The Season Of Giving

In this season of giving, it was most rewarding to see our 5th graders lead efforts to collect various food products for our annual food drive. We thank the entire lower school community for opening their hearts in such a benevolent manner this holiday season. Your efforts were much appreciated and will bring happiness to those in need. 

The Girls on the Run team was recognized for their completion of a local 5K on November 20th. The Girls on the Run organization's mission is "dedicated to creating a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams." 

Along with many 3rd and 4th grade girls, the following 5th grade girls participated: Zara, Diya, Hannah M., Samina, Sydney, and Anushka. An extra shout out must be made to the following five girls, who were members of GOTR for three straight years! Congratulations Zara, Diya, Samina, Sydney, and Anushka. 

I must briefly make light of some spontaneous debates that have raged on in class recently. It has become apparent that we have a group of eager learners who are adamant that their voice must be heard! I hadn't planned on it, but who knows where any class can go?

Most recent was the question "Do you believe the human race survive for 20 years without sunlight?" On the left, we have those who see no chance for survival. On the right, our optimists who certainly made some sound arguments based on the technological advancement of synthetic energy as a means as a substitute for the sun to state their case. It was fascinating, spirited, respectful, and unexpected! 

Our Stem classes continues to rage on, as we wind down our focus on coding. Students were recently asked to create codes for Dash to perform tasks within six commands. Mrs. Maciorowski has done a remarkable job pushing their problem solving skills to the limit!

Students have recently been working on the creation of their biome commercials in Science class. After being assigned a biome in groups, students researched each in depth in the hopes to create a commercial (for the Lubby Travel Agency) convincing potential customers why they should visit. 

Students were asked to create detailed storyboards with camera angles, dialogue, and a descriptive commercial shot by shot. Once their plans were set, students then used our green screen to film their commercials in various landscapes, on planes, on the top of famous monuments......all in the name of a little business!

No worries, everyone. Our heating system works just fine. These students seemed to step out to the tundra for a moment. 

And this one took a flight to the other side of the planet and returned without even asking her parents for permission! I even thought I heard one student say, "I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." Of course it begs the question, "Were you?" Ah yes.....you have the grasslands.

Carry on!

We even had time to work out some city planning our weekly visit with our kindergarten buddies. This will come in handy during the engineering phase of our tech classes after winter break! This is just a preview of what's to come.

'til next time.