Churchill Chatter - Issue 26, March 13, 2019
In This Week's Issue
- Churchill Road student and alumni on state champion Robotics team
- Getting to Know Churchill: Anne Scarano, ESOL Teacher
- Langley Pyramid Art Show
- Magnet school registration continues through April 4
- CRS Calendar of Upcoming Events
- CRS PTA News - Bingo Night recap, Churchill Challenge Poster contest winners and registration link, Martha's Table 3/19, Pizza Night 3/27, Parent Education discussion on anxiety 3/27.
Congratulations 2019 Vex Robotics Teamwork Champion and Design Award Winners
2019 Vex IQ Robotics State Championship Team
Five Churchill Road students and alumni -- Pranav A., David H., Sophia L., Daniel W. and Cynthia W. -- are members of the robotics team Rising Phoenix 999A, which won the Teamwork Champion Award and Design Award at the 2019 Vex IQ Robotics Virginia State Championship. Team members competed against 17 other Virginia middle school robotics teams to win their third state championship. The team has qualified to compete at 2019 Vex Robotics World Championship in April held in Louisville; this will be the fourth time the team competes in the world championship. The Teamwork Champion Award is presented to each of the two teams on the winning alliance in the Teamwork Challenge finals matches. The Design Award recipient demonstrates the ability to implement the most effective and efficient robot design process. Congratulations to all of the students on a job well done.
Getting to Know Churchill: Anne Scarano,
ESOL Teacher
Mrs. Scarano, in front of the map showing all of the countries from which CRS students hail.
Anne Scarano, CRS’s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher, is enchanted by the language acquisition process and delights in the opportunity to help students learn language and content at the same time. Her joy in learning the rich cultural backgrounds of her students is palpable. She adores getting to know students and families, admires the grace and courage of her students facing the challenges of learning a new language, and appreciates when her bighearted students generously teach her their language, too.
Mrs. Scarano is an inspiring example of a teacher whose talents are ideally suited for a critical role. Not only does she work with individual students, she also pushes into classrooms at CRS, supporting her students, and engaging their peers in exciting and uplifting ways. Together with CRS parent Michelle Meeyoung Cho, Mrs. Scarano is also helping to develop a transformative Multicultural Reading Project, where parents come into classrooms and read to children in their native language and share cultural artifacts.
Although now it seems obvious that Mrs. Scarano was destined for a classroom embracing language and culture, it is not where she started. She spent time working for the federal government and a non-profit civics education program, before making a career switch. She has spent the last twenty-six years in the classroom at the elementary and secondary levels, as well as at the college level teaching freshman composition and poetry. In the past five years, ESOL has become her focus.
Mrs. Scarano grew up in a small farming town (dairy, apples, corn) in New Hampshire, where she took advantage of the winter weather to ice skate on the frozen pond near her home. She completed her undergraduate work at Vassar College in English Literature and her graduate work in English Education at Brown University. She spent six months living in Freiburg, Germany, an experience that provides her with insight about what it’s like to adjust to a new culture and speak a language other than English. She has five children (including a set of twins) and two grandchildren. Two of her children are public school teachers, which fills her with pride. Her husband is a first generation American whose parents are from Italy.
Mrs. Scarano loves to cook a big meal with her family and enjoy a long dinner together with conversation, laughter, and a board game or two. In her free time, she can be found reading, doing yoga, or playing the piano, which she recently picked up again after a 50-year hiatus.
Mrs. Scarano is honored to be part of the CRS community, and grateful for the joy of working with the kids, parents, and staff at CRS. She enjoys interacting and collaborating with many of the teachers at CRS who amaze her with their creativity, compassion, and commitment to children.
Mrs. Scarano, you amaze us! Thank you for sharing your love and understanding of the many cultures represented at CRS!
Langley Pyramid Art Show
March is Youth Art Month! Celebrate with us by viewing artwork by Churchill Road ES students, now through March 19, at the McLean Project for the Arts - located near the Giant Food in downtown McLean.
Congratulations to the following students who have artwork on display at the Langley Pyramid Art show!
Kindergarten: Kavin Charnoubi, Abby Lena
First Grade: Liam Harris, Reilly Lewis
Second Grade: Sophie Chang, Vijay Greiner, Hani Kim, Elliot Valkenburg
Third Grade: Luke Bauer, Gabriel Hanson, Alyson Lee, Kylie Rudinsky
Fourth Grade: Ibrahim Al-Kayat, Caden Peng, Sophia Robertson
Fifth Grade: Enid Appiah, Jason Chang, Tara Chun, Carson Fast
Sixth Grade: Devin Diba, Hanna Herbolsheimer, Will Murray, Daniel Wu
We hope you'll celebrate this unique opportunity for our students' work to be hung in a professional art gallery.
Mrs. Wallace and Ms. Tran
Wellness: Doing Something You Love
Mrs. Warren and Mrs. Biliter enjoy reading new books to recommend to students.
Our days are often filled with the need to accomplish tasks from brushing our teeth to making progress on projects big and small. Even during busy days, strive to carve out ten minutes to do something you love. Regularly including a passion into your day can improve psychological well-being, as well as improve physical health. Find an activity that lights you up and make incorporating it into your day a priority. Whether it is a sport, music, volunteering, writing, crafting, baking, or collecting, find a way to integrate your passion into your daily life. Often we think we do not have time, but just ten minutes can make a difference. Set yourself up for success, carry a book with you to turn waiting time into reading time or keep extra paper and pen easily accessible to sketch or write, if those are the activities you enjoy. You can pump up the music for an impromptu dance party before dinner or dive into a crafting project you love. Think of your passion as a vitamin for your health and commit to consistently including it in your life.
Cheer Winners of the Week
Congratulations to our Churchill Cheer winners for the week of February 25. Cheers are given to students who follow the four R’s. Winners are: Arman Charnoubi (K); Nora Sun (1st); Sulaiman Aleissa (2nd); Tyler Bult (3rd) and Sophia Robertson (4th). The cheer winners for Spanish LTC are: Arabella Benedetti (Gr. K-2) and Caden Sheers (Gr. 3-4).
Congratulations also to our Churchill Cheer winners for the week of March 4. Cheers are given to students who follow the four R’s. Winners are: Chloe Johnston (K); Liam Harris (1st); Evelyn Cunningham (2nd); and Nico Weinstein (4th). The cheer winners for Art classes are: Arman Charnoubi (Gr. K-2) and Maggie Zimmerman (Gr. 3-4).
Remember, at CRS we follow the four R’s. We respect ourselves, we respect others, we respect property, we respect the Earth, and we are responsible.
Lost and Found -- Going Soon
Our lost and found, located near the gym, was recently organized by a gracious volunteer. Please be sure to check it out the next time you are at Churchill. Any lunchboxes not cleared out by this Friday, March 15, will be disposed of. Unclaimed clothing and other personal items will be donated on Friday, April 12 (the day before spring break).
Magnet School Registration Information
The Magnet Program registration window will be open through April 4, 2019.
To learn more about the programs and the registration process, please go to https://www.fcps.edu/registration/elementary-magnet-school-lottery.
As stated in Notice 5922, a one-time pupil placement application fee applies for students accessing special programs outside of their base school for World Language Immersion or Magnet School Programs. This $100 fee must be paid upon acceptance to the program. For more information, please visit the Magnet Lottery Fees - Frequently Asked Questions webpage.
Families wanting to apply for the Magnet Lottery are required to have a SIS account. If a student is not currently enrolled in FCPS, registration at the base school for the upcoming school year is required.
CRS Calendar of Upcoming Events
Tuesday, March 19
Martha's Table Sandwich-Making for Grades 2,4,6, 3:30-4:15 PM, Cafeteria
Thursday, March 28
Spring Individual and Class Picture Day
Saturday, March 30
Churchill Challenge 5K
Friday, April 5
Teacher Workday, No School for Students
Friday, April 5
Kindergarten Orientation, 9:00-10:30 AM, Cafeteria
Wednesday, April 8
Principal’s Coffee, 8:00-8:45 AM, Exploratory Arts Room
PTA Meeting, 8:45-9:45 AM, Exploratory Arts Room
Monday - Friday, April 15-19
Spring Break
A Magical Bingo Night!
 Despite the threat of snow, Bingo Night drew a large crowd.
All our wizards had a fabulous evening playing Bingo with friends and family. Special thanks to our 'celebrity' teacher callers - Ms. Bamdad, Ms. Brown, and Mr. Kilpatrick. Thank you to all our volunteers for making this event a success, and huge thanks to Melissa Schwartz and Christine Mo for organizing all the wizardly fun.
Let's All Run!
Please look in the CRS front hallway for the many creative 5K posters submitted by students.
We had a number of students who were up for the challenge, i.e., the CHURCHILL CHALLENGE poster contest! With so many great submissions, how could we pick just one (per grade)?!?! Thanks to Melanie A., Kate H., Lyla S., Soraya A., Sierra A., Emmy C., Matthew G., Sophie L., Emma Z., Carmen A., Andrew G., Emily P., Rahniya S., Lachlan T., Adam R., Arianne A., Christy L., Jenny L., Billy C., John C., Kanta M., Dylan T., Ellie G., and Phoebe P. for your creativity and spirit! Each of these student artists will receive our new spirit wear item to be delivered by race date.
Join us for this fun & beloved event on Saturday, March 30th! You can register to participate in either the 5K or Fun Run (one mile) races. Learn more and register at http://bit.ly/2MQQa1H. Want to help? You can volunteer at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f4caeaa29a5f49-churchill.
Martha's Table -- March 19th
Our CRS PTA Community Service Committee is hosting MARTHA’S TABLE for Grades K, 2, 4, and 6. Martha's Table serves more than 2,500 meals every day to area residents experiencing hunger and homelessness. Permission slips were sent in last week’s VIPs and are also available online. Slips must be returned by Monday 2/18. More details at https://bit.ly/2NWUwXT.
We need volunteers to help with this event - helping tally the food donations, setting up the cafeteria, helping to supervise our sandwich makers, and delivering the sandwiches to Martha's table. http://bit.ly/MarthasTableSpring.
Food donations are being collected each morning through Tuesday – all students can help by donating bread (grades K-2) or pre-packaged meat/cheese (grades 3-6) – food is collected and stored each morning by 9 a.m. Thank you for your support!
Pizza Night is Back!
Leave the cooking to Domino's on Wednesday, March 27! Use code DN3 when you order from Domino's (app, phone, in store), and 20% goes to the CRS PTA! No cooking or driving and you raise money for CRS at the same time! Find all the details and a downloadable flyer at http://bit.ly/2zwkGZ3.
Parent Education Discussion about Anxiety
Wednesday, March 27 at 8:45 AM
CRS Exploratory Arts Room
Join us for a facilitated book discussion about Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents by Lynn Lyons. Come with questions or strategies that have worked for you. Want to purchase the book? Go to smile.amazon.com and select “Churchill Road PTA” before you order. Don’t have time to read the book? No worries – everyone is welcome to what we expect will be a vibrant dialogue!
Lynn Lyons, LICSW, and Expert on
Childhood Anxiety Coming to McLean
Monday, April 1, at 7:00 PM
McLean Community Center Alden Theater
Childhood should be a joyful time of carefree play, active learning and spontaneous exploration, yet a growing number of children are trapped in a cycle of paralyzing anxiety that affects the whole family. Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, and current research shows that children, teens and adults can be trained to successfully manage anxiety.
The Safe Community Coalition is pleased to present an evening with Lynn Lyons, LICSW and author of Anxious Kids Anxious Parents: 7 Ways to Stop the Worry Cycle and Raise Courageous and Independent Children. Lynn will provide practical and straightforward strategies that parents and educators can use to break the cycle of anxious worrying.
Tickets are available at https://reducinganxiety.brownpapertickets.com/
Please visit the Safe Community Coalition website (mcleanscc.org) for more information.
Links to PTA News
Link to the CRS PTA homepage:
http://www.churchillroadpta.org/
Link to the PTA Week-at-a-Glance:
https://www.churchillroadpta.org/week-a-glance
As outlined by FCPS Regulation 1367.2, school principals shall offer options to nonprofit organizations that want to make their materials available to students and parents. At Churchill Road, non-profit organizations will be permitted to send home flyers in the take home folder 4 times during the year. The dates for the 2018-2019 school year are the weeks of September 24, December 3, March 4 and May 13. These fliers must be related to the school’s educational mission and be age-appropriate. Community organizations must submit their materials in advance to the school’s principal and must include the disclaimer “These materials are neither sponsored nor endorsed by the Fairfax County School Board, the Superintendent, or this School.” Once approved, the organization will be required to make the copies necessary for distribution. Any questions can be directed to Kim Moran, Churchill Road's Public Relations Liaison.
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