately 31 million people in the U.S. claim Irish heritage! That's almost six times the population of Ireland!
