The students have been hard at work for the last two weeks on their Invention Convention projects! A huge lesson through this work is that inventors (and engineers and lifelong learners...) are constantly failing and adjusting their work strategies! Next week will be the last week that we work on the project in the classroom, though students are welcome to take their project work home over the break, but ONLY IF THEY REALLY, REALLY WANT TO. The week after break, our special guest judges will give all of the students feedback on their work, and they will select up to 8 students to take their projects to the Boise School District competition. Set up for the competition is on January 17th, judging is on January 18th, and project pick-up is on January 19th. I am happy to deliver qualifying projects, or parents may drop them off and pick them up at the District Service Center on Victory Road. 

I know there are some students who have no interest in participating in the competition side of things, and I would like to be respectful of that. However, I do encourage you to chat with your student about the reasoning behind that tentativeness. Are they afraid of not winning; is it just too much pressure; are they not happy with their work? I am proud of the work all of the students have done and would love to see them all give the competition a shot as well as learn the lessons that come along with success and failure, but I will 100% respect the wishes of the families and the students in this regard. Please let me know by the end of Winter Break if your student would not like to be considered for the District competition.

If you'd like to check out any photos from my Thanksgiving trip to Panama, you can find them on the site home page.