Post date: Apr 23, 2018 12:26:56 AM
Happy Earth Day Everyone!
What a beautiful Earth Day it has been. I had breakfast in Davenport with a "kid" (now 50) from the early days of my camp counselor life and then the dog and I hit the beaches before heading back over the hill to help Amy put on a recital for her voice studio. It is a wonderful life!
Science Fair: Parents, you should have received an invitation to a Google document that your kid has been updating daily to communicate with you and me about their progress on their science fair project. There is a great variety of projects this year (see this chart). The kids doing the design challenges (bridge, tower, catapult) have made good progress but they won't demonstrate/test/destroy their product until Maker Day on June 11. The rest of the kids will host their trifold and explain their project on Tuesday evening (if possible) and for sure on Wednesday from 9:00 to 10:30.
Summer Reading List Books: For the next set of book club meetings the kids will be reading books that are on the "read before Freshman year English class" lists. I assembled the lists onto this spreadsheet and the kids sorted themselves into 5 groups shown below. Parents, if your kid hasn't already gotten a copy of their book (which they should have already), please push/help them to do so.
Book Groups (Summer Reading for Freshman English): April 23, 30, May 7, 14? and 21
1. The Martian (Barb): Andy, Alex, Yaseen, Josh, Samek, Andres
2. Born A Crime (Teresa): Aine, Hayden, Jamie, Zach, Bruce
3. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Joel & Andrea) Benjamin, Bitanya, Adi, Avani, Kiya, Elliot, Panda, Winston, Lance
4. Jurassic Park (Shilpa): Emma, Betina, Elizabeth
5. The Secret Life of Bees (Pooja) Ariana, Maya, Aine
Westward Expansion: I'm learning more and more US history this year because we've progressed farther than any of my classes since I started teaching the subject. So, we're almost to the 1900s now and the country is growing coast-to-coast. The kids are supposed to pay attention to the many intersecting perspectives and angles that are at play, including cultures, politics, sociology, economics, geography, and "the untold history" of various groups.
Emma's & Benjamin's Articles: To keep the length of the body of this email to something reasonable, I've linked to the articles instead of pasting them in. I highly recommend that you (parents and kids alike) read them because they both put personal commentary voice to some interesting topics -- thanks for your insights and bravery, you two. I'd like to also state my appreciation to April who has been the writing coach and editor for all of the articles.
Calendar:
April 25 (Wednesday): Middle School Science Fair DCSscience.com website.
April 27 (Friday): Bingo Night
April 30 to May 4 (Monday to Friday): Conferences
May 5 (Saturday): Spring Auction (Campbell Community Center)
May 11 (Friday): Middle School Dance
May 13 (Sunday): Mothers Day
May 14 to 17 (Monday to Thursday): CAASPP Testing
May 20 (Sunday): Deliver Goodwill items to DCS (9:00-3:00)
May 28 (Monday): Memorial Day
May 30 (Wednesday): Field Day & BBQ
June 1 (Friday): Final Middle School Dance
June 5 (Tuesday): School Musical
June 6 to 8 (Wednesday to Friday): 8th Grade River Rafting Trip Information is here
June 11 (Monday): DCS Maker Day
June 11 to 14 (Monday to Thursday): Early Dismissal
June 13: (Wednesday): Graduation! Practice at Westgate Church 9 to ~12, ceremony 5 to ~6:30, dance 7:30 to 10 .
June 14 (Thursday): Last Day of School & Chris retires
June 14 (Thursday evening): All 8th grade celebration at Saratoga Springs
June 16 (Saturday): Parent Work Day
July 8 (Sunday): DCS Alumni Boating and Barbecue at Vasona