Miss Erika Smith recently received a Kennett Education Foundation grant to make New Garden Elementary School a “GoNoodle Plus” school. GoNoodleween is just the first way to celebrate our new school-wide initiative to KEEP MOVING! Miss Smith’s class celebrated “GoNoodleween” to complete their third GoNoodle Ambassador challenge. The October challenge was to celebrate GoNoodle in a fun and creative way to get students to use their imaginations and search through videos at home to come up with GoNoodle inspired costumes to bring school wide awareness to incorporating movement, mindfulness, and fun into the classroom. More information on this fun initiative can be found at https://www.gonoodle.com .

New Garden Elementary School’s After School Sports meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays with Mrs. Shannon Sweeton. The group plays sports and games that work on team building, sportsmanship, and fitness. Some of the games they may play are kickball, dodge ball, and basketball. It is a great way to participate in physical exercise, while learning how to get along with others and meet new friends.

Recently, local author and artist, Ms. Christine Burke, visited Ms. Erika Smith’s third grade classroom! Students had been studying and observing the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly, which is exactly what inspired Ms. Burke’s book, A Dream Inside. This visit came at the perfect time for Miss Smith’s class, who had just finished reading a story about a character who meets an author at school. Miss Smith attended a book reading over the summer and met Ms. Burke. It was here, that Ms. Burke autographed a copy of her book for Miss Smith’s class. While Miss Smith was showing her students this autographed book to demonstrate their robust vocabulary word, an idea was sparked, and a visit was planned!