February/March 2023

Welcome!

Welcome to the second installment of the Noah Wallace IDEA+ Community Newsletter for the 2022-23 school year! The IDEA+ Club is dedicated to honoring and empowering all members of our Noah Wallace community. We are so excited to share our community’s reflections. Each future newsletter will continue to gather submissions from YOU to share and celebrate together. Our Winter themes include Hanukkah, Valentine’s Day, New Years Day, Lunar New Year and Black History Month.

To the families that contributed pictures, recipes and information about holidays and cultural traditions for this newsletter, thank you for making this possible!

We hope sharing in each other’s worlds will help us strengthen and celebrate our dynamic and diverse community. In the newsletter below, you will find firsthand perspectives on the themes of the month. You will also discover submissions from Noah Wallace teachers that highlight our themes.

For the spring newsletter, we need your help! Our Spring themes include Ramadan, Passover, Easter, and Asian American Pacific Islander Month.

Please submit your personal stories, recipes, photographs, and book suggestions. Your reflections will be included in the next newsletter and on the website.

Thank you!

IDEA+ Club (Recent) Events

Iddi Saaka Assembly, Black History Month
February 14, 2023

Mr. Saaka is a West African dance teacher, dancer, drummer, and choreographer who believes in the power of dance to open doors, bring people together to celebrate diversity, empower and question status quo. He researches dance and music forms of different West African countries and engages in diverse initiatives that put West African music and dance forms in critical dialogue with contemporary and western dance forms to produce new knowledge and direct bold and innovative community engagement initiatives that educate, question, challenge and interrogate misconceptions about Africa.We are so fortunate to have brought Iddi to our school and witnessed his talent in person!

Noah Wallace Celebrates

New Years Around the World with the Reisner Family

New Year's Around the World - Our family enjoys ringing in the New Year by watching firework displays from around the globe on New Year's Eve. We often start watching the celebration in London live at 6pm and then search the internet to find coverage of more festivities from recent past around the world. London was one of our favorites this year with the inclusion of drones that created images to commemorate the change in rule from Queen Elizabeth II to King Charles III. We also enjoyed the fireworks over Sydney harbor and another great drone display from Hong Kong. We have a big map blanket where Zohana (Kindergarten) and her big sister Aviva can find the locations we're celebrating with. We have noisemakers and dance along to join in the fun and always eat a dinner made of just appetizers for fun that night too. Happy New Year!

Valentine’s Day Scavenger Hunt with the Smith Family

Years ago we began the tradition of a Valentine’s Scavenger Hunt. The treats are small, but special. Candy, little stuffed animals, games, and often handmade items. We start off with one clue, leading to the next. Each clue is written as a poem or a riddle to figure out the next clue’s location. Valentine’s Day is a time we celebrate our love as a family. We love any excuse in our family to get crafty, festive, and make the most of even the holidays that can be overlooked.

Lunar New Year with the Webb/Bezdek Family

Every year, much of Asia celebrates the Lunar New Year. This year, the Lunar New Year was on January 22. In Taiwan, where our family is from, celebrations for the Lunar New Year go on for two weeks. It is a time for family to spend time together and start off the new year with joy and togetherness. What we do to celebrate here in the US is on Lunar New Year's Eve and the days leading up to Lunar New Year, we spend time cleaning the house and ourselves, and getting our affairs in order so that we can enter the new year clean and relaxed. We do not like to clean on New Year's Day because we are cleaning away all the good luck from entering the New Year and also because what we do on New Year's day sets precedent for the year ahead. We want to spend New Year's day happy, clean, and relaxed.

As part of our celebration for Lunar New Year, we like to enjoy traditional foods and treats such as dumplings, "nian gao" (red bean cakes), and mandarin oranges. These foods, in addition to being delicious, are also meant to bring good luck. It is also important to wear red and decorate the house with red and messages welcoming the new year. In Taiwan and many other East Asian countries, they will set off fireworks to celebrate the new year and to ward off bad luck.

Each lunar year is represented by an animal in a 12 animal cycle. This year we said goodbye to the Year of the Tiger and hello to the Year of the Rabbit. We wish everyone a hopeful and peaceful Rabbit Year!

Door decorations

Homemade dumplings

Food for Thought

Irish Soda Bread from the Kaliney Family

Irish soda bread dough comes together in about 10 minutes. You need buttermilk, egg, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and butter.

1 and 3/4 cups (420ml) buttermilk*
1 large egg
4 and 1/4 cups (531g) all-purpose flour plus more for your hands and counter
3 Tablespoons (38g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1 cup (150g) raisins

Whisk the buttermilk and egg together. Set aside. Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingers. Mixture is very heavy on the flour, but do your best to cut in the butter until the butter is pea-sized crumbs. Stir in the raisins. Pour in the buttermilk/egg mixture. Gently fold the dough together until dough it is too stiff to stir. Pour crumbly dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured hands, work the dough into a ball as best you can, then knead for about 30 seconds or until all the flour is moistened. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour.Transfer the dough to the prepared skillet/pan. Using a very sharp knife, score a 1/2 inch deep X into the top. Bake until the bread is golden brown and center appears cooked through, about 45-55 minutes. Loosely tent the bread with aluminum foil if you notice heavy browning on top

Peruvian Cooking with the Sieklicki Family

Lani, a first grader in Mrs. Gambardealla’s class is half Peruvian and half Polish. We wanted to share a very traditional Peruvian dish that we love and we eat all the time. One of the most important traditions we have is weekly lunches at grandma's house. Unlike American families, in Peru the biggest meal is normally lunch. We wanted to share this delicious dish with all of you and we hope you try to make it in your home! By the way, you can make this dish without “ají amarillo.” Check out the recipe here: https://www.eatperu.com/lomo-saltado-recipe/

From the Noah Wallace Library

Book of the Month

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Real-Life Stories of Black Girl Magic by Lilly Workneh

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is a children's book packed with 100 bedtime stories about the lives of extraordinary women from the past and the present, illustrated by 60 female and non-binary artists from all over the world. The unique narrative style of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls transforms each biography into a fairytale, filling readers with wonder and a burning curiosity to know more about these heroes

Little Leaders and Little Legends by Ashti Harrison

Look and Listen to the World Around You

Celebrate Black History Month with Señora Lubas and Señora Tracy

Introducing the Cricket Committee with Mr. Fantl

In past years there have been many Noah Wallace students who have expressed interest in the sport of Cricket. This year, I have started a Cricket Committee made up of 4 students in grades 3 and 4. These students as well as many other school community members with shared cultures and backgrounds know and love the game of Cricket. We want to share our joy of the sport with students of other cultures who are not so familiar with the sport. We have set a goal to incorporate Cricket into the PE Curriculum to share our passion for Cricket with all the students. We have been developing a modified Cricket game that can be played in PE with our students. We will most definitely have a game ready to play in PE at the end of the year!

Honoring Black History in Music Class with Mrs. Speranza

In music class, we have been learning about black musicians and leaders, as well as learning some songs traditional to the black community. At our January assembly, the students sang songs to honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Additionally, our February assembly featured the students singing Lift Every Voice and Sing, which is considered the Black National Anthem. You can practice our assembly songs by clicking HERE.

We’ve enjoyed listening to our Musician of the Month for February. He is a black American who has made major contributions to the jazz genre - Trombone Shorty!!

You can listen to Trombone Shorty’s music with these links: Grades K-2 Link, Grades 3-4 Link

Culturally Curious

Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year occurs this year on February 1st and is sometimes known as Chinese New Year. Korean Lunar New Year or 설날 (Seollal) is the Korean version of Chinese New Year. It is celebrated at the same time as Chinese New Year (except for a rare case every several years where they fall a day apart) and, as the name indicates, is dependent on the lunar calendar. In Korean, you can wish someone “Saehae bok mani badeuseyo” or “Please receive a lot of luck in the new year.” Learn more.

Black History Month

Black History Month was the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. It was reportedly first proposed by Black educators and the Black United Students at Kent State University in February 1969. The first celebration of Black History Month took place at Kent State a year later, from January 2 to February 28, 1970. Learn more here. And here.

Ramadan

Ramadan: March 22 to April 21: Ramadan- an annual observance for Muslims worldwide-falls in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. In the religion of Islam, the holy month of Ramadan marks the time when the prophet Muhammad received the words of the Koran. During this time, Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from dawn until dusk. Learn more here.

Passover

Passover: April 5 to April 13: Passover is a major Jewish festival that celebrates the freeing of the Israeli slaves. During this time, people eat special foods, do special rituals and sing songs. A special meal called a Seder is held during Passover featuring Matzoh, an unleavened bread. Learn more here.

Earth Day

Earth Day: April 22: Earth Day is a day observed by more than 192 nations. It honors the environmental movement that protects the Earth for future generations.The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, when a United States senator from Wisconsin organized a national demonstration to raise awareness about environmental issues. Learn more here.

Community Events

Traditions of Chinese Acrobatics

Farmington Library, 6 Monteith Drive
Sunday, February 26th at 2pm

'Traditions of Chinese Acrobatics' is a one-woman acrobatic performance. Li Liu performs hand balancing, plate spinning, ribbon dancing, Chinese yoyos and foot juggling. Educational connections are made with the Chinese language and culture. Li explains some of the rituals of Chinese New Year, teaches the audience some basic Chinese phrases, and encourages them to think about what it might have been like to grow up in a different time and place. Register here.

Black History Month Community Conversation | Exploring Mental Health and Art as Healing
Hartford HealthCare Bone & Joint Inst.,
31 Seymour St, Hartford
Tuesday, February 28th at 5pm

Join us for an engaging conversation elevating mental health & wellness among the Black community and channeling the power of art to facilitate healing. Register here.

St Patricks Day at the Library with SRL Irish Dance
Farmington Library, 6 Monteith Drive
Sunday, March 5th at 1:30pm

The library is thrilled to welcome back the dancers of SRL School of Irish Dance! Join us in your festive green attire for an afternoon of dance and family fun. Register here.

St. Patrick’s Day Concert
Stanley Whitman House
Saturday, March 11th at 1pm

Join us for a lively St. Patrick's Day concert with this unique Celtic duo, singer/guitarist Dan Ringrose and fiddler Jeanne Freeman. Register here.

Second Saturdays for Families | Women’s History Month
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
Saturday, March 11th from 12pm-2pm

Visit the museum to learn about the trailblazing women artists represented in our collections. Discover their stories and design your own artwork recognizing their impact alongside illustrator Ann Marie Drury. Watch dancers from New England Ballet Theatre perform in the galleries. Admission is free noon–2pm. More info here.

Earth Day at the Library: Saturday Art Studio Earth Day
Farmington Library, 6 Monteith Drive
Saturday, April 22nd at 10am

Enjoy a story related to the craft that you will be making. Come and celebrate Earth Day at the library. Register here.

Open Call to Families

Your contributions are what make this newsletter rich and engaging! IDEA+ encourages every member of the community to consider sharing so that it keeps growing strong. Going forward, we hope to have student voices represented as well and would love any pictures, stories, recipes your little one may also want to submit. Our own ‘normal’ may be new, different and exciting to another in our community - and we always love to hear how everyone is doing!

Please submit here!

If you’re interested in attending the IDEA+ Committee meetings, we encourage you to click on the link provided for more information. You can also email the NWS PTO (nwpto@fpsct.org) with questions or ideas.

Thank you again!

NWS IDEA+ Committee

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