Wednesday, October 24, 2012

MOVEMBER!!!



      

      MOVEMBER                                  

Gentleman of Waldwick---

As you may have noticed, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.   By wearing pink, there is increased awareness of this disease while funds continue to be raised.  

What many people do not know, is the month of November is dedicated to men’s health issues, specifically prostate and testicular cancer.  In order to raise awareness of these diseases, I am suggesting we join the Movember Movement and GROW MUSTACHES for the month of November.

I have created a Waldwick Warriors Page (http://us.movember.com/team/449897)  and hope to get as many students and faculty members as possible to join.  Registration is free, and if you have any issues please let me know.  You do not need to participate in order to donate, and friends and family are welcome to join our team as well, it is open to the public.  

Attached to this document you will find:
*A style guide to different mustache styles: http://us.movember.com/uploads/files/2012/Style_Guide_NA.pdf
*Information about the Movember Movement:  http://us.movember.com/  
*An overview of the charity is found below---and I am including a link to display where all of the donations go..
*Lastly, you can find our team page here:  http://us.movember.com/team/449897

Please shoot me an email or stop by if you are interested in joining and becoming one of my Mo Bros.  

--Josh Sussman 

Email: Sussmanj@waldwick.k12.nj.us 
Twitter: @WMS_Counselor

OVERVIEW OF MOVEMBER
During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in the US and around the world. With their Mo's, these men raise vital awareness and funds for men's health issues, specifically prostate and testicular cancer initiatives.

Once registered at www.movember.com, men start Movember 1st clean shaven. For the rest of the month, these selfless and generous men, known as Mo Bros, groom, trim and wax their way into the annals of fine moustachery. Supported by the women in their lives, Mo Sistas, Movember Mo Bros raise funds by seeking out sponsorship for their Mo-growing efforts.

Mo Bros effectively become walking, talking billboards for the 30 days of November. Through their actions and words they raise awareness by prompting private and public conversation around the often ignored issue of men’s health.

Where does the money go????  --- http://us.movember.com/about/money/

                                                                                        
                          

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

End of First Quarter/Honor Roll



Just a friendly reminder that the first quarter ends on November 7th, which is quickly approaching!  I hope all of our parents have been taking advantage of our Parent Portal access on Genesis, and monitoring their students' progress throughout this quarter.  I have had a number of conversations with students who are on the very edge of making Honor Roll for this first quarter.  With a little determination and motivation, students can certainly raise their class averages the next two weeks to meet this reward.   If your child is currently in the 70s range, ask them to push themselves for a few extra points to perhaps reach a B - this first quarter.  It's important to get our children started on the right foot this school year...and first quarter grades are a vital part of their success this year.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Dyslexic Fonts

                       

Throughout the years, I have worked with numerous students who have struggled with Dyslexia.   Reading and writing papers can be difficult due to their brains doing "funny" things to the letters they are working with.   Recently, I read an interesting article regarding a new font geared towards assisting people with Dyslexia.  The letters are weighted on the bottom to add some "gravity," and assist in keeping the letters in place to the reader.   This font is free and can be found at http://dyslexicfonts.com/ 

The following paragraph is from the website:
OpenDyslexic is a new open sourced font created to increase readability for readers with dyslexia. The typeface includes regular, bold, italic and bold-italic styles. It is being updated continually and improved based on input from dyslexic users. There are no restrictions on using OpenDyslexic outside of attribution.
I encourage you to share this website and font with any friends/family members that suffer from Dyslexia.  I am curious if they will find it helpful or not.  Based on the article and comments, trying it out looks to be worthwhile.  

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Do Not Let Your Self-Worth Be Defined By Bullies.



The above video was passed along to me through another Waldwick teacher, and again forwarded to me from a Waldwick parent.  Please take the time to watch this video, hopefully with your children, and have an honest discussion with them.  Jennifer Livingston makes excellent points in this video about bullying behavior.  If your child hears his or her parents making insulting comments at home, chances are he or she will exhibit this language in school through learned behavior.  She also reminds us to look beyond the exteriors of others and understand that we are all truly human. 

                                                                                                                                                       I encourage everyone to please think about the e-mail/text/instant message you are about to send and the intents of your message.  Ask yourself, “Is this message going to cause a positive or a negative reaction to the recipient?”   Before you make a joke at another person’s expense, ask yourself, “Is the laughter of others truly worth hurting someone else’s self-esteem?” 


October is National Anti-Bulling Month.  Here in N.J., more specifically, October 1st - October 5th is the Week of Respect.  Please use the above video to create conversation with your children or students.  And please pass Mrs. Livingston’s message along to them: “Do not let your self-worth be defined by bullies.”