Si tiene alguna duda sobre esta nota debido a la traduccion,
por favor comuniquese con Rafael Friedmann via email: rfriedmann@aol.com
Message from the Principal
Dear Emerson Families,
Welcome to March. Let’s hope we can get some more rain and that our COVID-19 numbers continue to fall. This month we will recognize Women’s History Month by learning more about amazing leaders in the current and past world. Later in the month, students will be treated to a live outdoor performance by Ballet Folklorico Mexico in honor of Cesar Chavez Day. Students will also enjoy an outdoor jazz performance by the talented BHS Band. We have a lot to look forward to this Spring!
The Superintendent sent out an email earlier this week confirming that BUSD schools will follow the City of Berkeley’s updated masking protocols. Starting next Monday, March 14, masks will no longer be required for staff or students at school. Masks are still “strongly recommended,” as they are an effective tool in COVID mitigation. We will continue school-wide COVID-19 testing on Friday mornings, eat breakfast and lunch outside, hand wash, and utilize ventilation and air purifiers to protect us. Teachers will explain the new masking policy and emphasize that students who choose to wear a mask are allowed to do so, and that we must respect each individual’s decision. Please discuss this change of policy with your child and let them know if you want them to continue wearing a mask or not. Masks will continue to be available for students in the front office.
The Office of Family Engagement and Equity Sponsored Oratorical Festival is back. This year’s theme is “Get Up, Speak Up, Demonstrate Black Resilience and Joy.” We would like to include all the videos created in one of our All School Meetings. We will also forward two video representations from Grade 3-5, selected by School Staff, to the district competition. Ms. Lily Howell, OFEE Coordinator, and Mr. Phil, Volunteer Video Producer, will meet with students who want to create a video to submit for the next three (3) Thursdays, March 17, March 24, and March 31 during the 3rd, 4th and 5th-grade lunch. The video submissions are due by April 1. Please talk to your child to see if they would like to participate in this year’s competition. Of course, you are also welcome to create your own video submission at home. Here is the flier. If you have any questions, or to submit a video, please email Lilyhowell@berkeley.net. We are happy that BUSD is continuing the Oratorical Tradition for 2022.
Don’t forget the Read-a-Thon starts tomorrow! This is a fundraiser for Emerson, with a portion of the money raised going to update teachers’ classroom libraries. All outside-the-classroom reading time is creditable, including parents reading to children. We will have a special Literacy Night on Wednesday, March 16, hosted by Ms. Rachel, Librarian, and Ms. Jeannie, Literacy Coach. It will include some fun conversation and an Elephant & Piggie book read- a- loud. Stay tuned for the Zoom link and please plan to join us.
As previously mentioned, the second trimester has come to an end. Teachers are working on report cards, which will reflect student academic progress and assessment results. Report cards will be sent home in the Thursday, March 17 Look Folder.
Take care and thank you for your support,
Jana Holmes
Upcoming Events and Key Dates
March 11-20: Emerson Read-a-Thon
March 14: School Site Council, 6pm
March 15 (7:00-8:30pm): PTA General Association Mtg. Focus: Enrichment & Afterschool Care - Zoom LINK
March 16: Virtual Family Literacy Night
March 29: Listening Circle for Parents & Caregivers of Children of Arab American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander American Heritage
May 7: Emerson Move-a-thon (formerly called “Walkathon”)
Add the Emerson Google Calendar to yours!
Note to Readers: BearFacts articles and calendar items are based on submissions from the community and reviewed and edited under the PTA communication policy. Inclusion of an item in BearFacts by itself does not indicate sponsorship or endorsement by the PTA, Emerson school staff, or BUSD.
Read-a-Thon Begins Tomorrow
Tomorrow is the first day of our 2022 Read-a-Thon. For the next ten days, we encourage all students to read as much as they can, while raising money for Emerson. We’re striving for full participation - meaning we hope every student will find some time to read at home! There will be prizes for the top three students in each grade who read the most minutes, a prize for the classroom at each grade level that reads the most, and a schoolwide prize if all together we read 250,000 minutes! If you haven’t already, please visit https://app.99pledges.com/fund/emersonreads22 to find your student’s page. You can forward the link to your student’s page to friends and family far and wide!
Here are forms you may need: Student and Family Guide (English), Student and Family Guide (Spanish) and the Reading Log.
Questions: contact Ms. Jeannie at jeanniewang@berkeley.net or Ashleigh Kanat at ashleigh.kanat@gmail.com.
Emerson PTA Updates
From the PTA Board:
Please join us for our second Association meeting at 7pm on Tuesday March 15 via Zoom (link HERE). We invite you, our Emerson community of parents and caregivers, to join us for an exploration of After-school Care and PTA-supported Enrichment in preparation for the 2022-2023 school year. Variants pending, we would be resuming PTA-supported Enrichment for the first time in three years. We have some ideas for solutions based on our recent Enrichment survey and we will be exploring these during our meeting.
Are you the next PTA Board member?
Do you want to represent the Emerson community? Help shape Emerson culture? One of many ways to serve Emerson, the PTA Board is visible and vital to supporting Emerson with fundraising, community building, and advocating in the greater Berkeley community.
It’s barely spring, but it’s time to plan our PTA Board for 2022-2023. Please consider nominating yourself or another Emerson community member. Our Election meeting, the third and last of our Association meetings, will be on May 17th. Please contact us (emersonbearcubspta@gmail.com) with your interest, nomination, and questions about the board roles, and feel free to reach out to current board members as well.
Save the Date: Move-a-thon - May 7th
It’s time to MOVE! You’ve heard of the Read-a-thon, next up is the May Move-a-thon*!
Our priority is physical fun and community building, students AND families ON campus finally OH MY! Join the planning of our biggest (and first in three years) community event with Move-a-thon Committee lead and kindergarten parent Elise Kneram (kneram.elise@gmail.com).
*formerly the Walk-a-thon, renamed to be inclusive of abilities in our Emerson community
Equity Corner
The 2022 Equity Circle is back! Our thoughtful group has already met twice with Ms. Pamela Harrison-Small to begin exploring Equity in the context of our Emerson community. During our first session, we shared about ourselves and our respective experiences as well as experiences we have had in our own education, navigating systems and access disparity. We also studied historical CAASPP test results in ELA/Literacy and Mathematics at Emerson and spent time looking at shared language so that we have a base of understanding and reference for having conversations about topics like access disparity within institutions, intersectionality, and damage imagery (here are definitions from the Center for the Study of Social Policy). We are continuing to meet over Zoom for the next few weeks. If you have any questions or are curious about the Equity work in our Emerson community, please email emersonequitypta@gmail.com or come say hi at pickup! thanks! -cielo
Listening Circle for Parents & Caregivers of Children of Arab American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander American Heritage
Purpose of the listening circle: For family members and caregivers/parents of children of Arab American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander American heritage to share their ideas about how their children should learn about their history and their heritages in our schools as we expand Ethnic Studies throughout all the BUSD grade levels.
Arabic interpretation will be provided.
When: Tuesday, March 29 from 7-8 PM.
Where: zoom link HERE; Flier in English is HERE; Flier in Arabic is HERE.
Read-a-Thon Special Event - March 16
Does your student want an extra 30 minutes to add to their Read-A-Thon Reading Log? Save the date for a special Read-A-Thon event.
Join us for a Virtual Family Literacy Night (Spanish flyer heres://docs.google.com/document/d/1s-EsX6o-7GXIktuqdZIJLEsuuaS4EMdJpBVXQ9BVbxo/edit?usp=sharing)! Back by popular demand: Elephant & Piggie read-aloud by Ms. Rachel and Ms. Jeannie.
Wednesday, March 16 from 7:00-7:30
Zoom Link: https://berkeley-net.zoom.us/j/85391611421?pwd=Y0N2UTZocmRtZldXK2p0VlM3SFQ5dz09
Self-Portraits Inspired by Angelica Dass
Fifth grade artists created these incredible self portraits by tracing over a photo of themselves on a transparency sheet. They are inspired by the photographs of Angelica Dass. From her website: "She is the creator of the internationally acclaimed Humanae project - a collection of portraits that reveal the diverse beauty of humanity." We watched her Ted talk, read her book and had some thought-provoking discussions. Artists painted a background paper to match their skin tones the best that they could. Ms. Dass uses the pantone color system to match the background of her portraits to the color of 11 pixels in the subject's nose. By using a transparency sheet, we were able to have the skintone show through for the face and the background and just needed to paint the shirt, hair and a few other details from the back. It was a challenging project, but the artists worked hard and the results are pretty amazing, don't you think? (Special thank you to Mr. Phil for taking the photos!)
Congrats to Emerson’s March Shout-Out Recipients!
March 12 BAMPFA In-Person Events for Kids
Join the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) on March 12 as they resume onsite family events in their galleries, Art Lab, and Reading Room for the first time in two years.
GALLERY + STUDIO: Expressive Landscapes at 11:30 AM* - 1:00 PM
Gallery + Studio is a two-part workshop that integrates an interactive gallery tour with a related art project; the session lasts about an hour and a half and is for children ages 6 - 12 and their grown-ups.
Informed by both traditional Chinese painting techniques and a lifelong exploration of experimental brushwork, Hong Kong artist Wesley Tongson created intricate and expressive paintings inspired by the natural world. Using watercolor, ink, brush, and pen, work with artist Jennie Smith to create an abstract landscape of a place that holds special meaning for you.
*Space is limited to twelve kids (plus their grown-ups) per session, so please arrive promptly to sign up.
Roundtable Reading: Maya and the Robot by Eve L. Ewing at 2:00 PM
At Roundtable Reading, young readers read aloud to one another from the opening pages of a good book for about an hour. Children who participate at the event will receive a copy of the book to continue reading at home. This event is for ages 8 and up (younger kids welcome as listeners) and there’s advance sign-up needed; just show up at 2:00 ready to read!
Reading led by our very own Rachel Budge, Emerson’s Librarian
When shy, introverted Maya is assigned to a different fifth-grade classroom than her two best friends, she feels lonely and worried that she won’t make new friends. Until, that is, she puts her scientific and technological skills to use fixing up the abandoned robot she finds in a closet. Maya programs Ralph to do all sorts of interesting things, like greet people in other languages, grocery shop, and clean up around the house. Ultimately, Ralph helps her learn not just about science, but also about the power of friendship and believing in herself.
FYI: All staff and visitors at BAMPFA are required to wear face coverings. You can learn more about their public safety protocols at Plan Your Visit.
Find Emerson Online
Website: emerson.berkeleypta.org
Remind: Text @7f6hb to 81010; or go to www.remind.com/join/7f6hb
Facebook: www.facebook.com/emersonpta (or follow @emersonPTA)
About BearFacts News:
BearFacts News is a weekly publication created by parent volunteers and posted online at emerson.berkeleypta.org.
BearFacts articles and calendar items are based on submissions from the community and reviewed and edited under the PTA communication policy. Inclusion of an item in BearFacts by itself does not indicate sponsorship or endorsement by the PTA, Emerson school staff, or BUSD.
If you have a news item or announcement to include in the BearFacts News, please send an email to emersonschoolnews@gmail.com. Please keep your message brief and include all the pertinent details including dates, times, locations and contact information. Send images as an e-mail attachment. The deadline is each Monday at 6 p.m.
Copyright © 2021. Emerson Elementary PTA. All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
2800 Forest Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94705