Exeter-Milligan Update: Heroes and the Book Fair

Heroes Come in All Sizes

By Lisa Soukup, Exeter-Milligan Media Specialist

Heroes tend to be people we see on TV or hear about on the Internet, radio or in the newspaper. They attract our attention and usually do something good. We seldom think of a classmate or colleague as a hero. 

Exeter-Milligan Public Schools hosted a Scholastic Book Fair during Parent/Teacher conferences. One of the activities the elementary students participated in was “All For Books”. It is a program where students can donate change to help purchase books for any students who may not get a book from the fair. It is a huge success every year.

This year, Tyler brought in a bag of change for “All For Books”. He had to double sack the money because one bag would not support the weight of the money. He said, “my mom was putting my money in the bag and grabbing hand fulls. Finally I told her to just put the whole container in there.” Well, the whole container of money was over $48.00.

Tyler did not realize how much was actually in the bag and when he was told, his reply was, “that’s OK, kids need books”. Tyler said he earned the money by working at the farm and doing chores at home. We were able to purchase 11 books with the money Tyler donated. What a selfless act of kindness by this young 5th grader. Hats off to you Tyler!

Another Success with Scholastic Book Fair

Exeter-Milligan Public Schools hosted a book fair again this year during Parent-Teacher conferences. Pirates was our theme- Long Live Bookaneers! It was our biggest success to date, taking in over $1,800.00 in sales. The new “Commons” was the location of the fair this year and the traffic flowed nicely through the area. The Fair was set up 4 days before the fair started which gave jr. high and high school students time to browse the books. They did an awesome job putting books back where they found them especially when the fair was unsupervised.

Books were taken as profit instead of cash.  We were able to fulfill all the teachers wish list books for their classrooms which totaled 38 books. Another 133 books were taken from profits for the three libraries.

“All For Books” brought in $140.00 with 43 students and staff donating to the fund. That money allowed us to purchase 28 books for students in preschool to 6th grade.

Thank you to everyone who came to the fair and help make it such a success. Your contribution helped the classroom libraries and the 3 other libraries purchase many books.

Exeter-Milligan Girl Scouts Cross Over to Brownies

Girl Scout Leader Kendra Oldehoeft stands with Daisies Brooklyn Oldehoeft (middle) and Sydney Engert during their bridging ceremony.

New Daisy Scouts Brooklyn Oldehoeft (left) and Sydney Engert.

Girl Scout Leader Kendra Oldehoeft stands with Daisies Brooklyn Oldehoeft (middle) and Sydney Engert during their bridging ceremony.

 Above, Brooklyn and below, Sydney, look into a "pond" to see the helpers they have become.

Exeter-Milligan Girl Scout Troop 20703 held their bridging ceremony on Sunday, October 2 at Gilbert’s Park in Exeter.  There ceremony was for the two girls that stepped up from Daisies to Brownies.  

The program began with the Pledge of Allegiance and then the Girl Scout Promise. The girls walked over the bridge at the park with their Daisy uniforms on and looked into a mirror decorated to look like a pond.  The girls repeated a statement from The Brownie Story about how the Brownies got their name, "Twist me and turn me and show me the elf, I look in the water and see myself".  In England, the brownies are a mystical creature that people tell stories about, they are supposedly little elves that come in a person's house and help out while people sleep.  

Brownies are learning to be helpful and this is why the founders thought it would be a great name for the group.  Each girl switched from their Daisy vest to a Brownie sash, sang “The Brownie Smile Song,” and ended with the Friendship Squeeze.

Exeter-Milligan Welcomes Giada Miniussi

Giada Miniussi came to America to “see what is outside of Italy and open my mind.”

Coming from Trieste, which is a smaller town near Venice (small like Lincoln, according to Miniussi),  she has adapted well to living in Exeter with host parents, Larry and Bonnie Cudaback.

So far, Miniussi has not experienced any homesickness.  She misses her family, friends and pizza and pasta but has enjoyed tasting the different foods here.  “They told me there would be all junk food before I came but Bonnie makes really good food.  I really like how she cooks.”

Miniussi is also enjoying her extended host family, including the Cudaback’s granddaughters, senior Sydney Hall and sophomore K K White. She plays volleyball for Exeter-Milligan with the girls.  The daily practice is a new experience for her as she was on a club team in Italy that practiced two or three days a week.  She is looking forward to basketball and track season as new experiences for her.

She hopes to go on a ski trip to Colorado and visit the Cudaback’s daughter in Kentucky this year. 

She has enjoyed four wheeling and tubing at the lake with the Cudaback and their extended family.  When the school year is over she hopes to travel America coast to coast with her parents.  

While she is expecting “to learn the language” while she is here, Miniussi is also planning to explore different careers in America, “I don’t know what I want to do for a career.  Maybe this experience will help me understand what I want to do for college or career.  Maybe I want to go to college in American or Australia.”

In Italy, Miniussi goes to a Slovanian school and the village where she lives has a predominantly Slovanian population since it is near the border of Italy.  Her mother’s family is Slovanian and so she speaks the language as well.

This year in America will count toward her five years of high school but she may have to do some tests to advance.  She will have one more year of high school when she returns.  She had planned to go to business school and learn French but now after taking the health tour during career day she is learning in that direction.

While she is still struggling a little bit with the language, Miniussi is enjoying her year at Exeter-Milligan.