March Book - It Project
For the March Book – It Project, the second graders teamed up with Mrs. Shomacker’s class to make leprechauns.
John and Laura with their completed projects. Great job!
Two more lucky leprechauns!
Thank you, fifth graders, for helping us!
On my winter vacation I went to Steamboat, Colorado to go skiing. We stayed with two other families in one unit of the house. The house was located at the top of a lift called Southface. To get to the driveway by car you had to go up a steep hill. At the end of the week, my family and I went to my Aunt Mary’s house. We went to her house because we don’t get to see her as much as the rest of my family. They all live in a town called Littleton.
The thing that I liked best was going to ski school on Thursday. I went down a slope called Southface to see if the group I was in was right for me. I was moved up a level because I was ahead of the rest of the class. So I was put into a group that was between five and six. We went up the Gondola, which took us half way up the mountain. We skied down to a lift called Storm Peak Express, which took us to the top of the mountain. We went to the back of the mountain and went down a black diamond called Hot Cakes. That took us to the Gondola for lunch. I had a hamburger and a coke for lunch. It tasted like the hamburgers my dad cooks. After lunch we took a blue down called Vagabond to Storm Peak Express. We took down the Ridge down to a trail called Vagabond again to get to the Rough Rider meeting place. I took the Gondola to the middle of the mountain to meet them so we could get our picture taken. It was a half and hour wait, so we didn’t get our picture taken. We skied down The Ridge were my dad had a race with my brother Chad. We then took a green trail called So What, which took us down to the lift called Southface.
Next year I would like to go to Breckenbridge, Colorado. I was there one year and it was great and I had a lot of fun there. The ski teachers were really nice there, too. I say that was the best place in Colorado and I would like to go there again someday.
By Collin




On February 19th, I went upstate New York. We were going to the Catskills Mountains to ski. The mountain that we skied at was called Bellayre Mountain. My family and I stayed at my mom’s friend’s house. At the house, two other families stayed there.
The favorite thing I did was snow-boarding. At first I didn’t like it because I kept falling. Then I got the hang of it and it became fun. Another thing that I enjoyed was riding the quads. I liked it because I was going so fast with all the wind blowing in my face. It was one of my favorite things because I had never done it before.
My vacation was great because I got to snowboard and now know that I will try it again. It was also fun because we got to play cards, play pool and ride the quads. Next February break I want to go snowboarding at a different mountain, like Windham or Hunter.
By Ray


On my February vacation I went on a cruise. We stayed on the boat most of the time but we stopped in three places. They were San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and St. Croix.
My favorite part of the cruise was stopping in St. Croix. We docked there on Thursday at 8:00 AM. We had to take a bus to the other side of the island, where we got on a small ferry. It was a two-minute ride on the boat, but it was a private beach so we couldn’t swim across. At the beach we rented a jet ski. We only were able to rent it for a half-hour, so my dad drove the whole time, and my mom, my sister, and I each got a ten-minute ride. When we were done, we saw a lady who was braiding hair so we waited on line. There were only two girls in front of us but it took a half-hour each person. So my mom got us lunch while we were waiting. When it was finally my turn, I had to pick out my beads first. It pulled my hair and hurt a little bit, but when she was done it didn’t hurt anymore and it looked really good. We then went swimming in the water. It was so clear that if you looked down you could see fish swimming underneath you. After swimming we had to take another ferry and bus to the dock. The bus ride was very long but we got to talk to these nice girls, who were teachers. When we got back to where the dock was we went shopping. My sister and I each got an ankle bracelet and my dad got a CD with Jamaican music on it. We got back on the boat after shopping. I thought St. Croix was really fun.
On my next vacation I would like to stay home. Then I could play with my cousins, Andrew and Joey, and all the other kids that my mom baby-sits.
By Laura


Over the winter vacation, I stayed home, but I had a lot of fun. I had some of my friends over and I went shopping. I bought some clothes from Pacific Sunwear.
My favorite part of the vacation was when we went to Jillians with my cousins, Eric and Chrissy. First ,we ate at the restaurant and then we played many games. Some of the games were very hard and took a lot of work, while others were extremely easy. We left at about six o’clock. Our cousins came back to our house, but left shortly after. I had a lot of fun that day. The next day I went to the mall. The Channel 55 news interviewed me, but they didn’t show me that night at eleven o’clock. I was mad, but happy for my sister. She was interviewed on Channel 55 that night.
The vacation was fun, because I did many things. Next year I would like to go to Hawaii and go swimming. At least it wouldn’t be so cold.
By Jarett


On my winter vacation I stayed home, but I still had fun. One day I went sleigh riding with my friends. Another day I slept over my aunt’s house, because my parents were away.
On Tuesday, my sister and I slept over my Aunt Jane’s house. My aunt lives out east and she has a really big house. She has twins, Katie and Emily. It was really a lot of fun playing with them because they are starting to walk and talk. I had a lot of fun with my aunt and my cousins. On the day that it snowed, I went sleighing with my friends, Krissy and Laura. Laura’s dad took us to Bethpage on a big hill. It was fun, but we had to walk all the way up the hill. After we went sleighing, we went to get All-American. We had a lot of fun.
My vacation was great because I saw a lot of my relatives and my friends. Even though this vacation was nice, maybe next year my family and I will go on a real vacation. I would like to go skiing or go on a cruise.
By Sara
Shoe’s News
Mrs. Schomacker’s Class Newsletter
Room 102 – February 2001

A Christmas Carol
On December 13, 2000, we went to New York City to see "A Christmas Carol." First, our parents drove us to the Babylon Train Station. We each had partners. We got there at 8 o’clock and the train left at 8:35. When we got on the train we sat with our chaperones. After an hour long train ride, we got off at Penn Station. When we got there we walked around for awhile until we got to Madison Square Garden Theater. We saw Christmas carolers. Then we ate and bought souvenirs. They had a lot of souvenirs, and they even had people from the play you could take pictures with. When we got into the theater, it was loud and big. We had the first 6 rows to sit in. It took awhile for the play to start, but then it got dark and it started. In the play the characters sang a lot. The play was about a greedy man that hated everyone and hated Christmas. The three spirits came and showed Scrooge the importance of Christmas. At the end he turns into a caring man who loves Christmas. When the play was finished, we headed back to the train station. The train ride home took about an hour. When we got back to Babylon, our parents picked us up.
By John, Jarett, Derek, and Ray




Kindergarten Buddies
In September, we went to Mrs. Galati’s kindergarten class because our teacher was training at a computer lab and we had no substitute teacher. Here are some things that we did with our kindergarten partners. We counted to 40 because it was the 40th day of school and we made scarecrows with patterned shirts because they had just learned about patterns. When they left, we thanked them for having us and they went home. Two days later they made us brownies. Then, in December, we decided to make our kindergarten partners a holiday fun book that they could do over winter vacation. We did one page with them that they got to choose. We had a great time with our kindergarten partners and we plan on making them something for Valentine’s Day.
By Janel, Laura, and Danielle
Science News
We started the Powders and Crystals Science Unit this January. We are using the MST Lab to do our experiments. We are going to do experiments on each powder or crystal using the following tests: senses, pocket scope, water, vinegar, iodine, BTB and heat. Our first lesson was about safety when using the powders and crystals. Then we learned to use the pocket scope by examining a strand of hair and a piece of thread. Next, we observed the powders and crystals using the pocket scope. We took a toothpick and put the tip into the cup and put powder onto a glass slice. We had to write the characteristics of each powder and draw what the powder looked like. We will continue doing experiments for the next few weeks. This science unit is fun to do.
By Collin, Mike, and Chris

Laura Wins Art Contest
Our classmate, Laura, was the first United States citizen to win the Children’s Art Award from England. She made the picture in art class with her art teacher, Mrs. Rotter. The project was called the "Foggy Day Picture." It included the New York City sky line at New York Harbor, with the Statue of Liberty in the front. They announced that she was the winner on Wednesday, January 10, 2001. She was so anxious to get her prize. She received her prize a few weeks later. Her prize was two art books, a chocolate bar, and a certificate. We are happy Laura won the prize.
By Rebecca, Heather, Danny, and Richard

Planetarium Visit
We went to the High School Planetarium three times in December. Mr. Columbo, the Astronomy teacher, was very nice. He showed us many different constellations like "Taurus the Bull." He also showed us different telescopes. We learned many interesting things at the High School Planetarium. Some of the things we learned were that all light is made up of photons, if you put copper in fire it turns green and the colors of the spectrum are Roy G. Biv (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet). We go there every year and learn more about our solar system.
By Sara, Chelsea, and Kristen

Jarett Wins Bookmark Contest
On January 30, 2001, Jarett won the Captree Bookmark Contest. First, a few kids in our class handed one in. Then about a week later, they announced the winners. The prize he won was 100 of his winning bookmarks and one each of the other winning bookmarks. Jarett got a certificate and his picture on the Captree Web site. He handed one out to everyone in the class. We are happy that he won.