One of our favorite end-of-year traditions returned this week with a visit from school board member Jeannie Franklin! For decades, Jeannie has celebrated the close of the school year with the students of Canaan Elementary by treating every classroom to lunch and spending time playing bingo, complete with fun prizes. Her continued support of our little school and the Canaan community means so much to our students and staff. We are grateful for all she does to support CES and helping to make special memories for our students year after year.
During her visit, Hazel shared how imagination can spark the beginning of a story and encouraged students to look for inspiration in their everyday lives, memories, and experiences. Her message helped students see that ideas can grow into something meaningful when nurtured with creativity, perseverance, and passion. By sharing her own journey, students were able to make real-world connections between their interests, talents, and future career possibilities in writing, art, publishing, and storytelling.
The experience also promoted literacy engagement across grade levels as students listened closely to the storytelling and illustrations that brought the book to life. To make the day even more memorable, one lucky student from each grade level received a personally signed copy of Sweet Pea Summer to take home and treasure.
Through Aspire funding, students were able to experience firsthand how creativity, imagination, and hard work can lead to exciting opportunities and future aspirations.
Kindergarten students have been hard at work during their K for ME centers, exploring creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving through hands-on learning!
Students used small blocks to design and build their own construction equipment, showing imagination and engineering skills in action. They also created puppets to retell the classic story of The Three Little Pigs, bringing the characters and sequence to life in a fun and engaging way. In another center, students followed blueprints to build structures, learning how to plan, focus, and turn ideas into reality. The construction-themed sensory bin, filled with natural materials and cardboard tube, offered even more opportunities for exploration, building, and discovery. These centers provided meaningful ways for students to play, create, and grow as thinkers and storytellers every day! 🏗️📚
We are proud to celebrate our most improved readers, honored with the Louise Pease Reading Award, generously presented by her daughter, Cynthia Pease. This special recognition highlights students who have shown outstanding growth, perseverance, and a true commitment to strengthening their reading skills. Congrats to our winners, Julian, Breck, and Yarra.
We are also thrilled to recognize our teacher award recipient, Mrs. Whittemore, whose dedication, encouragement, and passion for literacy play a vital role in helping students grow as confident readers. Her commitment to supporting reading improvement makes a lasting difference in the lives of our students each and every day.
Through hard work, support, and determination, these readers and the educator who champions them, have achieved something truly meaningful. Congratulations to all of our award winners. Your efforts and impact truly shine! 📚✨
Students quickly noticed that this was a “first-grade version,” and many made the connection that it had been thoughtfully selected just for them. They were especially excited to recognize features we’ve been studying in our own writing like the “About the Author” page. Several students eagerly began reading about Barbara Park, sharing interesting facts they discovered.
As they explored further, they noticed the book was divided into eight chapters and immediately started planning when and where they would read. They also spent time studying the class picture page, where all the characters are illustrated. This sparked great conversations as students compared what they had imagined the characters looked like with the illustrations, and shared what they remembered about them from other stories we’ve read together.
Finally, they discovered the page featuring all of the author’s books and excitedly began pointing out the ones they recognized from our classroom read-alouds.
Students left school genuinely excited, many already beginning to read before the day was even over. It was a wonderful moment of connection, curiosity, and joy around reading.
Students had a great time extending their learning from Mr. Sean’s Empathy Pizza Pie by creating their own personalized pizzas! As they decorated, students added ingredients including “Put Yourself in My Place” pepperoni and “Count on Me” mozzarella cheese, reinforcing the importance of empathy, kindness, and being a supportive friend. This hands-on activity gave students a fun and meaningful way to reflect on how their words and actions can positively impact others.
