|
|
|
|
|
Elysian Charter School
Weekly Newsletter
A Positively Different Public School
March 13, 2017 Vol. 12 Issue 26
The school newsletter is sent out on Mondays. When there is a holiday, the newsletter is sent the following day.
| |
| Reminder: Elysian will be closed on Tuesday, March 14 because of the snow storm.
| |
| Harry's Corner
This article was published in the New York Times Well Blog on March 8, 2017.
Teenagers Do Dumb Things, but There Are Ways to Limit Recklessness
By LISA DAMOUR
By now parents are familiar with the worrisome finding that the thrill-seeking centers of the adolescent brain can readily outmatch the teenage brain’s emerging rational control systems.
I count myself among the adults who find this neurological account of adolescent recklessness to be both clarifying and confounding. It helpfully explains why really thoughtful teenagers sometimes do really dumb things. But experience tells us that some teenagers are much more impulsive than others, so it’s hard to imagine that all adolescents are equally at the mercy of their own gawky brains.
New research sheds light on the question of teenagers and self-control. A study of more than 5,000 adolescents and young adults from 11 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas confirmed that adolescents worldwide have similarly risk-prone brains, but vary substantially in actual risk-taking.
Laurence Steinberg, the study’s lead author and a professor of psychology at Temple University, said that the findings, in the journal Developmental Science, suggest that “the context in which kids grow up must matter a great deal, and that adolescent recklessness isn’t the inevitable byproduct of the period’s biology.”
Dr. Steinberg and his colleagues demonstrated that sensation seeking — the yearning for excitement that can characterize adolescence — peaks around age 19 worldwide, and then declines with age. In contrast, self-regulation — the ability to quash an impulse — climbs in a gradual, linear trend until around ages 23 or 24, when it plateaus at adult levels. The fact that self-regulation lags behind sensation seeking helps explain consistent evidence that risk-taking spikes during the teenage years.
“But just because something is rooted in biology,” Dr. Steinberg notes, “doesn’t mean that it’s not malleable and that there’s nothing we can do about it.” As he adds, “even in China we are finding that adolescents are at a time of heightened sensation seeking, but they don’t engage in the high rates of drug use, unprotected sex and recklessness that we see in America and Western Europe.”
Adolescent risk-taking spans a stunning range across the globe. For example, only 2 percent of Indonesian teenagers report having tried alcohol in the last month, compared to roughly half of Argentine adolescents. Cultural mores and patterns of access to opportunities shape how teenagers push limits. Dr. Steinberg also suspects that the countries with the lowest rates of adolescent risk-taking “encourage self-control from a very early age and structure adolescence in a way that doesn’t give kids a lot of free, unstructured time to get into a lot of trouble.”
In contrast, Americans often celebrate adolescence as a spirited time of life when young people push boundaries, take chances and seek independence.
While many Americans see individual autonomy as a cherished aspect of our national identity, granting lots of freedom may not be the best way to keep teenagers safe. Graduated licensing laws in most states have effectively reduced the number of deaths and injuries in car crashes involving young drivers, and generally we see that the more supervision teenagers have, the less likely they are to come to harm.
For teenagers to find trouble, temptation must meet opportunity.
This argues for adults to regulate what teenagers do and to encourage them to look out for their own safety as well. In other work, Dr. Steinberg and the psychologist Margo Gardner demonstrated that adolescents are especially likely to act recklessly when the rational centers of their brains come up against the kryptonite of socially or emotionally charged situations.
Even typically levelheaded teenagers can make foolish choices when they find themselves in unexpected situations: A sleepover at a friend’s house where someone has brought marijuana; a party where they discover that their ride home is no longer sober. Some parents may be reluctant to imagine their own children in dicey scenarios, but it can be helpful to talk them through a hypothetical dry run.
As Dr. Steinberg suggests, we should aim to “make the prudent behavior more automatic and less dependent on the teenager stepping back and thinking about it in the moment.”
Dr. Steinberg’s work demonstrates that teenagers sometimes make bad choices because their impulses override their controls. At other times, though, teenagers give real thought to their plans and still arrive at dangerous conclusions.
For example, a teenager without immediate access to a condom might weigh the chances of a pregnancy against the known benefits of having sex and decide to proceed without protection. An adult might conclude that it’s better to forgo intercourse than to risk an unwanted pregnancy.
Recently, Valerie Reyna, a professor of psychology at Cornell University and the psychologist Britain Mills of the University of Texas-Dallas found that adolescents can, indeed, be taught to think about their choices in basic and pragmatic ways. Dr. Reyna compared the effects of a standard sexual education program to one that additionally emphasized the crux of sexual choices by noting that “it only takes once” to contract a sexually transmitted infection and that, sooner or later, unprotected sex usually leads to pregnancy. Those teenagers who participated in the intervention highlighting the bottom line went on to take fewer sexual risks than teenagers in the standard program.
“Once you change how a person thinks about a decision,” says Dr. Reyna, “that’s a lasting change. It’s hard to undo an insight.”
All the same, Dr. Reyna notes that adolescents need frequent reminders of clear rules for decision-making — or bright lines — and adults who can help convey the same message in different ways. On some days in my own practice with adolescents I say, “Don’t focus on whether you could get caught — you probably won’t. Focus on whether you could get hurt.” On other days I point out that, “when the adults are around, we help to keep you safe. When we’re not around, staying safe is entirely your job.”
Dr. Steinberg agrees that, with teenagers, “sometimes you have to say the same thing six times before it works.” Frustrating as this may be, his close look at the psychological development of teenagers around the world reminds us to resist the temptation to “write adolescent risk-taking off as something we can’t do anything about.”
| |
|
How Does the Calendar Work If We Have A Snow Day?
We are required by State law to have 180 school days by June 30th of each year. Our calendar has 182 days scheduled to account for possible snow days. So far we have had one snow day on February 9th and will use another one tomorrow.. This will keep us to the 180 days so that we can end the school year on Friday, June 23rd as scheduled. If we have any additional snow days we will have to go into the week of Monday, June 26th,
| |
|
Thank You to Friends!!!
Friends of Elysian has done so much to ensure that our children get everything that they need to learn! The yearly gala has become a major tool for the fundraising. All of this money is for the children of the school to ensure that our environment is wonderful and that we have the tools we need to teach. This year, for example, Friends purchased a new math series for grades K to 5.
Not only does Friends raise money for us. They know how to show us a good time! Friday night’s auction was a huge success and a tremendous amount of fun.
A big thank you to Danny and Joan Spiegel for spearheading this effort and to all the volunteers who gave hours and hours of time to making this happen. Here are all of their names:
Brian Blake, Carolyn Buntic & Gary Thomas, Wasim Choudhury, Clare & Colin Cook, Stephanie & Carter Craft, John Fischer, Harriet Fitzpatrick, Lisa Gale, Courtney Gazaleh, Seth Goodman, Sara Green, Nicola Hoelzl, Malin Kallberg-Shroff, Jonathan & Rachel Katell, Shana Lee, Lindsay Loyd, Annie McAdams, Michele & Jimmy McCue, Stacy Mello, Ann Murphy, Jennifer & Steve Napolitani, Cynthia Ng-Villaluz, Jen O’Callaghan, Sally Rutledge, Jenifer Semenza, Angela Soo-McDermott, Lisa Spear, Joan & Danny Spiegel, Pamela Strell, Amy Whelton, Alison Ziegler.
As you can see this is quite a crew! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
| |
|
PTSO Corner CANDIDATE MEET AND GREET THANK YOUS
Thank you to all of the parents and staff who took the time to come to the PTSO board candidate Meet and Greet last week! It was a great opportunity for everyone to better get to know the 8 candidates. And thank you to all 8 candidates who came to the event to answer questions!
| |
|
IT ALL STARTS WITH THE ART!!
Once again, Elysian Charter has teamed up with Square 1 Art to celebrate your child's artistic accomplishments while raising much needed funds for our school! Coming home TODAY is your child's custom catalog featuring their one-of-a-kind artwork (some new products have been added too!). Deadline to order is Friday, March 24th. Orders can be placed online at www.square1art.com/shop or you can return the paper order form to your child's teacher. Together, we can support our school, build your child's self-esteem and create lasting keepsakes from your child's unique artwork. Please contact elysianptso@gmail.com with any questions.
| |
|
FOUND
If you lost a pair of black glasses with it's case from Dr. Robert Messinger's office at Eye Site. Please see Deb.
| |
|
21st ANNUAL ELYSIAN MEETING / BOARD MEMBER ELECTION
TUESDAY, MARCH 21 2017
Starting at 6:00 pm / Meeting will begin when a quorum is reached.
IMPORTANT! This is the most important Elysian event of the year - we need as many people as possible to attend so that we meet the quorum of 70 families. Please plan to stay until the results are in. This is so that, in the event of a tie and we need to vote again, the quorum has still been maintained and we can vote again. ( If the quorum is not there, we will have to conduct the entire meeting again - so please plan on staying!)
Each family is counted as one member, regardless of how many children they may have enrolled in the school. In addition, all employees of the Elysian Charter School who have been employed for the six months prior to an election are voting members.
Elysian is governed by a nine-member board of trustees. Each trustee is elected to a three-year term. Not all trustees are elected at the same time.
Board members are unpaid volunteers willing to spend extra time and energy on behalf of the Membership in support of the Elysian Charter School.
While we are waiting for the results there will be entertainment (by the 3rd graders) and a pot luck dinner. In order to cover all food categories for the pot luck, families please bring the following:
Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th grades – Entrees
5th grade – Appetizers
6th grades – Salads
7th – 8th grades – Desserts
Water, plates, utensils & napkins will be provided
(Due to a lack of preparation areas, please bring food that is cut and ready to serve!)
……………………………………………….................................…………….
Childcare (all ages) will be provided upstairs by Francine & Brenda.
$5 per child payable upstairs the day of the event.
Pizza dinner will be served to all kids.
Drop kids off before coming downstairs please, this is an adult event.
DEADLINE FOR ABSENTEE VOTING: 4:00 pm on 3/21/17 -School Office
To absentee vote - see Deb Rosner in the office between 8 am - 4 PM
Vote Counting provided by Jaclyn Cherubini – Hoboken Clergy Coalition
| |
|
ELYSIAN MOUNTAIN GROWING!
A mountain is growing in the office at Elysian! The amount of lost and found clothing has grown so much that we need to find a home for these items. There are so many items, we can no longer hold them in the office. The bins will be available in the gym on the evening of the Annual Meeting. You may also come at pick up, dismissal or aftercare to locate lost items before the meeting, next Tuesday, March 21st. After Tuesday evening, we will bag them up and donate them to charity. Last chance to claim lost items!
| |
|
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!We need SET UP and CLEAN UP CREWS for the annual meeting on March 21. Please contact Eduardo Gonzalez at: eduardo.gonzalez@ecsnj.org
SET UP - Please come by 4:45 pm/5:00 latest to set up the gym.
CLEAN UP - Knock down chairs, coat racks - clean up upstairs serving area - clean service utensils.
| |
| AFTER SCHOOL ENRICHMENT CLUBS:
Here are the remaining dates for the Winter Session of after school clubs (as of today, subject to change if a remaining class is cancelled):
Monday Clubs: March 13, March 20, March 27
Tuesday Clubs: March 21 --- Calligraphy will also meet on March 28
Wednesday Clubs: March 15 --- Crafts with Eric will also meet on March 29
** Chess Club continues on into April as it is a 14-week club
Thursday Clubs: March 16, March 23, March 30 -- Clay Club will also meet on April 6
Friday Clubs: March 17, March 24, March 31
There will br a Spring Session of after school enrichment clubs beginning late April. More information to follow.
| |
|
Friends of Elysian Auction/Raffle Round UP 2017
| |
|
(Abridged version)
An earlier “post Auction” email was sent out thanking everyone (please check it out if you can!), but, in case you missed it, we wanted to add one more giant “THANK YOU!” to everyone who both supported the event and helped make it happen. We are definitely “All In” together and it really showed on Friday night.
SHORT RECAP: So, thanks to all of you—while we are still finalizing finances/expenses—as of now it looks like we grossed more than $64,000!
50/50 RAFFLE TICKETS: It looked a little rough for a while, but in the end, a total of 1,689 raffle tickets were sold, translating to a total pot of $16,890! Elysian of course receives half that amount: $8,445! Great job, everybody!
And the classroom winners are…La La Land! No, wait. It’s actually:
1st Place: Alyssa’s 4th Grade class
2nd Place: Josie’s Kindergarten class
3rd Place: Melissa’s 2nd Grade class
And one more reminder to check out the earlier email for LOTS more well-deserved appreciation. Thank you!
| |
| EXTRA SPECIAL POST-AUCTION OPPORTUNITY:
Special Elysian event at Local Barre!
Spots are still available!
Sunday, March 26 from 12-2 PM.
For a $25 donation to the Campaign, you can attend a private barre class created for the Elysian community! (BUT Elysian community members can also bring non-Elysian friends or extended family. Same price for everyone.)
The event will include:
• 60-minute private “open barre” class with our own “barretender.”
Class will be designed for your fitness level. (Beginners welcome!)
• 1 pair of sticky socks to take home
• Champagne and appetizer reception following the class
Join us at Local Barre for some fitness, cheer and to support a great cause! We’ll see you there!
Deadline for registration: Wednesday, March 22, 2017
| |
| Campaign For Elysian
Everyone at the Campaign For Elysian would like to thank the following donors for their recent gifts. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!
Debra Pelto and David Naumann
Etsuko and Manabu Nakayama
Anonymous
SPECIAL APPRECIATION!
We also like to extend some special thanks to 4th grader Dalia Duran who encouraged her friends, in honor of her birthday, to contribute to the Campaign! To think of honoring the Campaign for her birthday is such an amazing gesture. And these gifts will go directly to helping Elysian provide the education excellence that we all know and appreciate!
Thank you to Dalia (and happy birthday too!), her mom, Blanca, and to all Dalia’s friends (and their parents) for these generous donations!
Madeline Alderson
Arza Bhalla
Grace Campbell
Henry Eig
Dylan Endico
Sasha Golubchik
Taylor Glynn
Cole Laskowski
Victor Maseuth
Gigi Michaels
Caitlyn Powell
Jack Tuckman
Clea Villaluz
Jake Vogel
| |
| ELYSIAN SUMMER CAMP 2017
Does the thought of figuring out your child's summer camp plans each year put you in a state of anxiety? Is your child destined to sit in front of video games all summer because the thought of 2 hours a day on a camp bus isn't very appealing? Well, we have the answer.... The Elysian Charter Day Camp!!
The camp will be open to Elysian children entering kindergarten (Fall 2017) through current 5th grade.
Daily activities will include science, arts & crafts, sports, woodworking, field trips and much more.
The camp staff will be Elysian employees.
For our inaugural summer, there will be 2 one week sessions -- the weeks of July 31st and August 7th. You can sign up for one or both weeks.
Hours of fun, air conditioned classrooms, familiar counselors ..... and no 1 hour bus ride there and back!
The camp is being organized by John Rutledge (renowned 5th grade teacher and everyone's favorite Mystic tour guide!) and Pam Gorode (enrichment club organizer and Assistant Business Manager).
| |
| Student Dress
Parents, please be sure to dress your children appropriately for winter weather. When we have our monthly fire drills, students do not have time to get their coats.
| |
| Elysian Collects Box Tops and LABELS for Education: Look for the container near Deb's desk in the office! Thank you!
| |
|
As per state law, we no longer publish the exact location of trips for security reasons.
Please read the calendar weekly, as changes are updated regularly. MARCH CALENDAR Monday, March 13- Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees, 5:30 PM
Tuesday, March 14- Elysian closed due to impending snow storm, T
- Elysian's Annual Meeting and Election of Board of Trustees is rescheduled for March 21, (See below)
Wednesday, March 15- If we are open today, it will be full day, not a half day as originally scheduled.
Friday, March 17- Community Meeting in the AM. Parents are invited to attend
Tuesday, March 21- Rescheduled Annual Meeting and Election of Board of Trustees, 6:00 PM, in the gym.
Monday, March 27- Board of Trustees Meeting
| |
| Please make note of the following calendar changes:
1. May 19—the Community Meeting will be the 6th grade concert and will begin at 9:00 AM
2. The June 9th Community Meeting is changed to June 16th
3. On June 9th there will be the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade concert which will begin at 9:00 AM
| |
|
|
1460 Garden Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030
Harry Laub, Ph.D., Director
|
harry.laub@ecsnj.org
|
Phone:201.876.0102
|
Fax:201.876.9576
|
|
|
