Special Winter Holiday Issue Volume 64, Issue 1

B R I D G E S C H O O L T E A C H E R S G A I N N A T I O N A L B O A R D C E R T I F I C A T I O N !

December , 2007

Special points of interest:

• National Board Success!

• “Principals for a Day”

• Santa Shop Info

• Family Movie Night Info

• Lunch with the Principal

• Student Articles/News

• Lots of other great stuff!

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Brake’s Take 2

December Calendar 3

Students of the Month 5

Honor Roll 10-11

Perfect Attendance 12-13

News from the Grades 14-19

32,500 Challenge 20

B R I D G E B U G L E

―Bruno‖

An Illinois Honor Roll of Schools ―Academic Improvement Award” & ―Spotlight School Award” Winner!

Achievement Award” Winner, an “Autonomous Management Performance School” (AMPS) and

A CPS ―Rising Star” school, a “School of Distinction”, a CPS “Exemplary 81

Years

Santa Shop December 10th-14th

10:00-1:00

Mrs. Tracy Iammartino, National Board Certified Teacher

Mrs. Laurie Green, National Board Certified Teacher

On November 9th two of

Bridge School‘s finest were

notified that they had

achieved National Board

Certification.

7th/8th grade depart-

mental science teacher Mrs.

Iammartino earned Nation-

al Board ―Science/

Adolescence and Young

Adulthood‖ certification.

6th grade teacher/

chairperson Mrs. Green

earned National Board

―English Language Arts/

Early Adolescence‖ certifi-

cation.

The NBCT certification

program is a rigorous year-

long process that culminates

in a 10-year Master Teacher

Certificate designation.

Congratulations!

Mrs. Iammartino

&

Mrs. Green

Happiness doesn’t depend

on what we have, but it does

depend on how we feel to-

wards what we have. We can

be happy with little and mis-

erable with much.

-W.D. Hoard

Page 2 Volume 64, Issue 1

Do you have any

ideas, suggestions,

or comments on

ways to improve our

school and the ser-

vices that our chil-

dren receive? If so,

please call, write a

letter, or see me to

share your ideas.

Your input is greatly

appreciated.

Thank You!

Dr. Brake

Students/Teachers

Staff/Parents

Would you like to

have a poem, article,

short story, event, or

other item of interest

published in the

Bridge Bugle?

Submit your item to

Dr. Brake

on computer disk

(Microsoft Word format preferred)

no later than the third

week of the month for

publication in the next

month‘s school news-

paper.

BRAKE ’S TAKE

December Non-Attendance Days for Students

Winter

Vacation December 24th - January 4th

School Resumes 1/7/08

Happy Holidays to all the

Bridge School Family!

Tag Week is Back! December 17th-21st

Buy a Tag

Don’t Wear Uniform!

CPS Staff Development Day Friday, December 7th

No school for students

Happy

Holidays! To all the Bridge School

Students, Staff, and Families!

Best Wishes, -Dr. Christopher Brake-

Indicates day of non-attendance for students Indicates After-School Program day

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 CPS

Staff

Development

Day

No School

for Students

8

9 10 11 12

LSC/PAC

Meetings

5:30 PM

13 14 15

16 17 18 19

Class of 2008

Popcorn

Sale

20

Class of 2008

Popcorn

Sale

21

Snowflake

Dance

22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31 School

Resumes

Monday

1/7/08

December 2007 Happy Holidays!

Tag Week Tag Week Tag Week Tag Week Tag Week

Santa Shop This Week—10:00-1:00

Winter Holiday—No School

Family

Movie

Night

Market Day

Pick-Up

2-3:00 PM

In Gym

Winter Holiday—No School

New

Year’s

Eve

Bridge Elementary School

3800 N. New England Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60634

(773) 534-3718 Fax:(773) 534-3612

Dr. Christopher Brake, Principal Mrs. Margaret Moore-Taylor, Assistant Principal

November 26, 2007

-Lunch with the Principal-

Steven Barrios & Dr. Christopher Brake

See page 16 for Steven‘s article!

December Students of the Month

Mateusz Babula

Leonardo Peralta

Patty Amador

Dawid Babula

Amal Ahmed

Omar Santiago Alexandra Zugaj Nicole Nguyen Radek Bobowski

Josue Rodriguez-Gonzalez Veronika Piszczek Joshua Kornatowski Owas Abuhashish

Natalie Zajac Nykkol Roldan Samantha Alanis Tommy Green

Brianna Green Amy Harenberg Robert Lech Anthony Jarvis

Nicole Swiderski Ivan Gonzalez Kamil Michalek

Bridge Elementary School Students of the Month are selected for their outstanding attendance, academic performance, and conduct.

Kenneth Watkins Paul Dubicki

Carolyn Rodriguez

What: “High School Musical 2‖

When: Friday, December 14th

From 6:00 PM—

Who: Bridge School Students

and Families only! Students must

be accompanied by an adult par-

ent or guardian.

Where: Bridge Auditorium

How Much: Free!

-Copyright Royalty Licensing fees paid to Movie Licensing USA-

Bridge

Family

Movie

Night*

*Family Movie

Night is held on

the second Friday

of every month.

“Principal for A Day” Dr. Harvey Drucker

Associate Director, Argonne National Laboratory

On November 30, 2007 Bridge School was honored again by having Dr. Harvey Drucker as our second CPS ―Principal For A

Day‖. Dr. Drucker is an Associate Director at Argonne National Laboratory. Dr. Drucker is pictured above with a hydrogen fueled

GMC truck that the Argonne Transportation Research Center is currently testing. Dr. Drucker spent the day at Bridge School visit-

ing with students and staff. Dr. Drucker was extremely impressed with the students and staff of Bridge School.

“Principal for A Day” Mr. Harry Teinowitz

Mac, Jurko & Harry Show, ESPN SportsRadio 1000

On November 25, 2007 Bridge School was honored to have Mr. Harry Teinowitz as our CPS ―Principal For A Day‖. Mr. Tei-

nowitz is a co-host of ESPN SportsRadio 1000‘s, Mac, Jurko & Harry radio show. Mr. Teinowitz also happens to be an old college

buddy of Dr. Brake‘s. The CPS ―Principal For A Day‖ program was held on November 30th this year, but Mr. Teinowitz wanted to

visit on the 25th so he could enjoy our annual OctoberFest Fun Fair activities. Mr. Teinowitz stated that he wished he lived closer so

his children could attend Bridge School!

When: Friday, December 7th, 12:00-2:00 PM and

Wednesday, December 12th After LSC Meeting (~6:30 PM)

Where: Bridge School Library

Who: Parents/Community Members

What: Give Input/Develop 2008-2010 SIPAAA

PARENT/COMMUNITY SIPAAA MEETING ( S C H O O L I M P R O V E M E N T P L A N F O R A D V A N C I N G A C A D E M I C A C H I E V E M E N T )

Parents: Do your children spend too much time

playing computer games? Did you know Bridge

School has an online computer curriculum that al-

lows students to practice reading and math skills us-

ing computer games? All students have access to this

system with their personal user name and password. The website is:

http://www.Studyisland.com/ If your children like to play computer games, make sure they‘re

playing on Study Island! Thank you.

Academic Computer Games Online!

-PTA Popcorn Sale- Thank you to PTA President Mrs.

Niewinski, PTA Vice-President Mrs.

Paula Guy, and PTA Parent Volunteer

Mrs. Sue Szajna for helping with the 8th

grade popcorn fundraiser on November

28th & 29th. This coming month‘s fund-

raiser will be on Dec. 19th & 20th.

All profits are going toward reducing

the student cost of the end-of-the-year

8th grade Springfield trip.

Thank You! L-to-R: PTA Vice-President Mrs. Paula Guy, PTA President Mrs. Lora Niewinski.

Not pictured: PTA Parent Volunteer Mrs. Sue Szajna

Room 001 Isabelle Santiago

Room 202 Dawid Babula

Corbin Bowen

Lauren McGuire

Marcelina Puc

Room 203 Mustafa Ahmed

Nicholas Guy

Anthony Jarvis

Dana Rudzinski

Artana Sherifi

Room 205 Megan Szajna

Room 207 Kristyn Krajewski

Room 208 Nicole Swiderski

Room 209 Angelica Gacek

Martha Gebala

Briana Green

Jessica Smith

Room 211 Mark Miceli

Room 214 Brian Kuczynski

Damian Pikul

James Sobotka

Natalie Zajac

Dawid Hruswicki

Karolina Jedlecka

Room 204 Amal Ahmed

Dana Buczkowski

Room 205 Remah Abuhashish

Daniel Allegretti

Adrianna Goral

Patricia Kania

Konrad Michalek

Mateusz Wiechetek

Room 206 Ezdhar Deeb

Thomas Frackiel

Marco Silva

Kenneth Watkins

Room 207

Amy Harenberg

Khrystyna Kozak

Jovanne Mejia

Ricardo Reyes

Room 208

Steven Galiardo

Sylvia Gebala

Zbigniew Pasierbek

Jessika Warjas

Room 209

Nicholas Armijo

Paulina Kocon

Room 210

Paul Dubicki

Katarzyna Grolle

Anna Kielich

Ewelina Krystopa

Alexandra Lopez

Nara Solis

Karolina Krol

Room 211

Francisco Alcantar

Kamil Kieras

Carolyn Rodriguez

Room 212

Dawid Bobro

Saul Zamora

Room 214

Yasmeen Abushehadeh

Jasmine Ayala

Matthew Coronado

Tiffany Myszkowski

Room 001

Kala Geralds

Aman Haidari

Alexandra Macias

Christina Pecoraro

Nicholas Pesole

Katarzyna Pukala

Ivan Ruiz

Juan Sanchez

Jessica Tredota

Julia Troszczynska

Charlie Vasquez

Danielle Walsh

Room 106

Katlyn Tenold

Kamil Michalek

Lukas Klasek

Mariusz Gorlicki

Room 114

Josue Rodriguez –

Gonzalez

Room 202

Christian DeJesus

Ricardo Herrera

Patric Hruswicki

Katarzyna Koperny

Piotr Lesniak

Jazmeen Rivera

Room 203

Christopher Delgado

Alejandro Gonzalez

Pawel Kalisz

Eryk Kania

Congratulations

To Our

Scholars!

F I R ST QUARTER S I LV ER HON O R RO LL

GO L D EN HO N OR

RO L L

First Quarter Honor Roll

Room 001 Manual Abughoush

Kienna Bariso

Billyjoe Calayag

Thomas Carey

Artur Cius

Aman Haidari

Daniel Lozeau

Aleksandra Niemas

Nicolas Pesole

Katarzyna Pukala

Jacob Rivera

Juan Sanchez

Isabelle Santiago

Julia Troszczynska

Cyndy Zikowski

Room 002 Patty Amador

Lizvett Herrera

Peter Jackowski

William Knapp

Julia Konieczna

Daniel Kulach

Alexis Lopez

Shannon McGuire

Jeremiah Munoz

Kamil Piotrowski

Delanie Preston

Jerod Raymond

Rafael Reza

Aleksander Sulewski

Room 003 Andrew Azzam

Kiara Barrios

Jakub Bigos

Kevin Mienta

Christopher Molina

Theodore Nickson

Sandra Santhosh

Daniel Taylor

Natalia Wzorek

Room 004 Sasha Aponte

Ashley Bock

Jakub Koperny

Victoria Kospin

\Luis Martinez

Sylwia Mieczkowski

Alexander Paszkowski

Karolina Peza

Karol Pisanko

Paulina Rydnak

Melanie Sobenes

Dawid Sobus

Emily Swiderski

Nicole Zacny

Room 101

Maksymilian Bajorek

Julia Chmiel

Juliette Drewniak

Damian Gawruk

Angelica Geletka

Sebastian Gembis

Emilia Jakubaszek

Daniel Kania

Marek Klejn

Maya Konieczna

Peter Kospin

Natalia Kowalska

Brian Kwiatkowski

Nicole Lesniak

Bartlomiej Mendrala

Veronika Smialkow-

ska

Aleksandra Smyk

Damian Staszel

Zuzanna Strapoc

Room 103

Owais Abuhashish

Alexis Allen

Samantha Armijo

Jennifer Castaneda

Alani Davila

Morad Deeb

Joshua Hampton

Kayla Jurewicz

Natalia Hernandez

Justin Johnson

Szymon Ramos

Christine Sprogis

Jessica Zajac

Ariana Zepeda

Room 105

Amir Abuawad

Daniel Alcanter

Jennifer Bui

Angelina Davila

Anthony Guy

David Krasnicki

Nicole Nguyen

Jahred Raymond

Ryan Szajna

Liam White

Nathaniel Zukowski

Room 106

Gustavo Amador

Viviana Atempa

John Balingit

Paulina Bauer

Kristopher Bocanegra

Mariusz Gorlicki

Angelica Jaje

Mateusz Kaczowska

Lukas Klasek

Kamil Kwasnik

Kamil Michalek

Anna Omelyan

Lukasz Pikul

Anna Pukala

Marquez Rivera

Michelle Rosado

Christopher Santiago

Room 107 AM

Heidy Araujo

Armando Ayala

Mateusz Babula

Patricia Banasik

Victoria Baran

Angelina Bredicean

Lizbeth Cabrera

Hanna Choubkha

Paola Gomez

Claudia Goral

Julian Ly

Karolina Mikos

Elias Munoz

Jakub Rojek

Sean Simmons

Anthony Sobie

Kaitlyn Tarasiewicz

Room 107 PM Julia Domian

Andre Namrood

Tyler Rudzinski

Omar Santiago

Room 108 Jocelyn Bonilla

Nicole Brzys

Patrycja Dobosz

Pawel Gwizd

Karolina Kaczowka

Witoria Kurc

Andrea Reyes

Ofelia Romero

Gabriel Smyk

Piotr Szczech

Bartosz Walkowiak

Room 109 Samantha Carey

Alma Carmona

Elisa Coronado

Konrad Gondek

Natalie Hanek

James Ignatowski

Joshua Kornatowski

Holly Lewandowski

Jonathan Nickson

Sandra Pajda

Shyla Solis

Nicole Soltyszewski

Kelly Tarasiewicz

Quinn Taylor

Room 111 Stephanie Anguiano

Fernando Caballero

Myah Gonzalez

Selina Guevara

Eric Martinez

Alondra Ortiz

Pedro Romero

Isaiah Salgado

Room 102

Elias Allen

Fouad Chahada

Roberto Hernandez

Alexander Jamroz

Allen Namrood

First Quarter

Perfect Attendance

Room 202

Dawid Babula

Corbin Bowen

Christian DeJesus

Shaquita Glass

Patric Hruswicki

Katarzyna Koperny

Tamara Lewis

Karolina Lukasiak

Lauren McGuire

Enrique Morales

Christian Nguyen

Marcelina Puc

Cheyenne Reza

Jazmeen Rivera

Jose Rivera

Noreyma Salgado

Joshua Santos

Tomasz Tutka

Room 203

Matthew Bock

Alejandro Gonzalez

Arlene Gonzalez

David Guevara

Nicholas Guy

Alexandra Kania

Eryk Kania

Joshua Lebron

Julia Rakoczy

Shawn Rivera

Wayne Sobotka

Room 204

Dana Buczkowski

Nicholaus Cappy

Jesse Chavez

Tomasz Jackowski

Rozalia Jurvzak

Berenice Martinez

Sebastian Mozdzierz

Selma Music

Justyna Pikul

Desiree Ramos

Henry Salgado

Anna Szczech

Room 205

Waleed Abughoush

Samantha Ayala

Stephanie Ayala

Lukasz Boufal

Meghan Carey

Iliana Cato

Grzgorz Chlebek

Adrianna Goral

Natalia Kalamarz

Patricia Kania

Robert Lech

Mario Martinez

Konrad Michalek

Bartosz Pikul

Megan Szajna

Justyna Szczech

Tatiana Turcios

Room 206

Joslyn Araujo

Ezdhar Deeb

Klaudia Dobosz

Thomas Frackiel

Cinthia Gomez

Braulio Herrera

Seham Hussein

Adam Kornafel

Maritza Tlapa

Marlena Warjas

Kenneth Watkins

Room 207

Leslie Aispuro

Gabriel Augustyniak

Martin Banasik

Amy Harenberg

Kristyn Krajewski

Jovanee Mejia

Adrian Skobelski

Damian Wysocki

Room 208

Ashley Castillo

Andrzej Cudzich

Desiree DeJesus

Augusto Estrada

Jonathan Figueroa

Steven Galiardo

Sylvia Gebala

Jeremy Johnson

First Quarter

Perfect Attendance

Ryan Harenberg

Sean Horwitz

Dariusz Kwasnik

Ihor Omelyan

Krystian Pankiewicz

Jakub Rogoz

Nicholas Santos

Kaylani Shannon

Nicole Swiderski

Jessika Warjas

Nicholas Wdowiak

Patrycja Zakrzewski

Aleksander Zbroja

Room 209 Nicholas Armijo

Radoslaw Burgiel

Samantha Calayag

Angelica Gacek

Aide Garcia

Sebastian Jaje

Dessire Mar

Kenneth Santiago

Kaitlyn Scanlan

Daphne Valle

Room 210 Mohammad Abuhashish

Ruben Ares

Mark Babilonia

Percy Cavero

Jessica Conneely

Colleen Doyle

Paul Dubicki

Kyle Enriquez

Alejandro Gallegos

Katarzyna Grolle

Anna Kielich

Karolina Krol

Ewelina Krystopa

Alexandra Lopez

Filip Palka

Dominik Pikul

Omar Ramirez

Aleksandra Ryndak

Nara Solis

Janelys Vasquez

Room 211

Francisco Alcantar

Anthony Amato

Kielvin Bariso

Sebastian Cato

Kamil Kieras

Peggy Knapp

Kamil Krystopa

Gladys Mar

Salvador Moreno

Keisamar Santiago

Room 212

Dawid Bobro

Dominika Duda

Aida Garcia

Ivan Gonzalez

Maciej Kalwajtys

Brian Miklas

Felicia Plewa

John Samek

Krystian Solowiej

Saul Zamora

Room 214

Nur Hussein

Dawid Hruswicki

Evelina Jaje

Svetlozar Kolev

Brian Hruswicki

David Lozeau

Damian Pikul

Gregory Pikul

Jacob Rakoczy

James Sobotka

Natalie Zajac

Kindergarten News Turkey Fun!

November was a learning-filled month that included a focus on learning the sounds of

letters, reading 3-letter words, such as ‗mop‘, ‗ant‘, and ‗not‘, and an introduction to high-

frequency words, such as ‗the‘ and ‗a‘. We focused on math skills, such as counting and order,

and learned about Thanksgiving and the meaning behind it today. The highlight of the month

was when Ms. McGuire‘s Fourth Grade class joined together with both the AM and PM Kin-

dergarten classes for a special art project! See pictures below.

December promises to bring more learning and fun-filled activities. We will continue to

work on letters, reading and math skills. Students will be making their own books to practice

reading! We will also be learning about the holidays that various cultures celebrate.

Santa Shop is coming! The boys and girls will be able to buy gifts for their families.

Ms. Evangelista & Mrs. Dotson

First and Second Grade News

Fighting

Germs

During our unit on health, we

learned about how to protect

ourselves from germs. Then we

conducted an experiment to

show the importance of wash-

ing our hands with soap and

water. We used glitter to repre-

sent germs, and then we put the

glitter on our hands. Each group used a different process to remove the germs:

baby wipes, paper towels, soap and water, antibacterial soap, and one group

didn't use anything. Before we started the experiment, we predicted which

group's method of germ removal would work the best. At the end of the activi-

ty, a member from each group reported on the method that he or she used. Af-

ter discussing the results, we voted on which group's method was the best.

There was a unanimous vote for the group that washed their hands. We learned

that the fastest, easiest, and most efficient way to get rid of germs was to wash

them off with soap and water. Way to go scientists!

More First and Second Grade News Thankful Thoughts

Rooms 101 and 111 shared a unit on Thanksgiving and discussed the things that they are thankful for. The children dis-

covered quilts and their importance as family memories. Each child created a square where they wrote and illustrated

their thankful thoughts. These squares were used to make a quilt for the entire class.

PILGRIM TOWN/WAMPANOAG VILLAGE MODELS The students were busy building models of Pilgrim towns and Indian villages recently.

The models were made to look three-dimensional and gave the students an insight on how

the first Pilgrim town at Plymouth looked compared to a seventeenth-century Wampanoag

village. The students did a great job constructing their models and were happy to show-

case them off.

THANKSGIVING DAY PLAY Room 109 recently put on a play on the Pilgrim‘s

voyage to the New World and the first Thanksgiving with the Indians. Each boy

and girl was a given a part in the play to act out. We all dressed up as either a Pil-

grim or Indian and performed it in class as well for other classrooms. The students

were really excited to be part of a play and couldn‘t wait to perform it for their

classmates.

Young Authors Three of our classmates in Room 102 are now authors!!! They each wrote a book

about school which they donated to our classroom library. The books are now avail-

able to check out from our book corner! Great job Ola, Sabrina, and Lesly!

SECOND GRADE RESEARCH PROJECTS The boys and girls in Room 103 learned about the many crops that are grown in the United

States. Each student chose a fruit or vegetable and researched where it is grown and the many

food products that we get from these crops. They created beautiful posters and then gave an

Third and Fourth Grade News On November 14, 2007 the third grades rooms (002, 003, 004) visited The Art Institute of Chicago. The special program entitled

―Art From Many Places‖ had been arranged for the students. Children saw various forms of art from England, France, Russia,

Egypt, Spain, the United States as well as a number of other countries. The children were delighted with the stories the docents told

them about the art pieces. Here are a few comments from some of the children.

I saw a statue of Abraham Lincoln sitting in a chair. I learned that his hands make the initials of his name. You can see the same

statue in Washington, D.C. By Shannon McGuire

I liked the ballerina paintings because I used to be a ballerina. By Neidelyn Reyes

I saw lots of Chinese vases and jewelry. All of it was very, very old. By Jacob Habayeb

I saw a masterpiece made by Chinese people and I learned that they use dragons for good luck. By Julia Smialkowska

The exhibit I likes the best was the Indian headdress. If you would do something very brave you would get a feather added to your

headdress. The one I saw had over 150 feathers on it! By Kamil Piotrowsk

We saw a huge buffalo skin and it had pictures all over it. The Indians tell stories by drawing out the story on the skin. The one I

saw was telling a story of war. By Alexis Lopez

I learned that the Cheyenne tribe believes that if you touch your enemy that is one of the bravest things you can do. By Rafael Reza

On my trip today I saw a suit of armor. These suits were used in the past to protect men in battle. By Lluvitza Alvarez

I saw a painting of a park with lots of people and some pets in it. The whole painting was painted using dots. It took the artist over

two years to finish it. By Danny Kulach

When we visited the Pompeii art we saw a sculpture of a man, his wife, and their baby. They were running to escape the ash from

the volcano. The man covered his family with a blanket so they wouldn‘t get covered in ash. By Daniel Michniowski

I saw lots of little rooms. Everything in the room was very, very small. It showed us what people lived like hundreds of years ago.

By Peter Jackowski

I saw cowboys riding horses. It looked like it was in the Southwest. They had their guns drawn and they were laughing. One of the

riders horse looked like he was about to fall down. By Monika Cywinska

My Lunch With The Principal Hi! My name is Steven Barrios. I am in fourth grade and the student of the month for November. I was

picked in a drawing to have lunch with my principal. For lunch I had a Happy Meal (Chicken Nuggets) and my

principal Dr. Brake had a Quarter Pounder with cheese! I was very excited about having lunch with Dr.Brake!!

By Steven Barrios, Room 114

Room 001 News Room 001 students are buddies with the Kindergarteners. We

do holiday projects each month. We each have two buddies, one for the A.M. class and one for P.M. class. I like my buddy, his name is

Aramado Ayala. We all like our buddies, they are cute. Written by Alexandra Macias

Happy Holidays

From the

Bridge School Family!

Fifth and Sixth Grade News TURKEY STORIES-ROOM 205

Halloween is over and November is here to stay.

Kids will be playing in the hay.

They can touch cows and pigs at farms.

They won‘t do any harm.

November is a time for thanking.

But then the family says is that turkey baking?

November is a bundle of joy.

Except when the kids say are we getting new toys?

November is fun.

Except when the family says is all the food done.

By: Alyssa Polanco

6th Grade Field Trip to Navy Pier’s IMAX Theater On Monday, November 26th, the sixth grade classrooms went to see a movie about Egypt. It was very

interesting to learn about Egyptian times. We could see how they used to pull the heavy stones in order to build

the great pyramids. We also saw the mummification process. On the huge IMAX screen, we could see the Nile

River; it gave us a great view of its length and the land around it. We learned about the man who discovered

King Tutankhamen‘s tomb. It was fascinating to see all of the riches that were buried with him and the other

pharaohs. Everyone enjoyed the movie. By Azhar Deeb and Jocelyn Rodriguez

The Native American Project In Rooms 202, 203, and 205, the fifth graders did projects on Native Americans. It is very interesting to see

kids putting such great effort into their work. Hopefully Ms. Gilana, Ms. Bermeo, and Mrs. Cutler will encourage

them to continue to do such an amazing job! The great projects helped the students learn about Native American

culture, history, and religion. We hope that everyone will enjoy the hard work they put into their wonderful pro-

jects. By Lauren McGuire and Marcelina Puc,Room 202 Editor‘s Note: The projects are on display in the first floor Bridge hallway located outside the auditorium and office.

Veterans Day On November 11, 2007 my class 207, wrote letters to the veterans, we thanked and honored them for protecting our country.

We sent these letters to Walter Reed Army Center, Washington, D.C. We also made Christmas cards for the veterans. They were

great! Some kids made pop outs and others made regular ones. They were beautiful! We also sent these to Walter Reed Army Cen-

ter. Remember to always honor a soldier and or veteran. Peace and Love!!! By Paige Germain, Room 207

Ancient China Room 207, 211, and 209 are learning about Chinese letters and number. I really enjoyed studying Chinese numbers. Mrs. Bowen

was great at teaching Chinese numbers. We studied, studied, and studied some more. We took a test on it, and I got a very good

grade. I love learning about other cultures and their history. Not only did we learn to count from 1 to 10 in Chinese but we also

learned how to write Chinese letters. I learned how to write my name in Chinese. Still interested? Check out the upper floor in the

hallway and see our 6th grade social studies project. This project was awesome! By Amy Harenberg, Room 207

Ethiopia Reads! Room 207, Mrs. Bowen‘s class is doing a program called Ethiopia Reads. This topic was inspired by a journal entry asking if you

could change one thing about the world what would it be. There were many ideas from the class then Mrs. Bowen found the website

and we decided to help. We have been making posters for the Shola Children‘s Library. The posters were the covers of our favorite

books so the Ethiopian children could see how much we love to read and so we could share the love of reading. We are also making

books for the Shola Children‘s Library so they can enjoy our variety of books. Did you know that books are a rare resource in Ethio-

pia, which is one of the poorest countries in the world. In the poor neighborhood where Ethiopia Read established the first children‘s

library in the country there are about 180 children per class attending half day school. Did you know that 99% of schools in Ethiopia

have no libraries! So if you want to be a part of this amazing program go to ethiopiareads.org. By Khrystyna Kozak, Room 207

Turkey Trouble The night before Thanksgiving we were going to buy a turkey, but

every store we went to was sold out. So we kept on driving. Then we finally

found a store. So we went in. There was one turkey left. So we went to the

counter. The man said you can‘t buy this turkey. It is haunted. All the other

stores are sold out. Fine! You will regret this. When we got home we told our

family and everyone laughed.

The next day when we put it in the oven after an hour the turkey

came out and said, ―It‘s hot in there!‖ I yelled,‖ Mom, the turkey is alive!‖

She walked in and yelled, ―Oh my god!‖ My dad came in and saw the turkey

and fainted. The turkey said, ―You‘ve never seen a talking turkey?‖ What‘s

the big deal? The turkey sat down on the couch and turned on the Simpsons.

While he was watching t.v. my mom and I went to that store again. We went

up to the same person as last night and said, ―The turkey you sold us is alive!‖

He laughed and said,‖ I told you, you will pay the price. Ha, Ha, Ha! How do

we kill it? You put it in the oven. We tried that. Keep it shut. Oh! So we

went home. The turkey was asleep so we put it in the oven. Then we kept it

closed for a long time. When we opened it the turkey was done!

By: Corey Egan

Seventh and Eighth Grade News

Student Council News *** Help A Hero: In November, the Student Council sponsored a program called Help-A-Hero. We collect-

ed items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, hand sanitizer and shaving cream for our veterans. We

would like to thank all those who donated items for this worthy cause. Also, special thanks to Mrs. Naughton in

Room 208 for recommending this important program. By Kathy Grolle

*** Mix-It-Up-At-Lunch: At the end of October, Bridge School participated in the 2nd annual ―Mix It Up At

Lunch‖ Day. On this day, students were required to sit in a different seat during lunch and meet someone new

or talk to a person that they don‘t normally converse with on a daily basis. This activity helped to remind stu-

dents to be open to new experiences and celebrate our diversity. Special thanks to Mrs. Pappas and Mrs. Swan-

son for their assistance. Everyone had a great time!

*** Red Ribbon Week: During the last week of October, the Student Council sponsored Red Ribbon Week.

All of the students signed banners on their classroom doors pledging to stay drug free. In addition, everyone

wore red ribbons throughout the week to show our support for this nationwide acknowledgment. Thank you to

all of the students, faculty and staff at Bridge School for their participation.

*** Make A Difference Day: The Student Council sponsored our 2nd annual Make a Difference Day earlier

this month. With Mrs. Miarecki‘s help, the students used part of their computer time to send electronic post-

cards to our soldiers in Iraq. The postcards included warm wishes and thoughts of appreciation. Thanks to Ms.

Evangelista for recommending this creative idea for our students to ―make a difference‖ in many lives. Can you

think of another way that you could make a difference in someone‘s life today? Tomorrow?

*** Toys for Tots: The Student Council is currently sponsoring our 2nd annual Toys for Tots drive. Donations

are being collected near the main office at Bridge School. All donated toys need to be in new, unopened boxes.

The toy drive will end on Tuesday, December 9th. Thank you to all those who have already brought in a dona-

tion. We hope to collect even more than last year.

*** Upcoming Events:

Student Council Popcorn sale: December 19th-20th (Wed. and Thurs.) Caroling to the Classrooms: Last week

of school before the holidays Snowmen decorations for classroom doors (Contest): Dec. 3rd – Dec. 12th Holiday

―Snowflake Dance‖ on December 21st (5-8th grades). By Briana Green

The Hausmann String Quartet Seventh and eighth grade students went on a field trip to Kenwood Academy. There they

saw a concert by the Hausemann String Quartet. The free concert was sponsored by the International Music Foun-

dation for CPS. The quartet had two violins, a cello, and a viola. The seventh and eighth graders learned that the

violins have a higher pitched sound and the viola sounds a little lower then the violins. We also learned that a vio-

lin and fiddle are the same instrument but the violinist plays slower music and the fiddle plays faster music. At the

end of the concert they played the theme songs of ―Spiderman‖ and ―The Simpson‘s‖. We really liked that they played cool and fun

music. At the end of the concert Ronnie asked the question, ―why do you move your heads really weird when you play.‖ The guy

answered and said they play like that because they really get into the music when playing their instruments.

By Ronnie Orlando and Marquez Rivera, Room 106

The Isle a la Cache Brigade Visits Bridge

On Tuesday, November 20th, the 7th graders had guest speakers in Social Studies class.

They were a group of living historians called The Isle of la Cache Brigade who portray

French fur traders and their Potowatomie Indian wives. (Illinois was French territory

from the late 1600s until 1763 when the British won The French and Indian War.) Our

speakers discussed how they lived completely off the land to survive. Ashley Castillo,

from 208, thought seeing all their artifacts was the best part of the presentation. ―They

brought examples of the hats they made from beaver fur, clothing made from cow hide,

Indian arrowheads made from stone, a mini-canoe made from birch tree bark and knives

and axes with handles made from other kinds of trees.‖, she said. The 7th grade classes

really enjoyed their first guest speakers.

BRIDGE WRITING CLUB

Who Stole the Clock? Quintet Attaca came to Bridge School, on Novem-

ber 15, 2007 to find out who stole the antique at their

last rehearsal. Bridge School enjoyed the investiga-

tion and performances to find out who stole the an-

tique clock. Each person played their instruments,

which were the bassoon, the clarinet, the oboe, the

French horn, and the flute, to find out the thief of the

clock. We found out that the person who played the

French horn stole the clock. They kept the French

horn player in the band because they couldn’t play

without him. Bridge School enjoyed solving Quintet

Attaca’s investigation.

By: Bobby Jurewicz and Piotr Lesniak , Room 202

MY UNCLE’S COOKING UP A STORM!

By: Marcelina Puc, Room 202

Yummy! I could smell my uncle’s

cakes, pies, and cookies. But I can’t

believe it, he made my favorite dish!

Pierogies with: apples, blueberries

cheese and potatoes, also cabbage,

and strawberries.

And he made his famous soup. It’s

mushroom soup .And then I smell

his best dish: cabbage rolls. Finally,

time to eat! Bon appetite!

Jingle, Jingle By Megan Szajna, Room 205

Jingle, jingle sleigh bells ring!

Look at all the carolers sing!

Snowflakes falling, children calling,

“Santa’s coming, Santa’s coming!”

Building snowmen, snow fights, too!

Go inside to get hot chocolate,

Then go and hide beneath a blanket!

Red rosy nose!

Hundreds of tissues in the garbage,

Buy more boxes on the double!

If you don’t there will be trouble!

Here comes Santa,

don’t you hear him?

Don’t be nosy and go peek,

At all the gifts under the tree!

Its Christmas morning, so much fun!

Jingle, jingle sleigh bells ring!!

Editor’s Note-

The free Qunitet Attaca concert was provided through

a Bridge School partnership with the not-for-profit or-

ganization Communities In Schools of Chicago:

Happy Holidays From the

Bridge School Writing Club!

Special Winter Holiday

32,500 Book Challenge

Bridge Elementary School

3800 N. New England Avenue

Chicago, Illinois 60634

773-534-3718

http://www.bridge.cps.k12.il.us

Principal:

Dr. Christopher Brake

Assistant Principal:

Mrs. Margaret Taylor

LSC President:

Mr. William Doyle

Parent Representatives:

Mr. Paul Henmueller

Mrs. Martha Kulach

Mrs. Wioletta Rakoczy

Mrs. Pamela Sparks

Mrs. Renata Zabiega

Community Representatives:

Mrs. Yvonne Majewski

Mrs. Pat Walenga

Teacher Representatives:

Mrs. Catherine McGuire

Mrs. Joan Miarecki

Administration:

Dr. Christopher Brake

PTA President:

Mrs. Lora Niewinski

Vice-President:

Mrs. Paula Guy

Secretary:

Mrs. Debbie Horowitz

Treasurer:

Mrs. Jeannie Doyle

NCLB PAC

President:

Mrs. Pamela Sparks

Vice-President:

Mrs. Herlinda Macias

Secretary:

Mrs. Catherine McGuire

Corresponding Secretary:

Mr. William Doyle

BAC President:

Mrs. Kacala Liliana

Vice-President: Mrs. Veronica Estrada

Secretary:

Mrs. Zacny Iwona

Representative:

Mr. Romero Alejandra

LSC = Local School Council NCLB PAC = No Child Left Behind Parent Advisory Committee

PTA = Parent Teacher Association BAC = Bilingual Advisory Committee

Room 107

Kindergarten

168

Year-to-Date

402

Room 102

1st Grade

390

Year-to-Date

1,160

Room 105

1st Grade

382

Year-to-Date

1,141

Room 101

1st/2nd Grade

567

Year-to-Date

979

Room 111

1st/2nd Grade

412

Year-to-Date

767

Room 114

2nd/4th Grade

30

Year-to-Date

80

Room 103

2nd Grade

508

Year-to-Date

1,181

Room 109

2nd Grade

378

Year-to-Date

918

Room 108

2nd/3rd Grade

241

Year-to-Date

679

Room 002

3rd Grade

137

Year-to-Date

414

Room 003

3rd Grade

125

Year-to-Date

317

Room 004

3rd Grade

125

Year-to-Date

260

Room 001

4th Grade

104

Year-to-Date

419

Room 214

4th Grade

276

Year-to-Date

461

Room 202

5th Grade

306

Year-to-Date

669

Room 203

5th Grade

158

Year-to-Date

417

Room 205

5th Grade

150

Year-to-Date

308

Room 207

6th Grade

84

Year-to-Date

253

Room 209

6th Grade

68

Year-to-Date

354

Room 211

6th Grade

57

Year-to-Date

214

Room 204

7th Grade

48

Year-to-Date

129

Room 208

7th Grade

112

Year-to-Date

307

Room 212

7th Grade

64

Year-to-Date

170

Room 106

8th Grade

54

Year-to-Date

273

Room 206

8th Grade

67

Year-to-Date

224

Room 210

8th Grade

73

Year-to-Date

292

12,788