Friday, February 27, 2015

PGO Meeting Tues. Mar 3 about Staff Appreciation Luncheon

The March PGO meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 3rd at 6:30 PM at the home of Laura Wear, 143 Lincoln Avenue.  All are welcome and wine and snacks will be served as we put together a few preparations for the upcoming Staff Appreciation Luncheon (to be held March 18th.)  Parking on Lincoln Ave is especially tight with the snow piles.  Please car pool, park on Amity St., or email Laura to reserve a few available spots in neighbor’s driveways  l.wear@comcast.net

March coffee with Principal Maria Mendonsa

Meet the Amherst Regional Middle School Principal Thursday March 7


The Amherst Regional Middle School Parent Guardian Organization and
the Leverett Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization invite you to:


Coffee with the ARMS Principal Marisa Mendonsa
Thursday, March 5th at 7:00 pm
in the
Leverett Elementary School Library
85 Montague Road, Leverett

WRITING TO RAISE Writing Retreat

WRITING TO RAISE TM 
 Writing Retreat  
 We all have stories to tell and the ARMS PGO invites you to join us at this on-going mini writing retreat to share yours.
Thursday Evenings from 6:30 to 8:00
(Come to one, a few or all)
Dates: March 5 and 19
            April 2, 16 and 30
            May 14 and 28
Amherst Regional Middle School Library
170 Chestnut Street, Amherst – 2nd Floor
Theme: Raising Our Children and Growing Ourselves
 Goals: 
  • Connect parents and create a supportive, compassionate community in which to share  stories
  • Provide time for writing and light instruction to sharpen writing skills, hopefully inspiring participants to reflect and write more
  • Promote intercultural understanding and exchanges by telling authentic, diverse stories 
  • Share contemporary American culture, values and day-to-day life with our counter-parts in China (and elsewhere) by publishing an anthology available on-line.
  • Generate funds to support ARMS teacher and student initiatives from publication sales 
 Description
Open to anyone who has stories about family, children, parenthood and growth, this series of 90-minute Parent/Guardian writing sessions (held in the ARMS library) is designed to provide a space and time for parents who want to write and share their family stories.
Invited to kick-off the series is Corinne Demas, Mount Holyoke Professor and published author of her memoir Eleven Stories High: Growing up in Stuyvesant Town, 1948 – 1968. Professor Demas will talk about the writing process, share tips on how to make stories engaging and how to speak in our own authentic voice.
The final product will be an anthology of participant submissions. Space permitting, contributing to the anthology is open to anyone who is interested in submitting an article about family life, parenthood, home literacy practices, community culture, raising children, etc. The hope is to as inclusive as possible however neither participation nor submission guarantees inclusion in the anthology publication. Workshop organizers will make the determination as to compilation selection with professional guidance.  
An English version of the anthology will be sold to English-speaking community. The English-Chinese version of the book will be sold to Chinese readers in the forms of ibook, ebook and print texts. The money gained from sales will be used to benefit the middle school community.
 Structure of a Writing Group Meeting
 6:30 - 6:40 pm   Humanize the space via social time
 6:40 - 7:00 pm   Pre-writing talk
 7:00 - 7:45 pm   Intensive writing
 7:45 - 8:00 pm   Wrap-up discussion
  • The first ten minutes is for parents to connect and update one another on progress.
  • The next 20 minutes consists of a pre-write activity: a brief talk given by invited speaker, group members sharing about writing, parenting, cultural awareness, adolescence development, or a collaborative talk about some selected books, articles and videos. It may also include brainstorming activities, writing exercises, sharing pieces, discussing writing prompts or images, etc.
  • Writing is the main task. It will last 45 to 50 minutes.
  • Wrap up activity may be a go-around touch base, group member(s) sharing writing, or a discussion about some issues, concerns, difficulties.
Please Come!!! We'd love it if you let us know if you are interested in participating or have any questions by contacting Ying Zhang or Victoria Cliche at ArmsPgo@gmail.com but if you decide to just show up - that's GREAT too!!!

Important dates in MARCH


Wednesday, March 4 – Chorus 8/Band 8/Orchestra 8 Concert – MS Auditorium – 7:30 p.m. 

Thursday, March 5 – PGO Coffee with Principal Mendonsa – The meeting will be held this month at Leverett Elementary School from 7-8 p.m. 

Wednesday, March 11 – Smiles Dental Van will be at ARMS. Please be sure that you have turned in your Smiles dental form by Wednesday, March 4. 

Wednesday, March 11 – Chorus 7/Band7/Orchestra 7 Concert – MS Auditorium – 7:30 p.m. 

Thursday, March 12 – Early Release Day – Students will be dismissed at 12 noon. Lunches will be served on this date. 

Friday, March 13 – Teachers Curriculum/Workday – School is closed