Thursday, March 17, 2016

Special’s Night – A Reason to Celebrate!

Last night was ‘Specials Night’ at Goodrich School. Although everyday at Goodrich is ‘special’, we have a night to highlight our ‘special subjects’ - Art, Music, P.E., and the Learning Resource Center (LRC). It is a night when students show their parents all the FUN they have in their ‘specials’ each week. There was also a photo booth for families to take a picture as a memento of the evening’s experience.

In Art, Ms. Staudt used our GATOR mascot to show off some of our GATOR PRIDE. The students selected a foam gator magnet to decorate with jewels found among the Art room treasures. As you can see, some of the creations were dazzling!

Music was full of excitement with a Garage Band. Ms. Clark used the iPads to introduce music theory to families. Students had fun recording music, creating loops to play back, and demonstrating how technology is integrated in the Music class.

Mrs. Weber had three fun activities in P.E. Kindergarten through third grade students played ‘Bean Bag Tag’ where bean bags were slid across the floor to hit the other team’s feet. After feet were tagged, students returned to the game by yelling, “I’m awesome! I’m awesome! I’m awesome!” Aren’t we all? The fourth through six graders played ‘Ga Ga Ball’, a fast moving dodge ball game where the ball stays on the floor and players try to hit it at another player’s foot to get them out. You could get back in once the person who tagged you goes out.  Cup Stacking was also available for those who wanted a quieter game.


A big highlight of the evening is always the Goodrich ‘Thespians’ putting on a Reader’s Theatre authored by Mrs. Sayre, the LRC director. This year’s presentation was adapted from the book, Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos. Dr. Scaletta, our principal, is the star of each production and provides comic relief. This year he did not disappoint!


During the evening Mrs. Sayre hosted the Scholastic Book Fair. Families were welcome to come into the LRC and browse a great selection of books, posters, and other fun trinkets. Profits from this annual book fair benefit the library and students as well.

Thus, another successful evening is recorded in the books. It was fun for all - including staff, students, and parents alike. It gave us all an opportunity to enjoy each other's company in a relaxed setting, and provided the opportunity for students to show off their expertise and enthusiasm for those non-academic subjects that enrich their lives. Just yesterday an article (Why Arts Education is Crucial, and Who’s Doing It Best? by Fran Smith at www.edutopia.org) stated “involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skill. Arts learning can also improve motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork.” So while we’re having fun in our ‘specials’, we’re gaining so much in our education as well.

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