Category Archives: From the PTO

Notes from the Counseling Department – March 2019

Making Stress Your Friend

As March draws to a close, our thoughts turn to spring and flowers and warm sunshine and end of term grades and, for our 8th graders, high school choices and MCAS testing…Oh no!  I can just feel the stress building! 

We have all heard about how dangerous stress can be and how harmful it is for our children (and ourselves) to be under consent pressure. We’ve heard the links between stress and heart attacks, between stress and high blood pressure, between stress and suicide.  Stress, no matter how we look at it, tends to be seen as harmful.  

The truth is, stress isn’t all negative.  More at the Bigelow Counseling Team blog.

Thursday: “Social and emotional health in Middle School”

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We are pleased to invite you to Bigelow PTO’s Spring Meeting, when we are going to discuss social and emotional health and well-being of middle-schoolers.

Spring PTO Meeting
Thursday, April 11th, 7pm
Bigelow Library

We understand how our students emotional health is essential to a successful middle school experience. But what should parents do when things aren’t going well? Or in times of stress – at school or in the country?

Dr. Jordanna L’Esperance, clinical and school psychologist at Bigelow Middle School, and Bigelow’s Counselors will discuss the resources available for students at Bigelow and within the Newton Community at the next PTO meeting on Thursday, April 11th, 7pm, at the Bigelow Library.

Please, send questions to Dr. L’Esperance prior to the evening. Questions may be directed to her at jordanna_Lesperance@newton.k12.ma.us

Hope to see you there,

Bigelow PTO Board

Mothers Day African Violet Fundraiser

Would you like to do something nice for Mom or Grandma, and a
young girl in Tanzania as well? Help support the SEGA Girls School by purchasing an African Violet plant for Mother’s Day!

Each plant costs $10. 00. Net proceeds go to our sister school, the SEGA
School for Girls, providing an education to poor, marginalized, and at-risk girls in Tanzania. The SEGA School has been transforming the lives of these girls for 10 years, and Bigelow has been a strong supporter of their efforts.
African violets have long been associated with mothers and motherhood. For this reason, they have been a traditional gift to mothers in many cultures around the world. And they originated in the Uluguru Mountains of Tanzania, right near the SEGA School!

Please let your homebase teacher know how many plants you’d like to purchase by Friday, April 12th.

Order forms, with payment, must be received in homebase by Friday, May 10th, when plants will be available for pick-up – just in time for Mother’s Day!

For more information, please contact Mr. King: john_king@newton.k12.ma.us

NewtonServes: Bigelow Beautification + Recycling Signs

NewtonServes is a Day of Community Service that brings together over 1,000 volunteers of all ages to complete more than 50 community projects for the benefit of numerous non-profit organizations and City of Newton departments. Volunteers work in teams on morning, afternoon or all day projects throughout the city, such as cleaning up parks, planting gardens, building and painting school bookshelves, spring cleaning at non-profit organizations and helping senior citizens. This year it will take place on Sunday, April 28th, from 9:30am to 4pm.

There are many volunteering opportunities all around the city, including two projects at Bigelow:

Bigelow Beautification
Join us as we beautify the grounds of Bigelow Middle School. We plan to clean and mulch garden beds, prune shrubs and trees, etc. outdoors. We also may build a short wooden fence to protect planting beds from foot traffic.

Signage for Recycling at Bigelow
Are you interested in promoting recycling and helping middle school students learn more about recycling? Help us label recycle bins and trash cans in all classrooms at Bigelow Middle School with new signage about what can and cannot be recycled.
Suitable for persons with disabilities

NewtonServes is a project of Newton Community Pride, Mayor’s Office for Cultural Affairs and the Newton Parks and Recreation Department.

We had a wonderful evening at Big Night – Thank you!

What a wonderful evening we had at Big Night, this past Saturday at the Cambridge Boat Club!

It was a beautiful night, so we were able to take advantage of the lovely porch overlooking the Charles River. We had a record turn out of parents and caregivers who all came together to support this wonderful event. We raised over $19,000 which will go to Bigelow PTO programs, such as Creative Arts and Sciences. Monies raised will also help fund field trips, purchase school equipment and support our teachers. 

Click here to see pictures from the event!

Many thanks to our wonderful volunteers for helping make this event such a success. Thank you, also, to Principal Harrison for his support, and the teachers who donated to the silent auction. I also want to thank Kersten Raso who did a terrific job coordinating the teacher donations, which were a big hit on Saturday.

We are also grateful to the parents and businesses that donated fantastic silent auction items as well as the delicious food we enjoyed that night.

While most of the items were sold that night in the silent auction, there are a few that remain unsold. Please see here what is available. We will keep online bidding open until Tuesday, 04/09. Please consider bidding on these items so we can add to the success of our Big Night auction!

Bid Online

Thank you again for your support of Big Night!

Sincerely,

Karen Markson
Chairperson

Earth Day Celebration

Bigelow will celebrate Earth Day, Monday, April 22nd, with a special advisory activity proposed by a Student-led Earth Day Committee, counseled by 8th Grade Science teacher Ms. Hoffman.

This upcycling-project activity will involve converting recycled materials into flowers or other crafts. The best projects will be on display in the office and library.

The Earth Day committee is asking students to bring in materials for the project, such as: cardboard egg cartons, plastic water bottles, other items that may be useful (e.g. large yogurt container). If parents can donate a few extra tools and materials, they would be very helpful: scissors, clear tape, and colored sharpie markers.

Students can take the materials to their homeroom in the next weeks.

What a great night!

A special thank you from the PTO to Big Night Chairperson Karen Markson, Una Simmons, Joana Canedo, and to all who contributed to the success of our event. We will share more details and photos during the week. Stay tuned!

For now, a note from the Auction Booklet: 

Tuesday: Superintendent’s Forum on Vaping

On Tuesday, April 2, 2019 Superintendent David Fleishman will host a forum on the vaping epidemic among youth. The evening will include a panel of speakers providing health, wellness, and prevention education on the topic of vaping. Attorney General Maura Healey will provide the keynote for the event. Medical experts and NPS educators will provide information, insight, and education for families and community members.
We do hope you will mark your calendar and join us for this very important event. To RSVP, please follow this link:
https://goo.gl/forms/bvNsftl4K2RVAlGc2
Event details are below:
When:            Tuesday, April 2nd
Time:              7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Location:        Newton South High School Auditorium (140 Brandeis Rd.)

For more information, please visit this dedicated webpage on the NPS website: https://www.newton.k12.ma.us/Page/3419.