PFL Team News 2012 - Volume 8

By: Catherine Savarese

     In the awesome activity of Stargazers, there are three stations organized by grades. The first station is exercise excitement, the second is crafty creations, and the third is rockin' reading. Right before they finish all of the groups join together and go into the library to choose a few books to read and check out.
     At the end of the program, everyone goes into the courtyard after they chose their books to get a stamp and vote for what type of day they had. After a very busy day, everyone's parents come to take their children home. The following are some of the things the children do in their spectacular stations:
     Courtyard: play active games and have fun
     Crafts: creative and exciting crafts
     Library: entertaining and interesting books
     It seems like everyone loves this entertaining activity!

By: Nicholas

     Chess Club is being held for children in grades four and up on Fridays at 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Annex. Classes are being offered to students for fee by a not-for-profit group called Nation's Changers. This organization hopes to lead more children away from video games and help teach focus and improve thinking strategies. Nation's Changers teaches classes regularly at the Brewster Library. Their members recently competed in the World Chess Tournament and won the Booster section. They also compete in other towns in Westchester too.
     The game of chess involves discipline, focus and strategy. In this class, some students are beginning and some have experience playing the game. The instructor had a video screen set up to show the class how to set up the board in the beginning. Then, the class learned about moving the pieces around the board and different strategies of the game. The instructor also played one on one with the students and helped them think about their next move. Once the king piece is captured, the game is over!

By: Annie

     Battle of the Books is like a book club but a very exciting one! The children who take part in it read eight books during the summer. At the end, they battle against other libraries for the number one spot!
     The Battle of the Books group meets on Thursday afternoons. Anyone in grades 6-9 can take part in this activity. Their first meeting was very interesting. During an interview with the head of the program, Ms. Evelina, she said, "We practiced with some sample questions. I read Heist Society." This is what Battle of the Books is all about - reading books and being able to answer specific questions on each of the required books! Go Pawling Library!

By: Abigail

     The Stargazer program is an awesome program. The best part is the arts and craft activity. This week the students used glow in the dark beads in their craft. Everyone has a lot of fun with their friends doing crafts.
     There was also reading time where the group read two great books. The participants also played some games, including tag. The program is for students in grades 3, 4 and 5. It is an outstanding program!

By: Matt & Tyler

     Wrigley is a certified therapy dog who loves to have children read to him. He comes to the library on Friday afternoons with his owner Ms. Caroline. He is so popular there is a waiting list to read with him. When the children begin reading, Wrigley lies down and listens to them very patiently.
     To become a therapy dog, Wrigley took many obedience classes starting at only twelve weeks old. He has earned many certificates for his good behaviors and has passed more than 12 different tests. First Wrigley learned the basics like sitting, walking on a leash and listening to instructions. He also had to learn not to bark or be afraid of noise, being around wheelchairs, walkers and even crowds of people. Wrigley is going back to school soon to learn even more tricks.
     Wrigley has a great personality and is very sweet and patient. In his spare time, Wrigley also reads with children at the Wingdale Library. He enjoys play dates with his friend Raspberry on Mondays. Wrigley is a very special friend to the children of our library.

By: Robby

     I came to visit the books, blocks, and brains program on Thursday, July 12, at 2-3 p.m. The program was for grades 3 & up. Ms. Karen runs this program in the yellow house. That day they tried to build a car that would go off a ramp and land on a table without breaking. They then planned to measure how far it went.
     Everyone began to build with the various blocks of different shapes and sizes, including wheels to have it roll across the landing table. Whenever they wished, the participants were able to test their cars on the ramp. The first person to test his car saw it shatter on contact with the landing platform, but the second one didn't. However, it didn't move far. I decided to try and build a car myself and try - which either shattered or didn't even move again and again. We then raised the landing table and put a gap between the two tables. Less people, only two, succeeded with this change. We finally cleaned up and started to head home. This program seems to be a lot of fun, as they do different activities each and every time!

By: Gianna

     All of the children were very excited to talk about the book "Magic Tree House: Mummies in the Morning." They have been reading the Magic Tree House series for a while. Thirteen children attended this activity.
     Ms. Karen wants all of the children to read and have fun so on this day she had planned for them to find pieces of a pyramid. Once they found them they would put them together as a puzzle game. Ms. Karen asked questions so that the answers on the pieces would be put in order. When they were done, they had a creative time making their names with Cartouche letters. These are a form of hieroglyphic letters.