Roxbury High School's mini-THON committee is at it again with a new fun fundraiser called Flocking! This ongoing fundraiser is weather dependent but will continue through the spring.

 

"It's super simple! Flocking is when you harmlessly prank your friends by signing up for us to put a flock of plastic flamingoes on their lawn," explained the committee.

 

Roxbury High School's very own principal, Jeffrey Swanson wasn't immune to getting flocked! He should have gotten the Anti-Flock Insurance for $5 which would have guaranteed his protection from all the flamingos as they migrate around Roxbury during this fundraising event. His office was flocked and a flamingo was even caught wearing his tie!

 

If you would like to flock-a-friend, you can choose how many flamingos you want to migrate to your friend's yard for 24 hours. A small flock of only 10 flamingos is only $15, a medium flock of 30 for $25, or you can choose a large flock of 50 flamingos for $35.

 

Once the forms are submitted to the mini-THON advisors the Flock Squad takes over. Moving the flamingos is free of change, but a donation is optional. Flamingos are not allowed to flock on public property or apartment complexes. Click here for more information on THON and how you can flock-a-friend!

S.A.I.L. Parent Academy Makes Science Super Fun

Franklin and Nixon Elementary Schools in Roxbury Township experienced their first of four Title I Student Academic Intervention and Learning (S.A.I.L.) Parent Academies of the year at Nixon School Tuesday night.

 

Typically, the parent academies are set up where parents come to learn while their children are supervised with games and activities. Tuesday's academy changed it up a bit and brought the whole family out for a fun night of Super Science Stations. Forty-six families between the two schools pre-registered, with more than 100 people in attendance overall.

The district's purpose of holding SAIL Parent Academies is to educate parents on the things going on in their child's elementary school. These academies were designed to make parents feel comfortable and welcome in their child's school and to provide help for them in the easiest and most convenient ways possible.

 

Tuesday's topic covered all aspects of science. The change in format allowed parents to spend the whole evening with their children learning about the curriculum the way the students do, through education and experiment. 

Staffed by district educators each session provided insight on their topic before delving right into an experiment. Topics included engineering bubbles, Dash & Dot robots, fingerprint analysis, the golden ratio, playing with polymers (aka slime!), owl pellet dissection, circuit creations, and clay boats. Click here to read more about this event and see all the fun that was had.

Roxbury Elementary Schools Take Part in 'Hour of Code'

Roxbury Township elementary schools officially kicked off their hours of code this week. The four K-4 schools are each participating in Computer Science Education Week featuring the 'Hour of Code'. This global movement, created just four years ago, has already reached more than 480 million people in more than 180 countries. The one-hour tutorials are in over 45 languages and individuals need no experience to get started. Code.org says anyone ages from 4 to 104 can code. Free coding lessons for schools, educators, and individuals can be found at www.code.org .

 

Dana Taggart, the technology teacher at Jefferson and Nixon Elementary School explained how grades K-4 will be approaching the topic. "Students are participating in different age-appropriate courses at their own pace. We will actually explore code for two weeks." These coding tutorials will occur during computer classes. This event is designed to teach even the youngest students the fundamentals of computer programming.

In anticipation of this week, Kennedy 4th graders visited EMS STEAM lab and then put together a Google Slide presentation to share with their classmates to generate excitement for the Hour of Code and computer science. Pictures and videos of 3D printers in action, origami frogs that lit up, solar cars and robots were all a part of the presentation. These students presented their findings at a school assembly Tuesday morning in front of all their peers and some parents too. Click here to read more about Roxbury's Hour of Code!

Kennedy's No Shave November Helps Local Family

The principal at Kennedy Elementary School looked like a villain out of a Batman movie on Tuesday, all for a good cause. The last few years Principal Eric Renfors has participated in No-Shave November.  The goal of No-Shave November is to grow awareness by embracing our hair, which many cancer patients lose, and letting it grow wild and free. People who participate are asked to donate the money they typically spend on shaving and grooming to educate about cancer prevention, save lives, and aid those fighting the battle.

 

Renfors does something slightly different. He gets his students involved. Using flash fundraisers over the past few years, Renfors invites everyone to send in a dollar. If he could raise enough money to cover each Kennedy student and staff member, $243 worth, he would shave off half of his beard and spend the day half-bearded and half-clean shaved.

 

This year's challenge to the Kennedy families was no different. Renfors challenged everyone again to help him raise money for a good cause explaining, "I'm going to choose the 'aid those fighting the battle' angle for this cause and donate all money raised to the Adonis family, whose son Matt is a fourth grade student at Nixon School and who is currently battling brain cancer."

Kennedy Cougars come through again! Click here to read more!

Walk-a-Thon and Stockings for Soldiers at Jefferson School

Jefferson Elementary School's Early Act Club had a busy November. The club spearheaded two international fundraisers for good causes. As Roxbury Rotarian Steve Alford  recently stated at the Early Act summit, "if not you, then who."  Jefferson's Early Act Club has taken those words to heart and has put them into action.

 

The club organized a walk-a-thon during the students' physical education classes from 13 to the 22 of November, raising over $200 to help Carlos Rojas, an Aramark custodian at the school, ship toys and gifts collected by the Jefferson community to children in his hometown of Manizales Caldos, Colombia.

 

That's not all they did! They also helped stuff stockings for soldiers so they too can enjoy this holiday season even though they aren't home. Items were donated by Post 2833 VFW Auxiliary here in town and stockings were provided with the help of Pete Burke and Nancy Ardis-Wolfe from Picatinny Arsenal. Early Act students spent part of November 22 stuffing stockings which will be sent overseas for soldiers this holiday season. Click here to read more about the Early Act Club.

Roxbury High School makes Halftime Magazine 

The Roxbury High School Marching Band makes Halftime Magazine for its efforts for raising funds for the Rockport-Fulton band program who had been devastated by Hurricane Harvey. 

Click here to read the article in Halftime Magazine! 

#RoxburyProud #RoxburyGivesBack

Ever been told you have a great voice? From audio books and cartoons to documentaries, commercials, and more, this class will introduce you to the growing field of voice over. Learn what the pros look for, how to prepare, and where to find work in your area! You'll even have an opportunity to record a short professional script under the direction of a teacher. The next workshop is Tuesday, December 5th at Roxbury High School. Tuition is $15 per person.  Register now here!

Join this beginner class that introduces you to the fundamental principles of alignment and breath work in a flow of postures linked together by the breath. Participants will be introduced to yoga postures through step-by-step verbal description and demonstration. If you have never tried yoga, this is the class for you! It is designed to meet the needs of those new to yoga as well as those seeking continued understanding of basic yoga poses. This course is ideal for teens and adults. Winter Yoga for Beginners is a 10-week class that meets Tuesdays beginning January 16th from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Franklin School. Cost is $100 per person registration is required. Register now at  www.roxbury.org/yoga!