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Activities
Use the links below to read about Vernfield Elementary School activities:
- Clubs: (listed in alphabetical order)
- Other Activities:
DARE
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DARE, Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is part of the Fourth Grade curriculum in all the Souderton Area School District elementary schools. The DARE curriculum lasts 17 weeks, with local police officers teaching one lesson each week. The lessons, though essentially about abstaining from drugs, alcohol, the use of tobacco, and violence, also teach and demonstrate essential life skills. These skills provide Fourth graders information about getting along with peers, learning how to say no to things they DON'T want to be involved with, and about how to get out of a situation that they don.t want to be in. Students learn that everyone is not doing drugs and that there are better ways to solve problems than with violence. Essentially, DARE helps our students practice thinking for themselves.
During the weekly classroom lessons, the officer teaches students about the pressures in their lives. They explain how pressures come from family, peers, self and the media. They help students decide ways to handle stress. The officers show the students that there are three major ways to handle situations - assertively, passively, or aggressively. They teach and demonstrate that the best way to handle stress is assertively. The officers explain what support groups are; such as sports teams, scouts, church youth groups, JUST SAY NO, etc. and how groups help us. During the lessons, students practice eight ways to say no by participating in skits. At the end of the 17 weeks, the students graduate from the program.
In the Souderton Area School District, the elementary schools celebrate the students' learning in a variety of ways. The students may demonstrate to their parents the skills they learned by singing, dancing or speaking. Officer Haney, one of the officers who teaches DARE in the Souderton Area School District that, "IT IS EASIER TO GET INTO TROUBLE THAN IT IS TO GET OUT OF TROUBLE INTO TROUBLE THAN IT IS TO GET OUT OF TROUBLE". DARE is teaching students important skills that they can use for the rest of their lives.
Foreign Language Experience Program - FLEX
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The Bucks County Community College in cooperation with the Souderton Area School District offers a foreign language experience program in Spanish for grades 1-4. The program provides children a rich, multi-sensory, second language environment that takes advantage of a child's energy, curiosity, and natural ability to acquire language. In a relaxed atmosphere, students begin to develop listening and speaking skills. Children in the upper grades will begin to work on recognition skills. The program will be organized around the following objectives:
- To recognize and be able to reproduce the sounds of the language
- To respond to and offer greetings
- To recognize and be able to say numbers in different ranges according to course level
- To carry out directive statements from the teacher in the target language
- To learn to orally identify vocabulary works from among the following topics: colors, animals, weather, body parts, clothing, food, family, community workers, everyday objects
- To understand and give answers to simple question relating to themselves; that is, name, age, etc.
- To sing songs, play games and engage in a wide variety of activities in the second language
- To identify the countries in which the target language is spoken
- To explore cultural similarities and differences via discussions of customs, traditions, holidays, the family unit, etc.
Just Say No
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The Just Say No club at the elementary level is offered to intermediate elementary students. During their time together the students memorize pledges, participate in activities (such as service projects), and view programs to enhance their excitement about life. The underlying message is "JUST SAY NO" to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
"3 Steps to Say No"
- Figure out if what your friend wants is O.K.
- If it's wrong, say No.
- Suggest other things to do instead.
"Just Say No" Pledge
I pledge to lead a drug-free life.
I want to be healthy and happy.
I will say No to alcohol.
I will say No to tobacco.
I will say No to illegal drugs.
I will help my friends say No.
I pledge to stand up for what I know is right.
~ 1989 "Just Say No" International
Book Scouts Book Club
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Second graders have the opportunity to become Book Scouts by reading in the library during lunch recess on Day 3. The Book Scouts program is a reading incentive plan, providing a chance for students to earn badges for reading almost anything and everything that has words on it. We will be reading, sharing, and writing reviews for many different types of reading materials and genres. The yearlong program will end with a celebration in the library in June.
Chorus
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At Vernfield Elementary School, fourth and fifth grade students are given the opportunity to join the Vernfield Elementary School Chorus. The chorus gives two concerts annually, and occasionally performs in venues outside of school.
While in chorus, students are exposed to a variety of genres and styles of music. During chorus rehearsals, students learn many things. They work on extending the range of their voices and learn how to use the proper muscles to provide support for singing. They learn musical technique and terminology, such as tempo and dynamics. Students in chorus have a great deal of fun performing and enjoying music together!
Junior Great Books Club
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The Junior Great Books Club is an after-school book program for third graders held on Thursday afternoons from 3:45-4:45p.m. Mrs. Hsu-Miller and Mrs. Robinson will facilitate the program. The group meets approximately two times each month, for a total of twelve sessions. Each of the twenty participating students receive their own copy of a book containing a collection of children’s literature appropriate for third grade readers from the Junior Great Books Foundation. Some favorite titles are The Emperor's New Clothes and The Red Balloon. Audiotapes support children who may need additional help reading the selections. This exciting program is designed to improve students’ achievement in reading, thinking, and communicating in a fun, relaxed atmosphere. During each meeting, the students discuss one story from the book using the shared inquiry method of Junior Great Books.
Lunchtime Recess Book Club
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Once a week students in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade volunteer to report to the library during lunch recess and read, read, read. We have opened this book club in the library during lunch recess times to provide students who love to read with a quiet place to relax, read, and share their reading experiences with friends in a low stress, calm atmosphere. Occasionally throughout the year we hold special storytelling experiences in the library. For example, the Spooky Book Club in October during which students can share their favorite scary story or listen to other scary stories.
Math Olympiads Club
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This club meets most Wednesdays after school from October thru March. We call this club Math O.K., which stands for Math Olympiad Kids. Fourth and fifth grade students who are invited to join this club must have an enthusiasm and talent for mathematics. Students will practice many problem-solving strategies to solve a variety of very challenging problems. We work on important mathematical concepts through the sharing of individual creativity and ingenuity, and direct instruction. This national program has five monthly contests, and provides top achievers with pins and trophies at the end of the program in March.
 On-Line 24 Club
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This new club is offered to fourth and fifth grade students who are enthusiastic about mathematics regardless of their mathematical ability. Students meet over lunch recess once or twice a week. They are provided with a membership card and passcode, which allows them to access the game at home. Based on the 24 Game, students practice math facts and operations at their individual level. They earn electronic stickers, which are reported individually and as a team. Vernfield was listed in the top 100 achieving schools in Pennsylvania for the month of September.
Orchestra
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The orchestra program is open to students in grades 3-5 who have experience playing an orchestra string instrument (violin, viola, cello, or bass). To qualify for orchestra, students must have participated in the strings program or have received private lessons on their instrument for at least a year (at the discretion of the school director). Students receive one 30-minute small group lesson per week and one 40-minute orchestra lesson with all of the orchestra members in the school. Throughout the year students learn advancing technical and musical techniques, as well as develop skills for group playing and performance. Students participate in both the Winter and Spring Concerts. Exceptional 5th grade students are also asked to audition for and participate in the SASD 5th Grade Honors Orchestra, which performs as part of the SASD Orchestra Festival in May. Prerequisite: Previous participation in the strings program or at least one year of private lessons
Parent/Student Evening Book Club
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During the winter months of January and February when the doldrums may hit, 2nd graders and their parents are invited to join our evening book discussion group. We assign three books for students to read with their parents and then on three nights we meet in the library from 6:00-7:00p.m. to share our excitement about discovering new books and develop a collage of memories and ideas we have gathered from each book.
Reading Olympics Club
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Vernfield 4th and 5th graders participate in the Montgomery County Reading Olympics competition. The Reading Olympics program encourages students of all reading levels to share the excitement of reading books with their friends and culminates in a competition between districts. Beginning in November, students meet with a team before or after school to discuss books they have read from a selected list of 45 books. Students develop team camaraderie as they develop a team name, and encourage each other to meet team-reading goals. We hold a mock competition at Vernfield in which teams compete to answer questions about the books they have read throughout the year. Teamwork is emphasized. We then meet with teams from other Montgomery County school districts. Ribbons are awarded to all teams based upon the total number of correct answers the team supplied during three rounds of questioning. This collaborative celebration of reading will tentatively take place on the evening of April 26th at Indian Valley Middle School.
Strings
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The strings program is open to students in grades 3-5 who have an interest in starting to learn an orchestral string instrument (violin, viola, cello, or bass). Students receive one 30-minute small group lesson per week, normally with other students playing the same instrument. Throughout the year students learn proper instrument and bowing techniques, and students also learn how to read music. Students participate in the Spring Concert in May to demonstrate their newly learned skills. Prerequisite: None
Student Council
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Student council at Vernfield Elementary School is a representative group of students, elected by their peers, from the third, fourth and fifth grade classes. Each class has two representatives who attend 8:00a.m., monthly meetings, beginning at the end of September. At the meetings students discuss and vote on school Spirit Days and Service Projects. Mr. Mraz, Mrs. Reynolds, Mrs. Kazatsky and Ms. Mazurek facilitate the program.
Monthly meetings offer a time for new ideas to be shared and discussed. To include the entire school population of K-5, each third, fourth and fifth grade representative is assigned a kindergarten, first or second grade classroom to visit. Information from the monthly meeting is shared and the younger students are encouraged to share their ideas for Spirit Days and Service Projects.
The Student Council has participated in a wide variety of service projects throughout the past two years. Some of these projects included: Unicef change collection, IVOC Food Pantry canned goods collection, Adopt a Family through the Pottstown Salvation Army, Children’s Hospital DVD and video tape collection, Tsunami Relief, and Courageous Hearts Lollipop sales.
Through this experience students learn the workings of a representative democracy and the importance of being of service to others.
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