liberty School news
	Liberty School Newsletter October 22, 2004
	Voicemail: 908-637-4790 Web address: www.gmrsd.com/liberty.htm
School will be closed for the NJEA Convention on November 4^th & 5^th. Board of Education Workshop Meeting October 25, 2004 7:30PM Middle School Regular Meeting November 8, 2004 7:30PM Middle School Principal’s Message Dear Parents and Family Members, With Halloween right around the corner, we wish all of our students a pleasant and safe weekend. The D.A.R.E. officer provided our students with Safety Reminder assemblies to reinforce this message of care. As a reminder to you, please remember to park in designated areas when dropping off or picking up your children. This is especially important during dismissal times, as illegally parked cars pose safety concerns and interfere with the buses. We will be having our first "Mug & Muffin" on Wednesday, Nov. 3rd. I look forward to seeing you there to chat about our school and current events. As always, please feel free to reach me whenever you have a question or concern. Ernest J. Batha Jr. Principal, Liberty School Thank You! Thank you to Sergeant Riley of the Independence Police Department, our DARE officer, for coming to our school and speaking with our students about Halloween safety! The students especially enjoyed all of the goodies! Tennis Anyone? At least 8 new or used tennis balls are needed for chair legs in Mrs. Sliver’s 5^th grade room. Any amount you can contribute would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! PTO News The Entertainment/Kid Stuff coupon book sale has ended. Please return your books/payments immediately, as the PTO is responsible for them. Congratulations to Mrs. Kern, the winner of the October Teacher Appreciation drawing. She will enjoy 3 free video rentals, courtesy of Nykun’s Store. Liberty School can profit if your long-distance carrier is Verizon. Call 877-X-CREDIT (927-3348) and designate our school. We will earn a 5% profit on your long-distance bill, no cost to you! Please call ASAP! Cell phone bills not included. October Market Day forms due back on Wednesday, Nov. 3^rd. It’s “Pie Bonus Days”, so order your favorite pie (or two) and our school will earn extra profit! Our first “AM” PTO meeting is on Tuesday, Nov. 2^nd at 9:15AM in Mr. Batha’s office. Siblings welcome. Great Meadows Ski Club Attention all skiers and snow boarders!  It's that time of the year again!  Great Meadows Ski Club is looking for members to sign up with our club for the 2004-2005 season.  We will be skiing for 6 consecutive Monday afternoon/ evenings (3pm to 10pm) starting on 1/3/05.  We will be going to Shawnee Mountain Ski Area.  Deadline for sign-ups is 11/20/04.  We must be registered by that date in order to qualify for our 'free' 6th trip! Questions? Contact Susan Hughes @637-4195 or email:  sish55@comcast.net, or fax 637-6242 for prices & registration forms ASAP. Any students, siblings, parents, teachers, or friends are welcome to join. Transportation will be arranged by you, for your child, etc.  Maybe carpooling with friends or relatives.  We will meet up at the lodge at Shawnee as a group, and then you may ski freely and leave whenever it is convenient for you and your family. Thanks again and see you on the slopes!!  Eastern Standard Time Please remember that Daylight Saving Time ends next weekend. Don’t forget to turn your clocks back one hour on Saturday night, October 30^th.		Special Thank You! A special thank you to the Mahler, McCormack, Lechner, Newkirk, Conway and Garno families for so beautifully decorating our school grounds! It looks so inviting and festive at our school entrance, and the butterfly garden looks great! Halloween Parade Our annual Halloween Parade will be on Friday, October 31^st at 2:00PM. Classroom assistants will be available to help the students. Students may do their hair at home, as we cannot allow aerosol cans to be sprayed in school. Please keep safety in mind when deciding upon costumes. Costumes should be an appropriate length to prevent tripping, and masks and weapons are not allowed in the school parade for safety reasons. If weapons are brought in, they will be held in the office for parental pickup. After the parade, the students will return to their classrooms for the Halloween parties. Trick-or-Treating Liberty Township has designated Sunday, October 31^st from 4:30-7:30PM for Trick-or-Treating. GMR Education Foundation Ice Skating Party Fundraiser Thank you to all the staff, parents and students for supporting our ice skating party fundraiser at Chill Out Ice Skating Rink! Thanks to your support, $900.00 was raised which will be put towards teacher grants this fall! Cafeteria Aides & Child Care Positions Still Available We are still looking to fill several openings for Cafeteria and Child Care Aides for the 2004-2005 school year. If interested, please send a letter of interest to: Christina Sharkey, Business Administrator, PO Box 74, Great Meadows, NJ 07838. Tiger Wrestling Club Do you want to get into great shape this winter? Do you want to make new friends and learn how to compete in a great sport? If you are a boy or girl in any grade from kindergarten to 8th grade (age 5-14) and this sounds like something you'd like to try........ The TIGER Wrestling Club invites you to check us out, at Our first practice of the year November 1, 2004 6:15pm-8:15pm or on line at www.geocities.com/tw_coach tw_coach@yahoo.com (908) 850-8765 The TIGER Wrestling Club offers training ranging from a clinic program that introduces youngsters to the sport, all the way to two varsity teams that has produced 18 NJ State Champions. We are also the official hosts of the NJ Girls' Wrestling State Championships. Our Head Coach is USA-Wrestling Bronze Certified, we have a professional conditioning coach, and numerous very experienced assistant wrestling coaches at all levels. Willow Grove Elementary School in Hackettstown is the "Home of the TIGERS". Our season goes from November 1st to March 31st. The registration fee (which includes a TIGER Wrestling T-Shirt) is $40 for the first child and $20 for each additional. In 6th, 7th, or 8th grade? It's still a great time to join for the first time.....Come to our first practice and see what we're all about. bring a friend... and remember, "Wrestling builds character - the TIGER Wrestling program builds wrestlers." Governor McGreevey’s Book Club The book selections for October are: Kindergarten: One Smile by Cindy McKinley 1^st Grade: Henry and Mudge and the Wild Goose Chase by Cynthia Rylant 2^nd Grade: The Magic School Bus: The Wild Whale Watch by Eva Moore 3^rd Grade: Calendar Club Mysteries – The Case of the Missing Pumpkins by Nancy Star Donations Needed Please remember to send in your donations for the Vienna Methodist Church Food Pantry. Questions? Contact Carol Callahan @ 637-4669 or Nancy Caramico @ 637-8966.	Nurse’s Notes The American Academy of Pediatrics produced the following guidelines for children’s TV viewing: Children under 2 years of age should watch no television. Children older than 2 years of age should watch less than 2 hours of television per day. Children are biologically programmed to want to play and be active. They are too young to decide to be physically inactive; environmental forces (parents and school) dictate whether or not the biological desire to be active is maintained or lost. Implement television and computer restrictions, and schedule daily physical activity time for everyone. The positive actions you take to change the lifestyle of your family will help your children in fighting obesity and avoiding health disorders. Children love to mimic the actions of their parents! The ultimate goal is to decrease sedentary time and improve nutrition for children. New Jersey Civic Youth Ballet Several Liberty School students will be participating in the New Jersey Civic Youth Ballet production of the Nutcracker Suite. Dates for the show are as follows: 12/4/04 1:00 & 7:00 pm 12/5/04 1:00 & 4:00 pm The performances will be held at the Mount Olive Middle School Theater, Wolfe Road, Mount Olive. For directions and to order tickets, please call 850-0709. General admission/ reserved seating $18.00. Group rates available. Box Top Contest News Our contest is off to a great start this month. Here are the contest standings so far: Mrs. Wohlgemuth’s class in 1^st place, Mrs. Lisk’s class in 2^nd place and Mrs. Broxton’s class in 3^rd place. The class totals are very close, so keep sending in those Box Tops. Thank you for all your support. Casino Night Saturday, October 23rd, 7:00-11:00p.m., sponsored by the Independence First Aid Squad, Regina Lane, Great Meadows, NJ. Tickets $30.00 (includes $3,000 play money, food, and non-alcoholic drinks). Some of prizes include 35" Toshiba TV, framed & signed lithograph of Amani Toomer (NY Giants), framed and signed lithograph of Santana Moss (NY Jets), signed baseball by Tom Glavine (NY Mets Pitcher), tickets to Paper Mill Playhouse, tons of pizzas, video rentals. Please call 813-1328 to reserve tickets/information. Sales are being limited to 110 tickets. No one under 18 admitted. Scouts & Friends Ski Club “Scouts & Friends” Ski Club is now organizing for this year’s six-week ski season at Shawnee Mountain Ski Area, which will run on Saturday evenings beginning January 8, 2005 from 3-10PM. For information and to register, attend the meeting which will be held on Wednesday, November 10 from 7-8:30PM at the Independence Municipal Building, 286B Route 46, Great Meadows. Any questions, call Cindy Reynolds at 637-4010 or Carol Mackie at 637-4607. Think snow!