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Posted 5/10/12

Okte’s Community Action Club are collecting can tabs to support the Ronald McDonald House. Click here to see their movie.

Posted 5/10/12

This year's PTA "Reflections" program theme was "Diversity means...". Okte had 10 children participate: Payton DeCrescente, Keira Delaney, Jesse Ferraioli, Hannah Franklin, Madeline Franklin, Kayleigh Nadal, Zoey Nadal, Purva Shenoy, Sky Zagorski, and Sofia Zambri-Moran, within the varying categories. Six of those entries went on from Okte to the Regional Division, with one entry continuing on to the State Division. A reception was held to acknowledge all of the Regional and State winners at Ballson Spa High School. CONGRATULATIONS to ALL of Okte's participants!

Posted 4/27/12

Okte's Drama Club, under the direction of Mr. Carter & Mrs. McQuade, performed "Annie Jr." at High School West to an almost sold out crowd! The 2011/2012 Drama Club included over 50 children who began weekly rehearsals in November, culminating with a wonderful performance on March 31st. This year's "special guest" performers were none other than Mrs. William and Mr. Wilkinson, who stood out as Lily St. Regis and Rooster Hannigan. CONGRATULATIONS to EVERYONE in the Drama Club! We cannot wait for next year!

Posted 4/16/12

Humingbird Day was created at Okte to remember what was learned about the “power of one” during last year’s Shensational study of environmentalist Wangari Maathai. Wangari tells the story of the tiny hummingbird, who, seeing his forest home on fire, does the best he can to put the fire out despite the futility all the other animals are feeling.
Third grade classes take turns creating original multimedia presentations [] that showcase how they can be like the hummingbird, making small differences in the world one step at a time. This movie was created by Mr. Kuftiak’s co-taught third grade class to celebrate their commitment!

Posted 3/27/12

Teams from three elementary schools competed in a reading tournament in the Tesago cafeteria on March 8. Shen Kids Read was modeled after the “Battle of the Books” competitions, and involved students answering questions about several books in a game show fashion. The teams were comprised of five 5th graders from Okte, Tesago, and Shatekon that had won their own respective school competitions. Their school library media specialists served as coaches, and the event was moderated by Skano librarian Susan Kirby LeMon.

Posted 3/16/12

Active! Get Fit!" program, Okte was one of the five top participators in New York State. For that reason, Okte was awarded $500.00 in new PE/Recess equipment, such as hula hoops, play ground balls, jump ropes, and soccer balls. Okte also received a "Get Active! Get Fit!" party sponsored by Radio Disney. Teachers showed off their dance moves, there were exercises, hula hoop competitions, but most of all, fun! Everyone had a great time and Okte will continue to be Active & Fit!!

Posted 3/16/12

Many readers have stumbled upon traditional fairy tales. All of the 5th grade classes at Okte wrote their own fairy tales, but these took a twist or became "Fractured Fairy Tales". To celebrate their hard work, they had a special "Fractured Fairy Tale Party", where they shared with the 2nd grade classes, how they came up with their stories and how they could make writing a "book" unique to everyone else's. The 5th graders then got to share their individual stories with a few of the 2nd graders. To the delight of everyone, The Queen, One of the Little Pigs, Goldy Locks, The Old Lady from Snow White and the Fairy Godmother made a special appearance, as well as many characters from the children's stories.

Posted 3/16/12

Okte fourth graders would like to thank the Ashman family, owners of Upper Crust Pizza, for their donation of pizza boxes. Fourth graders used the pizza boxes to create a book project that reviews a children’s novel in a fun and engaging way. The book projects are on display in the Okte Library Media Center.

Posted 3/16/12

Okte's 5th graders are participating in the first ever "Shen Kids Read Tournament". Volunteers from 5th grade were put into 4 teams. Each team was required to read 5 books. The teams had the option of how they would like to accomplish that task; each team member read each book or have each member read just one book - the choice was theirs. The date was set, and the game would begin. An assembly was held for all of 4th & 5th graders to watch their classmate's answer questions about the 5 books they had read. Points were given for the correct answers and a tally was kept. The winning team, The 5 Bookateers, will now head to the campus on March 2nd, to compete against the other elementary school winners. Congratulations to all of Okte's teams & Good Luck Bookateers!!

Posted 2/22/12

PTA held its annual "Family Fit Night" where families could come and see what local businesses have to offer in the way of fitness & health. Athletic Republic, EBC, Revelation Tae Kwon Do, Smoothies for Life, and The YMCA all had representatives there to help families get moving for 2012. Fitness assessments were done by the YMCA, Erica Bevevino had many adults and children up moving to ZUMBA, and Master Joshua Fisher, along with his Demo Team, wow'ed the audience with their Tae Kwon Do moves and breaking abilities! If you weren't able to make it this year, make sure to mark your calendar next year for this great event!

Posted 1/13/11

5th graders in Mrs. Lieberman's and Mrs. Moran's classes celebrated their writing with a Sub Sandwich party! The classes learned how to make a "sandwich" when working on writing pieces, starting with the introduction or "the top bun", working their way through to the "meat" or plot of their writing, and finishing up with a closing or "the bottom bun". It was a fun way for the children to remember to include all the necessary parts needed for a complete writing sample.

Posted 1/13/11

5th graders showed their caring nature by making monetary donations, as well as collecting small toiletries and other small items (candles, perfumes, special hand lotions, etc.) that could be put into a holiday basket for women and children in need. The four classes also made a special item for each basket, such as a calendar for 2012, a thermal coffee mug with hot chocolate inside and a hand stamped notepad. Once the baskets were filled and wrapped, they were taken to CAPTAIN, where they were given a good home.

Posted 1/6/12

The Winter Concert was the first public performance of the year for Okte's 5th grade orchestra and chorus. All of their hard work paid off. Everyone sounded wonderful and a delightful evening was had by all.

Posted 1/6/12

Okte's Chorus & Chamber Choir had the honor of singing at Colonie Center. They performed a variety of songs, including many holiday favorites.

Posted 1/6/12

Okte held its annual "Sing-a-Long" right before vacation. Each grade prepared a song selection that they had practiced during music class, then performed it as a group. This year, a fun rendition of the "12 Days of Christmas" was performed, with each grade standing up (with signs) for their "day", whenever that day was sung. The annual highlight is when staff members, including Mrs. Mickle, come out as reindeer during the singing of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". It is a fun tradition that all of the children look forward to every year!

Posted 12/16/11

Okte’s Community Action Club held a food drive to benefit CAPTAIN. Food was collected during the month of November and then donated to CAPTAIN to help replenish their food pantry after the Thanksgiving holiday. Students collected items like boxed cereal, canned goods (soups, vegetables, fruits), pasta, and other items that have a long shelf life.

Posted 12/16/11

Okte’s Community Action Club took some time during this holiday season to send some support to wounded soldiers. The students sent cards to recovering soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. They felt it was important to thank them for what they have done for our country and wish them the best during this holiday season!

Posted 11/22/11

Peace, Love, Read was Okte's PARP theme this year, and the Okte community showed it's love in a BIG way! We asked for gently used books to be donated to Schoharie's library after they lost so much due to flooding. The quantity of items that were donated was overwhelming! THANK YOU ~ OKTE FRIENDS & FAMILY, for sharing your love of reading and helping our neighbors in need!

Posted 11/22/11

Coach Gifford has the kids climbing the walls in PE! Thanks to the proceeds from Okte's Annual Ice Cream Social, Coach Gifford was able to purchase a rock wall, for the gym, to be used by all grades!

Posted 11/22/11

Second graders at Okte are using the W.I.S.E. curriculum (Wonder, Investigate, Synthesize, and Express) to frame their research about turkeys. Our research is “Inquiry-based,” which means that children begin by formulating questions about their topic, and then move on to meaningful investigation using appropriate sources. After analyzing their new knowledge, students synthesize that new knowledge into a logical, organized expression of that knowledge. Our second graders were able to choose whether they would write a nonfiction book or create a photostory to express their knowledge about turkeys! Inquiry-based learning stimulates children to understand and not merely find new knowledge.

Posted 11/14/11

Okte 5th-graders became "Pumpkin-ologists" in science. The question: Will a pumpkin float in water? And, if so, do they float stem up, stem down, or stem sideways? OR do they sink? The children first had to make observations and take measurements of their pumpkins. Afterwards, they needed to make a hypothesis about the question and decide how their test would be conducted. Many of the children were surprised with the results and learned how much fun science can be!

Posted 11/14/11

Okte held its annual "Monster Mash". Many students and their families came out for the fun hay maze , face painting and the variety of games that were held in the cafeteria.  It is a great night that everyone always looks forward to before Halloween!

Posted 11/9/11

All four of the 4th grade classes at Okte entered a Fire Prevention poster contest. The
Fire Department collected the posters and voted one poster from each class room
the winner. On October 27th, the rain couldn't quiet the excitement as each winner was picked up at their home, and driven to school on the fire engine.
The winners were Rachel Desnoyers, Anna Girhart, Nikolas Ortega and Morgan Payne.
CONGRATULATIONS!

Posted 10/26/11

3rd graders at Okte are enjoying their swim time at the pool. They are learning all about water safety,
and some basic swimming strokes. No one wants their pool time to end!

Posted 10/26/11

Okte's new orchestra students performed for the first time in public, accompanied by their instructor, Mrs. Brothers. This concert showed how hard the children have been working, since starting lessons in September. The children also got to dress up in their Halloween costumes, adding to the excitement of their first concert!

Posted 10/26/11

First graders at Okte got an up close look at spiders when The Scotia-Glenville Museum's program, "Silent Spinners", stopped by for a visit. The children listened to the interesting facts about spiders, and then broke down into groups where they were able to look at specimens up close, look at spider books or work on a spider themed book mark.

Posted 10/26/11

The hallways around 3rd grade grew very quiet. After learning about following the rules and directions, the final project was at hand. The children learned that if you follow the proper order of directions that are given to you, you may end up with something amazing. In this case, all of 3rd grade made plaster masks. Each child took turns with a buddy, following the steps it takes, to have a completed mask. As each child got their mask made, the class rooms became very quiet!

Posted 10/20/11

October is Fire Prevention Month and Okte students have been learning from the best! Our wonderful local firefighters have been spending time visiting classrooms, explaining the dangers of fire and what to do if they are caught in one. The firefighters also showed the children what they will look like when there is a fire, so they are not afraid. Mrs. Knudsen't 1st grade class put on a special presentation for the firefighters, thanking
them for all that they do! They ARE our HEROES!

Posted 10/13/11

Teachers and students in Kindergarten through 2nd grade at Okte, participated in Jumpstart's "Read for the Record". On October 6th, more than 2 million people worldwide will have read
Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney, bringing awareness to the importance of early childhood education.

Posted 10/4/11

Okte held it's annual "Welcome Back BBQ" at Krauses. Many families and staff members came out to enjoy delicious food, dance to music provided by Conway Entertainment and maybe even enter to win some of the incredible raffle prizes. A wonderful night was enjoyed by all!

Posted 9/28/11

Okte families participated in "School Banking Night" where they set up school banking accounts to help children develop financial literacy skills. Okte's school banking will begin in October. If you were unable to attend Banking Night, you may still sign up during Okte's first two banking days contact the school for more information.

Posted 9/16/11

On September 9th, 2011, students took time out of their day to commemorate September 11th. Students talked about peace and did an activity called Pinwheels for Peace http://www.pinwheelsforpeace.com/pinwheelsforpeace/home.html.

The pinwheels were then put outside so that all could see them as they headed out of school for the weekend.

Posted 9/7/11

Well, it was a very wet first day, but Okte students came ready to learn!