Zeh’s Drama Club, Take Two: The first year Drama Club at Zeh School has been working hard again. After 14 weeks of dedicated practice and rehearsals, a cast of  30 students in grades one through four performed its second fantastic production showcasing the students’ acting and voice talents. Following the winter production of The One Hundred Year Snooze in February, the spring production was The Emperor’s New Clothes. The script, music and lyrics are by Dave and Jean Perry and the play is based on the story by Hans Christian Anderson. The story is based on a very vain emperor who only cares …

It's spring school vacation next week and the weather is warming up, making it perfect for some outdoor fun. Here are some ideas to explore the area and enjoy some family time together. Baby Animals and Hikes: Spring brings new baby animals. Sturbridge Village is expecting newborn lambs and has a full calendar of fun activities for vacation week. They are planning special Patriots Day activities on April 16. Also, If you arrive before noon on April 13, admission is only $5. The Massachusetts Audubon Society also has great nature centers and trails to explore. Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, MA and …

The Hundred Year Snooze at Zeh: The 26 first through fifth graders who belong to Zeh School’s new Drama Club were doing anything but snoozing as they had their red carpet moment when they rolled out their first production last week. The cast rehearsed their parts of The Hundred Year Snooze, a fresh new musical version of Sleeping Beauty, for 14 weeks after school. The comical script includes several songs and solos. Co-directors, music teacher Allyn Phelps and first grade teacher Tracey Loconto, were ready for opening night. Although this was the debut of acting skills for some of the cast, …

Starlab Visits Peaslee: Who says it needs to be night-time to view the wonders of the sky? Peaslee School fifth graders, who are beginning their astronomy curriculum, recently had the classroom opportunity to see what the January sky looks like thanks to the Boston Museum of Science’s Starlab, an inflatable and portable planetarium. Mike Adams, the Starlab host, had one class at a time crawl into the dome shaped planetarium to “view what’s in the evening sky right now—moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mars as well as some constellations like the Big Dipper.” “There are thousands of stars that are able to…

Northborough schools continue to offer students fun and educational programs about eating healthy and keeping their bodies fit in an effort to decrease childhood obesity. FoodPlay is a national, award-winning nutrition theater show. Joseph Bromfield and Alexandra Moore portrayed Coach and Janey Junkfood during the program. They used amazing feats of juggling, hip-hop music and lots of audience participation to send students some serious messages. Students gasped in astonishment as it was demonstrated that there are ten teaspoons of sugar in one can of soda and that the average child is …

Baby Food Drive: Containers of pureed peas, sweet potatoes, and applesauce, along with boxes of rice cereal and oatmeal piled up high at Peaslee School last week. The school’s fourth graders have been busy with their first community service project of the year: a baby food drive. This year, 1165 containers of food were collected and will be donated to the Massachusetts Children’s Fund.  Fourth grade teachers Colleen Griffin, Melinda Kement and Donna McAuliffe have led their students in this project for the past four years. “It is a perfect community project that students want to help with,” …

StoryWalk gives a whole new meaning of reading a book on the go. Combining the benefits of reading and healthy movement, children story book pages are mounted on stakes on a walking trail and each page is read as you walk along the trail. The StoryWalk idea was created and trademarked by Anne Ferguson of Vermont and developed in collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle and Pedestrian Coalition and the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. In Northborough, with the grant assistance provided by the Corridor Nine Chamber of Commerce, and the collaboration between Peaslee School’s librarian Nancy Kellner, Zeh …

Camps and beach getaways are winding down as Aug. 31 approaches. That is the big first day back to school for Northborough public schools, and when the 180 days of school countdown begins to signal the start of the next summer vacation. School calendar and bus schedules: The entire school calendar for the 2011-2012 school year can be found on the district's website as well as bus schedules. New this year is a half day schedule on the dates of the open houses for elementary and middle schools. All elementary schools will be on a half day schedule on Sept. 22; Melican Middle on Sept. 21. …

A Pow Wow: The second graders at Lincoln Street School participated in a program that coincided with their studying Native Americans, geographic landforms, and natural resources. Raymond LaChance, a seasoned educator in the area, has been presenting programs on Native Culture in public schools throughout New England for more than 40 years. Nouba Tewk Tomakwa is LaChance’s Native American name meaning Water Beaver. As is the tradition, he was named Busy Beaver by his grandparents when he was young. He led the group of students to the Nature Trail behind Melican Middle School. He shared the …

Robots: Peaslee School students learned about robots with the help of  Ken Stafford, director of Robotics Resource Center at Worcester Polytechnic Institute; and Steve Kaneb, student and Robotics Team member. They brought along the robot that competed and won in a 2007 robotics championship, which involved eight countries and over 1400 worldwide teams. Each team had about six weeks to think of an idea for their project, gather all parts needed and actually make it work.  This robot was able to pick up a pool inner tube from the floor and hang it. Stafford joked with the students as he …

Officer Phil: Proctor School was recently visited by T.J. from the Officer Phil Program. Using music, puppets, humor and magic; topics of bullying, stealing, playground safety, accident prevention, and bicycle safety were discussed in a fun and entertaining way. A program that is based out of Pennsylvania, and now operating in the New England area for the past ten years, was endorsed by the school and the Northborough Police Department.  Community VIPs were highlighted as well during this program; adults who children can turn to if they need help and where they can go for that help. The …

Teacher Appreciation Week. This week celebrated Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week. Each school honored its staff in different ways including special breakfasts and luncheons. It is never too late to say thank you to those who dedicate their lives to teaching our kids. Environmental Awareness Week. Zeh School  welcomed Bonnie Crevier of GardenGirls.com and her crew of four last week as part of their Environmental Awareness Week. Students all had intervals during the day to work with Crevier and her team, while doing hands on landscaping of the school grounds. Crevier guided students through …

Holocaust Survivor Shares Her Story: Eighth graders at Melican Middle School were captivated by the story of Thea Aschkenase’s life. Aschkenase is a survivor of the Holocaust and now living in Worcester. She spoke to students about her experiences as World War II began when she was living in Munich, Germany, the discrimination she witnessed because she was Jewish, the conditions she had to endure while at concentration camps, and her feelings on losing members of her family. The presentation, which was  arranged for a second year by Melican teacher Kim Senior, said "several students commented…

A lot is happening at the schools in between the reading, writing and arithmetic lessons. Here are a few highlights: Community Readers:  On April 6, grades Kindergarten through eighth had some visitors at their schools to celebrate Community Reading Day. Readers included mailmen, town officials, state representatives, fire fighters, and police officers to name a few. This is a yearly event that is always a lot of fun for both the readers and kids. Feinstein Challenge: All the public schools in Northborough, St. Bernadette’s School and Cornerstone Academy are participating in this year’s …