Fourth and fifth grade chorus students from Idle Hour Elementary School had the exciting opportunity to collaborate with Connetquot High School’s junior and senior singers during a special workshop at the high school.

The morning began with introductions, as each student from the elementary school had the chance to meet and connect with their high school counterparts. To break the ice, the students sang a fun warm-up song together before opening their songbooks and diving into a new piece of music under the direction of music teachers Brad Drinkwater and Kelly Daugherty. 

“The goal of the workshop was to inspire the elementary students to keep singing and continue incorporating music into their lives, even as they grow older,” said music teacher Ms. Daugherty.

 

Click here to view the Idle Hour’s chorus harmonizes with CHS singers during musical workshop slideshow.

Date Added: 1/17/2025

Fifth grade students from across the district in the C-Quest Enrichment Program chose a word that either defined them or chose a word to set a goal for the year.

After choosing their one word, they explored the outdoors, looking for the letters in their word. Using iPads, they photographed the letters then edited, enhanced through filtering, cropped and uploaded them to Google Slides. The slides were then printed, and the letters were cut out and put onto a poster, spelling their word in their environmental print! During their poetry unit, students wrote a free verse poem using their word in their poem.

Click here to view the 5th Grade C-Quest students’ One Word project slideshow.

Date Added: 1/14/2025

To start off a unit about structures, fourth graders across the district in the C-Quest Enrichment Program studied the Fire Island Lighthouse. Students visited the lighthouse on a field trip, climbing the tower of 182 steps up and down. They also went on a nature walk to learn about the area, saw the Fresnel lens and participated in a United States Lifesaving Service presentation.

Afterwards, students created non-fiction, informational posters summarizing what they learned on their visit. They also took part in a culminating activity on electrical energy, building a model of the lighthouse which included a working electrical circuit.

Click here to view the 4th Grade C-Quest students visit Fire Island Lighthouse slideshow.

Date Added: 1/14/2025

Connetquot High School’s Business Honor Society recently visited third and fifth graders at Idle Hour Elementary to share valuable lessons on financial literacy. During the interactive session, the high school students focused on key topics like smart spending and saving habits, as well as the basics of starting a business.

It was a fantastic opportunity for the third and fifth graders to learn from their older peers and begin thinking about their financial futures in a fun and hands-on way. Thank you to the CHS Business Honor Society for this valuable experience!

Date Added: 1/13/2025

Idle Hour Elementary School's chorus and the Oakdale-Bohemia Middle School Select Choir took part in the seventh annual Civil War Christmas at St. John’s Church in Oakdale. The groups performed several song selections during the afternoon event. The Idle Hour chorus, under the direction of Kelly Daugherty, performed during the “hanging of the greens” portion of the event, while the OBMS Select Choir, under the direction of Rachel White, performed prior to the evening’s Civil War Christmas Service.

Date Added: 1/3/2025