By The Hampton Herald Staff

BCPS has Spring Break Monday March 25th through Tuesday, April 2nd.

        Students and teachers will have a little over a week to take a break from school.

    “I am going to clean my house, spend time with my family, and go to the Blast game,” said Ms. Patek.

    Other students said they are going to hang out and some mentioned listening to Taylor Swift.

    Some other students and teachers are looking forward to traveling over break.  Some students are visiting family out of town and others are going on vacation.

    Some students and teachers are going to be celebrating holidays over spring break.

    “I am going to celebrate Easter with my family,” Ms. Patek said.  “I am going to sing at church with my sister and then hang out with my family while my younger cousins do an egg hunt.”

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                                                                    By The Hampton Herald Staff
​              Hampton is Celebrating Read Across America week from Monday, March 4th Friday, March 8th.
 
              A guest teacher is reading a loud a different book each day on the morning announcements.  Monday, Ms. Mckew read, Say Something, and students were encouraged to wear shirts with different sayings on them.  Ms. Eickelberg, the reading specialist at Hampton, asked teachers to volunteer to read on the morning announcements and selected the first five people to do it.
 
              The rest of the week, other teachers will be reading different books on the morning announcements and students and staff will be encouraged to dress according to a certain theme. 
             
“I wanted to pick a theme for each day that would connect to reading and be simple enough for everyone to participate in.  I looked online and at resources that other BCPS schools had shared for ideas and inspiration.  As I picked the stories, I thought about potential themes that would connect with the books,” said Ms. Eickelberg.
 
              In addition to “Say Something” some other stories this week include That’s Not My Name, The Little Red Fort, I am Every Good Thing, and The Proudest Blue.
 
“This year's theme for Read Across America Week is:  "Create & Celebrate a Nation of Diverse Readers".  Using the theme as a guide, I looked for stories that reflected diversity and had a positive message,” Ms. Eickelberg said.
 
In the spirit of Read Across America Week, some of our Hampton Herald staff members have shared some book recommendations below:
 
 
 
Teddy:
Classroom 13 by Honest Lee and Matthew J. Gilbert
 
Classroom 13 is a series about a class that has crazy things happen, like a genie that grants them wishes or them winning a million dollars or a talent agent coming. Those are all the crazy things that can happen in Classroom 13.
 
I would recommend this book to kids in third to fifth grade. I would recommend this book to kids who like funny and action. This book also makes reading fun because you don’t know what’s going to happen next.
 
You can find this book at the Baltimore County Public Library.
 
 
 
 
Paige 
 
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin 
 
Dragons Love Tacos is a story about how dragons love tacos, but hate anything spicy.  So be careful when planning a taco party. (very, very, very, careful)
 
I would recommend it to kids in kindergarten to 2 grade. I would also recommend it to kids who love funny story lines and pictures.
 
Where would you find it? You will probably find this book in the picture book section in the school library.
 
Gigi:
 
Babysitters Club   by Ann M. Martin
 
Summary: Kristy has an idea!  Join the crew on some amazing babysitting adventures
 
I would recommend this book to 2cnd graders through 4th graders. If you like comics you should read this book.
 
Where to find it? You can find at your local library or on amazon and Target.
 
Maya:
 
Shooting Kabul by N. H. Senzai
 
Summary: Shooting Kabul is a story about a family who had a rough background and had to
start all over with someone missing.
 
I would recommend this book to 4th-5th graders. I would also recommend this book to a
Kids who love stories about big events.
 
Where to find it? You can find this book at your local library. You can also find it at Hampton Elementary.  Ask your teach about borrowing one from the book room!
 
Joey   
 
Harry Potter  by  J.K. Rowling
 
Summary: It’s about a boy who goes to magic school, gets in some trouble, and has lots of adventures.
 
I would recommend this book from 2 grade up and to people who love  magic.  It is so good they made a theme park for it!
 
You can find it almost anywhere.                         

                                                              by The Hampton Herald Staff
The Hampton Drama Club is performing the “Lion King Jr.” March 1st and 8th at 7:00 p.m. and March 2nd and 9th at 3:00 p.m.
 
              The Drama Club at Hampton is made up of third-fifth graders.  Students auditioned in September.  For their auditions, students had to read some lines and sing a song.  All students who auditioned were cast in the play.
 
              Four teachers at Hampton are in charge of the drama club.  Mr. Willmore is the director, Mrs. Fletcher is the musical director, Mrs. Stock is in charge of props, and Ms. Patek is the choreographer. 
 
              Mr. Willmore brought the idea of a drama club to Hampton a few years ago.
 
              “When I was younger, my sister (who is an actress in Hollywood) got me into theatre, and it changed my life.  It made me more outgoing and I found something I’m very passionate about.  I want to provide the same opportunity for students at Hampton,” said Mr. Willmore.
 
              The passed few years, the Drama Club has performed several Disney plays including “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Little Mermaid.”  This year Mr. Willmore and Mrs. Fletcher decided to do “The Lion King.”
 
              “The Lion king is a great story with memorable songs.  We always like to pick something that the community will either know or enjoy.  This show is a good balance of funny and heartfelt,” Mr. Willmore said.
 
              The Drama Club students have been rehearsing in September.  They rehearse after school until 5:45 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  In the beginning, they were learning their dances, lines, and songs.  Now, they are running the show over and over to fix little things.
 
              Besides the four teachers in charge, lots of other people in the Hampton community also help.  Several fifth and sixth graders are helping with stage crew.  Parent volunteers are also helping.   For example, some parent volunteers made animal costumes, such a giraffes and the Pumba costume.  Mrs. Towner, one of the art teachers at Hampton, designed the sets and lots of props for the play.  The Art Club helped paint several of the sets white, used paper mâché for the elephant graveyard, and made the lion masks.  Working on these projects can take a lot of time.
 
              “Some projects can take a while, some can take two days,” said Mrs.  Towner.
 
              On Tuesday, February 22nd the whole school got to see a preview of the show.  There were two performances to accommodate everyone.  Students and staff got to see a lot of the musical numbers including “Circle of Life,” “Just Can’t Wait to Be king,” “Hakuna Matata,” Shadowland,” and “Be Prepared.”
 
“Hakuna Matata was my favorite because it’s funny and I like that part in the movie, and the dance is funny,” said Joey P., a fourth-grade student.
 
              On Tuesday, February 27th, the Hampton staff was invited to watch the performance.
 
              “It gives the staff who cannot attend a weekend performance an opportunity to support their students and it gives The Drama Club members one more chance to perform in front of an audience before opening night,” said Ms. Patek, the choreographer for the show.
 
Lots of people are excited for the show this weekend!  The performers have been working very hard and the school community is eager to see what they have done.
 
              “I am excited to perform in front of an audience,” said Calvin C., a fourth-grade student and member of The Drama Club.
 
              Tickets for the performance are sold out for both weekends!  Over 1,000 tickets were sold among the four shows.
 
 
The Hampton Herald Staff would like to say “Break a Leg” to our staff members who are performing: Julia, Calvin, Paige, and Sanjay.  We would also like to send congratulations to Calvin and Brady for helping with the sets and props with The Art Club!