Macdonough School Winter Concert

This morning Macdonough students, faculty and families gathered in the gym to celebrate winter and all of the glorious holidays it brings.  Great job to all who performed and participated!

Garden Club Pickles and Cooks

Since the weather has turned cold, Garden Club has made their way inside for some indoor gardening activities. Two weeks ago, Chef Jeff from Wesleyan University, came to show us and help us make pickles. Pickling has been used for thousands of years to preserve perishable food. We put vinegar and salt to kill off the bacteria and added dill, red pepper flakes, turmeric and garlic for the delicious flavor. Although we did not use the cucumbers grown from the Macdonough garden, we did pickle some of our own green tomatoes from the garden. Everyone got a jar of pickles to take home and enjoy!

Last week we made a stir fry from a variety of vegetables including broccoli, sugar snap peas, spinach, carrots, mushrooms, red peppers, eggplant, and garlic and ginger over a bed of brown rice. It was delicious! And great to learn how nutritious these fresh garden vegetables are for our bodies. Here's what we know about what each vegetable does for our health: BROCCOLI: Full of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin B-6, fiber, iron, magnesium, potassium and NO FAT. SUGAR SNAP PEAS: Full of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin K, protein, potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, calcium and NO FAT. SPINACH: Full of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin B-6, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium and NO FAT. CARROTS: Full of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B-6, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, beta and NO FAT. MUSHROOMS: Full of potassium, Vitamin D, iron, magnesium and NO FAT. RED PEPPERS: Full of Vitamin A, Vitamin C and NO FAT. EGGPLANT: Full of Vitamin C, Vitamin B-6, iron, potassium, magnesium and NO FAT.

This week is our final Garden Club until Spring. We will be roasting root vegetables and reviewing all the important and fun things we learned and did this fall. HAPPY GARDENING AND EATING!

Pilgrims in Kindergarten

MAC Families Election Day Bake Sale

Thanks to all the Macdonough families who helped and contributed to a very successful Election Day bake sale. Special thanks to First and Last Tavern and Dominos Pizza for their donations.

All proceeds will go to MAC Families as Partners to help fund field trips, family events and school improvement projects.

Ms. Jukins' Class Votes!

After learning about the candidates and the election process, Ms. Jukins' students entered the voting booth and cast their vote for Connecticut Governor.

Garden Club

Our Fall Garden Club has been working hard. We've harvested the last of the edible vegetables and cleaned out the beds. Today we planted flower bulbs and garlic. We can't wait for spring to see them grow.

We have been learning about the important nutritional value of fruits and vegetables. As the colder weather sets in, we will be moving inside for some healthy cooking and eating!

School uniforms? The Governance Committee weighs in.

Last night Macdonough had it's first Governance Committee meeting of the 2014-2015 school year. Special guest, Superintendent Dr. Charles attended to hold a forum about how our community felt about school uniforms. The District has made no final decision one way or the other but is interested in finding out how the Middletown community feels about the possibility. An online survey will be available soon to all parents so you too can give your thoughts and concerns.

The Governance Committee meets the 3rd Thursday of the month. Parent, teacher and community leaders are elected each fall however all meetings are open to the Macdonough community. For more information, contact Mrs. Brick at brickm@mpsct.org

Kindergarten wearing orange to support the fight against bullying

Northwest Park

4th graders visited the Northwest Park and met their writing buddies.  Students learned about owls and even had the chance to dissect owl pellets!

Fire House

Today the kindergarten children went to the Fire House on Main St.  to learn about fire safety. 

Fire Safety

The kindergarten are learning about fire safety this month.  They practiced call 911, and stop, drop and roll. 

Book Buddies Meet

Mrs. Ciccia's first grade students met with their third grade reading buddies from Miss Erasmus' class.  They loved reading & getting to know each other. 

They can't wait to read together again!

 

Golden Awards @ Mac

Each month, students from Macdonough School are recognized for their accomplishments in and out of the classroom. One type of recognition comes from our special area teachers in technology, library, art, music, and physical education. 

A golden paintbrush is awarded to the class with the best behavior in art, a golden microphone for the group that best demonstrates appropriate conduct in music, and a golden sneaker for the students who exemplify the best sportsmanship and participation in physical education.  The highly coveted golden owl is awarded to the class with the best overall attendance.

See below for pictures of our Golden Award winners.

Macdonough Number Five

Click on the picture to view Macdonough School's newest music video...

Hartford Marathon

FROM THE MIDDLETOWN PRESS

Students and staff at the Macdonough School have been logging miles to prepare for the big race.
For the seventh year, the school will send a team of students and staff to run in the Hartford Marathon on Oct. 11.

About two dozen members of the school community will run a half-marathon, a 13.1-mile race, led by fourth-grade teacher Sarah Claffey.

Student runners will enter and exit the course at designated mile markers to run alongside Claffey for one or more miles in the race. All the students will later come together at mile 13 to cross the finish line as a team, passing under the Historic Soldiers and Sailors Arch to receive a medal for their accomplishments.

A Presentation and a Letter From the Mayor

After 2 Macdonough fifth grade students sent a letter to the mayor giving their reasons why our community should have a poet laureate 2 things happened.  First, they were asked to speak at the Arts Commission meeting and second, they received a letter from the mayor.

As a result of their idea and the letter they wrote the art commission is looking at the possibility of having a poet laureate in our community!

Fourth Grade Farmer's Market Field Trip

     Miss Kolman's students learned about being smart consumers and eating healthy on their field trip to the Middletown Farmers Market.

      They each had a budget and needed to shop and decide what fruits and vegetables they would purchase.





      They had a great time choosing from the wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables.  Learning and eating healthy is fun at Macdonough!