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Jackson Primary School

Adding the 'KEYs' to Jackson through artist's mural

By Joanne Beck
Maureen Notaro and Linda Fix
Jackson Primary School Principal Maureen Notaro and art teacher and muralist Linda Fix.
Submitted Photo

Kids at Jackson Primary School will return to a surprise landscape inside the hallway this fall.

Based on the “KEY” principles of kindness, empathy and you, artist Linda Fix painted a large swath of artistic scenery this past month.

Principal Maureen Notaro had already instilled the concept of community helpers at the school, such as police officers, firefighters and doctors, which reminded Fix of the familiar phrase “it takes a village.”

She wanted to add the American flag to her design and talked to Notaro about what she wanted to incorporate.

“She really wanted children in it. She loved the flags, one of the American flags in it, so I went and designed it. And my designs are an interesting process because they never end up quite the way they begin, and that's what I love about art and creativity,” Fix said to The Batavian. “It never ends really the way you had it in your mind. But you get a piece of it, you know, you can recognize it. But along the way, so many things change. 

"As I'm painting, children walk by, and they say things they love, and I catch their favorite colors, and I ask them, what would you like to see in the picture and the painting? And they tell me flowers over here. And they'll point to an area, so I'll paint their favorite color, rather, in a flower," she said. "So it became a journey for me.”

Fix applied for and was awarded a $5,000 grant from GO Art! for the project. It’s the second of its kind for a mural in a city school. The first one was at John Kennedy Intermediate last year. 

Fix credits former school employee Julia Rogers and GO Art! staffer Mary Jo Whitman for helping to coordinate the efforts, and wanted to give a shout-out to Sherwin-Williams of Batavia for a generous sampling of paint in just the right blue shades she needed.

After getting a sense of what Notaro wanted to see on the Jackson school walls, Fix then got to work. She chalked an outline of her design, which she began in late June of this year. There was a lapse for some vacation between then and when she really began the serious work in mid-July.

“I worked on it every day until (Thursday), for three or four hours a day, on the entire wall,” she said. “Maureen is a very ambitious principal; she's a very forward principal, and I love that about her. She said, hey, can we add a rainbow at the end of it with the sun and do it in metallic, she loved my metallic paint, so I put that there, and then in the front foyer, I also did another rainbow, because then they can hang the children's different artwork and things like that around it. 

“So it kind of added a little bit to the timeframe for me,” she said. “But, you know, it was okay. I was fine with it. I have enjoyed painting it so much, and so has the community.”

Last year she then made contact with folks that arranged for a traveling mural of the artwork. That involved a professional photographer and transferring the art onto a huge 8-foot-by-8-foot piece of canvas that is displayed on an easel and transported around the district. 

A traveling mural will be part of this year’s grant, and it will be forthcoming by the end of the year," she said.

Although kindness is widely taught in schools now, she said, it seems as though empathy is not as well known, which is why she favors that second word in the acronym of KEY. 

“Because empathy isn’t something we teach,” she said. “How do we teach children to really understand that?”

The traveling mural is to help educate kids on that empathy component, she said. Last year there were also children’s workshops along with the traveling mural, and those details have to be worked out for this year, Fix said. She thinks the traveling part of the project will probably be out and about in October or November. 

Asked about her favorite part of this year’s mural, Fix thought to the day her grandson Waylon accompanied her to school. He thoughtfully watched and observed her splash on colors and a continuing story before offering his own suggestion. There were children, a wise owl, school buses, white clouds, a blue sky, rolling hills, and math equations, but something was missing, he told her. 

“He said you need a park in here. And he picked where it should go, and it was his idea,” she said of her 9-year-old artist-in-training. “And I would never have thought of a park. It has evergreen trees, and children are sitting on a rock.”

When Fix was taking art lessons, she told her teacher she wanted to paint billboards someday, and the male teacher scoffed, “Miranda, you can’t do that,” referring to her artist pseudonym, Miranda Fix. 

Now, having just completed another project doing something that she loves in the hallway for hundreds of children to see, she may have accomplished that billboard after all. What is a billboard if not an artful display of thoughts?

Come Sept. 5, many youngsters will be treated to that once they enter Jackson.

“That'll be a surprise when the children come back in. We have a lot of hidden things, a lot of hidden gems,” she said. “We represented everyone. We tried to represent the janitors in the school, we tried to represent numbers, and the big clock you see has all the community helpers, symbols of community helpers in the clock. So, yeah, there's a lot of just little thoughts.”

Linda Fix mural at Jackson
Submitted Photo

Hawley visits Jackson Primary students for his annual Valentines for Veterans program

By Press Release
hawley-at-jackson-primary.jpg
Submitted photo of Assemblyman Steve Hawley with students at Jackson Primary.

Press Release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C-Batavia) hosted his annual Valentines for Veterans program. Hawley teamed up with Jackson Primary and Robert Morris School to deliver over 150 handmade valentines from students to the residents at The New York State Veterans Home at Batavia. 

During this time, Hawley spoke to students about the importance of veterans and their service to our nation. Hawley hopes this event will raise awareness of veterans' issues and show the community’s appreciation for their service and sacrifice for our country.

“As a veteran myself, I understand the sacrifices our veterans have made to keep our country free,” said Hawley. “This is why every year I put on our Valentines for Veterans program to get our community involved in supporting our veterans. I’m thankful to the faculty and students at Jackson Primary and Robert Morris School for partnering with us this year and I hope to continue to put this event on for years to come.”

Photos: Flag Day at Jackson Primary School

By Howard B. Owens
jackson school flag day

Jackson Primary School in Batavia hosted a Flag Day celebration on Wednesday with the help of the Genesee County Honor Guard.

Members of the honor guard at the school were Tom Cecere, who read a history of the U.S. Flag for students, Philip Gaudy, Carl Hyde, and Tom Balonek.  All four men are military veterans.

Photos by Howard Owens

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Mason Hubbard read a report he wrote with facts about the U.S. Flag based on his own research.

Jackson School holding end-of-the-year parade tomorrow

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

Jackson Primary School Parent Teacher Group is hosting a celebration parade for all Jackson families on Friday at noon.

The parade will begin at Ascension Parish / Sacred Heart parking lot, located at 19 Sumner St.

The parade will proceed up Hutchins Street to South Jackson Street and through the front bus loop at Jackson Primary (411 S. Jackson St.) where teachers will line the sidewalk. There will also be a safe walking zone that will be roped off for those who wish to walk the parade.

The parade will be lead by SRO Jason Davis from the Batavia Police Department. Jackson Primary would like to thank the Batavia Police Department, the Batavia Fire Department and the Jackson Primary Parent Teacher Group for support Jackson Primary.

We look forward to seeing everyone there!

If you have any questions, please call Mrs. Notaro, principal of Jackson Primary at (585) 343-2480, ext. 4000.

Jackson Primary School staff works at Eastown Plaza McDonald's today for 'McTeacher's Night' fundraiser

By Billie Owens

Staff members at Jackson Primary School are working today (Dec. 3) from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at McDonald's restaurant at 373 E. Main St. -- Eastown Plaza.

"McTeacher's Night" is a fundraiser for the school and 15 percent of all sales will go to Jackson Home School Association.

Plus, there will be a 50/50 raffle and basket raffles in the dining area at McDonald's.

If your child completes the coloring page on the back of last week's flier and brings it to McTeacher's Night, he or she will get a free ice cream cone or sliced apples!

Here's the staff lineup for the event:

4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

  • Mr. Calandra
  • Mrs. Conroy
  • Mrs. Fix
  • Mrs. Koukides
  • Mrs. Musilli
  • Mrs. Radesi
  • Mr. Sloan

5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

  • Mrs. Clark
  • Mrs. Gilebarto
  • Mrs. Harloff
  • Mrs. Mattice
  • Miss Mrzywka
  • Mrs. White
  • Mrs. Wolff

6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

  • Ms. Ditzel
  • Mrs. Flanagan
  • Mrs. Jones
  • Mrs. Okoniewski
  • Mrs. Peterson

More than 50 people attended Jackson School Family & Student Learning Night

By James Burns

Thursday evening more than 50 children and their families came together to learn about English Language Arts Games and Math games to help kindergarten and first-graders learn at home. 

The activities and games the parents learned about are design to help their children learn at home and reinforce what the children are taught in school.  These games correspond to the CORE curriculum taught at Jackson Primary School.  

The current curriculum was also discussed with parents so they may better understand their children’s education. 

Jackson Primary held first grade Moving Up ceremony today

By James Burns

Today was an exciting day for the Jackson Primary first-graders. It is moving up day. They received certificates of continuation from administrators during a ceremony in the Batavia High School auditorium in front of their fellow classmates and cheering families. The students will now move on to John Kennedy Intermediate School and graduate from high school in 2028.  

Photos: Jackson Primary Fall Carnival

By James Burns

Jackson Primary held its Fall Carnival Friday evening. Students from the school went on a scavanger hunt, ate pizza and drank apple cider. Prizes and candy were given for playing games such as Launch the Frog, Tip a Troll and candy corn bowling. There were also other fun activities like "Tape the Principal to the Wall," pictured below. 

First-graders at Jackson Primary School are wild about reading

By Traci Turner

With the hard work of all the first-graders and their reading efforts, the animals were able to get back to their normal habitats at the Jackson Zoo today.

Faculty dressed up as zookeepers and animals to put on a closing play and reward students for their reading achievements. With everyone’s help, the zoo was back to normal.

The play was a part of the Parents as Reading Partners program, which began on March 16 with a challenge for students. Faculty put on an opening play showing the zoo animals had gone wild. The animals were eating the wrong foods and living in the wrong places. The zookeepers asked students to help them solve the problem.

To help zoo animals get back to their normal habitat, students were required to read at home for 15 minutes every night. Students had to get a ticket signed by a parent once they completed their reading and return it to school every day.

During the program, the students read a total of 441,000 minutes. For all their effort, they were rewarded with prizes and received a new book to take home at the end of the play.

Heather Landers, first-grade special education teacher, organized the play.

“The program aligned with the curriculum so kids could connect what they were learning in class to the reading,” Landers said. “The kids got excited about reading and loved the play.”

The play was one of many reading incentives students participated in. Other events included a Family Reading Night, Fairytale event and reading with members of the Genesee County Bar Association.

Principal Diane Bonarigo has been thrilled with her students’ reading progress.

“I’m so excited 80 percent of our children are reading at grade level or above,” Bonarigo said. “I have seen the children significantly improve in reading this year.”

Bonarigo hopes children will continue reading and be lifelong learners.

Batavia's Kindergarten Registration for 2013-14 Scheduled

By Kathie Scott

 

During the week of February 4-8, the Batavia City School District will conduct student registration for students eligible to enter kindergarten for the 2013-2014 school year. Children who will be five years old on or before December 1, 2013, are eligible to attend kindergarten in the fall. 

Jackson Primary Principal Diane Bonarigo says, “The Jackson Primary School staff would like to personally welcome you and your family. Many of you will be experiencing the school for the first time. We recognize how precious your child is and we greatly value how you and your child feel about their new school. We look forward to meeting you soon!”

Registration week will be held at Jackson Primary School between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. The school is located at 411 South Jackson Street, and parking is available in the front of the building on South Jackson. For directions or assistance please phone (585) 343-2480 ext. 4000 and ask for Ms. Alice Franck. No appointment is necessary, as staff will be available to meet with you and register your child for the upcoming school year. In addition, our school nurse and counselor will be available to meet with you. The entire registration process may last up to an hour, but will be shorter if your child is currently enrolled in the District’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten program.   

Please bring with you the following required documentation; without them, we cannot register your child. We will make copies of these items and return the originals to you.

a. Birth Certificate

b. Social Security Card

c. Proof of Residency (utility bill, lease, etc.) unless your child is currently enrolled in the Jackson or YMCA UPK program.

d. Immunization Record

 

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