On Jan. 25 the Children of
Chadds Ford Elementary School marked the 91st day of the school
year. It’s hard to believe that
the year is half over! The Chadds
Ford PTO, the students and teachers were very busy in the first half of the year
and the energy level is still going strong for the second half.
We started out the year
with a great Family Fun Night in September. The rain pushed the event indoors, but the rain didn’t
dampen the enthusiasm of the kids and parents who danced the night away to the
tunes of the “Schoolhouse Rockers,” a rock-n-roll band made up of teachers from
Chadds Ford and Pocopson elementary.
It was a great way to start out the year and reconnect with friends
after the summer.
Another perennial favorite
for all the children is the Art In Action program that explores a different
theme each year and involves a group art project. This year, parent volunteers went into the classrooms to
give the children an instruction on portraits and highlight some portraits by
the masters, like DaVinci’s Mona Lisa.
The children then created their own self-portraits on fabric squares
that will be sewn into a quilt to hang in our school. Last year’s Art In Action project was a beautiful mosaic
that graces the entrance to our library. Stop by to take a look the next time
you visit the school!
Chadds Ford kids love to
read and this was evident at our annual Scholastic Book Fair. The Diary
of a Wimpy Kid series was very popular with the kids as were the yearly
compilations from Guinness Book of World Records, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not
and National Geographic. The PTO gave
a 20 percent discount for each purchase and 100 percent of the profits from the
Book Fair went right back to the school in the form of books for our main
library and classroom libraries.
Chadds Ford kids like to
have fun, just like any other kids, but they are just as eager to help those
who are less fortunate than they are.
Thanks to the efforts of our Principal, Mark Ransford, the children learned
about the conditions of children in the Los Quinchos orphanage and school in
Nicaragua and helped to make their lives a little better through the Pulsera
Project. The children in the
orphanage made the pulseras, which are beautifully woven fabric bracelets, and
the Chadds Ford children had the opportunity to purchase the bracelets for
themselves or to give as gifts to family or friends. Over $2000 was raised and every penny went right back to the
orphanage to purchase books and build shelves for their school library. Many Chadds Ford children made art work
for the children of Los Quinchos and we received art work to hang in our school
too.
These are just a few
highlights of the events from the first half of the year. We welcome you to read our monthly
newsletter The Observer, or the minutes
from our PTO meetings which can be found on our school’s website www.cfes.ucfsd.org . While you’re there, be sure to check
out the video tour of our school and you’ll get a glimpse of why Chadds Ford is
so special to us.
Finally, mark your
calendars for the 61st Annual Chadds Ford Art Sale & Show on
March 19 and 20. This is a
long-standing tradition in our community and it is our school’s main
fundraiser. You will find art to
suit every taste and budget and 20 percent of your purchase is tax
deducible. Please see the Art Show
website for all the details. http://cfes.ucfsd.org/artshow.
Luci McClure & Hiver
McKnight, Chadds Ford Elementary School PTO Co-Presidents
