What a wonderful night for families to celebrate the upcoming season! Families circulated through the building to attend three sessions: creating a paper art winter scene; hearing Link students on their recorders and the Link Choir sing, as well as joining in a sing-a-long; and viewing a performance by students in this quarter’s Performing Arts Classes. At the end of the evening, everyone gathered in the gym to congratulate the winners of the “Find the Snowmen” contest and to enjoy some cookies and hot cocoa! Thanks to our performing arts teachers for a thoroughly enjoyable event.
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Link’s Thanksgiving Community Service Day was a great success!
What a wonderful day of “giving back”! Students at all levels and in both buildings engaged in various activities, parents actively participated, and staff kept everything moving! We collected over 1200 canned and boxed foods that went food pantries/shelters in Newark, Irvington, Hillside, and East Orange. The team donating the most food was Team Bridges, with 408 cans and boxes. Team Chisholm came in second, with 224 and Team King, with 211.
Students prepared 215 sandwich bags (sandwiches, chips, water, and fruit) for the Apostles House and YMCA Emergency Housing in Newark. They also wrote “caring cards” to be sent to an organization that will see that children in foster care receive them. We are proud of our Link community – students, staff, and parents – for being actively engaged in the day’s activities and for giving back to the community, helping those in need.
Dressing as Vocabulary Words!
The Vocabulary Parade (grades K-6) and the Vocabulary Fashion show (grades 7 & 8) this week reflected student creativity as many came to school in costumes that represented a vocabulary word of their choice. The parade, outside in front of 23 Pennsylvania Avenue, was exciting, with students cheering their peers for their costumes! 7th and 8th graders showed off their word “fashions” in a “runway walk” in the cafeteria at the Halsey Street facility. Costumes/fashions were judged for Most Creative, Most Challenging Word, Best Part of Speech, Funniest Costume, Best Shortest Word, Longest Vocabulary Word, and Happiest Vocabulary Word. A fun way to learn new vocabulary words!
Red Ribbon Week oserved at Link
Link joined in the National Red Ribbon Week, the most extensive drug abuse awareness and prevention campaign in the U.S. The week of October 23-27 was dedicated to encouraging our students to make healthy choices and live drug-free lives. On October 23rd, Upper House students were introduced to the theme in a virtual Morning Circle. Daily announcements inspired students to make positive choices. Lower House students tied red ribbons on trees around the 23 Pennsylvania Avenue building. DEA Agent Timothy McMahon visited Link and spoke to scholars in grades 5-8 about the dangers of drugs and how to spot and avoid them. On the 27th, students and staff wore red to support the week’s theme – “Be Kind to Your Mind. Be Drug Free.”
Novartis Program inspires Link scholars
Twenty-eight Link 8th grade students visited Novartis in East Hanover, NJ, on October 26th for the annual Novartis Multicultural Teen Corporate Mentoring Program. Besides introducing students to the pharmaceutical industry, this one-day program provides students with “real-world, practical guidance on planning a path to academic and professional success.” Students, ours and those from many schools in the area, heard from inspirational speakers – successful role models in various corporate careers. They were impressed by a “Fireside Chat and Q&A” with Mr. Joel Bervell, known on social media as the “Medical Mythbuster.” Students moved into breakout sessions conducted by Novartis personnel for transferable skill-building exercises, including interviewing, networking, and how to do an “elevator pitch.” Our students rated this as a very positive and enlightening event. They enjoyed meeting students from other schools and successful professionals.
Link families enjoy Family Write Night
Our first Family Write Night of the school year is in the books, and it was a lovely evening! We had a great turnout from kindergarten through grade 6 students and families who experienced fun and engaging literacy activity stations and enjoyed a delicious homemade dinner. Some of our 6th grade scholars helped with the setup for the event, supported younger students as they worked through the various stations, and cleaned up after the event. Scholars were engaged throughout the evening, and each left with a free book for their personal home libraries. We thank our partners, The Mighty Writers, for collaborating with Link on this wonderful event.