Graduation Day

By Brooke Lefferts
In a few days, my youngest child, Eli, will bust through the double doors of Marshall for the last time. I've had a kid in that school for nine consecutive years! My oldest son was there in the stone age, when kindergarten was only half-day. I'm a sap so milestones like this always kick me in the gut. It makes me a little sad—the realization that time marches on, like little feet lining up on the blacktop, and there's nothing we can do to slow it down.

Use Your Words

On Thursday May 1st, Words Bookstore was overrun with Marshall families looking for some great summer reading and Marshall teacher celebrity sightings. While grown-ups shopped and Marshall alum cavorted, Marshall students gathered on the rug for story time with the wonderful teachers who volunteered their time to help promote reading and raise money for the school. Fun was had by all and the money raised will help support cultural arts, field trips, community events, and technology funded by the Marshall PTA.

Where Young Minds Blossom

The Marshall Garden Crew has been hard at work all year in The Learning Garden and the results are really showing this spring. Colorful tulips now decorate the borders of the raised beds that are home to many varieties of flowers, vegetables and herbs. Composting—which gives the plants valuable nutrition—is also underway. The students get to see firsthand how each season brings new growth as the plantings go in and out of season. See if you can guess what favorite fruit will be coming into season next!

Mark This Groove

Mark Murphy from Mark Murphy's Music in South Orange donated their time to GROOVE ON GROVE with our students during lunchtime. All members (including Marshall's very own Mitchell) are elementary aged students from the area. They played Pharrell’s “Happy” and Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” while our students had lunch. A great time was had by all!

Dancing Off To Africa

A journey to Africa, with vibrant drumming and dancing, Kamate Traders showed the students how to tell a story while dancing. Through authentic instruments and costumes, the use of the drums to communicate was demonstrated. The story that the Patterns on clothes described such as what part of the region you are from. Teachers and students were chosen to participate in the dancing and drumming.

Write This Way

BJ Ward came to Marshall in December and again in March to do a Writers in Residence with our 2nd graders. An accomplished poet, Mr. Ward's poetry has been featured on NPR, New Jersey Network's "State of the Arts" as well as in national publications, including the New York Times.

Spring Has Flung

On Saturday, April 12th, students from Marshall and Jefferson gathered for a morning filled with bagels, books and crafts: the Spring Fling Books & Brunch. Kindergarteners through fifth graders brought books to swap and enjoyed time with friends as they ate, read, discussed their books, and made bookmarks. As part of the PTA Spring Fling to raise money for both schools, students not only walked away with new books to read, but with new friends in both schools!