Shoemaker Splash

The Big Interview 2

Meet The Kindergarten Crew!

Splash into the kindergarten minds!!! Do you ever think back to when you were in kindergarten??? Well, we interviewed a couple of kindergarteners and kindergarten teachers to refresh our memories

Let’s start with Elizabeth Kwiatek, a kindergartener in Mrs. Logue’s class. She had some great things to share. When asked if she likes school and is excited about learning, she replied, “yes, I really want to learn how to read better. I like math and I have learned ten frames and counting backwards.” She also shared that her favorite thing about school is, “learning about letters because of the Letter Land videos.”

Next, we interviewed Calvin Herd, who happens to be our own fourth grade reporter, Layla Herd’s brother. He is a student in Mrs. Sheehan’s class. Calvin shared that he thinks school is good and exciting! Calvin said, “I was scared at first but now it’s as good as a chicken nugget.” His favorite parts of the school day are technology and recess, and he is super excited for next year. Audrey Dobel is also a happy student in Ms. Sheehan’s class. Aubrey thinks Shoemaker is a pretty good school and all the teachers are very nice. She loves math, learning letters, and the meaning of new words. She did admit that she is a bit nervous about next year!

By Layla, Lucy, and McKenna

Now on to our amazing kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Logue and Mrs. Sheehan. Mrs. Logue of Room 125 has been a teacher at the Shoemaker school for years. We wanted to know if she thinks it is hard to teach little kids. Her response was, “in the beginning of the year it is a little hard, but it is so much fun seeing how much they change from September to June.” We asked her if she loves all her classes and she said, “yes, I love all my classes. We start off not knowing each other and then create relationships and bonds. Every June I cry.” When asked about the kindergarten curriculum she said, “we teach letters, sounds and sight words, reading, writing, math, and even science topics as well. Mrs. Logue told us, “I like reading the most because I like seeing them get excited when they see that they can do it. So that’s my favorite part.”

Mrs. Sheehan of Room 102 says, “There is a lot of energy in this class this year which can be exhausting, but every day when I walk in and see them smiling, it makes me feel so good.” Mrs. Sheehan says she likes to have fun. “I like to make everybody laugh and be silly and I feel like kindergarten is the best place to do that!”

Mrs. Sheehan also said, “My favorite thing to teach is reading and writing, specifically phonics. I like spelling and sounding out words.” She admits that she is excited about next year as well, but she does get nervous because we don’t know who’s coming in each year. It’s a fresh start every year, but it always works out.” Mrs. Sheehan ended with, “I love Shoemaker School and love coming in every day. And I love saying hello and watching you grow. It is so fun and the staff here is awesome too!

The Big Interview: Then and Now:

Leaders of the Shoemaker School

By Dylan Sedile, Juan, and Robert Stone

Former Acting Principal: Mrs. Claire Leary

Mrs Leary is a sort of legend in the Lynn Public Schools She worked for the schools as a teacher and then administrator for fifty-two years Her contribution to Shoemaker will never be forgotten. She loved her days at Shoemaker and misses it to this day

Besides contributing so much of her life to Lynn’s kids, she had a particularly interesting time as acting principal of Shoemaker School She took the position when the Shoemaker School, not just its students, was growing! Yes, that’s right When Mrs Leary became principal of Shoemaker, there was only one floor, no library, and no cafeteria There were only two classes for every grade and there were no special education classrooms By the time she had retired, the school had almost tripled in size Mrs Leary said, “being part of a growing and thriving Shoemaker was very rewarding ” Another interesting thing she shared was this was a time that many of the principals were responsible for two schools, and she was no exception She also took care of the Lynn Woods students and school as well

Mrs Leary always loved being at school seeing all the kids happy She always told her granddaughter that, “she never woke up and said I don’t want to go to work today ”

Mrs. Leary’s favorite memory was all of it, making a school where teachers and kids will always want to come back every day. Everyday she came in and tried her absolute hardest to make this a fun, safe, wonderful learning place. She always came with a smile on her face.

Dr. Colella has been our principal since February 29th, 2016. Before becoming a principal, she had been teaching in elementary schools since September 2004.

Dr. Colella always wanted to be a 1st grade teacher. She tried kindergarten but thought it wasn't right for her.

She then moved to upper elementary. She wanted to become a principal because she had a great principal that she worked under who inspired her to do so.

Dr. Colella’s advice to future principals is, “always be present in classrooms to understand what’s going on each day and see how everyone’s doing.” Therefore, she says, “you see successes in the classroom as well as being aware of challenges that may arise, which makes you ready and able to help any situation.” Also, she encourages all future principals to be “good listeners and quick problem solvers.”

Something she wants to add to Shoemaker School is a soft playground area that has games on the surface. She says, “the toughest challenge becoming the principal is balancing home and school life.” She was so excited when she became principal. The school has grown over the years as the number of staff went up. Dr. Colella plans on being a principal until she retires. In her perspective, “being a principal feels great!” “Time sure does fly”, she states. If she wasn’t an educational worker, she would’ve been a nurse.

She loves helping people and making communities stronger. Dr. Colella is a fantastic principal who always works to provide Shoemaker students with the best there is to offer!

2022-2023 Basketball Season, Players, and coaches talk…

By Kate, Mia, Delaney, and McKena

This March, the Shoemaker Sharks, both girls’ and boys’ teams, won the City Championships and brought us back a couple more titles! Before they took home

Anthony Owumi is a fourth grade All- Star player. When we interviewed Anthony, he reported that he was feeling pretty confident about his team’s chance of winning the tournament Anthony told us he has been playing basketball for six years and loves it because he enjoys playing sports with his friends Speaking of friends, Jack Nardone, a fifth-grade all star player was next. Jack informed us that The Celtics are his favorite basketball team because they inspire him to push himself when the game gets hard His most proud moment on the court is his last year’s championship game because he felt good about how he played

Onto the gir grade All Sta g answers questions next! She enjoys playing the sport with her friends and having fun. She was excited about learning some new skills “later, in the year during the basketball tournament, we learned pressing. At the beginning I went up too hard on my lay ups and it flew off the backboard Now I learned to go softer”

4th grade Super Star Sophia Prado let us know a couple of her winning strategies. “ When I am playing Center on defense, I have to get up in their face with my hands up”. Her advice to future players is “Don’t give up, if you do, you might never know if you enjoy playing”

championship twice in a row THE COACHES! Mr Doherty said, “I played basketball in high school for a year, I’ve been coaching sports since 1990 and I’ve been coaching basketball since 1999. I will absolutely coach next year if Dr. Colella gives me a chance to”. Mrs. Whalen says, “I started coaching when I was 19 and coached three different sports I like to see how the girls look at the beginning and at the end of the year It’s nice to know that you’ve introduced someone to a sport they have never played before. I hope to coach here at Shoemaker. It has been an enjoyable experience”.

Congratulations, to both teams on their hard work to persevere when games got tough, teamwork, and big wins!

Inside Student Council

By: Harper McGarvey

Harper interviews Mrs. Moriarty

Question: Why did you want to take over student council and was it your choice?

Answer: “yes it was it was my choice. I always helped Mrs.Pietrasik a couple years ago. Coming back after covid I wasn’t coaching anything more and I was looking for something to do and student council was free, so I figured why not.”

Question: What is your newest project?

Answer: “Oh we have so many one of them being the read-a-thon. We are also doing another big brother table donation, we are doing something for teacher appreciation week, we are also going to leave a mark on the school with a big mural that will hopefully be here for years to come.”

Question: What’s your favorite part of student council?

Answer: “oh, working with you guys of course! I feel lucky because yes you had to juggle through some hoops to get in, but I’ve known you since 3rd grade and knowing the kids makes it easier.”

Question: “What is the most important part of student council”

Answer: “The students, I mean it is called student council I try my best to make it student led as possible with the guidance of an adult because it’s about the school and students I think the students have such good ideas and things are getting done for the school.”

Question: “Why did you want to do student council?”

Answer: “I wanted to do it because I wanted to help the school and the community, and I thought this was a great way to do that!”

Question: “Do you love being a part of student council?”

Answer: “Yes I do because this school is amazing, and I met a bunch of my friends here ”

Question: “Do you love 5th grade?”

Answer: “I do love 5th grade because I love my teachers and all the kids in my class ”

Question: “What is the most important part of student council?”

Answer: “The most important part is helping the school, setting up fundraisers, and helping out pick the spirit week themes!”

Harper Interviews Mia Piazza

Student Council Cares

Meettwomembersoftheawesomegroup!

By: Alexis and Bella

Did you know that our school has a fabulous group of fifth grade students who work throughout the year to do amazing things f the Shoemaker Community? Well, it does! This group is called Student Council. It consists only of fifth grade students and is organized by Mrs. Moriarty, our wonderful music teacher. A couple of the projects they’ve done this year include raising mone for an animal shelter, collecting canned goods for the Salvation Army, and running holiday toy drive. We had an opportunity t meet with a couple of the council members

A few of the highlights shared by Makenna Roberts were that, “she joined the Student Council because she loves Shoemaker School and wants to give back to the community. She also said she loves being a Shoemaker Shark and being a role model in fifth grade.”

Cate Friedman, also a fifth grade Shoemake Shark and Student Council member said, “she loves being on Student Council because she wants to see the Shoemaker community grow. She has enjoyed participating in the activities and volunteering and would recommend that other students join when they become fifth graders.”

Bentley’s School Day

By Sofia Correra

It was a Tuesday morning and we walked excitedly through the halls of our school, to the library, to meet Bentley. Bentley is Mrs. Moriarty, our music teacher’s dog. Bentley is a therapy dog. Bentley has black with white spots, and he is super sweet and gentle with everyone. Everyone got a turn to pet him. He is calm and patient. He does not growl or bite. If you're lucky he will even give you kisses. The experience was great.

5th grade teacher runs astonishing race at a time of 4 hours and 5 minutes.

Ms. Breslow, our very own fifth grade teacher, ran the Boston Marathon in an astonishing time of 4 hours, 5 minutes.

How, you wonder?

Perseverance! We interviewed Ms Breslow and she shared how she persevered through her training and race day experience Harper McGarvey asked, “How did you decide to run the marathon?” Ms. Breslow replied, “I had always watched it on TV, and I always said I would run it. Eventually, it came time when I knew I could challenge myself to do so ” Next, Mia Piazza questioned, “How often and how long did you train?” “It was a 20-week program, and I ran 6 days a week Some mornings I would wake up at 3:45 a.m. to get my miles in before work,”

Ms. Breslow said. Cate Freidman inquired, “what kept you motivated to run?”

Ms. Breslow answered, “I stayed motivated to run by keeping my goal in clear vision always. wasn’t easy but I did it ” Delaney Clancy asked, “What helped you get through the race?” Ms. Breslow responded, “PERSEVERANCE, fo sure!” “When it got tough, I just kept thinking about my e goal and did not giv up I had to keep going ” Mrs Breslow also shared that the crowd was huge help in getting her through the race especially on the Newton Hills and ne the finish line. “They were incredible,” sh explained “I had my name on my shirt an each time I ran by a huge group of peop especially the colleges, they would chant my name MEG, MEG, MEG!” She shared that she would high five them all.

“The crowds really pushed me through, especially my family and friends, as well as

some of Shoemaker’s own, Dr. Colella, Mrs. Katsos, Ms. McCollin, and Mrs. Miserandino, who were on the course to cheer me on.” Ms. Breslow wants everyone to believe in themselves and follow their dreams! “If you can dream it, you can do it!” she said. And, well, she is proof of that.

Tips on how to be a good Cafeteria Guest at lunch time.

By Vrielle Dill-Vourazeri

Okay, everyone knows lunch time can get a bit, uh... hectic? So, I have some tips that can make lunch better for you, and your friends!

1.Don’t scream, everyone will get a headache and you might get in trouble!

2.Check the menu first. Make sure to check the lunch menu, its not always 100% correct, but its better then getting something you don’t like and won’t eat.

3.Try new foods! If you’ve never tried something, try it! You might even like it. Its better to have more options on what you like on the school lunch menu. And if you don’t like it, that’s ok! You don’t have to eat it anyway.

4.Manners! In the lunch line to get school lunch, use please and thank you, trust me. It feels pretty good. And by “manners” I don’t mean the lunchroom is a fancy restaurant or anything. But what I mean is, don’t act like a wild animal!! Please?

5.Also, remember to respect your amazing, hardworking lunch ladies!

Teacher’s Stage Spotlight on Mrs. Potter and Ms. Downey

By Dylan Sedile and Cooper

Mrs. Potter shares her “Veteran” perspective...

Mrs. Potter has been teaching at our school for 25 years. One year, she even ran the school newspaper. She wants to teach for at least six more years, until her retirement. Mrs. Potter’s hobbies are gardening and decorating her home. For the last seven years, she taught fourth grade as a co-teacher but, currently teaches comprehension and writing to all the students here at Shoemaker School. Mrs. Potter said, “she loves it!”

Mrs. Potter loves traveling. She recently traveled to Paris with her husband. Mrs. Potter is blessed with two children, who also attended Shoemaker School. Her oldest son will be going to college soon and her youngest into high school. When asked what the best part of teaching is, she responded, “the best part about teaching is being able to work with very different students every year.” In other words, it would get boring if everyone had the same character traits.

The craziest thing that happened to Mrs. Potter over her years at Shoemaker was the experience of COVID 19. When the school first shut down, it was said to be closed for two weeks. Two weeks turned into one year. Learning to teach and learn virtually was a challenge for both teachers and students, but we did it. Another memory that stands out to Mrs. Potter is a science experiment that was done in 2022. The experiment was to create a mold terrarium. She did just that by having students leave bread in a sealed bag throughout the summer. When she returned the next year, the bread wasn’t even that moldy because it had so many preservatives. Yikes!

Shoemaker is, by far, Mrs. Potter’s favorite school.

Ms. Downey shares her “New” Perspective…

Ms. Downey has been teaching full-time at Shoemaker School since September. She began her time at Shoemaker as a student-teacher from Salem State University last spring. This year, she is a fourth-grade co-teacher in Room 208. She loves her class! She said, “they’re so fun, so smart, and I love every day of teaching.”

If Ms. Downey wasn’t a teacher, she would do something in the field of geography. In college, geography was her second major. She loves working with maps and making maps. As of now, Ms. Downey intends to continue teaching but next year in Springfield, MA, closer to her home. We are sad to lose her, but whoever has her as a teacher next year will be extremely lucky.

A shout-out to two of the best teachers in Lynn, MA!

A Star is Born!!! Dylan Sedille plays at Carnegie Hall

By Mia Piazza

Shoemaker students are no strangers to the spotlight! We have a student, right here at Shoemaker Elementary that is making a name for himself as an amazing pianist. I had the privilege of interviewing Dylan Sedille, a fifth grader in my room, 202, to learn more about his recent experience and impressive accomplishment. The following is some of what he shared!

“About five months ago, I won 1st place in the Elite International Competition This April vacation, I went to at the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, New York to perform the classical piece, Fantaisie Impromptu in C Sharp Minor Op. 66, by Frederic Chopin. This was a big deal because this is the most prestigious place to play. It was a threehour performance.”

Me: What was your favorite experience at Carnegie Hall?

Dylan: My favorite experience was that it was my first time in New York, and it was my first time at Carnegie Hall. It was amazing.

Me: What is your favorite thing about playing the piano?

Dylan: My favorite thing about piano is that its easy to play, but when you start getting better at it gets harder, and you get to interact with many people.”

Me: How has perseverance help you as a pianist?

Dylan: Perseverance has helped me as a pianist because if I didn’t persevere, I wouldn’t be where I am now

Me: What was the hardest part of your experience?

Dylan: The most challenging part was that my qualifying recording was online, so I had to tape it a bunch of times to get it PERFECT.

Finally, I asked Dylan “What inspirational saying do you like to remind yourself when playing the piano?” Dylan responded, “If you work at what you love, you will succeed.”

Mr. Jordan, "the man, the myth, the legend."

My new and improved career path

By Mia Piazza

Our favorite fifth-grade paraprofessional, Mr. Jordan, sat down for an interview. So, Mr. Jordan, "what are your career plans after this school year?” Mr. Jordan answered, “my career plan after this school year is to become a Physical Education Teacher. I’d love to stay in Lynn, I really like it here. I know for sure that I want to continue working with elementary students, so anything from pre-k to 5th grade.” When asked what led him to go into teaching Mr. Jordan responded with, “one my first jobs out of college was teaching golf, and my favorite part of that job was teaching junior golfers.”

He continued, “it was then that I realized my real passion was teaching.” Mr. Jordan also let us know what he does for fun. “My hobbies are working out, taking my dog for walks, playing golf, hanging out with my wife, and my favorite all time love . . . eating!”

In the Mind of Splash Writers “Behind the Scenes Where the Magic Happens”

By: Vida S and Bella N

As you know, this is our first school newspaper. Maybe you’re wondering, how did we do it? Well, to be completely honest, it takes a long time to make big things like this. But I can break it down into simple words about what we do to make newspapers and the other things we do behind the scenes. First, I’ll tell you what we do when we get to Newspaper Club. We must go into Room 202 and take a seat at a desk. By desk, I don’t mean the teacher’s desk, I mean a student’s desk. Once we sit down, we talk about what we will do that day. For example, watch a video on the history of newspapers or start writing a first draft. There are usually a few different things we do each club day. But one thing nice we get to do when we first get there is eat snack! If you have extra food for lunch or snack time, you get to eat it there to get your gears turning. And on the first day, you get a handy, little notebook to take notes! I recommend taking notes on videos you watch, and important information given while an adult is explaining. Once you have taken notes on important information, you get to decide what you want to write about. Topics can include things such as school basketball, an opinion on specials, etc. You can write about anything relating to Shoemaker School, and it must be appropriate, of course. Once you have decided on a topic, you can choose to work alone or in a group of people. Some students choose to work alone, some in pairs, and some in larger groups. We are hoping to publish our first newspaper this year. And, hopefully next year when more kids do newspaper club, two more papers will be published. The last thing that I think is important, yet exciting, is when we finish the writing, we can add jokes, and comics! But remember, school appropriate jokes and comics. These will be seen by the entire school! You wouldn’t want to make a joke about something mean or inappropriate and make people feel disturbed reading your comic or joke! That would not be good.

My final thoughts about the Newspaper Club are for the younger students at Shoemaker School. Remember that next year you, too, could be the next school newspaper publisher and publish your very own article, just like we did!

Shoemaker Word Search

Can you find all the words??????

ACROSS

2. Painting Special

6. Learn from your mistakes

8. This place isnt just our auditorium it is also our....... 11. Place where we eat our lunch

13. Animal that is our Mascot

DOWN

1. The people that learn here

3. The person who replaces a sick teacher

4. Reading Special

5. The sport we won with in the championship 7. Computer Special 9. Singing Special 10. The people that teach here 12. Colella The Principal Of Our School

Funny Corner

Corny Comments From Kids

If you were a chicken, you would be impeccable.

You are so sweet you give me a tooth ache.

Are you a scarecrow because you outstanding.

Jokes by Kids

Why are calculators such good friends?

Because you can always count on them.

What did one ocean say to the other? Nothing! It just waved.

Why did the teacher wear sunglasses? Because her students were so bright.

What kind of lion never roars?

A dandelion!

Why can’t we trust atoms?

They make up everything!

By: Ben Sedille