Slow Down Plea From Parents

Ridge Heights Road, Reston VA, is a busy place when school is in! With three schools bordering the street -- Terraset ES, South Lakes HS, and Langston Hughes MS -- there can be a lot of traffic at arrival and dismissal times. Unfortunately, some drivers forget to obey the 25 MPH speed limit.

This was a hot topic at the Terraset PTA meeting on Monday, September 15th. A parent of a kindergarten student expressed concern that Ridge Heights traffic is often too fast, making it difficult for children to cross! Observing that Terraset is the only school in the area without a Crossing Guard, she contacted FCPS Department of Facilities and Transportation in addition to the Reston Police.

There is a little history here.... some years ago, Terraset requested an additional bus to service students in the school district who live on the west side of Soapstone Drive and north of South Lakes Drive. This bus was allocated at the expense of a crossing guard at the corner of Soapstone and Ridge Heights. Given that there is an underpass on Ridge Heights into Terraset, this seemed to be a reasonable solution. However, at the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year, the underpass was closed due to the school renovation.

Fortunately, the Ridge Heights underpass is now open for arrival and dismissal. In theory! At least three times this week, the underpass gate was not open at 4:15 pm when some walkers were still making their way home. The gate is supposed to remain open through 4:30 pm. One student walking through the meadow behind the Ridge Heights Pool on Friday afternoon exclaimed "The gate was closed! But I found a way around!" Has the gate been closed at any other arrival/dismissal times?

Apparently there has been widespread concern about Crossing Guards in Reston. On September 18th the Fairfax County Chief of Police posted this comment regarding "traffic congestion in and around certain schools".

Given the level of shared concern expressed at its September 15th meeting, Terraset PTA created a committee to further investigate Ridge Heights traffic issues, with a goal to define the extent of the problem and propose possible solutions. The committee will report back to the next PTA meeting on October 7th.

33,395 Bricks Later

Terraset's renovation is progressing at full steam. Since the children have been safely out of the building, the construction crew has had full access for the summer! The playground may have been closed for summer, but what amazing things have happened all around it!

Terraset's original open plan

Designed by McLean based architects, DCS Design, Terraset was conceived with an open plan layout and implemented as an energy conserving building. The resulting design, with two to three feet of earth cover over and around the building, was said to provide energy savings of 70 percent when compared to the average operating costs of other Fairfax County Schools at the time.

The school won the Owens-Corning Energy Award, Institutional category for 1975, and the 1975 Walter Taylor Award from the American Institute of Architects and the American Association of School Administrators, for best educational environment.

Terraset opened in 1977 and has featured in several architectural and environmental reports. However, after 37 years of housing the education of hundreds of students each year, with little in the way of any physical updates, it was time for an overhaul. The Terraset community felt strongly that the unique character of our "set in the Earth" school should be retained. At the same time our educators were eagerly hoping for simple things like "a door" for each classroom.

33,395 blocks, 3,462 tons of stone, and
1,070 man hours

The plan to renovate Terraset was announced late in 2010, with the actual renovation starting in January 2014. Already we have seen massive changes. Half a hill has been removed from the east corner of the school; the south-east side of the school interior has been gutted; and of course we have "Tiger Town" on the new black-top at the back of the school. And the action has stepped up quite a bit this summer. The front parking lot and Kiss and Ride have been totally redesigned and repaved using  33,395 bricks, the foundations for the new Library, Art and Music wing have been laid, the stairs leading down to the courtyard have been demolished and a temporary stair case has been created for access to the roof from the NW side of the school (near door 9). If you have driven past Terraset in the past ten weeks you have probably wondered how it could be possible that our children will be going to school at that site!

Courtyard staircase has gone!

But go to school they will, and they will start to enjoy some of the benefits immediately. Initially, work on the gym was planned for summer 2015, but it has already started. The gym has a new floor, walls, basketball equipment, curtain, lines, and office. However, library space has been reduced so that the new rooms in the area under renovation (south east side) can be completed. It is expected that this first phase of the renovation will be finished in early 2015. At the same time, our new Media Center (library) will be opened.

Removal of footbridge 

It was rumored that a local farmer had bought the foot-bridge that provided access to the school roof from Kiss & Ride. Apparently, it was not viable to remove and reuse the bridge in one piece as originally hoped. However, it looked pretty complete when the cranes lifted it out in early July!

The new layout will include over 30 classrooms, with purpose built art rooms and music theaters. We can look forward to a brand new Media Center and a renovated gym. Natural light will be enhanced within the school via windows around the perimeter and an atrium like "cube" at the center can function as an outdoor classroom. All the classrooms will be equipped with up-to-date technologies including integrated audio, WiFi and high-speed Ethernet.

The next twelve months or so will not be easy, but the results promise to be outstanding!

Read-A-Thon Hits Its Target with Buzz Lightyear!

Big celebrations at Terraset ES this week! The students worked hard throughout March at their Read-A-Thon, the school’s big fundraiser for the year. The theme, Find Your Space to Read, encouraged all the kids to join in... along with a promise from Ms. Trout, Terraset's Principal, that she would dress as Buzz Lightyear for a day if they reached their target! With a goal to read 1,000,000 minutes, the Terraset community astounded itself by reading 1.4 million minutes this year. 

Buzz Lightyear (Principal Trout) congratulates winners - click for more photos

But that is not where the amazement ended! As a fundraiser, the Terraset PTA hoped to raise $4,000. What excitement when nearly $9,000 flooded in. Students had approached their parents, extended family and neighbors to sponsor them for this event… and they were not disappointed.

One of the big motivators was a draw for a chromebook. For every $10 raised by a student, a ticket in their name went in the draw. Fourth grader, Myiesha Jones, was the lucky winner of this great prize. As a special surprise, the Read-A-Thon committee also sent this year’s alien mascot home with a second lucky winner, Kindergartner, Samantha Triston.

Twenty-one students got to select from the prize pool due to their great efforts this year!

Prize	Name	Grade
Overall Top Reader	Hannah Lane	6
Overall Top Fundraiser	Alexa Remirez-Greenwood	4
Top Reader - Kindergarten	Charlotte Ober	K
Top Fundraiser - Kindergarten	Tony Villavicencio	K
Special Mention - Outstanding Reader AND Fundraiser	Noah DeGurse	K
Top Reader - 1st Grade	Donovan Stewart	1
Top Fundraiser - 1st Grade	Natalia Remirez-Greenwood	1
Special Mention - Outstanding Reader AND Fundraiser	Logan Konopka	1
Top Reader - 2nd Grade	Brianna Stewart	2
Top Fundraiser - 2nd Grade	Ella Hovermale	2
Special Mention - Outstanding Reader AND Fundraiser	Peyton Penn	2
Top Reader - 3rd Grade	Jeril Antoney	3
Top Fundraiser - 3rd Grade	Kathleen Russell	3
Special Mention - Outstanding Reader AND Fundraiser	Elise Kalinowski	3
Top Reader - 4th Grade	Finnian Wilson	4
Top Fundraiser - 4th Grade	Jack Bobby	4
Special Mention - Outstanding Reader AND Fundraiser	Sebastian Cabrera-Guy	4
Top Reader - 5th Grade	Nicholas Migliara	5
Top Fundraiser - 5th Grade	Katie Falcone	5
Top Reader - 6th Grade	Stephanie Silverio	6
Top Fundraiser - 6th Grade	Carlo Nassar	6

The results were all celebrated via Terraset’s WTER when the Read-A-Thon Awards Show aired Monday morning, April 21^st. Other stellar readers mentioned during the show, in addition to the prize winners, included… no surprises here... Mrs. Stanmyre (Terraset Librarian) and Mrs. Forman (Terraset Reading Specialist) who led our staff stars by reading over 16,000 minutes between them! Stand-out readers among our parents included Diana Tamarez (Donovan and Brianna's mom) and Neil Stobie (Sofie's dad).

Congratulations to all participants and thanks to everyone who helped to make this event such a success. What Terraset Tiger Pride! 

2014 Read-A-Thon: Behind the Scenes

With the 2014 Read-A-Thon Awards Show set for next week, it seems like a good opportunity to reflect on what goes into organizing such a big event!

Preparation for the Read-A-Thon started back in November. It can be challenging to get people to step forward to organize an event like this... everyone who has ever been a volunteer knows how much work it can be. But, Jen Schoenborn, Terraset PTA Vice-President, said "I'll do it... but I'll need some help!" At about the same time, Liz Falcone was finishing up a long term assignment and, seeing the "light at the end of the tunnel", thought she would be able to help. Liz had worked with the organizing committee that first brought the Read-A-Thon to Terraset in 2010, and had an idea of what was ahead. Alison Stobie simultaneously offered her assistance having some great ideas for a theme for this year's event!

Brian Davidson

And so the 2014 Read-A-Thon was born! The newly formed committee set about pulling everything together. Brian Davidson was their first target. He had developed the online logging site at read.terrasetpta.org used in previous years. Was he willing to manage it again? Yes! The logging site is hosted by his business, Syzzle Inc., at no cost to the PTA and provides all the back-end functionality required to track and report on the Read-A-Thon progress.

Prize display

"Next we needed to get our prizes organized!" Liz remembered. Heather Thomas had helped with this before, so her name came quickly to mind. Heather's close friend and neighbor, Stephanie Randall, was added to the list. Both generously said yes and went about making a VERY skimpy budget go a long way. The big prizes for top readers and top fundraisers are not so difficult to get, but finding more than 1,750 participation prizes to distribute over the five week event  -- that don't blow the budget -- is no mean feat!

Dome Theater

Of course, the Read-A-Thon is not just a fundraiser... it is a huge community event! Alison Stobie wanted "the kids to experience something they would remember for the rest of their lives." It was time to coordinate with the PTA Assemblies Chair to enhance the edu-tainment component. Having established the "Find Your Space to Read" theme, the Dome Theater was an obvious choice. But... "Can we do it?" asked Liz. It was a full day event that required challenging scheduling to ensure every student got to participate without missing out on lunch, recess, or any of their specials! After several days of studying the school's master schedule and liaising with Kramer Entertainment, a plan developed and the Dome experience was confirmed. In addition, Mrs. Forman saw the Read-A-Thon as an excellent opportunity to arrange an author visit. Coordinating with Heather Thomas, Moira Rose Donohue and Wendy Shang were invited to inspire our tigers in the joys of writing.

View Video

Planning the blast-off needed lots of energy! The Read-A-Thon launch assembly has featured Terraset families from the outset. The first year, the Sogandares and Rose children developed skits to announce the read-a-thon. The following year, the Goetz family -- and all six children -- entertained us with their Mad Scientist sketches. Last year, the Dueno family set out to look for their reading treasure throughout the school pursuing the pirate theme. Who would uphold the "family" tradition this year? Dion Seneca was approached, and after a little persuasion, agreed to work with her kids to launch our space theme! Mission control was pleased!

Class results as each returns from lunch

The reading started in March and the excitement began! The initial reading block was only four days, so the first round of participation prizes hit very quickly. Jennifer Hatch, Erika Pattee and Peter Crowe had all been coerced to help. "It was not hard to convince them" Liz offered "so many Terraset parents are willing to help when they are asked!" Every Friday this team showed up at school to distribute prizes to the 230 or so students who submitted their reading log that week. Soon, the team members became the most popular people in school as the kids looked forward to their little prizes.

One of the great features of this year's Read-A-Thon was the resident Alien. Each day during March it would hide somewhere in the school. The custodians were roped into helping with this, and Mrs. Jenkins happily agreed to distribute the prize coupons to students who found the Alien each day. "Where's the Alien?" became the most frequent greeting offered to Liz Falcone for several weeks she said.

And so the month continued... WTER promotions, press releases, reporting minutes, promoting sponsorship, collecting sponsorship..."I don't know how many times I needed to check that sponsorship total!' Jen Schoenborn exclaimed.  But, it all lead to a FANTASTIC outcome. While we can't announce the results just yet (the Awards Show will be on April 21st) we can tell you that:

• 100% of Terraset students participated
• Over 200 parents, grandparents and staff participated
• We read over 1.4 million minutes
• More than 100 students collected sponsorship

What a juggernaut! This event is one of the biggest undertaken by the Terraset PTA each year. But, it's worth it... we hope!

Read-A-Thon: Mission Sponsors Needed!

So, you have read about the great success of our mission to date. People throughout the Terraset community are finding their space to read and accumulating those meteor-minutes. However, the ultimate success of this "rocket" will be measured by how much it ignites the interest of sponsors!

Sponsorship will deliver a badly needed pay-load to the school. Have you started asking yet? Grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles... bring them all into the fold and sign them up for this mission.

Here is the Standard Operating Procedure for this phase of the mission:

1. Student participants should ask family, friends and neighbors to sponsor them.
2. Adult participants should consider making a donation ($5-$10 would make a difference)
3. Sponsors can pledge 1c per minute, or more. 
4. Some sponsors may prefer to make a donation. A $20 donation is nearly equivalent to a sponsorship rate of 1c per minute if you read 60 minutes each day. Collect these donations at the time they are offered.
5. Total minutes (at-home plus at-school) will be calculated and then reported to you on Tuesday, April 8th. 
6. Once you have this report, collect your sponsors’ pledges.
7. Sponsors calculate the amount they owe using the total minutes you read multiplied by the amount per minute they pledged.
8. Return all sponsorship and donation funds to school by Friday, April 11th.  
9. Results and rewards will be announced Monday, April 21st.

So, one small step for a Terraset Tiger, one giant leap for our Terraset Pride! Make your contribution to this cosmic event!

Need a Sponsorship Form?

Read-A-Thon: Mission Update

We are into our third week of the read-a-thon mission and all is going well! Our reading capsule is on target as we accumulate, with light speed, our meteor-minutes!

Right on track!

There is no doubt our resident space alien has helped. His captivating eyes have motivated all the Terraset Tigers as they hunt through our bunker headquarters for its whereabouts! This hunt has contributed 3,500 minutes to our current total of more than 525,000! Yes, 525,000 meteor-minutes have been accumulated! We are now in the vicinity of Jupiter and we're hurtling towards Saturn and its sixty-two moons.

There are three major strategies in place. The first, at-school reading -- the students have accumulated more than 61% of the meteor-minutes amassed thus far using this technique. The second, at-home reading -- children have been lying under, over or inside as many different space-using-vessels that they can locate, surreptitiously gathering an additional 19% of the meteor-minute collection, as they find their space to read. Finally, adults have been able to gather the remaining 20% by sneaking in their midnight sorties to collect more treasured meteor-minutes.

Kindergartners count their minutes.

With half our target accumulation in place, we need to remain focused on the mission. Do not take this lightly, Terraset Tigers must continue on this stellar adventure in reading if we are to achieve ultimate success!

Warp Factor Achievements So Far:

• Fifth Grader, Nick Migliara has collected 4,672 meteor-minutes
• Third Grader, Urooj Khattack has gathered 3,167 meteor-minutes
• First Grader, Layla Windenhofer has assembled 1,164 meteor-minutes
• Mrs. Dueno's intergalactic class has read 21,000 minutes at school
• Mrs. Asbury's shooting stars have read a total of 12,206 minutes at home
• Parent-Astronaut, Neil Stobie, has pulled together 3,400 minutes
• Extra Terrestrial Teacher, Mrs. Foreman, has set into orbit 3,120 minutes

The 2014 Read-A-Thon Blast Off!

Our trajectory to 1,000,000 meteor-minutes!

What a fantastic first week for the 2014 Terraset Read-A-Thon!

The kickoff was GREAT" third grade teacher, Ms. Childers proclaimed, "very positive..."  and despite the halting start to at-school reading because of snow days last week, there has been an excellent response from the whole community! Indeed, we have recorded over 175,000 meteor-minutes in the first week of reading! We have traveled beyond Mercury!

"My kids love the theme" third grade teacher, Mrs. Asbury, told us. A big attraction has been the space Alien which has been hiding in the school. Indeed, the "space" theme has been a huge hit with both students and staff. It has captured just about everyone's imagination. Miss Jennings' first graders have even been creating posters for it!

Third grade is working on Earth Cycles at the moment, so the Read-A-Thon theme has offered a nice connection to curriculum. A number of the teachers have extended the Read-A-Thon into their class time activities. "We are going to start a recommended reading section in our classroom during this event." Mrs. Asbury said. Several of the grades 4-6 teachers have indicated to their class that participation in the Read-A-Thon is virtually "required" which has resulted in at least three classes having close to a 100% participation rate in the first week (way to go teachers!). And K-3 teachers have been very supportive by showing students how to complete their reading logs, making extra copies for kids who have lost them, and diligently keeping track of their at-school reading time.

Undoubtedly, the students are enjoying getting the participation prizes. "I had twelve out of twenty get something." Mrs. Asbury announced. So, hopefully the rest were inspired and their will be more little prizes handed out to third grade students next week! "I have a handful who are challenged and VERY motivated to win prizes for their reading." Ms Childers added.

One of the big features in the Read-A-Thon during the first week was the Dome Theater assembly. Terraset PTA Assemblies Program and the Read-A-Thon brought the Dome Theater to the school! The Dome is a Mobile Digital Theater featuring highly innovative, immersive, and educational programs. Programs correlate primarily with pk-8th grade curriculum and cover a broad range of subjects based in topics such as social studies, science, language arts, health, and technical subjects. "That assembly ROCKED" we were told.

"[The students] are coming in each day asking each other if they have read and how many minutes? " Mrs. Asbury laughed. Let's hope that enthusiasm carries the school to its 1,000,000 meteor-minute target!

Four Years of Raising Brook Trout

On May 28, the Trout in the Classroom program at Terraset released it's latest "class" of 127 brook trout fry.

Under the diligent tutelage of Dianne Rose, with assistance from Meredith Capets and Kim Lowther, the brook trout, which are Virginia's state fish, were hatched from eggs provided by Virginia's Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The Virginia Council of Trout Unlimited and the Northern Virginia Chapter of Trout Unlimited coordinate delivery of the eggs and release of the trout into coldwater streams.

Trout Release in 2012

This is the fourth year Terraset has participated in this program (See Terraset PTA Clubs for an early history of this program at Terraset). Each year the students and staff have been fascinated to watch the delivery of the eggs, the eggs hatching, the fish growing (and sometimes dying), and finally the collection of the fry ready to be released into their natural, new home, in a suitable Virginian coldwater stream.

It was with great sadness that the students saw the empty fish tank on May 29th. Unfortunately, we will not be able to bring the program back to Terraset next year, as we are not sure whether the renovation will impact the tank's environment. "I'm sad to see them go!' Ms Trout said "I have an obvious [name] connection with those fish!"

Click here to see more pictures

Hopefully, we will be able to bring the brook trout back to Terraset once our renovation is complete. The photos from the last four years highlight some of the key events in the life of young trout. This year the trout were released into Wildcat Hollow Run in the Thompson Wildlife Management Area.

Terraset Tigers Treadle to School

Bike to School Day was scheduled for Wednesday, May 8th. However, the local meteorologist put a dampener on that plan. Reston's participating schools -- which included Aldrin ES, Armstrong ES, Dogwood ES, Forest Edge ES, Hughes MS, Hunters Woods ES, Lake Anne ES, Sunrise Valley ES, and Terraset ES -- were set to enjoy a friendly competition, organized by Reston Patch, to see who could get the highest number of participants. However, with thunderstorms forecast, several canceled, some went ahead as planned, but Terraset postponed to the Friday. No one imagined what a great turnout we would subsequently have!



The Bike Racks are overflowing!

Over 120 kids' bikes were counted on the bike racks! We believe it was the largest turnout of all Reston schools.
Luckily, we had the help of Reston Bike Club which loaned us a couple of bike racks! They also arrived ready to do bike inspections and check helmets. They even had a few helmets to give away to some very lucky kids. Further, with the sponsorship of Clif Bars, we were able to distribute healthy snacks to all the kids and their parents who joined in.

This event could never have been such a success without the support it received from the whole school. The PTA, the teachers, even the administration joined in. Ms Trout rode her bike from Ashburn that morning and reminded all the kids that a little determination can get you a long way.

 

We had particularly good representation from our Terraset Striders. One hundred percent of the running club members indicated they rode their bikes to school that day!
 



Ms Trout welcomes some early arrivals.

The Reston Association Pedestrian & Bicycling Advisory Committee hopes this event will help build more awareness of the benefits of cycling and be the starting point for future rides and opportunities. The really good news is that Bike to School Day has inspired several Terraset families to allow their kids to continue to ride to school. Ever since the big event, we have noticed half a dozen more bikes on the bike rack (editor's shout out to residents of Old Trail Drive:-)

Check out the FABB Blog for more stories from Bike to School Day!



Ms. June and Mr. Vincent Call the Shots for a Day!

What? Terraset has two new Principals?

 

Don't worry... it was just for a day and Ms. Trout was close by all the time. You see, the Lawrence family placed the highest bid for the "Principal for the Day" item at Terraset's recent Silent Auction and as a result "Ms. June" and "Mr. Vincent" called the shots for the day. "They worked very hard during their temporary assignment" Ms Trout, the "real" Terraset Principal, told us.

June, a sixth grader, and Vincent, in first grade, observed each of their classrooms. They also observed and helped in a fourth grade classroom. They had a lunch bunch with three third grade boys (which is a well regarded tradition for Terraset Principals). In addition, June and Vincent assisted Mr. Skerker, Assistant Principal, in getting SOL Snack Packs ready for our hard working teachers and Instructional Assistants who started administering SOLs this week.

There are quite a few special events scheduled over the next couple of weeks for those who successfully bid for items in the Auction. Two fourth graders are joining Mrs. Nieto and Ms. Culin for a date with the teachers' puppies. A large bunch of second graders will be playing kickball against the second grade teaching team next Monday (that could be fun to watch!). A group of four students enjoyed semi-private basketball lessons from Mr. Millar, and numerous children will be going out to dinner, the movies, and a variety of other activities thanks to the generous donations of Terraset Staff, many of whom extended the number of winners for their items to help us maximize our fundraising.

"The Silent Auction far exceeded our fundraising expectations, with over $1,800 pledged in bids!" Brain Davidson, the Silent Auction Chair, told us. What was the most popular single item this year? "Chillaxin' in LC2" brought the PTA $320!

As for our Principals for the Day... June and Vincent were introduced on WTER and everywhere they went, they were greeted by their peers with comments like, "Hi Boss!" and "Good morning, Mr. Vincent" and "Hello, Ms. June."

"We had a wonderful day!!" declared Ms Trout. We are still trying to decide who had the most fun.

Tiger Striders Get Going!

From the archives... 2009 Terraset Fun Run

Since 2009 we have been dabbling with fun runs and running clubs. Well, we have a great formula this year!

Mr. Patterson is going to work with our Tiger Striders running club to prepare participants for the Potomac River Running 2013 Father's Day 5k at South Lakes High School. Meeting twice a week starting April 17th, our runners will stretch, drill, train and pace their way to a 5k (about 3 miles) distance. The club will meet on Wednesdays and Fridays after school and there will be at least four adult coaches at each meeting and two middle-school aged assistant coaches. So, every participant can expect to get the help they need to prepare for this fun event.

We are expecting a great display of Tiger Pride on June 16th as our Terraset Striders line up to start on race day! Each runner will have an adult running buddy with them to make sure they hold their course and determination all the way through to the finish line.

There are a couple of slots still open, so if you get your child's registration in now, they may still be able to join in!

Getting Ready to Dance!

Terraset PTA works hard to ensure there are plenty of opportunities for the school and its families to get together. Spring is a great time of year to do just that, but this year we are trying something new!

On Friday April 19th, we will be having an International Earth Day Dance. "It's always a gamble to try something new" said Annette Bobby, Terraset PTA President, " but we hope this event will appeal to all our families."

"For almost 10 years now we have organized a Spring Carnival, but it seemed to be time for a change. We wanted something that would not be quite so demanding of volunteers and less susceptible to the uncertainty of spring weather." Annette told us.

Along came Diana Tamarez, mom to kindergartner Donavan and first grader Brianna, keen to become more involved and willing to turn her hand to organizing a dance! Since October of last year, Diana has been busy working with the dance committee to plan the theme, arrange the DJ, organize the decorations and pull together some activities.

Dance Club members practice some moves
influenced by Indian dance.

Dance committee members attended an SCA meeting to ask the students what they would like to see at the dance; the WTER crew started interviewing people; and dance club members even started trying out some new moves! The kids were a little unsure at first, but after asking a few questions and offering ideas, the International Earth Day Dance was confirmed.

Parents have been suggesting great ways to interpret the theme of "International Earth Day" too! The DJ will be playing popular music from around the world... so you can expect to hear Spanish, Indian, Arabic and a variety of other artists from other countries too. There will be display tables to represent ways in which different cultures celebrate Earth Day; ways to protect the environment; ideas for re-cycling and upcycling; we may even have some samples of international foods!

There will also be a couple of activities. Kids will be able to make their own passport and have it stamped at each display they visit; we have the Tremendous Treasure Tree (donations of gently used items still welcome) where kids can play to choose a large, medium or small prize; and the Cake Walk is back!

Remember, you can save from 20% on the price of tickets by getting your advanced purchase order in. Otherwise, just buy your ticket at the door for $5 each. All ticket holders are eligible for door prizes.

"We hope to see a lot of Terraset families, teachers and community members there" Diana said. "This will be such a fun way to see old friends and make some new ones!"

Terraset's International Earth Day Dance: 6:30pm, Friday April 19th, 2013.

Interim Assistant Principal Announced

Ms Trout announced Monday, March 11th that Mr. Jason Skerker will be the Interim Assistant Principal at Terraset while Ms Hunstad is on maternity leave.

Mr. Jason Skerker

This sounds like a perfect solution for Terraset. The elementary schools in south Reston form a strong community and Mr. Skerker is "excited about the transfer and being able to help out at Terraset."

 

Mr. Skerker has been an assistant principal at Hunters Woods for three years. Prior to that he was a Title 1 math coach at Graham Road, and before that taught Kindergarten, 1st, 3rd and 5th grades at two other schools in Fairfax. "When I was asked about the possibility to come over to Terraset I was eager to help. We are a close community in Reston and I look forward to being able to support our neighboring school." Mr. Skerker said.

 

Terraset ES is well regarded in with the Fairfax County Public School System. Mr. Skereker commented that he had heard so many positive things about the atmosphere at Terraset. He is looking forward  to getting to know the staff, students and families in our community. "The part of the job I am most looking forward to is being able to support the school and community in day to day operations." Mrs. Hunstad was very pleased to hear that Mr. Skerker had been appointed to this task. "I worked with him at Hunters Woods" she exclaimed "and he has a lot of experience." An important part of her responsibilities at this time of year is managing the testing procedures. She is very pleased to have someone who can step right in and seamlessly take over.

 

Mr. Skerker shared that he and his wife (who is also an educator in the county) have a beautiful four year old daughter named Adalyn and said "we are expecting another girl in the beginning of June!"

 

Welcome Mr. Skerker. We are all looking forward to getting to know you.

Terraset’s First Foray into Odyssey of the Mind

The Pet Project team in action

On Saturday March 9^th, Terraset participated in the regional tournament for Odyssey of the Mind. Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college.

We believe this is the first time our school has been represented in this great program. Unfortunately, we started preparing a little late, but after a call for interest in mid November, about 23 kids indicated they wanted to join in. We were able to enter three teams and the next three months of preparation proved to be a lot of fun for all involved.
 

One team entered their solution for the Pet Project problem. Ethan Boswell, Noah Davidson, Cyrus Pendleton, Olivia Purvis, Kathleen Russell, Eddie Schoenborn, and Caleb Waller were required to build three vehicles, each with different propulsion systems. The vehicles had to take three trips apiece to an assembly area where team members would construct a pet and have the pet do a trick. Whew! That sounds like a lot. The kids built a car that moved by rubber bands, an electric car, and a car that moved by sling shot. Their pet was a parrot and its trick was to perform a series of flips around a pole. The judges really loved their risk taking in using a slingshot to propel the car, the great acting of the group and the creativity that they all showed. The team did an amazing job and ranked 6th out of 16 teams in their division.

ARTchitecture the Musical team psyching up!

A second team worked to create ARTchitecture the Musical. Julia Thomas, Sophie Stobie, Amanda Grant, Katie Falcone, Jordyn Boswell, Rachael Boatwright and Ariel Boatwright had to create and present an original performance that included a replica of a documented architectural structure that was built between 1,000 AD and 1,600 AD. The story featured two characters that go on a quest to find three works of art that "disappeared". The performance had to include two songs that are accompanied by some type of choreographed movement. In preparing for the tournament the team had a lot of fun. Indeed, each practice offered a great chance for the girls to share many important cultural traditions (Can we have more pizza?) and solve mission critical problems (We need more paint!) “Each participant offered so much creativity and leadership.” coach Ray Boatwright commented. “They showed great teamwork and artistic innovation.” The judges were impressed with this team’s persistence and teamwork too… particularly when their scene setup did not quite go to plan on the day of competition.

 

The third team (sorry we don't have a photo) entered their interpretation of The Email Must Go Through. Eve and Esther Schofield, Tommy Smith, Celia Schulte, Ike Cho, and Brianna and Donovan Tamaraz practiced in Terraset's library to start with. The team really enjoyed sharing ideas and playing creative, team building games but, they were often very distracted by the library books (especially when the book fair was in place) wanting to read during practice. However, once it was time to build their email device, they worked in coats next to a space heater in their coach’s garage. “The team members were always upbeat, had more ideas than time allowed and overall, enjoyed their time together” said one of their coaches, Michelle Michlik. The judges complimented this team's use of recyclables and clever costuming. But our favorite comment was about how much positive energy they displayed during set up and performance. “This experience was great for the kids, they got to know some Terraset Tigers from other grades, they stretched their minds and talents, and best of all, they did it on their own.” 

 

Terraset PTA would like to thank all the volunteers who helped these three teams get to the tournament, particularly all the coaches: Ray Boatwright, Dana Grant, Brandon Boswell, Michelle Michlic and Aaron Schofield. Three teams and three success stories! “Not bad for our first year competing and having 3-4 months less time than all the other teams!” said Terraset’s Odyssey of the Mind coordinator, Katy Boswell. “We are all looking forward to next year and getting more students involved!”

Terraset Read-A-Thon Rocks

Tracy Grant and Devon Boatwright, Read-A-Thon
coordinators, celebrate reaching the Read-A-Thon goal!

February was all about reading at Terraset and the Read-A-Thon was front and center! With a goal to read 1,000,000 minutes we had our work cut out for us. But Terraset tigers don’t get scared easily. They were ready to make a mark in the annals of Terraset’s read-a-thon… all three years of it! And this year’s participants have turned themselves into legends. The Terraset community read 1,373,590 minutes and raised over $6,000.

The Read-a-Thon’s pirate theme made its way into everything. Kindergarten was singing the “Subtract like a Pirate” song, first through third grade classrooms were full of pirate stories, and fourth-sixth grade… well they’re pretty much pirates all year round anyway!

Principal Lindsay Trout visits a first grade
classroom with treasure for ALL
 

What were they really reading for… the prizes of course! The biggest prize of all was having Principal Lindsay Trout dress and speak like a pirate all day on Friday, March 8^th because “we reached our goal!” Other awards included prizes for individual readers and fundraisers, as well as awards for the classes that read the most!

 

 

Congratulations to everyone that made our read-a-thon a success this year. The kids could not have done it without the help of their teachers, parents and grandparents. It was a true community effort. We also need to acknowledge all those volunteers who helped collect, enter and collate both paper and online reading logs. We need to give a special shout-out to Brian Davidson who hosted and developed our online logging system at read.terrasetpta.org. But special thanks go to Devon Boatwright and Tracy Grant. They planned, coordinated, and executed the whole shebang, and anyone who has been involved in a program like this knows just how much behind this scenes work that entails. Thank you both so much, especially for indicating you may be willing to do it again next year! Yey!

Max Estrada - Top overall
fundraiser for 2013!

	Top Readers	Minutes	Top Fundraisers	$
Overall	Margaret Goetz	8,895	Max Estrada	445.00
K	Noah Goetz	4,126	Taryn Dougherty	180.00
1	Rebecca Goetz	5,716	North Karas	181.92
2	Alex Walters	2,310	Elliott Berg	200.00
3	Margaret Goetz	8,895	Max Estrada	445.00
4	Krishna Patel	4,671	Katie Falcone	173.10
5	Kathryn Goetz	8,597	Carlo Nassar	144.50
6	Zachary Rice	3,459	Lexi Reuling	155.00
K-2	Top Class: Ms Kirk’s 2nd grade: 38,311 minutes
3-6	Top Class: Ms Childers’ 6th grade: 52,777 minutes