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HHS seniors volunteer at Rockton schools April, 2010 The grounds around the Rockton School District’s elementary buildings are looking a bit spiffier these days thanks to the senior class at Hononegah High School.  Accepting the challenge from Principal Ehren Jarrett, 65 members of the senior class converged on the school grounds during senior week to help spruce up the courtyard and recreational areas.  “I posed the challenge to the group to do a community service project,” said Jarrett, “and they embraced it and exceeded all my expectations.” HHS senior Vince Guzzetta says the students have been organizing the community service project since the beginning of the year.  “It was really just a good opportunity to give back to our community and start a neat tradition,” he says.  “It felt good to be a part of something new and helpful and it was uplifting to see the excitement on the kids faces when they saw the work we did.” Some students cleaned up the Rockton Grade School courtyard and planted and mulched.  Other students painted four squares in play areas of Whitman Post Elementary School.  Still others visited Highview in the Woodlands to fill planters and do arts and crafts with the residents.  “I’m so proud of what they’ve accomplished,” adds Jarrett. Superintendent Randy Gross was on site to witness the students in action.  “It was nice to see them give back to their community for the excellent education they received not only at the high school but the elementary level as well.” Principal Barb Browning was amazed at the impact of the seniors’ hard work at RGS.  “The Hononegah students literally transformed our courtyard from a weedy eye sore to a beautiful retreat,” she exclaimed.  “They were so respectful of the school and the children while they were here, and worked very well together to complete a task they and their teachers should be proud of!  Their work has definitely made a difference at RGS.” WPES Principal Scott Rollinson was impressed with the amount of planning and effort by the seniors.  “Even though it rained and we had to change some of the original plans, the students did a wonderful job cleaning up the RGS garden, planting new flowers and plants, and painting 4-squares at WPES,” he says.  “Students here started playing with the 4-squares the very next day.”   .     Village of Rockton holds art contest! January, 2010  When the Village of Rockton hired its new office manager, Brenda Warren, one of the first things on her agenda was to find something special to decorate the empty walls of the offices in the Municipal Center. As president of the Rockton School District Board of Education, Warren wondered: Why not hold an art contest among the students at Rockton Grade School and Whitman Post Elementary School? And so it was that students in the two schools were challenged to create a picture of a current or historical place in Rockton. "Originally we were going to choose one or two winners from each building," says Warren. "But when all the entries came in, it was impossible to narrow it down that much. They did a wonderful job!" In all, nine winners were chosen from both schools. Mayor Dale Adams and Village Clerk Judy Rossi visited the two schools last week and declared the winners during morning announcements. Students were shown their artwork - framed and ready to be hung in the Village Clerk's office in the Municipal Building on Main Street. "I love having the pictures hanging on my walls because this is how the children see our village," adds Warren. It reminds me of why we do what we do - so we can continue to make Rockton a safe and inviting place to live." The enthusiasm over the contest was so overwhelming that Mayor Adams and Rossi decided that they would hold the contest again every year. When the students graduate from eighth grade, they will be able to retrieve their pieces of art from the Village. Whitman Post Elem. School winners pictured with Mayor Adams and Village Clerk Judy Rossi. From left - Caitlin Fordell, 3rd gr. "Dairy Haus", Emily Lopata, 3rd gr. "Williams Tree Farm", Rachel Rivers, 3rd gr. "Church by the Side of the Road", Amelia Fenton, 4th gr. Talcott Free Library. Front- Hayden Brown, 4th gr. Balsley House           WPES winner Audryahna Vanderheyden, 3rd gr. "Talcott Free Library"   Rockton Grade School winners pictured with Village Clerk Judy Rossi, Mayor Adams and Office Manager and RSD School Board President Brenda Warren. From left - Allie McLarty, 2nd gr. "Old Stone Preschool", William Coleman, 2nd gr. "The Gazebo", Ava Cicmansky, 1st gr. "Church by the Side of the Road"

Project Fair at RGS and WPES

February 24, 2009

Rockton Grade School and Whitman Post Elem. School held their annual Project Fair on February 24th. This year, each school had approximately 67 projects, with students in Kindergarten through fifth grade participating. There were a wide variety of topics reflected in the projects, which included art, language arts, math, science and social studies. The objective of the Project Fair is to give students an opportunity to further their understanding and knowledge in a particular area of interest. "It helps students learn how to choose a topic, do some research, write a report and carry out a project to completion," says Joyce Fitzsimmons, 2nd grade teacher at RGS who coordinated the RGS fair. "We had everything from dinosaurs to the Bengali language to the making of a hovercraft!" adds Fitzsimmons.

At WPES, fifth grade teacher, Mary Newman, organized the fair. "We had an increase in the art portion with many original pieces of art," comments Mrs. Newman. "It is a wonderful outlet for students to express themselves in other areas besides science and social studies. Many of the projects this year were interactive and required the visitors to manipulate or move a piece of the project," she adds.

The projects were "judged" by volunteer community members who interview each student about their project. There were 19 judges this year, which included representatives from Woodward Governor, NorthPointe Wellness, Hononegah High School, Shirland School District, WIFR and Talcott Library.
 

click on picture to enlarge

Nathin Davisson, Woodward Governor	Ehren Jarrett, Principal, Hononegah H.S.	Sarah Starmer, Director of Community Outreach, NorthPointe Wellness	Bonnie Estrada, Talcott Library	Wes Morgan, Retired RGS Principal
Gus Larson, Director of NorthPointe Wellness	Sarah Praneis, Rockton Board of Education	Barb Browning, RGS Principal	William Midgett, Rockton Board of Education