News From WES - October 2, 2017

WES UPCOMING EVENTS 

•  October 4-6 - PTO bake sale at Norman Williams Public Library Please contact Scarlett McDermott if you can help: smcdermo@comcast.net or visit the sign-up link.
• Wednesday, October 4 - Sculpture Fest school-wide field trip
• Thursday, October 5 - Sculpture Fest rain date 
• Saturday, October 7 -  Celebration for Dr. Kilcullen and welcome Dr. Staley at WES 2-4pm
• Monday, October 9 - No School 
• Monday, October 16 - WES board meeting 4:30pm 
• Tuesday, October 31 - Halloween Parade 1:45pm
• Friday, November 3 - Harvest Hoedown 5:30-7pm

WES Dog Policy 

We are a community with many dog lovers, however this is a gentle reminder that Woodstock Elementary School is a dog-free campus. If you need to bring your dog to pick up time, please wait for your child on the public sidewalk down by the front hedges. Thank you for your understanding.  

Whole School Paw Print Celebration! 

Last week, we met our first whole school paw print goal of earning 7,000 paw prints. To recognize students' good work being safe, respectful, and ready to learn, we had a whole school art party on the blacktop during a recent Terrific Tuesday assembly. You can track our whole school paw print progress on the bulletin board outside the office. Thanks to the unified arts teachers for organizing our Terrific Tuesdays! 

FOUR WINDS VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Nature lovers needed! Four Winds is a nature education program providing our K-4 students with fun and educational activities led by parent volunteers. We need YOU! No experience needed: a professional environmental educator comes and trains our volunteers how to run games and lessons based around concepts of observation and the natural world. We then go into the classroom and do a puppet show, games, and other fun activities all with classroom teachers present. This program is supported by the school budget and eagerly anticipated by students year after year. But none of this can happen without volunteers to run the classes. Interested? Contact Bethany Powers 457-1230 or bethanypowers1@gmail.com. If you are interested, we'd love to have you as an extra set of hands! Come and join us in one of the classes and see what it is all about! It's a great way to spend time giving back to the school that does so much for our families!

WES Café Harvest of the Month

Do you have Swiss Chard growing in your garden? Swiss Chard is a wonderful fall crop that yields an enormous amount of health benefits like fiber, Vitamin C and potassium.  It is naturally colorful, it easy to cook and it is very easy to grow. Last week, students and staff taste tested cooked red swiss chard with garlic. Below is the same recipe we used but without the pasta. Swiss Chard pairs well with pasta, pizza and eggs! Bon Appetite! 

PENNE WITH SWISS CHARD AND GARLIC

Yield: 2 Servings

Ingredients:
1 pounds Swiss chard, stems cut from the leaves and stems and leaves chopped separately
1/8 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes or to taste
2 large garlic cloves, sliced thin
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup water
1 cup drained canned tomatoes, chopped
½ pound penne or other tubular pasta
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus addition as an accompaniment

Directions:

1. Rinse and drain the Swiss chard stems and leaves separately.
2. In a large heavy skillet cook the red pepper flakes and garlic in the oil over moderate heat, stirring, until garlic is pale golden.
3. Add the stems and ¼ cup of the water. Cover and cook the mixture for 5 minutes or until the stems are just tender.
4. Add the leaves with the remaining ¼ cup water and salt and pepper to taste and cook the mixture, covered, for 5 minutes.
5. Stir in the tomatoes and cook the mixture, covered, for 3 minutes, or until the leaves are tender.
6. While the chard is cooking, in a kettle of salted boiling water, boil the penne until it is al dente and drain in a colander.
7. In a large bowl toss the penne with the chard mixture and ¼ cup of the Parmesan and serve with additional Parmesan.

 Source: epicurious.com