School Notebook: Baking for a Cause and a Visit from Ray Negron

Baking for a Cause

Tidings of comfort and joy came in the form of pumpkin muffins and pumpkin bread, baked by elementary students and donated to a worthwhile cause.

Mrs. Frole's first grade class at baked the muffins to donate to the St. James food pantry, which provided food for families in need. Third grade classes at made pumpkin bread in an activity tied to their writing curriculum, which they later gave to a school social worker to deliver to families in need. And students in Rosemary Ulrich's second-grade class and in Lorraine Hegarty's fifth-grade class at Arrowhead baked pumpkin muffins and created letters of gratitude, which they gave to members of the school community they felt were often under-appreciated.

Ray Negron Visits Mount Elementary

Negron, who is an author, producer, and New York Yankees advisor, visited students at Mount Elementary to talk about overcoming obstacles, making positive choices, and looking up to heroes.

Negron is the author of The Boy of Steel, The Greatest Story Never Told: The Babe and Jackie, and One Last Time: Goodbye to Yankee Stadium. He donated signed copies of his books to the library, and autographed books for students who bought them.

Steering Clear of Bullies

Mount Elementary fourth- and fifth-graders recently got a lesson in how to prevent and react to bullying. Sponsored by Child Abuse Protective Services, the program focused on what bullying is and the difference between tattling on someone and reporting when someone is bullied. The students learned how to deal with bullying by learning how to "CLEAR" – Calm down, Leave, Enlist others, Assert yourself, and Report.