Counselor's Corner

Gloria Silverberg

NOVEMBER NOTES FROM YOUR COUNSELOR…………………………gloria silverberg

Our Student Mentors and Conflict Managers are doing an outstanding job already! They have received extensive training as tutors and mediators, respectively. The fifth grade student mentors will be working with some second graders and kindergartners on academic skills for 15-20 minutes during their recess, twice a week. Please tell your third graders that Conflict Managers are outside on the playground and can help them resolve any friendship issues they may be having at recess! They are wearing name tags on lanyards.

Career Day is Friday, November 6, 2009 from 9:30-12:30 pm.

Thanks to the speakers who have graciously offered to share their careers and responsibilities with our students. Career Day is an activity that supports the Counseling Student Standard where students will recognize, strategize, and advocate for their learning style, strengths, and needs. Special thanks to Dr. Difresco, Dr. Bassin, Mrs. Manchester, Mr. Perry, Dr. Steinberg, Mr. Leichsenring, Mrs. Donovan, Mr. Goldstein, Dr. Baker, Ms. Healy, Dr. Goldman, Captain Holloway, Mr. Krespan, Officer Prather, Mr. Dunford, Dr. Doring, ABC news Ms. Parker and Mrs. Stevenson! We could not have this wonderful program without these outstanding volunteers!

Homework Tips:
Homework is the student’s responsibility, but it also requires a commitment on the part of parents.

Make homework a priority
Provide a quiet study area
Establish a daily homework time
Provide positive support
Do not allow children to get out of doing homework, but if it is taking longer than the teacher has set for the tasks, please communicate this to the teacher. This could be a sign of a learning difficulty.
Contact the teacher if problems occur so the school can help your child

Character Fish
Congratulations to our newest Character Fish, who have demonstrated Respect, Honesty, Kindness and Responsibility!
Olivia T, Leo H, Sue C, Pranav P, Jessica D, Jared R, Robert W, Hannah O, Hana S, Rayton B, Valerie N, Sam Z, Christina G, Dylan A, Kie D, Abby G, Kyra F, Kokoro E, Ellie R, Laura C, Andrew H, Graham R, Ada R, Dong H, Christoph K, Alisa L, Alex N, Bella M, Danielle N, Micah M, Wolfgang K, Ciara T, Laila A, Aditya C, Starr R, Andres Z, Shirin J, Darnell F.

Holiday Baskets:
If your family is in need of a holiday dinner for Thanksgiving or Christmas, Montgomery County Volunteer Center is actively planning for the Holiday Giving Program. The Volunteer Center coordinates this seasonal program in conjunction with a variety of religious and nonprofit organizations. The program provides food at Thanksgiving and food and gifts for the December holidays. The deadline for referrals is October 30th. Please notify Ms. Gloria Silverberg at 301-230-5914 or via email.

Magnet Programs for Middle School:
Current 5th graders interested in attending a Magnet Middle School have 2 options:
Application Magnet Programs: These programs are highly selective and academically rigorous, where students are selected for a small number of spots based on grades, teacher recommendations, application, and a test score. Deadline for Applications is Monday, November 9th.
Choice Magnet Consortium Programs: Anyone can apply to these special interest area magnet schools as they are not based on academic grades, tests scores or teacher recommendations. It is based on a lottery selection process for a small number of spots. Deadline for all Choice Forms is Monday, November 9th.

For more information and a schedule of upcoming meetings, call 301-592-2040 or visit the Department of Enriched and Innovative programs website.

SGA News:
Congratulations to our new SGA Officers and Special Representatives and Class Representatives!

Officers: President Sarah Sabet, Vice President Lauren Amsellem, Treasurer Olivia Kane, Secretary Charlie Havens.
Special Representatives: Justin Burgett, Natalie Fontenot, Jake Ward, Livia Rappaport, Harley Ruben.

Class Representatives:
!st Grade: Callie Metzman, Matthew Plotnick, Ava Powell, Angelo Laureno, Dani Kane, So Matsuura
2nd Grade: BenjaminChung, Noelle Sanderson,Teddy New, Jacqueline Moss, Joseph Reis, Olivia Tetrault
3rd Grade: Nikki Emamian, Meredith Kane, Julie Pyo, Alec Greenfeld, Bella Manchester, Alec Amsellem
4th Grade: Daniel Kim, Lamdan Nguyen, Chris Brown, Sydney Albert, Winnie Wu
5th Grade: Michael Hammaker, Daphne Matyas, Justin Pyo, Blayne Schenk

Spirit Wear T-shirts and Sweatshirts are currently being sold by our Luxmanor SGA! Please return your orders to Gloria Silverberg or Jackie Capon as soon as possible or you can order directly on-line or via telephone at 800-854-4452 and our school ID# is 151786. Final orders should be submitted by November 6th.

Our 2009 Kids Helping Kids Program in which the SGA coordinates a canned food drive to support the Maryland Food Bank is also currently under way and will end on November 6, 2009. Special requests are for Canned vegetables, macaroni and cheese, rice, peanut butter, pasta, oatmeal, cereal, rice cakes diapers, instant formula, dry box baby food, canned soups, and powdered milk.

Spirit Week is being held the week of October 26th-30th to coordinate with Red Ribbon Week, where students commit to a healthy lifestyle, saying no to drugs and alcohol.

Counseling Programs:
Special thanks to Kids on the Block Puppeteers for presenting 2 FREE assemblies supporting our Counseling Program. They presented a puppet show on Bullying to grades 3 and 4, and a show on Substance Abuse to our 5th graders in October.

Friendship and Banana Splits Groups
Small groups of 6 will begin their 6 week rotations beginning the last week in October. Students will receive a pass when it is their turn to participate.

Please feel free to call and schedule an appointment with me in the event that you have any questions or concerns about your child. I can be reached at 301-230-5914. If you would prefer to correspond electronically, please email:

Mrs. Gloria Silverberg