It's Never Too Early to Start Planning

The students in Ms. Haney's first grade class have started to think about their future.  Their assignment was to think about the jobs they might want to have when they grow up.  Who knows, things might change between now and then, but here were some of their current thoughts about their careers that interest them.

Remember,  you can click on any picture to make it larger.

Some kids immediately thought of going into professional sports:

 

Others leaned toward medicine:

 

Still others saw their answers right in front of them!

 

 

Then there were the kids who were still keeping their options open:

 

Good luck, first graders.  We hope you all find and fulfill your dreams.

A New School for a Day

Once a month for much of the school year, the seventh graders from the Solomon Schechter Day School in Newton came to the Michael J. Perkins School in South Boston. They came to work with our first and second graders on things like reading and writing. A lot of other things were learned in the bargain--for both groups.

At the end of the year, it was our turn to pay the Schechter kids a visit.

It was a busy day. Our kids saw some things they had never seen before, for example, signs in Hebrew letters. What did they say!?!




Perkins kids paired up with their yearlong partners to create a book about their days. Some of the things they wrote and illustrated were perfect examples of their similarities and differences.















Look at this page, for example, where the kids are writing about how they start their days at school. The Schechter kid, who attends a private school devoted to religious and academic studies, says that he begins his school day with prayer.

The Perkins kid says that they go get the breakfast crates, eat in their classrooms, then get to work. Schechter kids eat breakfast at home.


While they are chatting, the boys also learn that they both like to play basketball.


Meanwhile, another pair is busy working on filling in how their education has made them want to have a particular job when they grow up. Or, at least the Perkins kid is because she has lots of ideas. "I want to be a doctor, no, a nurse...wait I have more ideas...a scientist..."

She is writing as fast as she can.

"I wouldn't mind being a teacher at the Schecter School," she adds.










"I like the fact that they seem so mature for their age," says a Schechter kid about his Perkins acquaintances.

"I think this school is cool because it's so big and they have a room just for music," says a Perkin kid.

What is another thing that all the kids like about the visit?











When the Perkins kids come to the Schechter, there is always pizza for lunch!

Reading is Fundamental

In the days leading up to February vacation, a lot of special things happened at the Perkins School. If you scroll back to a few of our older posts, you'll remember the firefighters' visit to Ms. Haney's class and the beginning rehearsals for Evacuation Day, the Musical! We didn't have the time or space to let you know everything as it occurred. So this week, we're reporting on some of those other events. Monday's post was about the Magic Show.



















Today we're showing you our special version of Reading is Fundamental Day--all the readers who came to visit our classrooms were men and women in uniform. We also had a canine visitor as well, but Yahtzee didn't do any reading. She has another job. When she's not visiting kids in school, she works with Officer Cunningham to sniff out the causes of fires around our part of Massachusetts. She has worked to find the cause of over 350 fires in the last four years.

After Officer Cunningham read a book about firefighters to the kindergarteners, he decided to show them Yahtzee at work. He gave a few of them little sticks with a drop of a chemical on them. Then he went into the hall so the kids could hide them wherever they wanted...























...Meanwhile in Ms. Muenkel's class, State Trooper Ahearn was already answering some questions from the fifth graders. This time Reading is Fundamental Day was also doubling as a job fair, giving the kids a chance to learn about different jobs for the future.

Officer Ahearn was telling the kids that getting good grades and learning discipline would help them, whether they wanted to be a state trooper, a doctor, or get a scholarship to play basketball in college.

And...


















...in Ms. Murphy's class, some of the second graders were reading along with Officer Mitchell, who is a security guard at Longwood Security.



















After reading and talking about her future career in the Air Force, ROTC Cadet Krause got some hugs from Ms. Haney's first graders--and her picture taken.

























All over the school, in every class, kids were learning about new jobs and reading new books. Ms. Meadow's class was especially lucky. They had two readers, and got to hear the first chapter of The Hobbit! Meanwhile...






...Yahtzee was working hard in the kindergarten. She found every tiny stick that the kids tried to hide.

She did her job, and why not? Each time she discovered a new one, she got lots of pets--and a treat!

Stop, Drop, and Roll!

Inspector Majors and Firefighter Rowe of the Boston came to Mrs. Haney's first grade class to teach the kids about fire safety. The kids also knew a lot already (Matches and lighters, for example, are not toys!) but it never hurts to have a review.






What do you do if you wake up in bed at night and there's smoke in your room?

Get down on the ground! Smoke rises so the safer, cleaner air is below.

You're scared. Do you want to hide?

No! You don't go under the bed or in the closet. You try to get out and if you can't you go to the safest place, said the firefighters, and wait for us to find you.

But what do you try first?

You crawl to the door and feel the knob with the back of your hand. If it isn't hot, you SLOWLY open it and peek to see if there isn't any fire and try to get out. Then go to the safe meeting place your family has set up so they know where you are.

What if it's hot?

You crawl to the window and open it.

Do you jump out?

Not if you're up high, says Inspector Majors, you might break the ground! You yell for help and wave a sheet or pillow case to show where you are.

And yell loud, adds Firefighter Rowe. Fires are noisy--our radios are squawking; wood might be crackling, glass shatters.


Then Firefighter Rowe showed the kids what he does when he goes into a burning building. First thing is to look for people. If he cannot see, he walks into a room, keeping his hand on the wall so he doesn't get lost. Then he steps out to feel for a bureau or bed, remembering what he must do to find his way out. He feels all around, for example, on a bed then under it. Sometimes he finds pets down there and takes them out.



If he feels a person, he puts them up on his big shoulder...













and carries them to safety!













Then Firefighter Rowe put on his firefighting gear, while Inspector Majors explained all the tools and gadgets they had to do their jobs.

This is what we look like when we're coming to help you," Firefighter Rowe added. "So don't be scared and hide when you see us because we're there to save you."










The last advice the kids got was a way to save themselves if their clothes ever caught fire. "Just remember," said Inspector Majors, as he had someone demonstrate each step, "stop, drop, and roll."


After the last bit of advice came one more thing--presents! The kids got fire safety coloring books and hats. The best present of all? Inspector Majors promised he'd come again.

The World of Work

The end of the school year is coming. The fifth graders are soon moving on. The four graders will soon be the oldest kids in the school. They aren't quite ready to plan their career paths--they have many more years of school to go--but it never hurts to hear about the choices others have made.



That's one reason Fatima Oliveira came to visit our fourth and fifth graders. She is a property manager for Beacon Development, the company that is helping plan, build and run Phase One of the Old Colony renovation.

Ms. Oliveira doesn't work with Old Colony. She manages an apartment complex called Baker Chocolate Apartments. The building used to be an old chocolate factory that has been renovated into homes for people to live. And no, it doesn't still smell like chocolate--which was one of the first question someone asked her.






















But it certainly wasn't the last question. The kids were really interested in what it was like to rent apartments to people, keep a big building running smoothly, make sure that contractors fixing up the apartments did the work just right. "I am very, very picky," said Ms. Oliveira.

That led to more questions. Some of the people who work for Ms. Oliveira are men much older than her. Someone asked if that was a problem. If it ever was a problem, she answered, it certainly isn't one now. We all have a part in making our property work and mine is to make sure everyone does their job. Everyone has learned to respect that.




A lot of kids thought it would be fun to help people find and move into nice home. Ms. Hardin asked what subjects in school were especially important to do her work. Math is really important, Ms. Oliveira answered. English too, because she often has to write letters and reports very clearly. She also said that, at her company, property managers needed a college education.

It sounded like a lot of work to prepare, but it also sounded like a fun, well paying job. A good idea to keep in mind.

But first there's summer vacation--and sixth grade!