The Weekly Newsletter
Week 33, June 5-9
Welcome back! We hope everyone had a great early summer vacation! It feels like that week long break just flew by. We got to hear some awesome highlights from everyone’s time off and it sounds like a ton of fun and relaxation happened 🙂 We had a great week back, and it all happened so fast! Here are some highlights from our week:
First thing Monday morning we had our badge ceremony. The Eagles have been patiently, yet anxiously, awaiting their hard-earned badges. So much has been accomplished this year and it was amazing to be able to celebrate that. You should all be very proud of these outstanding kids!
On Tuesday we had an awesome hero’s journey presentation! Our good friend Cecile came in to talk to the kids about her job in the world of finance… what her journey has been like as a female immigrating to the states from the Philippines at a very young age and entering a career that is very male-dominated. Everything she shared was so inspirational as well as timely as we are just coming off of our personal finance quest!
In the personal finance quest, the students dug into the cost of toiletries, household items, and entertainment. It was a very informational week, as things like shampoo and going out to dinner with friends can be overlooked when planning one’s financial life! The second assignment was to begin creating the Game of Life Prototype that will be displayed at the Exhibition of Learning. We are so excited for you to all come see how much everyone has put into their own personal finance quests on Thursday!
This week the navigators have been choosing their apprenticeships and sending in their cover letters this week. We are very lucky to have such interesting opportunities in our community, with help from all of you. The students are very excited to try new things and get experience in the real world. We can’t wait for everyone to get their apprenticeship jobs and start learning in all different areas!
This week in writing workshop for the foundation studio, the students wrote, wrote, and wrote some more. The previous weeks have been dedicated to breaking apart a piece of writing, specifically a biography. The students have been digging deep into the specific elements, like introductions, character development, body paragraphs, and hooks. Now it’s down to writing and peer critiques.
For the final history assignment, the navigators wrote their final reflections on the book and on their feelings about historical fiction. This history quest was quite unique- we learned about big historical events while on a journey and through the eyes of a fictional character. We were able to see behind the scenes (although sometimes fictionally) of the lives of major players and events throughout time. This week the students gave their opinions on this style of learning history. They also answered the BIG question: what changes the course of history- one person or a series of events, circumstances, and people?
What do YOU think?
The foundation students started learning about WW2 in history! They began to discuss the “Three War- War” and all of the players involved in the beginning of the war.
As you all know, all of our 8th graders went on their 8th grade trip this week…and it was amazing. We have been sharing all of the details and pictures with the parents of those students. Overall, it was such a special trip and the almost-high schoolers got to deeply reflect on these last few years and shared their hopes for the future months and years. We had a ton of fun in Santa Barbara, and I’m pretty proud of all us for being able to pack in so many activities in just three days!
