Friday, February 29, 2008

St. Pius V. Spelling BEE!

St. Pius Spelling BEE

"Do your best, and be kind to one another."
St. Pius V School/Church Mission Statement


My 10-year-old daughter Sabrina attends forth grade at St. Pius V. School in Lynn, Massachusetts. Sabrina has been a student there since Kindergarten and my plan is to have her graduate at the end of her eighth grade year.

I love this little Catholic School. http://www.stpiusvschool.org/ Starting with top of the chain - the Principal Mr. Maestranzi, the teachers, support/Pastoral staff, even on down to the janitors! I love the uniforms, the structure, the discipline. I especially appreciate that Sabrina’s First Holy Communion was built into her second grade curriculum. I further enjoy the Mass that is held one Friday each month that the entire school community attends as well as parents, family, friends and others who are also welcome. I am even serving my third year term on the Parent Teacher Organization PTO?

Most importantly, I also believe in the in the St. Pius V. School/Church Mission - “Do your Best, and be kind to one another”.

Yesterday St. Pius V. held it’s Annual Spelling Bee Event and although Sabrina was not competing we still attended to support some of her forth grade classmates; Devin, Joseph and her eighth-grade buddy Jackie. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scripps_National_Spelling_Bee

If you have ever witnessed a Spelling Bee you can guess that it is exciting to see some of these youngsters spell some difficult words correctly. AND it is equally discouraging to witness some of them spell words incorrectly. The winner did well he will go on to compete Lynn City Hall in March.

If you are interested in seeing a movie that taps into this subject watch Akeelah and the Bee. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akeelah_and_the_Bee

On the way to an appointment in the car today Sabrina said to me “Mommy, I wouldn’t want to go up there…the hard part would be getting a word wrong” referring to yesterdays Spelling Bee. OK time for "MOM ADVICE" - I said, “Sabrina, even though it is a SPELLING BEE and the objective is to spell the word correctly, it is not JUST about spelling the word right…it is about taking a chance and participating in the event”… “like you did for the St. Pius V. Talent Show”… “remember even though you and Brenda didn’t win”…“you both had a great time practicing your routine, performing it for the school and being a part of the event”.


I have an absolute love of English and words and spelling (I don’t mean some of the typing mistakes you may find on my BLOG) I love spelling words. I taught 1:1 reading instruction for three years at a special education school (Lakeside School).
AND although reading and writing are MY strengths and MY passions. They are not Sabrina’s strengths, or Sabrina’s passions. In truth, reading and writing are very tough for her.

In fact, Sabrina has been diagnosed with Dyslexia which causes her to see words and letters backwards and to write words and letters backwards. I hope that her having dyslexia does not stop her from participating in the St. Pius V. Spelling Bee event next year…

because even if she TRIES and she misspells the first word she gets that would be fine with me and the school because after all St. Pius V. Mission States "Do your best, and be kind to one another."


Word of the Day -

Dyslexia is a learning disability that manifests primarily as a difficulty with written language, particularly with reading and spelling. It is separate and distinct from reading difficulties resulting from other causes, such as a non-neurological deficiency with vision or hearing, or from poor or inadequate reading instruction.[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyslexia

Great resource for your children – frequently misspelled words

http://www.writerspost.com/literatefolk/spellingb/


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akeelah_and_the_Bee


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scripps_National_Spelling_Bee

The Scripps National Spelling Bee (formerly known as the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and commonly referred to simply as the National Spelling Bee) is a highly competitive annual spelling bee. It is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W. Scripps Company and is held in the ballroom at the Grand Hyatt Washington hotel in Washington, D.C. Historically, the competition has been open to, and remains open to, the winners of sponsored American regional spelling bees. Over the years, the competition has been opened to contestants from Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, New Zealand, and the Bahamas. Participants from countries other than the United States must be regional spelling bee competition winners as well. In recent years, the Championship Finals have aired live on ABC from 8:00 PM to after 10:00 p.m. EDT.

Frequently Misspelled Words
Homeschool Your Child For Free! project

Great resource for your children – frequently misspelled words

http://www.writerspost.com/literatefolk/spellingb/


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akeelah_and_the_Bee


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FACT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_year


For the 1921 film starring Fatty Arbuckle, see Leap Year (film).
A leap year (or intercalary year) is a year containing one or more extra days (or, in the case of lunisolar calendars, an extra month) in order to keep the calendar year synchronised with the astronomical or seasonal year. For example, in the Gregorian calendar, February would have 29 days in a leap year instead of the usual 28. Because seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of full days, a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would, over time, drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting (or intercalating) an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected. A year which is not a leap year is called a common year.

Thought for Today: "A single day is enough to make us a little larger." — Paul Klee, Swiss-German artist (1879-1940).

Today is Friday, Feb. 29, the 60th day of 2008. There are 306 days left in the year. This is Leap Day
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Sunday, February 24, 2008

Gibbs College Speaking Gig!

GIBBS COLLEGE SPEAKING GIG AGAIN!!

" Join Toastmasters. Oral Communication skills count" Tom Peters


A Professor, Cheryl Dorsey, from Katherine Gibbs College on Boylston Street in Boston, MASS http://www.gibbsboston.edu/ who teaches Interpersonal Communications called me and asked me (as a Toastmaster) to come into her class on Wednesday November 28, 2007. I would be there for an hour and emphasize the relevance of public speaking and communication skills to her students. http://www.toastmasters.org/

Their assignment is to prepare a presentation in front of the class. Of course as the District 31 Lt. Governor of Marketing I agreed as a way of plugging Toastmasters in the hope that they will begin a CLUB there!! http://www.district31.org/ I asked my friend and fellow Toastmaster/Edge Member, Mary Cheyne who is from my District 31 (WON second place in our District 31 Humor Contest) if she would like to join me.

Mary spoke for 20 minutes and I spoke for 20 minutes and then we would opened up to the class for 10 minutes of Q & A and Comments. We passed out a clip board for a contact list, as well as our own evaluation feedback sheets, we videoed our session and asked for testimonials.

Tonight I received a call from Cheryl again inviting Mary and I back to speak to another class of students on Monday March 3, 2008! The time our topic be on "Group Presentations".

We will still discuss Toastmasters, bring magazines, brochures and ask for people to join toastmasters as well as plug forming a Gibbs Toastmasters Club AGAIN!

Of course we still plan to video our presentation, send around our clip board, use our own evaluation forms and although we are still waiting on our last testimonial - we trust that we will now have two written testimonials from Professor Cheryl!


Want to learn more about Toastmasters?? http://www.toastmasters.org/

Contact me at sraftery01@northshore.edu

WHAT IS TOASTMASTERS?

This non-profit organization offers a proven – and enjoyable – way to practice communication and leadership skills. Members evaluate one another's presentations. This feedback process is a key part of the program's success. Meeting participants also give impromptu talks on assigned topics, conduct meetings, serve as officers in various leadership roles and learn rules related to timing, grammar and parliamentary procedure. Thousands of corporations sponsor in-house Toastmasters clubs. Businesses and government organizations have discovered that Toastmasters is an effective, cost-efficient means of meeting their communication training needs. Toastmasters groups can also be found in governmental agencies, a variety of community organizations, prisons, universities, hospitals, military bases and churches.
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Friday, February 15, 2008

YAR 2008 Conference Workshop Presenters!

Greetings - We wanted to Share!! WE DID IT!!

One of my "best Aussie mates" Mary Cheyne and I have submitted our "Public Speaking & Communication Skills for Youths" proposal in December 2007 and WE DID IT (!)

We have been selected as YAR 2008 Conference Workshop Presenters!!

We got the exciting news -..."Congratulations! Your workshop proposal has been selected for the 2008 YAR Conference scheduled for June 11, 2008". "We are pleased with your interest in this one of its kind conference in Essex County and your willingness to pass on your knowledge and tools to your peers and colleagues".

Youth At Risk (YAR) is an initiative of the Essex County Community Foundation. www.essexcountyyouth.org

Friends thank you all for your support - we took the steps to make it happen!! WE DID IT!! (Of course we'll post how it went in June!)

Regards!!

Sherri Raftery, M.Ed.
Mary Cheyne, M.B.A.
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Thursday, February 7, 2008

Speaking on the Orphan Trains!

There are times when being an orphan is not so bad,
at least you don't have family worries! Emma Symms
An invite to speak at the 2008 Nebraska Orphan Train Celebration - Fremont, NE
WOW - Ok let me bring you back a few steps (or should I say Stops). In my previous post I mentioned I am being honored by THE HOME for Little Wanderers - Boston MA - on Wednesday May 28, 2008. http://www.thehome.org/site/PageServer?pagename=events_voices_visions
Last year while I was listening to the Toastmasters http://www.toastmasters.org/
2001 “World Champion of Public Speaking” (WCPS), Darren LaCroix's, http://www.humor411.com/ "Get Paid to Speak Next Week" audio CD in my car…my mouth suddenly opened when Darren mentioned a woman named Charlotte Endorf endorf@cableone.net who wrote a book - PLAINS BOUND FRAGILE CARGO - about the Orphan Trains.
THE HOME http://www.thehome.org/ is part of the Orphan Trains Movement too. Children who were orphaned from the civil war were taken in, taught how to sing and put on trains heading out west to be adopted by loving families!
I knew I had to connect with Charlotte and we emailed briefly in Aug 2007. The other day I sent Charlotte an email letting her know about my honoree news. I also asked Charlotte for help and pointers about writing my book THE LITTLE WANDERERS HOME - my personal journey as a Little Wanderer.
Charlotte sent me info about her publishing company http://outskirtspress.com/ as well as pointers and THEN at the very end of her email she invited me to speak as a special guest about "THE HOME" during the 2008 Nebraska Orphan Train Celebration on April 26 & 27 2008 that her family is co-sponsoring in Nebraska during actual train ride.
{For more information - Endorf Enterprises at 402-371-3701 endorf@cableone.net }
And how PRICELESS IS THIS BOUNUS! - Charolett is giving me two signed copies of her book as well as her new DVD which includes 40 or more stories of the 8,500 miles she has traveled getting their stories - as a thank you for agreeing to be a guest speaker! http://www.outskirtspress.com/plainsbound

I am taking my 10-year-old daughter Sabrina with me. We are Fragile Cargo...Heading West...Plains Bound...Boarding the Orphan Trains!
Friends this is a turning point for me in such a short amount of time – I am being honored by an agency that I respect so much and I also get to speak during a celebration from a movement I believe in so much! As well as meeting people who cared enough to keep this piece of history alive!!

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FACT -
An orphan (from the Greek ορφανός) is a person (typically a child), who has lost both parents, often through death. One legal definition used in the USA is someone bereft through "death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents".[1] Common usage limits the term to children, (or the young of animals) who have lost both parents. On this basis half-orphans are those with one surviving parent.

In certain animal species where the father typically abandons the mother and child at or prior to birth, the child will be called an orphan when the mother dies regardless of the condition of the father.
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More links about orphan trains
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