Week of November 21, 2011

The Williams School works with each child to build an enduring foundation for academic, moral, and social success. Williams School students embody integrity, confidence, discipline, and a love of learning.
Honor before Honors

Dear Williams School Families, In a time of year where we look around and recognize the things that we are thankful for, I thought it only right to highlight some of the things that we are thankful for that we do here at Williams for others. It is in the spirit of helping others that we live the mission of The Williams School and embrace our motto Honor before Honors. Madame Britz coordinated a school-wide community collection during our Francophone and Hispanic week long celebration. Parents donated desserts that were sold for a 50 cent donation towards the purchase of a blackboard for our Sister School, St. Gabriel School in Haiti. Many in our community also made generous donations towards our efforts and as a result, together we were able to collect enough funds to purchase twelve blackboards. Although far from the glamour of a Promethean board in our own students eyes, our Haitian students will be as equally thankful with a blackboard in every classroom. Mrs. Lindgren sponsors our middle school Student Council (SCA) and together they are also coordinating a school-wide community service effort to collect coats for children in the Hampton Roads area. They have created a chart to track K-8 coat donations and the class that brings in the most coats will be able to dress down. Please join our students in our Coats for Kids collection this year, helping us to help other students in our community to stay warm during the winter season. Our community service is not only about donations; middle school students will be offering their talents and service to help others during the holiday season. Seventh and eighth grade band students will travel to Harbors Edge and entertain the residents with holiday tunes. While they are performing, the rest of the middle school will be going to help out at the 4Kids Thrift Shop. The first grade teachers and students coordinated their efforts to write thank you letters to veterans for Veterans Day. Our community in turn responded when several of our parents and a neighbor, came to school on Veterans Day to talk about what they did in their branch of the Armed Forces. I am sure Lt. Col. Tharp, if asked, would be happy to sing the last verse of the Marine Corp anthem for you. We were honored that these military men and women took a portion of their day to share with us, and we are grateful for their service to our country. These community service experiences, along with others across the grades, broaden our students awareness of our world and hopefully, sow the seeds for future philanthropic leaders in our community.
Hope to see everyone next week at our Grandparents Day Celebration! Melanie

SCA will be collecting Coats for Kids starting next week. Please donate gently used coats to help Hampton Roads children stay warm this winter. Coats will be collected until Thursday, December 8th. Coats of all sizes (even adults) welcome. Thank you for your support.

THIS WEEK Monday, November 21st K-8 Grandparents Day Rehearsal @ the Chrysler Museum 1:00 2:50 PM Girls Basketball Gold Team Practice @ Salvation Army 3:30-5 PM Boys Basketball Gold Team Practice @ Salvation Army 3:30-5 PM Girls Basketball Blue Team Practice @ Park Place 3:30-5 PM Boys Basketball Blue Team Practice @ Park Place 3:30-5 PM Dress Down Day 8th Grade Fundraiser Tuesday, November 22nd Grandparents Day Early Dismissal Only morning bus transportation will be provided. All students will be released to their parents, grandparents and/or special friends at the Chrysler following the Grandparents Day Performance. End of Fall Term November 23rd-28th Thanksgiving Break NEXT WEEK Monday, November, 28th Teacher Work Day- No School for Students Camp Williams Available Norfolk Collegiate- Hal Holbrook in Meet Mark Twain 10 AM Camp Williams - $45.00 per day8th Grade students/parents Monday, November 28, 2011 8:30am-5:30pm Tuesday, November 29th Led by Joyce Soria and Erin Rigby. Winter Term Begins Bowling followed by Fun in the TWS Neighborhood! We Girls Basketball Gold Team Practice @ Park Place 3:30-5 PM will leave the school at 9:30am for the AMF Boys Basketball Gold Team Practice @ Park Place 3:30-5 PM Bowling Alley and return to school to make your own Wednesday, November 30th Taco Salad for lunch. After lunch, we will make Band Rehearsal Performance during Assembly Unitarian candles; dipped candles, iced candles and sand candles! Church 8:30-9:30 AM Weather permitting, we will walk to Raleigh Park Board Meeting MPR 4:00 PM and then return to school by 3:30pm for a movie in the Holiday Band Concert 7 PM @ Unitarian Church MPR. Please make checks payable to Joyce Soria. Thursday, December 1st Please contact Chris Cooper if your child is interested in DA Taylor Tournament for Boys and Girls Gold Teams @ attending. Norfolk Academy- TBA nd ccooper@thewilliamsschool.org Friday, December 2 Girls Basketball Blue Team Practice @ Park Place 3:30-5 PM Kids Night Out 6-10 PM Saturday, December 3rd DA Taylor Tournament for Boys and Girls Gold Teams @ Norfolk Academy TBA Aston Cocktail Party 7:00 PM LOOKING AHEAD Monday, December 5th Girls BB Blue Team vs. Friends @ Park Place 4:00 PM 7th/8th Grade Forensics Presentations in MPR 3:30-4:30 PM Tuesday, December 6th Boys BB Gold Team vs. BEACH @ Rock Church 5:30 PM Girls BB Gold Team vs. BEACH @ Rock Church 4:30 PM Wednesday, December 7th 7th/8th Grade Forensics Competition @ Norfolk Collegiate 12:30-6:30 PM Thursday, December 8th 3rd Grade Guest Lunch 12:00-12:30 PM 5th Grade Trip to see the Nutcracker @ Sandler Center 9:00-12:00 PM Girls BB Blue Team vs. Torah @ Park Place 4:00 PM Friday, December 9th SCA Field Trip to drop off coats @ Albano Cleaners 12:35-1:35 PM Boys BB Gold Team vs. Friends @ Friends 5:30 PM Girls BB Gold Team vs. Friends @ Friends 4:30 PM Kids Night Out 6-10 PM

Please be sure to check out our

NEWS board in the front hall of the 419 building. Based on our Broadcast survey
results, parents only wanted to have information that was posted in the Broadcast relevant to our students, school events and fundraising events. We created the Community in the News board to showcase the many ads, news articles and off-campus events that might be of interest to our community. Just to mention a few, the board currently features an article on Rowenas (McCormick Family), Alivia Thompson (Cogswell Family), a performance of Annie, Science Alliance Alive, Chef Hectors Thanksgiving Turkey Catering, and Gifts of the Heart. Please stop by and catch up on our community happenings.

COMMUNITY IN THE

Fourth Annual Francophone and Hispanic 2-Day Celebration 12 blackboards for TWS Sister School St. Gabriel in Haiti

TWS celebrated its Fourth Annual Francophone and Hispanic 2-Day Event last week with some fun activities in the classroom and delicious cuisine in the cafeteria. The theme this year was Famous Hispanic and Francophone Persons in History. Mouth-watering desserts donated by generous parents were offered in the cafeteria. They were sold for 50c or a donation. The funds collected will help purchase twelve blackboards for our Sister School, St. Gabriel School in Haiti. A blackboard on the Haitian market costs $60. Thank you to all who participated and supported this wonderful celebration and community building. Gracias, merci, thank you! Sra. Milliner, Mme Pirnik and Mme Britz

2011 Art and Writing Contest Conducted by Sri Sathya Sai Baba Center of Hampton Roads First Prize Awarded to Athreya For his essay on the theme Love is Giving and Forgiving

Keeping Williams Green Weekly Tip The Williams School Recycling Projects
On Wednesday we celebrated America Recycles Day 2011 with a Power Point presentation at assembly. At The Williams School we are: Using reusable containers, sandwich packs and water bottles when packing our lunch and snacks trying to not use plastic sandwich bags reuse scraps of colored and plain paper recycling paper, cardboard, catalogs, plastic bottles and containers and cans Classroom bins are emptied into larger blue cans which the cleaning staff collects and places in recycling cans outside which are collected by TFC recycling twice a week from both buildings. sorting recyclables, food and trash to compost and trash to burn We hope that each person pledges to: Learn: About the recycling options in my community. I will find out what materials are collected for recycling in my community at americarecyclesday.org. Apply: Reduce my personal waste by recycling. Within the next month, I will start to recycle one new type of material. First Grade has started collecting batteries to recycle the bins are next to the wooden book deposit box in the quad. Please send in your batteries. In just three days, we collected 38 lbs of batteries. Mrs. Adams recycles laser and inkjet cartridges and old cell phones.

Grandparents Day Tuesday, November 22nd EVERYONE IS INVITED!

Too often in a small school we forget that our traditions are not clear to all members of our school family. Certainly it is a day to recognize and thank our grandparents. But, it is also a day to spend with mothers and fathers, and even uncles and aunts and special adult friends. So, we ask and encourage parents to attend the day with their children as well as grandparents. In addition, if your child does not have a grandparent who can attend, any adult member of the family or extended family is welcome as well. The goal of this service is to gather together as a school family before we break for the holidays. All are welcome. **Please note this is a dress up day for students**

Grandparents Day Schedule: 8:05 Meet your student The following grades meet guests and start tour in Old Main (419 Colonial) K- Kindergarten Room 2nd Grade 2 Room 4th Grade 4 Room 5th Grade 5 Rooms th 8 Mrs. Justesens Room 7th Mrs. Lindgrens Room The following grades meet guests and start tour in Humanities Center (418 Colonial) 1st Library 3rd Art Room 6th Science Room **Grandparents (special guests) that have more than one grandchild in the school should meet the oldest first and then pick-up younger grandchildren before starting the school tour. 8:15 9:15 School Tour 9:00 Band Students report to the MPR and depart for the Chrysler 9:15 Students return to the same classroom they started the day in. 9:15 Guests may walk to the Chrysler or take the bus. 9:20 - Buses depart from the side of Old Main on Fairfax Avenue 9:30 10:15 Student Performance 10:15 - Dismissal in Huber Court 10:15 11:00 Individual art tours optional 10:20 &10:40 Buses to school

POINSETTIA SALE
Sponsored by the 6th Grade Class - Triple C Camp Fundraiser **Florist Quality plants in 6 inch pots with 5 9 blooms per pot Poinsettia Colors Red White Pink Total Poinsettias Number ______ @ $8.25/plant ______ @ $8.25/plant ______ @ $8.25/plant Wrapper Green _____ Gold_____ Green _____ Gold_____ Green _____ Gold _____

______ @ $8.25/plant = $_______.___

Please make checks payable to The Williams School and return this form to Mr. Etter. For your convenience you may order online: www.thewilliamsschool.org Orders must be placed by Tuesday, November 29th. Plants will be delivered on Friday, December 2nd. Name: ____________________________

Telephone: _________________ Students Name: __________________________ Grade: ______ The 6th Grade Class thanks you for your support!

Please come out and cheer on our Girls and Boys Gold Basketball Teams on Thursday, December 1st and Saturday, December 3rd. Our teams will be competing in the 2011 D. A. TAYLOR MEMORIAL MIDDLE SCHOOL CHALLENGE
Format: Awards: Admission: Games: There will be 3 six team brackets playing round robin format with each team having three games (1 on Thursday and 2 on Saturday). At the conclusion of the tournament there will be a Sportsmanship Award for each division which will be determined by the coaches and officials. Adults $3.00 and Students $1.00 All games will be 6 minute quarters with 1 timeout per team per half.

All proceeds will be donated to the DA Taylor Foundation

Game Schedule:
A Bracket ( Boys)
Thursday Dec. 1st 6:00 PM 7:00 PM 8:00 PM Saturday Dec 3rd 9:00 AM 10:00 AM 11:00 AM 12:00 PM 1:00 PM 2:00 PM Norfolk Academy Orange vs. Nansemond-Suffolk White Williams School vs. Cape Henry Collegiate Norfolk Collegiate Jr. Oaks vs. Norfolk Christian Norfolk Collegiate Jr. Oaks vs. Cape Henry Collegiate Norfolk Christian vs. Nansemond-Suffolk White Williams School vs. Norfolk Academy Orange Norfolk Collegiate Jr. Oaks vs. Nansemond-Suffolk White Norfolk Christian vs. Williams School Norfolk Academy Orange vs. Cape Henry Collegiate Lower School Lower School Lower School Lower School Lower School Lower School Lower School Lower School Lower School

Taylor Bracket (Girls)

Thursday Dec. 1 6:00 PM 7:00 PM 8:00 PM Saturday Dec 3rd 9:00 AM 10:00 AM 11:00 AM 12:00 PM 1:00 PM 2:00 PM
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Norfolk Academy vs. Nansemond-Suffolk Blue Norfolk Collegiate Blue vs. Norfolk Christian Williams School vs Cape Henry Collegiate Norfolk Christian vs. Cape Henry Collegiate Williams School vs. Nansemond-Suffolk Blue Norfolk Collegiate Blue vs. Norfolk Academy Norfolk Christian vs. Williams School Norfolk Collegiate Blue vs. Nansemond-Suffolk Blue Norfolk Academy vs. Cape Henry Collegiate

Burroughs Gym Burroughs Gym Burroughs Gym Athletic Pavilion Athletic Pavilion Athletic Pavilion Athletic Pavilion Athletic Pavilion Athletic Pavilion

Who was D.A. Taylor?

On behalf of the D.A. Taylor Foundation, we would like to welcome you to the 7th annual DA Taylor Middle School Basketball Challenge. Over the past six years, this event has raised almost $20,000 for the foundation. D.A. attended Norfolk Academy since the third grade. He was a high honor roll student, as well as a National Merit Semifinalist. He also excelled in athletics, earning honors in multiple sports including football, basketball and lacrosse. D.A. was highly motivated to succeed, and was a positive influence in the lives of all with whom he associated. On February 17, 1995, D.A. became ill with meningococcal meningitis. After a courageous battle with the disease for just over a month, D.A. succumbed to it, losing his fight against it on March 20, 1995. His family and friends founded the D.A. Taylor Charitable Foundation in 2006 to honor D.A.'s spirit and the quintessential and symbolic good that he represented. His existence naturally touched all of us, and it is our proud obligation to prolong that spirit through his name. The mission of the foundation is to identify youths with the will to better themselves through academic study and then to instill a sense of hope, and perhaps then purpose, by giving them the confidence and means to attain higher education. Our goal this year is to raise $5,000 this year through this Middle School Basketball Challenge. We will be presenting a sportsmanship award at the end of the tournament to a deserving team in each bracket. All proceeds will go directly to the foundation. We would like to thank the many volunteers who have dedicated their time in order to make this event happen and also would like to thank a friend of the foundation who donated all the t-shirts for the players and staff. Special thanks go out to the Southeastern Virginia Basketball Officials Association who has graciously volunteered their time to referee all of the games for the event. If you would like to make a donation to the foundation please make your check out to the DA Taylor Foundation please see one of the staff members. Thanks again for supporting the D.A. Taylor Foundation. Three Cities Cocktail Parties Home of Cindy & Bob Aston December 3rd, 2011 Home of Mike & LeAnne Benedetto January 14, 2012
The Astons and the Benedettos invite you to join them for cocktails! As a part of our Auction 2011, we invite you to join us at the home of Cindy and Bob Aston in Portsmouth for a holiday party to end the year on a festive note on Saturday, December 3, 2011. (This date has changed from the original, and if you have already signed up and cannot attend, please contact Chris Cooper and we will be happy to prepare a refund for you.) Start the new year off right with a Bahama-themed party on January 14, 2012 with Mike and LeAnne Benedetto at their home in Virginia Beach. (You're welcome to take a polar plunge into Broad Bay if the Bahama heat leaves you feeling a bit warm.) The price for this fun duo of parties is $135 per couple. To join the festivities, please contact Chris Cooper at ccooper@thewilliamsschool.org. All proceeds benefit TWS!