WESTFIELD – At Monday’s School Committee meeting, members and the public were treated to two unique presentations from the Fort Meadow Early Childhood Center and Abner Gibbs Elementary School.
First up, Fort Meadow pre-school students showed their progress in learning “Lively Letters.” Lively Letters is a reading program that turns abstract letters and sounds into lively, colorful characters. Forty-four letters and letter combinations are embedded into colorful pictures that show students what to do with their mouths when making the letter sounds.
Fort Meadow pre-school teacher Aimee Blair leads students in a song about Lively Letters at the School Committee meeting on Monday, (Photo by Amy Porter)
The students began with a song about Lively Letters, led by pre-school teacher Aimee Blair.
Then pre-school teacher Mary Vassallo did a phonetic exercise with the children using the Lively Letters, and had the 3- and 4- year olds read words formed with the sound. Vassallo said the program is helping the children to learn to read.
Following this presentation, Abner Gibbs principal Christopher Rogers introduced music teacher Geoff Gould, who he said recently changed up their school song, and wrote an original song about their school mascot, called, “Fly like an Eagle.”
Rogers said that they hold a school-wide meeting every Friday in the morning, and sing the song together.
Then Gould, and a chorus of children composed of one child from every classroom at Abner Gibbs, sang the song to the School Committee and the audience.
Both presentations brought smiles to everyone’s faces, helping to lighten up a meeting where the School Committee was forced to cut the budget for FY17.
