Volume 2, Issue 6 www.agbumds.org March 2008

Titan Tribune March 2008 Page6

April Scheduled Events Monday, March 31st- Classes Resume SAT 10 Practice Begins Fifth Grade Recycling Project Continues Tuesday, April 1st (K-5) Registration Begins (2008-09 Academic Year) Message of the Month Assembly (8:30 AM)/Patio Area Wednesday, April 2nd (Grades 3-5) Assembly in the Auditorium Thursday, April 3rd Human Growth and Development Lecture (2-3 PM) in the Library/Fifth Grade Girls Only Friday, April 4th Armenian Heritage Assembly (8:30 AM)/Patio Area Wednesday, April 9th Grade 6&7 Parent Orientation Meeting (7:30 PM) in the Auditorium Thursday, April 10th Human Growth and Development Lecture (2-3 PM) in the Library/Fifth Grade Boys Only Friday, April 11th Pupil Free Day/Schoolwide Staff Development Workshop Wednesday, April 16th Grade 9&10 Parent Orientation Meeting (7:30 PM) in the Auditorium Friday, April 18th Armenian Heritage Assembly (8:30 AM)/Patio Area Book Report #5 Due Tuesday, April 22nd Earth Day Wednesday April 23rd Armenian Heritage Assembly (8:30 AM)/Patio Area Thursday, April 24th No School/Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day Friday, April 25th Armenian Heritage Assembly (8:30 AM)/Patio Area Saturday, April 26th Field Day Tuesday, April 29th (Grades 3-5) Second Annual Spelling Bee (12:30 PM) Wednesday, April 30th 3rd Trimester Progress Reports Mailed Out Fifth Grade Recycling Project Ends

Kindergarten Corner Mrs. Corey, Mrs. Donsker, and Ms. Henry We're so excited about our reading skills and creative writing.We've been so busy this month, with St. Patrick's Day & Eastercelebrations. For St. Patty's Day, we incorporated science and madeyellow + blue= green tie-dye T-shirts; wherever we tied a rubberband, the water did not absorb the color. In Armenian class, wetalked about Palm Sunday and Easter. We even learned a veryspecial Armenian Easter poem. We also enjoyed our Easter egghunt and class parties. We truly want to wish all of our wonderfulparents a very Happy Easter!

Quote Of The Month People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Vice Principal’s Message By Mrs. Hapsis-Ladas During the month of March, there were many events that werescheduled which students, faculty, staff and parentsparticipated in. We had our Second Trimester Parent-TeacherConferences, had a positive Parent Orientation Meeting forGrade Three and Four parents, scheduled Health Screenings forour students, had Titan’s Award Night sponsored by theBooster Club, had our second Awards Assembly, scheduled aFourth Grade “Gold Rush” Program as an extension to theFourth Grade Curriculum, had an Environmental DefendersAssembly as a prelude to the Fifth Grade spearheading theirRecycling Project, had the KAHAM Awards Assembly forGrade Two though Five participants, and gave HolyCommunion for our children prior to breaking for Easter withPTO providing the cheoreg and refreshments. Congratulations to the following students for being chosen toparticipate in the Second Annual AGBU Spelling Bee: ArmenAprahamian, Caroline Arzoo, Aren Ekezian, DanielSarafian, Monica Khachatrian, Alina Lalikyan, JenniferYedagarov, Taline Vartanian, Aleena Sorfazian, TaleenKevorkian, Tiffany Thomas, Daniel Booth, LernaDeyirmencian, Sara Avedian, Mark Hamparsomian, GinaAbakians, Melanie Elyasian, Karin Kevorkian, GianniThomas and Nellie Asatryan. The Spelling Bee will be heldon April 29th at 12:30 PM in the Auditorium. Good Luck to allof the contestants! You are all winners and we are all veryproud of you!! In the Elementary Division, the Fifth Graders arespearheading a Recycling Project which began on March 18th

and will come to a close on April 30th. This project is geared inmaking all of the students aware of the importance of recyclingin order to protect our environment and the future of the planetEarth. So as to continue the spirit of awareness and motivationin our children, we will be recycling plastic bottles andaluminum cans only. (No glass bottles or newspapers please.)We ask that everyone take part in this project by bringing inthese items and dropping them into either the big burgundybins located in various areas of the school or by dropping themoff in the bins located in every classroom. All proceeds of thisproject will go to the Fifth Grade classes. The Fifth Gradersthank you in advance. Parents, you have recently receivedRegistration Packets in the mail. The month of April marks thebeginning of enrollment for the 2008-09 Academic SchoolYear. A huge thank you to all the parents who have alreadyenrolled their children for next year. We appreciate youentrusting your child/children’s education to the verycompetent, dedicated and nurturing Faculty of AGBU MDS

once again. You are kindly asked not to wait until lastminute to register your child/children. Therefore, pleaseadhere to registration deadlines. Thank you for yourcooperation. The year is not over yet! We still have many things to lookforward to next month: Our Message of the MonthAssembly, Human Growth and Development Lectures forthe Fifth Grade students, our Armenian Heritage Assemblies,our Annual Field Day, the Second Annual Spelling Bee andof course preparations for our Kindergarten and Fifth GradeGraduations. We look forward to seeing everyone attendingand participating in our events/activities once again! Thankyou for your continued support!! Also, April is the month where we all need to reflect on andremember those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of themotherland, freedom, and pride. As a symbol ofremembrance, all students throughout AGBU-MDS will havethe opportunity and choice in wearing the black ArmenianGenocide T-shirt as part of their uniform for the month ofApril. We thank the PTO, Art Department and the studentsfor this commemorative T-shirt. Those who have notpurchased a T-shirt for their child/children and wish to do so,are asked to touch base with any one of the PTO members. After April 15th, you are invited to log on to the new andupgraded AGBU website. It will provide information aboutall of the AGBU divisions as well as all of theevents/activities scheduled at our school. You will also beable to access the happenings that are occurring at ourPasadena Campus. For the Elementary Division, log on towww.agbumds.org , click on to elementary and then to thedifferent links you are interested in. We will make monthlychanges/additions to our division in order to depictelementary successes and keep you updated on upcomingevents/activities. Therefore, please take the time and log ontothe school website and take pride in our students’achievements and accomplishments!!

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March Madness Mrs. Konyalian, Ms. Lopez, Mrs. Smith March came in like a lion and went out like a lamb. The monthstarted with chilly weather and ended with wonderfully, warmSpring weather. The change in Seasons has brought a newenergy to our students. Springtime is usually a time when weclean and get rid of things that we do not need any more or nolonger use. In our classes, our students continue to use all theskills they have learned since September. Easter break was agreat way to renew our energy and continue working andlearning many skills. March was a month that had severalcelebrations, St. Patrick’s Day, Environmental Awareness inpreparation for Earth Day and Easter. Before the break, we allworked diligently on our assignments and applied the skills welearned to each task. We read our assignments, practiced ourmath skills, and continued working on phonetic sounds. Wealso completed various different projects in preparation forEaster. How exciting to see our Easter baskets filled with somany treats. It was wonderful to take a break from all the workwe have been doing, but we are all glad to be back.

Second Grade Spirit Mrs. Kessler, Mrs. Santo, Ms. Selian The students showed their pride for AGBU, their tremendousspirit, and their creativity during Spirit Week. Everyone had funat the Spirit Day relay races and we were very proud of each andevery student as they put their best effort forward. March has been a short, but full month. In math, we have movedon to subtracting of two-digit numbers. In social studies, we arelearning about our world, and what life is like in differentcommunities other than our own. With Easter right around thecorner, each class has been getting ready for the Holiday. TheSecond Grade teachers wish everyone a happy and healthy springbreak!

PARENTS, PLEASE CONTINUE TO FOSTER READING DAILY WITH YOUR CHILD/ CHILDREN! READING IS ESSENTIAL AND OPENS UP MANY DOORS TO THE FUTURE

What a Lucky Month! Ms. Arslanian, Ms. Stewart, Mrs. Nahapetian Although no one was lucky enough to catch a leprechaun thismonth, the Fourth Graders were fortunate to participate inour own Gold Rush here on campus. Following our SocialStudies Gold Rush and CA Statehood unit, students traveledback in time to a town called, “Get-Up-‘N-Get-It”, where thewidow and her companion guided them. Studentsexperienced life as it was in the early 1850’s with activitiessuch as washing and hanging clothes to dry, writing letters tofamily/friends with authentic quill pens, and of coursePANNING FOR GOLD! It appears that the legend of the“chicken gold egg” was true as Lily from Mrs. Ani’s classwas lucky enough to find! We are glad to see that the handson experience was so well received by the students as welland hope the memories will stay with them always.

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Fifth Grade News Mrs. Avanessian, Ms. Marley, Mrs. Momjian Life Science is so much fun! We justwrapped up Chapter 3 “Adaptations.” We learned about structural adaptations (physical traits that help an organism survive in its environment) such amimicry (an adaptation in which one organism looks likeanother). We watched a video from Animal Planet’s famousseries “The Most Extreme”. Luckily, it was all about theamazing adaptations we were learning. Pictured below is the#1 Most Extreme Animal, the Mimic Octopus. It was able tomimic a flounder, a sea snake, and a lion fish! What anamazing creature! On March 14 we got together with our Kindergarten Buddiesand helped them tie-dye t-shirts for Saint Patrick’s Day. Wehad a lot of fun and the shirts looked very cool. Our buddieslearned the yellow and blue make green, and green is the colorwe wear to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day. Saint Patrick’s Dayis celebrated each March 17th in honor of Ireland’s patron saint,Saint Patrick. Patrick was born to wealthy parents, in England,about 385 A.D. When Patrick was 16 years old, he waskidnapped by Irish pirates and eventually sold as a slave. Forseveral years, Saint Patrick was a shepherd in Northern Ireland.It was during this time that he decided to devote his life toChrist and teach the Irish his faith. After much hardship,Patrick escaped his captors and fled to France where he beganstudying for the priesthood. He soon returned to Ireland wherehe taught the Irish to read and write along with the teachings ofChristianity. It is believed that Saint Patrick was responsiblefor bringing the small shamrock plant to Ireland. He often usedthe shamrock plant in his sermons to illustrate the message ofthe holy trinity. Today, the shamrock is the national flower ofIreland. Although most historians do not believe the manystories about Saint Patrick, one thing if for sure, on March 17th

we all turn Irish!

Blossoming Third Graders Mrs. Festekjian, Ms. Giannoulis, Mrs. Khechoumian Spring is in the air, and our Third Graders are blossomingbeautifully as the radiant spring flowers. We have mastered thetimes table, have become more proficient with our vocabularyusage, and are adept in our test taking skills. Since we haveentered our third trimester, we are improving in our creativewriting skills and focusing on the environment that we live in. InSocial Studies, we are about to begin learning the exciting historyof how Washington D.C. came to be. This year Easter has arrived early. The students learn thesignificance behind the season, and understand the true meaningof the Resurrection of Christ. Oryort Demirdjian and DigeenVoskian do a superb job of teaching the students the relevance ofEaster while the students live it as they walk in and participate inHoly Communion. What a special feeling it is!

Titan Tribune March 2008

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