An Interesting Week of Visitors at the School

Hello Parents:

We had the most interesting week of visitors at the school. On Tuesday, Sara Houston came to visit us to teach us about paramedics and EMT professionals. She brought us lots of materials to hold and explore including stethoscopes, and bandages and breathing assistance devices. The children were absolutely fascinated by the equipment and also by Sara's stories about giving shots - it seems that each of the children had a story to share about an experience of receiving a shot as well.

On Wednesday, Darin Little and Nate Taylor of the Durham Fire Department visited us to teach us about their jobs. We learned a tremendous lesson as a school and as adults as we watched the children go from experiencing such delight when Darin arrived in some of his equipment, to anxiety as he fully suited up into his helmet and mask. It taught us that we can do a lot of work helping the children to recognize that a fully suited fire fighter is a friend and not Darth Vader needing to be feared. We will be talking with the teachers about ways to keep the children familiar with the fire fighter so that in the event of an emergency the child will run to and not away from the help. Darin and his partner did a wonderful job of helping the children to understand the equipment while he was here and we are so grateful for this experience for all of us.

On Thursday we welcomed Tina Rimmer and Butch Clark from the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Again, we learned so much from this visit. In each of the rooms, Tina used teaching boards to help children to learn ways to be safe. In one of the cards, there was a picture of a cat sitting on a trash can, a gun on the ground, and a child walking up to the scene. The lesson was clearly to stay away from the gun, but part of the story required the children to state the problem. In the oldest rooms, the children very quickly identified the gun and said that they should stay away from it. In the younger rooms, the children didn't notice or name the gun at all and so Tina instead talked about staying away from the strange cat who was the focus of their attention. Such an interesting experience with the children.

Next Wednesday welcomes a police car, a fire truck and an ambulance to the school in the final visit in this series.

We want to again thank Katie Little, Leigh Anne Weisenfeld, Sara Houston, and Wendy Vavrousek for planning and organizing this great series for the school. Have a great idea that you want to share? Contact us at christaniven@thelittleschool.net.

Announcements:
Toys For Tots: Toys will be accepted through December 3rd in the boxes in the lobby. Please support this fantastic cause.

Poinsettia Fundraiser: ends today, but you are still able to contribute to the Staff Safe Place if you would like to do so. We are working to purchase the following materials (materials new and old are welcome):
Paper cutter
iPods
iPod dock
Teaching library
Laminator
Soft seating
Computers
Relaxing CD's or downloads

Big Star: We want to remind you that your Big Star orders are in the lobby if you have not yet picked them up. If you are interested in placing a late order, or adding to your order, you can do so by contacting Garry or Emily at Big Star directly at http://blog.bigstarphotography.com/

We hope that you have a wonderful week!

Christa and Jennifer

Nothing Without Joy!