"Arthimetickles"

On March 25th, students, faculty and staff at Washington Elementary School were entertained by Mike McCarthy and "Arthimetickles", a production of the Children's Theater Center.

The assembly, which was fast paced, high energy and revolved around mathematics, was presented as a game show with participation by both students and staff.

Felon Spy

In these increasingly unsafe times, I thought that is was in every one's best interest to share the following:

http://felonspy.com

We should all be acutely aware of who are neighbors are.....click on the link above and see what danger maybe lurking in your backyard.

This is just another reminder to keep our kids and loved ones close.

The Breast Cancer Site

Here's a GREAT way to help that literally takes seconds and is ABSOLUTELY FREE.

Just click below to have your "click count" and help someone get a needed mamogram.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

Cpl. Ugliono pays students a visit

Upon hearing of injuries endured by Cpl. Shane Ugliono in Iraq, Chairperson of Public Relations and Friendship, Mrs. Colleen Washburn, approached Washington Elementary School principal, Mrs. Michelle Gadaletta, in reference to students sending cards to Cpl Ugliono while he was recuperating.

With Mrs. Gadaletta's permission and the assistance of faculty and staff, that's just what the students of Washington Elementary did!

Cpl. Ugliono was so appreciative of the gesture that once released from the hospital, he visited the students, staff and faculty on March 20th.

During his visit, students were not only given the opportunity to ask questions of Cpl. Ugliono, but also to express their gratitude to him for his tour of duty in Iraq.

"Bingo" Spring Dinner

On March 14th, the Washington Elementary School PTO hosted it's annual spring dinner. This year's theme was "Bingo Night". In addition to Bingo and prizes, families enjoyed pizza, sandwiches, beverages and the 5th grade bake sale.

Easter Funnies

Couldn't resist sharing these:

Happy Easter!!!

Good things to know....

I received the following list of "good things to know" in an email, and some of them I found surprising, some I found interesting and all I found good enough to share.

• Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little "stringy things" off of it. That's how the primates do it..
• Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
• Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. They will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
• Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
• Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
• To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream and then beat them up.
• For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let it set for a wonderful minty frosting.
• Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.
• Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simple chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.
• Reheat Pizza Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm.. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.
• For easy Deviled eggs, put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up..
• To expand frosting, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
• Reheating refrigerated bread? Warming biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated? Place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
• Newspaper keeps weeds away. Start putting in your plants; work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.
• Broke a glass? Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
• No More Mosquitoes! Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
• Squirrel Away! To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.
• To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge, add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
• Reduce static cling by putting a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Plac e pin in seam of slacks and -- ta da! static is gone.
• Measuring Cups - Before you pour a sticky substance into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
• Foggy Windshield? Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
• To re-open a sealed envelope, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.
• Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.
• Goodbye Fruit Flies! To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2" with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!
• Get rid of ants, put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it "home," can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
• INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS! The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink, ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material - I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well,...the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free -- that nice fragrance too, you know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box, well t his stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to catch fire & potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (& to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out & wash it with hot soapy water & an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?! Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I 'd share! Note: I went to my dryer & tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water & a nylon brush & I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn't any pudding at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!

Health Barn USA

As part of our Nutrition curriculum, Ms. Antine of Health Barn USA visited our school on November 30th.

Although we did encounter some logistical issues, this was one assembly that our students continued to talk about for weeks after its presentation.

Each and every of our more than 200 students were treated to a Sampling of foods from each major food group. It was like a "Kiddie Cocktail Party".

Bonus Box Tops Sweepstakes!

What are you dreaming of for our school? Imagine the possibilities...

Enter every day from March 9th to April 9th for a chance to win

100,000 BONUS BOX TOPS

for our school! – that’s over 30 chances to win!

Go to: boxtops4education.com/extremedream from now through April 9th. It’s that easy!

Registration and entry are ABSOLUTELY FREE, so WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR????

Let's Celebrate Reading!

Every February, the students, staff, and faculty of Washington Elementary School take part in the school's "Let's Celebrate Reading" month long celebration of books and reading.

Here are a few pictures from this year's celebration:

Our PTO President reading to a 4th grade class.

Our superintedent of schools, Dr. Richard Spirito (pictured at right) and Mayor Botboyl (pictured below) also accepted our invitation to the community to come in and read to students!

Thanks to PTO President Kelly Hallquist, on February 25th, students were visited by "Amelia Bedelia" author Herman Parish and Amelia Bedelia herself.

Next time....Skip the lemon

EVERYONE should watch this:

http://