Fri Oct 8 11:30:38 EDT 2004

CHIT-CHAT

A weekly publication of the CCHS Parents Association
Friday, October 8  
2004-05 Edition 

IN THIS ISSUE:

--NEXT WEEK'S DATES
--NUTRITIOUS CHOICES AT CCHS
--NANAE (SISTER CITY) VISIT
--PUMPKIN FESTIVAL
--SPECIAL EDUCATION EVENT
--RAPE RESPONSE PROGRAM

+++++ NEXT WEEK'S DATES +++++

Monday, October 11 ... Columbus Day, NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, October 12 ... Deadline for monthly newsletter submissions (send to
mhammer at colonial.net)

+++++ BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS +++++

Principal Dulong is happy to report that the vending machines in the
cafeteria have been restocked with a healthier variety of options. Better
yet, the cafeteria's fryers are gone! Food will be baked, not fried. And as
if that weren't enough, the school now offers a very popular breakfast
program -- for a paltry $1.50 -- that includes breakfast sandwiches,
muffins, bagels, whole grain cereal, milk, juice, and fresh fruit. (The
nurse reports fewer visitors with headaches in the morning and feels that
this breakfast program is a contributing factor.) Finally, all Concord
schools now have the ten-ounce plastic (recyclable) bottles of skim and 1
percent chocolate and strawberry milk. Sales are up! We have Bonnie Hardy
and her staff -- who continue to work on creating healthy option for our
students -- to thank for all these healthy changes.

+++++ TEA OFF OR NOODLE AROUND -- YOUR CHOICE +++++

Eight adults and seven students from our Japanese sister city Nanae will be
visiting CCHS from October 19 through 22. Parents and community members are
invited to attend two events they are sponsoring for us on Wednesday,
October 20: a Soba Noodle Workshop in CCHS room A-5 from 10:30 to 12:15, and
a Tea Ceremony demonstration at the Trinitarian Congregational Church from
3:30 to 5 p.m. Spaces are limited, so please sign up as soon as possible
with Tom Curtin by phone (978-341-2490, x7138) or e-mail
(tcurtin at colonial.net).

+++++ CARVE OUT TIME FOR THIS ONE +++++

The Concord-Carlisle Community Chest is hosting the Third Annual Pumpkin
Festival on Sunday, October 17, from 3 to 6 p.m. at Emerson Field. There
will be pumpkin-related fun for the whole family, including games, a pumpkin
pie-eating contest, best pumpkin recipe contest, scarecrow-making,* hot air
balloon rides, pumpkin carving demonstrations, and much, much more. Verrill
Farm will donate $1,000 to the Community Chest if it collects at least 1,000
carved pumpkins! Get your friends, class, team, or neighborhood together to
carve pumpkins and bring them to the Festival. The group submitting the
largest number of carved pumpkins will win an Ice Cream Party, courtesy of
Helen's Restaurant. Questions? E-mail pumpkinfest04 at yahoo.com.

*The Pumpkin Festival Committee is collecting used clothing for its
scarecrow-making booth at this year's festival. Men's, women's, and
children's clothing and accessories are gratefully accepted at collection
stations at the Thoreau Club, the Concord Rec. Dept.'s Hunt Gym, Crosby's
Market, and the Concord Children's Center on Main St. Old costumes, jackets,
overalls, hats, gloves, aprons, vests, beads, scarves, and ties help make
unique and colorful scarecrows! Surplus clothing will be donated to charity.

+++++ REVERSING ENTROPY +++++

The Special Education Parents Advisory Councils of Concord, Acton,
Littleton, Lincoln, Belmont, and Bedford are sponsoring a presentation on
Executive Functioning Strategies next Wednesday, October 13, from 7 to 9
p.m., in the Alcott School auditorium. Help your child learn to be organized
-- from homework to chores. Sarah Rozehnal-Ward, a speech pathologist
specializing in cognition and attention, teaches her clients organizational
behaviors and then helps them generalize those behaviors to real life. This
workshop offers helpful information for parents of special needs students as
well as parents of a child struggling with organization. School staff are
welcome. Ms. Ward, M.S., CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist and past
president of the Massachusetts Brain Injury Association. She has worked for
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Mars program,
teaching robots executive function skills. For more information, check out
the calendar of events at at the Concord SpEd PAC website,
www.concordspedpac.org.

+++++ GET SMART, GET SAFE +++++

The Concord Police Department is sponsoring RAD, Rape Aggression Defense, a
realistic self-defense program that teaches women risk reduction and
avoidance strategies through hands-on defense training. RAD is not a martial
arts program. This is a five-week course using simple and easy-to-learn
techniques that provide an effective and proven method of self-defense.
Classes will be held Wednesday evenings, October 13, 20,  and 27, and
November 3 and10, from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. (approximately) at the Alcott
school gymnasium. High school girls are encouraged to participate. Class
size is limited. To register, or for more information, contact Detective
Scott Camilleri at 978-318-3414 or scamilleri at concordnet.org.
________________________________________________________
Please send future notices for publication to cchschitchat at comcast.net by
Thursdays at noon. Items MUST be school related and are accepted at the
discretion of the editor, Anne Wagner.