As we approached the gym, we could hear the buzz of excited children and adults. The school was gathering together for our annual back to school assembly, on Friday, August 30, 2013.
Mrs. Dayal, our new principal, welcomed us back. The fifth graders made two lines to form a bridge for the new kindergarten students to walk under, as they entered the gym, while we sang our Welcome Back song. Next we welcomed the new students in grades 1 – 5, as well as, our new staff members.
The morning announcements and the Pledge of Allegiance were led by Caroline and Jack. Mrs. Dayal talked about the importance of taking risks when we learn trying new things. She took a risk herself, by having us sing a round that we had never done together as a group. The Chickering School Directory’s cover design winners were announced. Following this annoucement, we set our goal for the number of Blue Tickets we would earn this year. Dr. Reinemann reminded us that Blue Tickets are awarded for being caught helping others.
We closed our Welcome Back Assembly by singing This Land Is Your Land.
Did you enjoy the Back To School assembly? We sure did! On September 9th, all students, staff and some special guests gathered in the gym to celebrate the start of our new school year. Some 5th graders presented the morning announcements and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
It has now become an annual tradition to welcome the new kindergarten students by singing our ‘Welcome Song’. Ms Pappas, Mrs. Barry, (our music teachers) and some fifth graders played some instruments as we sang while the kindergartners, new students, and new staff joined us in the gym.
Dr. Nugent, our principal, introduced the new staff. One of the new staff members is Mr. Crowley, a fourth grade teacher aide. She also mentioned some additional staff changes.
Mrs Spriggs, Superintendent of the Dover Sherborn Schools, told everyone about the storm and why we didn’t start on the first day of school. Due to Tropical Storm Irene, there were trees fallen across many roads and down electrical wires. This made it extremely dangerous for students and staff to travel safely to school. She acknowledged our heroes in town who fixed up the awful mess from Tropical Storm Irene. They were Mr. Hughes, Superintendent of Streets, Mr. Ramsey, Town Administrator, Police Chief McGowan, and the NStar Company.
Representing Police Chief McGowan was Officer Harry. Officer Harry said lots of trees had fallen on buildings, which caused some damage. Roads were closed due to down power lines and trees which caused us not to go to school. Tropical Storm Irene made it too dangerous to travel on the roads and Chickering’s power went out. Most people in Dover lost their power for several days. More than 5 inches of rain fell on the streets of Dover. All those reasons are why we couldn’t go to school.
Dr. Reinemann, our Assist. Principal, talked to us about Blue Tickets. To earn a Blue Ticket, students are recognized by an adult for being good or helpful. If we meet our goal, PTO writes a check, which then sends kids to camp who are not as fortunate as we are. We set a goal, last year, for 5,000 Blue Tickets including Blue Ticket Awards. Blue Ticket Awards can be given by a student to another student for being nice or helpful. We earned 5,126 Blue Tickets last year. Our goal this year is 6,000 including Blue Ticket Awards.
After the Blue Ticket announcements we sang our new, traditional Chickering Song. Ms Pappas led us through the song. The new song really helped bring us together as a school community. We are off to a great year!
school assembly, on Friday, August 30, 2013.