September is one of my favorite months of the year. Some obvious reasons why, might be because I get to see my returning students, I get to meet new ones, and I get to set the tone for the rest of the year. These are among the main reasons I anticipate the start of the school year, but there is yet another reason I like September. And that reason is the “Fitness Test.” The Fitness Test is a New York State Test that measures student’s muscular strength and endurance. For one week, students have “Fitness Test Training,” where they are given a card with specific workouts and are expected to complete that card by the end of the class. For many students this card is an immovable mountain. They see what I expect of them and say, “Mr. Wong are you serious? Mr. Wong this is a joke right? Mr. Wong you’re a funny guy?” The truth is that I do have high expectations of my students and I take pride in pushing them further then they believed they could go. The conversations for the next couple of days are as follows, “I’m so sore, how about you? I cannot believe I actually finished ever thing on that card. Mr. Wong I have not worked out like that in months.” Little do they know that that’s music to my ears. It is not until the following week that they begin to realize the fruits of their labor. They understand why they were pushed so hard and how easy the Fitness Test actually is.
5th-grade-program On June 19th at 11:00am, twenty-six Fith Graders “Stepped Up” into Middle School. Students were dressed in suits and gowns and simply looked fantastic. The boys escorted the girls down the aisle as they walked in to “Pomp and Circumstance”. Jodell Galezo and Elizabeth Hyde read Scripture and then the class sang “Lord You are Good” as Mr. Agosto played the piano. Awards were given and then Diplomas were received. Graduates were given a Middle School Gym Bag with a Middle School Gym T-Shirt. We are very proud of our Fifth Graders and are excited for them as they enter Middle School. They are super excited about getting a locker and switching classrooms. See in September on the third floor (our Middle School Floor).
Bake Sale – Fifth grade broke the record with the most successful bake sale in the history of ECS! This helped them raise money for their Spruce Lake trip in June. Fifth grade explored and delighted in God’s creation while at Spruce Lake. They also were challenged by participating in a 30 foot power swing, found frogs in the pond and did the wall climb.
March – Bowling. In honor of African American History, combined with Women’s History, 5th grade went bowling at Harlem Lanes, which is owned by two African American women.
February – Focus on the Family – Underground Railroad. Who said children need television, MP3 players, DS, I-pods. Fifth grade proved this theory wrong as they were engrossed in listening to the struggle to freedom of the Ress family, an enslaved family. The cassette provided an educational, fascinating study which originated from Focus on the Family.
Fifth grade experienced an amazing get-a-way when they traveled to Spruce lake on their annual fifth grade retreat. The retreat was an exciting event that brought the whole class closer together and they got to know each other in a much more personal way.
Fifth grade read a variety of different books throughout this year. They liked fiction, and non fiction, they also enjoyed the Guinness Book of Records to the point that I had to split them up in groups and each group would have the book for 10-15 minutes each. As a class we read the book “Yellow Star,” which is a true story of a person who survived the holocaust as a child in the Lodz ghetto in Poland. It was great to see some of the responses to this toughing book. We also read, “Rules” which is about a fifth grade girl who has an autistic brother. This was a story that truly touched us all and gave us an insight into this topic. It also gave the opportunity to have great discussions. Overll, it was a great year, full of great reading.