Coupla Things wk14 (11/19/17)

Post date: Nov 20, 2017 4:40:1 AM

Dear Families of Room 25.

This week was a time to celebrate family, history, tradition, and a bit of food. Hannah and Abbi (our oldest 2 daughters) were home again and helped create the festive bustle that defines our family. We had friends over for Thanksgiving, cooking outdoors and in our not-yet-done kitchen. Yesterday we went to the other side of the hill to find our tree and by this morning it was trimmed and the rest of the house is getting adorned by the many (!) clusters of nutcrackers, snow globes, and decorations that make our little house even a bit more cluttered during this season.

Recap: School life before this vacation was good, but seems distant now. I remember scooter races to test acceleration in physics, a vocabulary set and some "lazy editor" articles in English class, and reviewing the articles of the Constitution in history class. We've had good times at school these past months, but a week off was welcome!

Walkabout: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this coming week will be spent on the trails, farms, historical sites, and interesting places along the coast from Santa Cruz to Stinson Beach. The 5-day weather report for the area keeps changing slightly, but it looks like we'll have a bit of rain early on, some clouds at times, and actually quite a bit of sunshine during our three days out there. The itinerary is full of routes and destinations explored/discovered by the many classes that have done this trip in the past, but I'm looking forward to finding some new features and fun things! The kids have created car groups, room assignments, and "docent documents" that they'll use to teach the class about a place that they've been researching.

Parents, please take a look at the packing list and help your kid to collect all the stuff. Also (and most importantly), make sure that you've read and responded to emails from Mona regarding medications and payment. The cost estimate shows how the money is used. It would be great to have everyone paid (or on a plan) before we leave on Monday.

After the Trip: On Thursday morning we'll have some time to relax & recover and then things will get back to normal for the afternoon and Friday. The next great adventure will be the Angel Island trip on the 13th and 14th then we're back in school for a week before the big (!) Winter holiday! It is a good life!

Student Writing: Here is Elliot's article on liberal/conservative views and open/closed minds.

Calendar

-November 20-24: Thanksgiving Break (all week)

-November 27-29 (Monday to Wednesday): CalCoast Walkabout

-November 29: High School Information 7 PM room 2 (I have no info on this but it is on the school calendar)

-December 1: Middle School Dance

-December 4 (Monday): November-December birthday celebration

-December 13-14: Angel Island "Living History" overnight with Bonnie

-December 22 (Friday): Class party and early release day

-December 23 - January 14: Winter break

-January 24 (Wednesday): 8th Grade Panoramic Photo

-January 26 (Friday): End of first semester