Teen Happenings at the Newton Free Library

Teen Craftnites, Tuesday, August 19th, 7:00 pm: Teen Crafternoons have moved to a special evening time frame for summer Craftnites so get creative in the second floor Teen Area of the Newton Free Library where they will be hanging out working on crafts and eating snacks. This summer’s crafts will include steampunk jewelry, robot marshmallow pops and other fun projects! Grades 6-12.

Go Big or Go Home: Giant Game Night, Wednesday, August 20th, 5:30-8:30 pm: Come to the end of summer celebration outside by the Winnie-the-Pooh statue. Play giant-sized games like Jenga and Scrabble as well as board, lawn, and Minute-to-win-it games and eat pizza! Rain location, Druker Auditorium. Open to all who have participated in the library’s Summer Reading program.

How to Write Great College Essays, Thursday, August 21st, 7:00 pm: A lot of great kids write average (even bad) college essays—essays about “life lessons learned from football” or “how my trip to Europe broadened my cultural horizons.” Better tales are there for the writing. This workshop will show you what admissions officers really look for in great college essays, and offer suggestions for finding and sharing your best stories. We’ll share the five most over-used topics you must avoid and give you tips on how to start (and even finish) your essays this summer. Sara Kratzok, who graduated from both Wellesley College and Harvard University, and is the Director of Collegewise of Newton, will facilitate in Newton Free Library’s Druker Auditorium.

Mosaic classes

A local mosaic artist and parent of two  Bigelow Middle School students is interested in offering a class to kids 11 years old and older.  The class would be run in six, two-hour weekly sessions and the fee would be $250.00.  This fee includes all of the materials and tools.

Potential class times are:

  • 4-6 on Tuesday or Thursday afternoon
  • 6-8 on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday evening
  • Saturday morning from 10-12.

If your child is interested in participating in the class,  please contact Leslie at lesliebock@gmail.com or 617-901-2546 and indicate which of these times your child is available.

Cooking classes

Mindy’s Cooking offers cooking instruction to Newton elementary school students in her home on Tuesdays, 12:45  – 3:00 pm and themed classes to middle schoolers on early release Thursdays throughout the school year.

Each class gives students a full hands-on experience to produce their own gourmet lunch using a variety of equipment and ingredients. Students also learn knife skills, nutrition, food safety and various aspects of culture and tradition about the foods they are making. Mindy Sherbet is a professional chef and mom of 3 Newton public school-age kids.

For information, call 973-420-6190 or email Mindy at mindyscooking@gmail.com. Check out Facebook/mindyscooking. Classes start in the fall.

Kesher Newton is now enrolling for Fall 2014!

Kesher Newton is an after-school program that offers a hands on and in-depth approach to Jewish learning for students in grades K-7! Now located on Hammond Pond Parkway, convenient to Newton, housed inside the building of Congregation Mishkan Tefila, Kesher’s warm and inviting new space accommodates its expanding student base and its many family activities.

Kesher Newton is a nationally-recognized alternative to traditional Hebrew School, where children learn Jewish culture and Hebrew language in a spirited, camp-like environment. Kesher’s innovative curriculum challenges students intellectually, while fostering Jewish commitment, joy of learning, and active community participation. Kesher Newton is an independent pluralistic community that is welcoming to all. For more information, visit keshernewton.org or call 617-244-5390, or email info@keshernewton.org.

Newton apartment available to rent

  • 3 bedrooms
  • 1 bath
  • large Kitchen, DR and LR
  • nice little green backyard
  • garage for one car plus a second space tandem in driveway.

Located on Langdon Street off of Cabot Street in a small two-unit building with nice neighbors. Close enough to

walk to Cabot School, Newton North.

For more information, please email Leslie Warner at leslie.warner.coach@gmail.com, or call THINK Realty in Newton, MA. 617-244-2755.

Beautiful home convenient to Newton Centre

  • 3 bedrooms
  • 1 bath
  • 1840 approx. sq. ft.
  • Garage parkng

Pristine apartment in an elegant brick home on the desirable carriage-lane side of Commonwealth Avenue. Bright, spacious 2nd floor unit w/a terrific layout & lots of windows looking out to a tree lined vista. Enter  the unit through the large foyer/hallway opening to living/dining room featuring crown molding & open alcove w/ fireplace. Chef’s kitchen with granite counter tops & brand new stainless steel appliances. Three generous sized bedrooms ready for your personal lifestyle. Step out to the balcony for morning coffee and watch the world go by. Balcony features an electric awning for sunny afternoons. Many additional features including central air, radiant heat in the fully renovated bath, brand new washer/dryer in basement exclusive to the unit & large private storage room. One garage space & one assigned off-street space. Beautiful home convenient to Newton Centre, shops, restaurants & the Green Line.

For more information, call Janet at 617-797-9497 or email at janet@janetporcaro.net.

Thank you and have wonderful summer!!

Thank you to all of you who have volunteered, donated, baked, sold, chaperoned, washed cars, organized, lead, met, chaired, cooked, bid and painted.  It is your contributions that make Bigelow a better place for our children.  We would like to thank the administration, teachers and staff that educate the students through out the school year.  We so appreciate your dedication and everything that you do for our children.

We congratulate the 8th graders and wish them well as they move on to ninth grade.  A special goodbye to those families that will be leaving Bigelow. We welcome the incoming 6th graders and their families.  Please let us know if you have any questions about Bigelow.  We would like to acknowledge the PTO board members who are leaving the school or stepping down this year:  Julie Bourgoin, Leslie Williams and Ted Everett.   And thank you to Jacquie Arbuckle who has joined next year’s board as co-president.

Again thank you to all.  Have a WONDERFUL summer and see you in September!!

SchoolKidz – Order deadline is tonight at 11 pm

Order your student’s school supplies for next year by 11 pm this evening.  We can not extend this deadline or take any orders after 11 pm.

We are offering this program as a service to the students and parents of our school and hope this makes your preparation for the new school year easier.  Why fight long lines and stress of trying to find every single requested item on your child’s supply list?  All of the shopping is done for you!

The SchoolKidz program:  

  • Will save you time,
  • Make “back-to-school time” less hectic
  • Offers competitive pricing
  • Avoid those impulse buys and long lines
  • And Bigelow Middle School PTO receives a portion of the sales which will help fund programs like the Creative Arts and Sciences.

You can order the SchoolKidz now through June 22.  Orders can not be accepted after that.  Click here for more information.

All kits will be delivered to the school and can be picked up after the Open House on Tuesday, August 26th or the first day of school – details to follow.

Go to:  www.shopttkits.com and enter acct #32972.

If you have any questions, please email us at Bigelowbulldog@gmail.com.

Buy a Book – Library Fund

If you are interested in honoring a Bigelow 2014 graduate or recognizing a Bigelow staff member at the end of the year, consider donating a book in honor of the graduate or staff member through the Buy a Book Fund.  Your donation will go towards purchasing resources and books vital to maintaining a library collection that is relevant and interesting for our students.
A nameplate honoring the graduate and/or staff member, and recognizing the donor, will be placed inside a new book. With generous donations made to Buy a Book in the past, we have been able to maintain a library that continues to promote student learning and growth. Please consider donating today.  Your generosity is deeply appreciated.

Click here to Buy a Book

Please contact us at bigelowbulldog@gmail.com if you have any questions.