This Saturday, Bennie Special Education teacher Kristie Lauth and I had a wonderful opportunity to attend one day of the Michigan Reading Association Conference. It was held this year at Cobo Hall in Detroit. Literacy experts from all academic levels attended and many sessions were held that contained information about philosophy, strategies and research related to all areas of reading development and instruction. We are excited to bring back the information we gained to share with our Bennie and Allen Park colleagues.  We place a strong emphasis at Bennie on using up to date methods and a variety of methods of instruction and intervention in order to best meet the varied needs of all our readers.

Mrs. Artman and Mrs. Lauth at Cobo Hall attending the MRA conference.

This is a very fun FREE event for the entire family. Click the link below for more details.

Hope to see you there!

Bingo for Books Friday March 23rd

So proud of Mrs. Page, who was honored at the PTA Founder’s Day dinner last night. Mrs Page is an instructional aide in our program and was selected as Bennie’s Outstanding Support Staff member of the year.

Sandy Artman and Maureen Page

Mrs. Page with all the honorees from Bennie at the banquet

This blog now has links to the Title I Program’s ‘Helping Children Learn’ Newsletter and Monthly Planners that have suggestions for ways to help your child have fun learning at home.  An archive of Newsletters has been added to the menu at the top of this blog. For your convenience, here is the Newsletter for February. Spanish Versions are available in the Helping Children Learn menu tab at the top of of Home Page of this blog.

February Parent Newsletter

February Planner- Activities

Please see the invitation in the link below for more details about the Parent Advisory Meeting which will be held in Room 208 on Tuesday, February 27th at 2:45 p.m.

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All students at Bennie were assessed on a number of grade level assessments during the month of January and early February. Based upon the results of the assessments, some students were found to have made gains and were discontinued from the Academic Support Programs. Other students who did not meet grade level benchmark goals would benefit from extra help during the day and were added to the program. Children who are in the program receive reading support within the classroom under the direction of the teacher. At times, they work with me, the reading specialist. Depending on what grade they are in they may be working on literacy skills such as letter and sound identification, sight words, reading fluency and story retelling and comprehension skills. Please read with and to your child regularly. Dr. Mary Bigler, who is a professor at Eastern Michigan University and an international literacy speaker recommends continuing to read with and to children even when they are in upper elementary grades. All Bennie Bobcats should have involved caring adults listening to them and reading with them on a regular basis. Not only will it help them academically, but it makes memories that will be treasured the rest of their lives.

Have a restful and wonderful holiday break. Enjoy your time with your wonderful children. Make time to snuggle up and read some enjoyable books together!

Some of the new books that arrived &are ready to become gifts for Winter Break

All children receiving Reading Support in Grades K-3 received a new book as a gift to take home and read or share with their families. There were lots of smiles as the books were handed out today!

In January, all students in kindergarten through 5th grade will be assessed using various grade-level appropriate tests to make sure they are making adequate growth and progress and to identity academic needs they may have. The Academic Support Program will  reevaluate which students are receiving service after reviewing the data from NWEA-MAP, DRA, Bear’s Spelling and DIBELS. If you have any questions about these assessments, please contact your child’s teacher or me.

Sandy Artman wishes you a Happy New Year!

Mrs. Natalie Knaggs has begun working at Bennie as an instructional aide in the 31a Academic Support Program. Mrs. Knaggs was a Montessori teacher and most recently was a lunch aide at Lindemann. Mrs. Knaggs will bring a wealth of experience and knowledge about working with young students as she begins working with mostly kindergarten students at Bennie. Natalie and her husband have a son and a daughter who are in dental school and a 16 year old daughter.  She has been hired for Kelly Paffhausen’s position. Kelly resigned for a career change in November.

Our newest Instructional Aide, Mrs. Natalie Knaggs

On Monday, December 11th, the Allen Park Rotary Club attended the School Board Meeting to present Arno, Bennie and Lindemann with a large check for $7,200! The funds were granted to fulfill a proposal for book sets that was submitted earlier this fall by the district’s Reading Specialist team. Dr. Barbara Chuby, Sandy Artman and Georgianna Asteriou wrote the proposal on behalf of the district’s elementary teachers and students to purchase additional high-quality book sets for each school’s Literacy Library/Guided Reading collections.

Children representatives from all three elementary schools attended the standing-room-only school board meeting to accept the check and thank the Rotary Club members.

They also presented the Rotary Members with thank you cards and a sign made by other students.

The presentation this night was particularly moving because Georgianna Asteriou, Lindemann’s Reading Specialist passed away in November after a battle with cancer. This grant is one of her last “gifts” to her beloved students and colleagues at Lindemann.

Academic Support Program Instructional Aide, Maureen Page has been given the honor of being Bennie’s Outstanding Support Person of the Year. She will join other award winners and guests at the PTA’s Founders Day Banquet to receive her award in February. Maureen is an exceptional person and does an outstanding job working with lower elementary students in the area of literacy. She is very deserving of receiving this honor. Congratulations, Mrs. Page!