Terraset Trout Eggs Due This Week!

Have you noticed the large fish tank in Terraset's courseway? Well it is about to be populated! Our next batch of some 200 Brook Trout eggs will be arriving on Thursday, October 11th.

These eggs come to us as part of the Trout in the Classroom program sponsored by Terraset PTA. First introduced in 2009 by Dianne Rose and George Paine, Terraset students have successfully released about 60 Brook Trout into Virginian streams over the past three years!

Originally the fish were raised by students in our Eco Club. Unfortunately, we cannot run Eco Club this year as the lead volunteer parent, Dianne Rose, has now "graduated" from Terraset along with the graduation of her younger child. However, this does not mean the Trout in the Classroom program will not continue. Indeed, it is about to flourish with its inclusion into the regular curriculum of one of Terraset's classrooms.

Ms Meredith Capets will work with her students to maintain the tank. The students will get to observe the life cycle of the brook trout and share in the responsibility of caring for the Trout. However, Ms Capets will not have to manage this on her own. A number of older students at Terraset, along with a couple of Terraset graduates are keen to help. Ms Capets and the volunteers will be there at key times to make sure the water quality (testing and changing as needed) and temperature (50 - 55 degrees) are right, the air pump and filter are working, any dead fish are removed, the fish are adequately fed. The team will work together to ensure as many of the eggs survive and grow vigorously through to their release time.

Terraset students release the brook trout they raised last year
into Red Bud Run

Of course, release time is the most exciting part of the whole project. The children, along with their parents, transport the fish to a carefully selected spot in a fresh water creek --typically a couple of hours drive away from Terraset.

Its been great to watch this program establish itself over the years. One of the exciting things is that every student in the school gets to watch the eggs hatch into alevin, then grow into fry at which time they are released into the wild.

Enjoy Our Fall Gardens!

Colorful display for Outdoor Classroom

Cone flowers and hyssop for the
Butterfly Garden

There are several new plants planted around the outdoor classroom, butterfly garden, and vegetable garden for the fall. In the Outdoor Classroom: hyssop, asters, daisies, Russian sage, and sedum. In the Butterfly Garden: white and purple cone flowers and hyssop. And finally the Vegetable Garden: herbs--thyme, basil, lemon balm, marjoram; and Winter vegetables--collard greens, red cabbage, and kale.



Herbs and winter vegetables for the
Vegetable Garden

The beautiful new plantings are all thanks to Troop 304 Junior Girl Scouts, who are Terraset, Armstrong, Foxmill, and Hunterwoods 5th graders. The girls determined where each plant should go based on its needs, then they prepared the space by digging out a hole, making sure it had plenty of organic garden soil, and then planted and watered each plant. “How wonderful!” Ms Trout exclaimed on hearing the news. “I can't tell you how much this means to us.”

A huge thank you to Troop 304 for their thoughtfulness and generosity. “We will take good care of the plants!” Ms Trout promised.

Please take a moment to go admire the results of the girls' hard work! The weather is perfect for roaming around the gardens.

Amy Krull
Kim Lowther
Troop 304 Leaders

It Takes a Village

It was great to see so many people rally to help the Lawrence family! New to the Terraset community and expecting their fourth child, things did not go to plan when Charlotte hurt her foot.

On the second day of school, while walking her kids to Terraset, Charlotte was hit by a car! “Obviously not paying attention” Charlotte laughed. This happened at the intersection of Soapstone and Purple Beach Drive. A driver drove over Charlotte’s foot, she fell on the road, then was rushed off to the ER. All this occurred right in front of her children.

As it turned out, Ms. Trout, Terraset’s Principal, arrived on the scene. She immediately took care of the children while emergency workers were trying to reach Mr. Lawrence. The children were taken to Terraset and comforted by Mrs. Hunstad, Terraset’s Assistant Principal. Then four hours later, Ms. Trout went to pick up Charlotte from the ER. “First time we ever met! “ Charlotte declared.

Having just moved to Reston, the Lawrences had no family or friends close by to help. They needed some quickly, so Ms. Trout put them in touch with the PTA and the Terraset magic started to happen.  Firstly, the Goetz family stepped up offering to walk the younger children to school. They were quickly assisted by the Penn family (who actually lived a little closer to the Lawrences).

Charlotte Lawrence and her new baby, Bruce.

But more excitement was on the way. Baby Lawrence, Bruce, decided to come into the world just a little earlier than expected. According to doctors, the road accident caused “Baby Bruce to come two weeks earlier, when our three other kids were one week late.” Mrs. Lawrence told us. So, Charlotte found herself back in hospital. In marches a team of Terraset tigers -- teachers and parents -- with meals for the family. “Just incredibly nice people! We feel so lucky to be part of this community.” Mrs. Lawrence said.

Welcome to Reston Tim, Charlotte, Elliot, June, Vincent and Bruce. We are all looking forward to getting to know you better!

By the way, the driver who caused the accident was charged on site by the police and court day is October 17. “I wish we had more crossing guards near by the school....” Mrs. Lawrence commented.

Spirited Garden Work Builds Spirit

The turnout at the Garden cleanup On Monday, August 27th was overwhelming. There are not enough words to say thank you. There were probably 70 people there (although our name count comes to 67, undoubtedly some have been left off this list! If you notice any names missing—see below—please let us know!) A special shout out to our Pack 32 Cub Scouts and all the Terraset Girl Scouts (including daisies & brownies) – you worked hard, you worked well… YOUR gardens are fantastic!

Vern James (left) of Whole Foods Markets with the early arrivals.
Another 50 or so people arrived to help!

We had parents, grandparents, students and staff. At the end of the evening, a community member came strolling through on her “evening constitutional” and was amazed at how the gardens were looking.

Also.. a very special thanks to Vern James of Whole Foods Markets, Reston. Our vegetable garden started with a donation from his store. We received another fantastic donation of over $4,000 this year. Vern showed up to drop off some snacks for the workers. THEN, he ended up hauling bags of mulch for us. What a Terraset Tiger… thanks Vern!

Many hands make light work! Well, maybe not light, but fun!
See more photos at https://picasaweb.google.com/Terraset.Friends

The transformation of the school entrances and gardens was unbelievable. If you get a chance to walk through the grounds, you must do it. They look beautiful! Take some friends with you.

Kim Lowther will be Rota-tilling the vegetable patches on Tuesday, August 29th with a view to planting some winter crops. We hope we can engage some of the students when they get back too.

Our Thank You List!

Vern James of Whole Foods Markets, Reston

Amy Smith – with Erik, Tommy and Shea
Amy Krull – with Ellie, Kate, Laela & Colin Huddleston, Sara & Maggie Holland
Suzanne White
Michelle Moyer
Alison Stobie – with Sophie and Rory
George Paine
Heather and David Thomas – with John and Julia
Stephanie Randall – with Kyla
Mary Purvis – with Olivia
Kim Lowther - with Haley Kuhn
Lindsay Trout
Barbara Byron – with Mary, Chris and John
Deana Dueno – with Sofia and Omar
Maria Newman
Lindsay McNell – with Ashton
Ruth and Dennis Schulte – with Celia, Lily and Leo
Tati Greenwood – with Alexa
Julie Thomas – with Tara and Nicole
Jamie Andrews – with Gillian
Annette Bobby
Kiris Powell
Traci Waller – with CJ, Hannah and Caleb
Brian Davidson – with Noah
Rebecca Estrada – with Max
Mrs. Smith – with Myisha & Mujahid Jones
Liz & James Falcone – with Katie

Terraset's New Administration Set to Serve

It’s a whole new ballgame for Terraset as our new administration gears up for the 2012-2013 school year. The new Principal, Ms Lindsay Trout, and Assistant Principal, Ms Candace Hunstad, have been working hard for the past couple of months. Not just because they want to do a good job, but because they are “coming home” and they want to give something back. “Since a very young age, I have aspired to give back to the Reston community as it has given so much to me.” Ms Trout shared.  “I’ve always wanted to come back home and serve the community.” added Ms Hunstad. “I grew up giving back with my father through our involvement in Reston Interfaith.”

You see, both our Principal and Assistant Principal know our community because they grew up in it! Ms Trout graduated from Terraset, Hughes and South Lakes and feels the people and the schools had a big impact on who she is today. Ms Hunstad went to Sunrise Valley then followed the Hughes-South Lakes path too!

Terraset’s new Assistant Principal, Candace Hunstad (left) and

Principal, Lindsay Trout, enjoy a short break on Terraset’s rooftop.

Ms Trout and Ms Hunstad have a driving vision for Terraset. They will continue to develop Terraset as a school that meets students where they are and propels them forward–academically, socially and emotionally–as far as they can possibly go.  “Students will learn to think critically, to problem solve creatively and to communicate effectively and respectfully while they are here. They will move to middle school prepared and personally invested in their own learning.” Ms Trout stated.

So how are they going to make this happen? “We are going to implement strategies and processes that will allow teachers not only to reach all students but to challenge all students academically.” said Ms Trout. “Parents of all students will feel as though their child’s needs are being met here!”

Of course, there are some things they both agree should not be changed. The fantastic teachers, great community and wonderful students are welcome to stay. Indeed, the appreciation that the staff, students and families have for this school has already made its mark. “I take great pride in our school and our staff, students and families and will lead by way of serving this wonderful Terraset family.” Ms Trout committed.

Our new administration seems determined to take a very successful school and continue to move it forward. With this energy, Terraset seems destined for a great year. Any last words Ms Hunstad? “Go Tigers!”

Trailers Get the Students Outdoors

from Liz Falcone

If you haven’t seen them yet, two new classrooms were added to Terraset this summer… outdoors! We are now the proud owners of two more trailers.

However, no one (or two) group of students get them all to themselves. No! The whole school gets to share them when they go to Art or FLES (Spanish).

Last year, Spanish was “squeezed” into the stage area in the cafeteria and Art was in Pod Three with the 3^rd and 5^th grade classes. The stage was simply too small for our classes (particularly 5^th and 6^th grades) and the room in Pod Three will be needed by a fourth 3^rd grade class that is required this year.
 

Images of the new trailer-classrooms outside exit door

three (near the Gym)

As soon as you mention “trailer” you can get some fairly emotional responses, but in this case, our teachers are quite happy with the arrangment. Mrs. Wehle, Terraset’s Art teacher says “One major advantage is the students can listen to music when working on their art.” Mrs. Calvache Vu, our Spanish teacher is also looking forward to not having to “keep the volume so low!” Since FLES is a study of language and culture, you will often find the students dancing and singing in her classes. Everyone loves that unless they are having a test next door or sharing some quiet reading time. “No worries about noise and testing schedules during the SOL's.” Mrs. Wehle laughed.

Both teachers are also happy about being out in nature! “I would like to try and use the outdoor space more often.” Mrs. Wehle offered and for sure, Mrs. Calvache Vu will have our kids parading outside as they reinact Mardi Gras!

If you are worried about whether the children will be comfortable temperature wise, the airconditioning units seem to be working fine. We don’t know about the heating yet, but that will be serviced by Fairfax County Public Schools along with all the other equipment in the school.

“I would love to paint on the outside of the art trailer.” Suggested Mrs. Wehle “I have to check with Ms Trout first” she added, smiling.

There is one piece of advice… students should use the restroom BEFORE going to class in the trailer classroms. There is no water or bathroom out “in the OUTBACK” as Mrs. Wehle likes to call it. Now I’m feeling homesick!

Summer Reading Success

from Bettina Forman, Terraset Reading Specialist

Sometime last winter our principal asked a few of us to think of ideas in case we received funding for some sort of summer school program. I thought it would be wonderful simply to have the library open, and teachers available to help students choose just right books for summer reading. My friend, special ed teacher Maria Newman, thought wouldn't it be wonderful if we could feed children over the summer. And so began what turned into a program that did both and a bit more.

This summer our school provided breakfast and lunch on a daily basis-- free of charge, and with choices-- to any child, eighteen or younger, who wanted to dine. We opened the library from 9:30-11:30 every Tuesday and Thursday morning and provided, teenage, senior, and teacher volunteers to play games, create art projects, make play dough villages, help choosing books, read books together,do puzzles, learn chess, work on the summer assignment, write stories, listen to read alouds, and see their favorite teachers.



Teachers and older friends are all there to help with
letter recognition... a first step!

Typically, we had at least thirty kids come each time. Sometimes parents accompanied children and stayed for the fun. Several younger children came with their sisters and brothers. We had wonderful volunteers from South Lakes HS and Langston Hughes. Many rising seventh graders came as well as children about to enter kindergarten in September.

This program was totally Terraset grown and accomplished entirely through volunteer efforts with only a small stipend from PTA for materials. Many of the games were borrowed from teachers. All of the loving care came from staff and community. We are so thankful to have had this wonderful opportunity to spend this special time enriching our Terraset students over the summer and hope it's the start of something lasting.

Healthy Donation for Terraset

Every year, school PTAs put in hours to identify their fundraising needs. Supporting classrooms, field trips, enrichment programs, and teachers’ professional development takes a lot of effort and money. So how good is it to start the year with a gift from a generous benefactor?

Today, we received a check for $4,281.25 from Whole Foods Market, Reston. This represents the proceeds from one of their “5% days”, held in July, which was donated to Terraset PTA.

Whole Foods Market works tirelessly to support its community through its Whole Kids Foundation -- supporting schools and inspiring families to improve children’s nutrition and wellness. The Reston store has a long-time relationship with Terraset having made direct donations to Terraset’s cafeteria, supported our Earth Day Carnival and provided a grant to establish our vegetable garden three years ago. This latest contribution will help us maintain our gardens and expand them.

Vern James, Marketing Team Leader for Whole Foods Market, Reston said “[We aim] to help children and families make healthy food choices for life.” While Whole Foods Market does not dictate how the funds they donate should be used, they do encourage us to use them for our gardens and nutrition education programs. So, with that in mind, watch out for new efforts from Terraset PTA to work with our teachers and community to encourage our children to take an active role in making healthy food choices.

Community Volunteers Keep Terraset Kids Involved

The Terraset ES summer reading program continues to attract a big group of children each Tuesday and Thursday. It’s great to see the kids enjoying themselves… so much so, they don’t seem to realize they’re honing their academic skills at the same time. You’ll see rising kindergartners learning new board games, while several 4^th-7^th graders practice their chess strategies. At the same time, groups of kids are conversing happily while working with palydough or building Lego cranes.

Dominick Belardo shares some stretegy tips

All this activity goes on with the helpful guidance of a number of teachers and community volunteers. Gabriella Castillo of James Madison HS said with a smile “My Mom told me to come!” then quickly returned to drawing with a couple of girls as they discussed the summer and talked about their plans for the rest of the week.

Dominick Belardo, who lives in the Terraset district, heard about the program through one of his neighbors and decided to come and help. He has become very popular with several of the kids as he challenges them to games of checkers or chess!

Sachi Jain and Ana Martinez plan and play with participants

Indeed, all of the volunteers are highly sort after. Friends Ana Martinez and Sachi Jain – both students at South Lakes HS – willingly share their artistic talents with participants. The kids are writing stories or making birthday cards, whatever inspires them at the time. “Ms Trout told my Mom about this” said Ana and Sachi quickly added “So, Ana brought me here too!”

Gregory Fischer selects just the right piece of Lego

Gregory Fischer, who attends the College of William and Mary, is another volunteer. He’s been sharing his passion for logic and physics at the Lego table and at a chess board! Given his ultimate goal is life is to “win the Nobel Prize in Physics” our kids are enjoying the challenge of playing with him!

The program will continue through August 17th, so there will be plenty more opportunities for the kids to come and have fun. With breakfast available from 9-10am, the children can walk on down to the library, participate in the activities, borrow a book, and listen to a story then head back for a free lunch at 11:30am.

Summer Reading Fun!

Terraset ES Library was abuzz today for its first Summer Reading Program meeting! Over 30 kids arrived to participate. Spearheaded by Bettina Forman and Maria Newman – both specialist teachers at Terraset – the program provides an opportunity for Terraset students to keep up their reading and friendships during the long summer break.

Mrs. Newman reads with Jazmine

Thanks to Mrs. Newman and Mrs. Forman, Terraset was also selected to participate in the USDA Summer Food Service Program. This means the kids can have breakfast before they join in the reading activities, and then enjoy lunch before they leave the school. “Nutrition is a key factor in summer academic retention” Mrs. Newman said. “Any child, 18 and under, can come for a free breakfast or lunch, Monday through Friday, until August 17^th.”
 

Ms Trout admires an illustration by Genesis

Today we saw over ten Terraset teachers, all volunteering their time to support participants. In addtion, there was a strong showing of high school and middle school volunteers. All around the library children were reading, playing, building and talking. Undoubtedly, they were happy to be there. Participants were also encouraged to borrow school library books so they can continue to read at home.

Mrs. Forman reads to the group

Terraset has progressively enjoyed significant improvement in Developmental Reading and Standards of Learning test results. In no small way, this can be attributed to the efforts made by Terraset teachers. Throughout the year the Terraset Leadership Team organizes in-house staff development that encourages teachers to explore effective and enjoyable ways to help students improve their reading and writing. The Summer Reading Program is another example of the efforts our teachers are making to help our kids continue to develop. Indeed... this program is so much more than that... it is evidence of how our teachers care about the "whole child". Their constant work to find ways for all students to be successful cannot go unnoticed.

The Summer Reading Program is set to run each Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 to 11:30 am. The Summer Food Services Program offers FREE breakfast (served 9:00-10:00) AND lunch (served 11:30-12:20), Monday to Friday. Both programs will run through August 17^th.

Precursor to Carnival Fun

From Liz Falcone

I had a chance to reflect on the stresses of preparing for a carnival these last couple of days... Read more about the Precursor to Carnival Fun on Reston Patch.

Looking from the Inside Out!

Looking from the Inside Out!

By Liz Falcone

I have had a unique opportunity these past five months… the chance to look at Terraset from the inside… out! I have been a long term substitute teacher in a 2^nd grade classroom. Boy, did I learn a thing or two!

1. Kids melt my heart
2. Teachers are TOTALLY over worked
3. Time is indeed the greatest gift you can give your own child
4. Life-long-learning is no cliché

Those of you who have had the opportunity to spend seven hours a day with 20 or more kids know what a challenge it can be. First off, it is impossible to work out which child to speak to while making sure everyone gets a turn. Then, you can’t speak because you lose your voice by the second week. Next, you need to remember to stop speaking so you don’t use up all the kids’ work time! Kids love to “do” -- Mrs. Falcone loves to talk!

Lesson Number One: Mini-lesson means just that! You don’t have to share all your thoughts with the class. Kids have much more fun discovering what you want them to understand.

Of course, you can re-discover so much through their discovery too. The joy of spelling “update” all by yourself; the fun of writing a story with a friend about a mad giant; the pride in simply reading and being able to read to a friend. It takes a lot of patience to allow this type of learning to unfold. It also takes so much more preparation than I imagined! I have worked in a number of different positions in my “illustrious” career, but somehow… the responsibility of guiding the ongoing development of 21 young lives seems so much more important than making sure some software development project is completed on time. Their little faces invade your sleep as you think about how best to help each comprehend double digit addition – you are driven to spend every minute available to make sure every day provides just the right learning opportunity for at least one “somebody” in the class.

Oh, and can I let you in on a little secret? In elementary schools, teachers do not sit around in the staff lounge drinking coffee (unlike my experience in both secondary schools and universities!) Indeed, it can be difficult for many of them to even get a bathroom break! The kids arrive and the teacher is on deck! Even when the class has a special, teachers participate in planning meetings. I promise you, there is no down time! Many of the teachers arrive at 7am… many of them go home at 7pm! I know… I was there too! It’s the only way you can get your room ready for another day of… well, the full day of learning the next day brings.

Lesson Number Two: elementary school teaching is not necessarily a job that lets you be at home with your kids – not during the school year anyway!

And that reminds me, teachers’ families put up with a lot! For five months I was not home in time to prepare dinner, my husband did all the shopping, and my daughter got out of bed an hour earlier than she needed to just because she wanted to spend some time with me. Now, I know that much of this can be attributed to my “First Year Teacher” status, but I honestly had no idea just how much out-of-hours time teachers put into their career.

Lesson Number Three: If you are able to give a teacher a small gift of time that allows them to go home a little earlier, they can pay it forward by giving that gift of time to their own family.

So, where has this unique experience landed me? Wide-eyed and bushy-tailed… eager to learn more and understand what drives individuals to want to teach! It is draining. It is challenging. It is amazing to feel that you can make a positive difference in a child’s life! It is wonderful to be in an evironment where everyone is striving to learn more… to learn more about the curriculum, to learn more about how to teach well, to learn more about how to foster a real love of learning in each child.

Lesson Number Four: Life long learning is the key to my happiness. To know that I can continue to grow and discover new things about the world, just like the seven to eight year olds I was fortunate enough to spend the last five months with, keeps me young and keeps me happy!