Spririt Week and Fun-O-Ween!

Whew! I have to admit that our week seemed much longer than usual! Although I really tried to keep things as "normal" as possible, spirit week added some excitement to our week! Monday was shades day and this was the coolest group of kids ever!

Hat day was a huge success and lots of fun hats made their way to school!

Halloween finally arrived and our classroom was invaded by a chimney sweep, a princess or two, a skeleton, a goddess, a gymnast and even Santa! Here they are before Fun-O-Ween begins!

Despite the excitement that Halloween normally brings, they were incredibly well-behaved and we had a lot of fun at Fun-O-Ween! The following slide show is from Fun-O-Ween and shows a number of the activities. You'll see kids tossing bean bags, playing Ghost in the Graveyard, pinning a nose on the Jack-o-lantern, trying to limbo under the stick, coloring, bowling and playing musical chairs! Through it all...lots of smiles!



All day long, we were on the lookout for Waldo, from the book Where's Waldo.

We even saw a girl with a "bad case of stripes"!!!

All in all, it was a busy, but fun week!

Police Chief Koss Visits!

Today we had a visit from our police chief, Frank Koss. He told us about all of the tools he uses as a police officer...handcuffs, pepper spray, a walkie-talkie and a computer! He talked about how his job is to keep people safe and he told us about ways he can do that. He also shared about the new police station which will hopefully be done in February. The children asked him about how much training a police officer needs and what is his favorite thing to do as a police officer! We had a short discussion about his gun...he's never had to fire it which made his gun much less appealing! Many were hoping for an exciting story about shooting his gun, but he explained that the only police who shoot guns a lot are those you see on TV...fake police! You may not know this, but Chief Koss was a California Highway Patrolman for many years before coming to Vermont! Thanks to Chief Koss for visiting first grade today!

Local Firefighters Visit!

This was a very exciting week! On Tuesday, two Hinesburg Firefighters came to visit AND they brought a fire truck! Our visit began in the cafeteria where Firefighter Jim demonstrated the fire equipment worn by firefighters. He was wearing the protective pants and boots, but added the protective hood, jacket and helmet. Then Jim put on the air pack and talked through the mouthpiece. A few children were scared by his gear, but he kept emphasizing how important it is to yell to a firefighter if they're ever in a burning house and NOT to hide!

Then we went outside where Firefighter Eric showed us the fire and rescue trucks. They saw inside all of the compartments and talked about the saws and hoses and axes! They even got a chance to hop inside the fire truck!

Check out these future firefighters!