Daily Wilton/BETTER SCHOOL BONANZA

Photography by Bev Iannucci

Tiffany Tecce and Jeffrey Busch represented the parents of the Miller-Driscoll PTA as they accepted a generous check from the President of Mainstreet Connect (A National Community News Company) and Thomas Cain, the Director of Communications. The Co-Presidents were thrilled that the Miller-Driscoll community gained over 100 votes to win the $500.00 prize from the Daily Wilton. T.J. Buzzeo was on hand to congratulate the school. Cheryl Jensen-Gerner, Leslie Pearson, and Sheelah Brown are grateful for all the community support of our Wilton school children.

Grade 2 PARENTS AS PARTNERS

Our third annual "Parents as Reading Partners," was held on October 20 and 21 for our Second Grade students. The Administration, the Language Arts Team comprised of Reading Specialists; Nancy Bernasek, Sandy Little, Susan Schroeder and Barbara Quist, as well as our Library-Media Specialists: Barbara Clancy and Joyce Torres and our Writing Language Arts Resource teacher Erica Tucker gave a short presentation about reading. Parents were reminded that reading is a gift and making reading enjoyable is KEY and will promote a love of reading.

Parents were invited to join their child in his or her classroom and have the fun of reading together in school. Seeing the parents and students reading together was a joy for the teachers and forged one more link in our parent-teacher partnership.

Pumpkin Carving Nights

Photography by Bev Iannucci

All Miller-Driscoll students will find a beautiful warm WELCOME to our Pumpkin Carving Nights as they walk past the window of the Outdoor Learning Center. The children are so excited when they are walking past the cheerful exhibit to their classes. Pam Nobumoto brought the wreath, mums, cornstalks, haystack, pumpkins, and boots to decorate the stage of the OLC. As always, the Key Club assisted the Tiffany Tecce Family and the PTA in cleaning out the pumpkins which some parents had ordered and were ready to be carved. Our families were asked to bring a cleaned out pumpkin, carving tools, flashlight , and a donation for the Wilton Food Pantry to replenish the Food Pantry shelves.

Debbie Lynch, Stephanie Gordon, Mimi Fredericks and Sarah Simmons planned the evening activities and represented the PTA. The PTA team of mothers planned to supervise each evening and orchestrate the serving of the Popcorn and Apple Cider.

Outdoor Learning Center

Kindergarten Students studying the Five Senses at the Outdoor Learning Center

Photography by Bev Iannucci

Our award winning Outdoor Learning Center was recently visited by a team of Ridgefield teachers and parents interested in developing an Outdoor Learning Center. The team was eager to see how curriculum lessons can be supported in a natural habitat, promoting authentic learning experiences. Our wonderful OLC volunteers; Jennifer Hulse, Laura Martins, Pam Nobumoto, Laurie Pierro, Janet Siegel and Nicole Thornbough spent a rainy day preparing for the visit by raking, planting and placing pumpkins and mums to welcome our visitors. Jen, Pam and Nicole then graciously participated in the presentation and tour of the OLC.
The OLC has been honored by being named as the BEST outdoor schoolyard habitat in Connecticut by the National Wildlife Federation. The OLC notably incorporates nature and the environment into the Miller-Driscoll curricula. Our Science Instructional Leader Jane Giresi uses the OLC when teaching Kindergarten students in experiments exploring the Five Senses.
We were all privileged when Erin Woolard, the original designer of the OLC, gave a presentation to the group describing the vision and early beginnings of the OLC. Erin beautifully detailed the purpose and the dream of providing a natural environment for learning for all our Miller-Driscoll students.
Our entire Miller-Driscoll community sincerely appreciates that this beautiful resource for our students is maintained all year by our generous OLC volunteers.