Last night we celebrated our Orchestra students in our Annual Music Festival (we rotate these every year between Orchestra, Band and Choir) and there are few events that I describe to be hair-raising, goose-bump cool! This was one! Wow, what a performance. To see the looks on the faces of 4th and 5th grade students as they get to play a serious piece of technically sophisticated music with high school students is incredible.
The gaping hole in my educational experience was music. I never played an instrument and never sang in a choir (my kids will tell you why), but as a young adult I knew what I missed. It's why my wife and I have made music a central part of our children's lives. Dave Norman, our K-12 Music Supervisor and I often resonate on our beliefs (some based in research) about how learning to play music changes a child's brain for the better. What is clearly evident in our student-musicians, like our student-athletes, is that they learn a degree of self-discipline that can only assist their success later in life.
A special THANK YOU to our music teachers; a wonderful collection of extraordinarily passionate educators whose similar expectations for students often show our students that they are capable of far more than they thought of themselves.
AND speaking of extraordinary success, if you've got nothing to do tonight (Friday, March 20) our Varsity Girls Basketball Team competes in the NYS Final Four at Hudson Valley at 8:00 PM.
On the academic front our students continue to excel. Bethlehem's success at getting students into 2 and 4 year colleges (greater than 90% annually) and our students' success at the High School level where stakes are highest continues to be a leader in the region.
What's most important about these successes is that our staff teaches more than they demand. They support growth more than results. They show students their potential by teaching them how it's possible. Driving this disposition in our staff is the feedback we receive from parents and our own critically self-reflective nature to ask if we could be better in the way we lead students.
Evidence of our students' success is all around us in our community and it's what makes Bethlehem such a special place for our children and for ourselves.
Have a great weekend and I hope to see you at HVCC tonight!
Mr. Klugman
Have a Great Weekend ... and welcome to Spring!... I think?
End of Week Notes:
- 7th Grade Deadline Approaching
- Students interested in signing up for Introduction to Engineering and Design, and for Studio in Art have to turn in applications by March 31st. These courses, offered in 8th grade, are High School courses and carry High School Credit. Enrollment is determined by lottery and only those students who adhere to the deadline will be considered. Applications are available in the house offices.
BCMS Celebrates HUMILITY, HUMOR AND PERSPECTIVE at this week's Character Lunch
- Read more here: http://www.bethlehemschools.org/quarter-character-strengths-luncheon/
- Thank you to Mr. Zadoorian for his coordination of another great event
- Congratulations to all of our recognized students
- Each recognized student is allowed to bring a friend
- In our address to students we congratulate the invited friends and tell them we started this element (bringing a friend) to honor what we, the staff, sometimes cannot see but that our students do.
BCMS Reads
- Check out what BCMS staff are reading...
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Thanks to Librarian Diane Leone for updating our list
Recycling Update - BCMS recycles Markers!
- Thanks to Mr. Pete Ruggiero and Mr. Mark Warford for their leadership
- THANK YOU for making the effort!!!!!
EVEN MORE Recycling
- Town of Bethlehem
Earth Day Recycle Fest
- Saturday, April
18, 10:00 to 1:00
- Elm Ave Town Park
- Clothing & Textiles
- Document shredding
- Books
- Electronics & scrap metals
Quote of the Week...
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“Relax, reach down in your
soul, and produce that which is in it.”
Clark Terry, legendary jazz trumpeter (1920-2015), advising
young musicians, quoted in an obituary in The Week, March 6, 2015
The Week that Will be:
Monday, March 23
- Studio in Art & Introduction to Engineering and Design Information Night
- for interested 7th graders and their parents
- 6:30 PM - BCMS Auditorium
Tuesday, March 24
- 6th grade Live Theater Performance
- 7th Grade Annual Career Day - Thank you to all of our parent presenters
- Late Buses
Wednesday, March 25
- Student PAC meeting today
- Late buses
Thursday, March 26
- Beautiful Me - Beautiful Girl Presentations
- Late Buses today
Friday, March 27
- FASS (Friday After School Support) today
- Check BCHS' Stage 700 Presentation of "Oliver"
Have a great weekend!
