Winter Ski Program Survey

During five half days in January and February, all Journeys School students participate in a cross-country or alpine/snowboard program as part of our Winter Ski Program. This has occurred most recently at Snow King, but in the past has occurred at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.  There are benefits and drawbacks to both.  In order to make the best decision for our students, please complete the one question survey below to indicate your preference. This information will be taken into consideration when making the decision.  Thank you. Click here to complete survey.

Health Screenings Begin This Week

Volunteers are still needed to help with screenings scheduled for Oct. 18 and 25. Please call Rhonda if you can help…no medical training necessary.  

October Lunch Menu 

October 13th: Cheese & Spinach Lasagna, focaccia bread, green salad, fruit & cookie

October 20th: Parmesan chicken strips, carrots & broccoli, potato wedges, fruit & cookie

October 27th: Pizza, fruit & cookie

Drop Off/Pick up Reminders for K-12 Families

In order to ensure a safe drop-off and pick up, please follow the guidelines below:

1. The access road on the left side (west) is open from 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM for pickup and drop-off during the middle of the day.  If using this road, you may park at the top of the campus and walk down to your child’s building.  Please do not use the hill in front of the Elementary School as it was not designed as a path.  You also can have your child meet you at the Welcome Center at the front of campus.  Please communicate clearly with your child and their teacher about the time and location of the pick-up so that we can help it run smoothly.

2. Between 7:45 AM – 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM, please park at the front of campus and walk up as there is limited parking up at the top of campus. 

3. Parents may park at the top of campus for all After School programs and walk down to the appropriate building to find their child.

Please contact Nate at x1113 if you have any questions.

Save Those Boxtops and Soup Labels!

Journeys School participates in the Boxtops for Education and Campbell’s Soup label programs. Each boxtop is worth 10¢, which does add up. Each soup label adds points toward school supplies. Last year we purchased PE and recess equipment such as lacrosse sticks and rubber bases (for use in kickball, baseball, etc). Send labels and boxtops to school with your student or drop them off in the Welcome Center in the wire basket on the front desk.

Volunteer Opportunity

Do you want to volunteer for Journeys School but don’t have time during the day to help in classes or go on journeys? We need a new Boxtops for Education and Campbell’s soup label coordinator. This person is responsible for putting collection bags in each building, and then collecting and submitting the boxtops and labels. There is not a big time commitment, but yet it is an important task as last year we received approximately $400 in cash and school supplies just from boxtops and soup labels.

Student / Family Directory Update

Despite our best efforts, there are always updates or corrections to the directory after it is published. The following link will take you to the most current version of the directory. As a side note, we acknowledge the page breaks and colored bars can make the directory difficult to read. Some of the formatting issues (page breaks) are beyond our control since it is a pre-set report in our school software. Other issues such as the copy quality we will continue to work on for next year—the printer offered to reprint the directories this year, but in the interests of conserving paper, we opted to send out just the missing last page.  If you use the directory a lot, you may wish to print out a new copy. Otherwise, the following families have had changes: Stalkers, Harris-Capuano, Turiano, Detwyler.  If you have any questions about the directory from this year, please contact Nate directly at x1113.

SHORT STORY CONTEST

Beginning October 1st, teens in grades six through 12 are invited to submit original Short Stories for our contest.  Work should be: 5 full pages or less, single-spaced, 12 pt font, 1-inch margins.  Submissions will be accepted at the Youth Services desk or at www.tclib.org/teens until 5:30pm on Friday, October 13th.  Submissions will be placed into middle-school or high school judging categories.  Short Stories will be judged on:  Plot Development, Characterization, Imagery, Originality, and Writing Skill.  1st Place, 2nd Place, and 3rd Place winners will receive $100, $50, $25 Amazon gift certificates, respectively.  Please, no more than two submissions per contestant.  See the Youth Services desk or www.tclib.org/teens for entry forms.  For more information, contact Young Adult Coordinator, Lara Lovett at 733-2164 ext. 221.
 
COSTUMED WRITERS RENDEZVOUS EVENT

In honor of Teen Read Week 2006, the Young Adult Board at the Teton County Library will be hosting a Short Story Slam & Costume Contest.  Friday, October 20th from 6:00-8:00pm, costumed teens are invited to kick off the event by strutting down our runway for the judging of costumes in the areas of ‘Best Literary Character’, ‘Most Original’, and ‘Best in Show’.  Winners will receive $50 Amazon gift certificates.  The evening’s entertainment will be provided by our Short Story Contest finalists who will be invited to read their work or appoint a reader of their work before the winning writers are announced.   All prizes courtesy of the Teton County Library Foundation and the Charles Englehard Foundation.  For more information, contact Young Adult Coordinator, Lara Lovett at 733-2164 ext. 221.

Pre-Kindergarten

Announcements

Curriculum Night is this Wednesday!

Come join us on Wednesday, October 11th from 6-7:15pm for our first Curriculum Night.  Childcare will be provided from 5:50pm to 7:15pm.  It will be an opportunity to learn more about the Pre-K classroom, philosophy and approach to curriculum. We look forward to seeing you there.

Thanks!

Thank you to all the parents that came into the classroom this week to facilitate activities during our afternoon exploration time. Jean, Whitney's mom, gathered leaves with children on a rainy afternoon and then worked with them to make leaf prints.  Vonde, Zander's mom, read dinosaur books to a few interested children and then engaged them in painting a volcano for our block area.  Joann, Ellison's mom, made carrot muffins with a group of five children...they were so excited to put them together and then to eat them!  Dave, Ellison's dad, came in to read a story before rest and relaxation.  And thank you to Nancy, Charlotte's mom, for volunteering to come on the three-year-olds first journey.  We had so much wonderful support this past week; we value the many ways that you all choose to participate. Kudos!

Curricular Updates

Threads in the Classroom

Dinosaurs

Interest in dinosaurs is spreading throughout the classroom. Roars of children enacting dinosaurs can be heard during focus exploration as they integrate dinosaurs to many aspects of their play. Children engage in building habitats for dinosaurs, making a dinosaur museum, and painting backdrops for a dinosaur play area. Earlier during the week we asked children to vote on which dinosaur they thought was the tallest, T-Rex, Brontosaurus, or Stegosaurus.. After learning that T-Rex was the tallest of the three dinosaurs, we brought in a tall ladder to construct meaning out of this abstract height of a prehistoric animal and see if it would fit into our classroom.

Hot Air Balloons

On Wednesday, Children worked together to make a loom on the loft and then weave a basket for our hot air balloon with colorful pieces of wide ribbon. Children used some of their wood working skills to measure out placements for hooks, pre-drill spots for them, and then screw them in. They learned the technique and pattern of weaving...over then under, over then under. This Tuesday we will be going on a "Hot Air Balloon Hunt"; we will be taking a journey to nearby landing sites to see if we can view one land.

Announcements
Thank Yous
A HUGE thank you to all the families that joined us for dinner on Wednesday night.  It was great to see everyone together and see your children share their experiences of the day.  Thank you to all the families that helped with the cooking, serving and clean-up as well!

Curricular Updates

Fall Journey

The K-2 had a wonderful time exploring the Murie Museum at the Kelly Campus, the Murie Center, as well as the Conservation Research Center this week for our Fall journey. We learned about local explorers including Olaus and Mardy Murie as naturalists and conservationists and did some exploring of our place on our own. Many thanks to Linda Franklin from the Murie Center and to Missy Brickl from the Conservation Research Center who helped to make this journey a great success despite the rainy weather. A big thank you to all of the parents who helped us with these two day journeys as well as with our potluck spaghetti dinner.

Homework
Families should begin to see homework coming home on a regular basis.  All homework in the K-2 is optional; however, families are encouraged to read together every night.  Reading aloud to your child is an important part of early literacy development. 

Explorations
In our exploration of the Muries, we have been exploring the use of journals as a naturalist tool using the sketches of Olaus stories of Mardy as examples.  Over the next week we will continue to talk about the value of journalizing as a way to communicate and record observations.

Carrying on with our theme of explorations and specifically the tools of a naturalist this past week, students explored the tools with journaling in Spanish.  Kjera brought many examples of what naturalists use in the field and reviewed the names of these tools in Spanish. 

Announcements

Cozy Up Day Thanks

Thanks to all the families and friends who joined us for Cozy Up Day last Thursday morning.  It was great to spend time with all of you in our classroom!  Special thanks are owed to Ellen Speers and Lynn Jamison, who provided snacks for our celebration.

Health Screenings

Journeys School students will participate in health screenings at school during the next three weeks.  Health screenings will take place on Wednesday, October 11, 18, and 25, from 9:00 a.m.-noon students’ height, weight, hearing, and vision will be checked.  Please contact your child’s advisor with any questions or concerns about these routine health screenings. 

Parent Council Meeting Rescheduled

Grades 3-5 will not host a Curriculum Night on the evening of Thursday, October 19, as originally scheduled.  This meeting was moved to September because of our Fall Extended Journey. 

Curriculum Updates

Fall Journey

Our Fall Extended Journey is approaching fast!  Students in the South Den will meet their teachers in front of the Welcome Center at 8:30 on Monday, October 16.  From there, they will travel to the Murie Center and will stay there until noon on Wednesday, October 18.  South Den students will be picked up at 3:00 at Journeys School on Wednesday.  Students in the North Den will come to school at 8:15 on Wednesday, October 18 and travel to the Murie Center later that morning.  North Den students will be back at Journeys School in time for regular pick-up at 3:00 on Friday, October 20.  Remember, students will have regular days of school with normal pick-up and drop-off times on days when they are not on the journey.  

During Advisory last Monday, we took time to answer students’ questions about the Journey.  We also reviewed the packing list with them.  We encouraged the Grades 3-5 students to pack their own duffel and day pack for this trip using the list we provided (of course, it is completely appropriate to check your child’s packing job before they leave the house!)

Music

In music class, students in Grades 3-5 have been working with Kristen on the theme “Pathways to Become a Better Singer.”  To this end, students have been practicing breathing exercises and learning the song “This Little Light of Mine.”  If your child is interested in improving their singing at home, suggest that he/she work on the “Peanut Butter!” breathing exercise (your child will be able to explain how this works). 

Announcements

Thank you

Thank you for talking with your students about what they are learning at school. Many students have relayed tidbits of wonderful conversations that are occurring at home.

Curricular Updates

Because of the multiple levels of courses now available in the Middle School, we have decided to report on math, language arts and life skills one week and science, social science and Spanish the next. 

Quotes of the Week

These may not happen every week, but we couldn’t resist!

“Hey, we should go write a persuasive essay to get Karl to let us stay inside for recess…” Jalaya

“So I was talking to my grandma about alleles…” Dani

Science

After celebrating the diversity of adaptations in our world, we have spent the last two weeks exploring the mystery of where these traits came. We were very fortunate to have a visit through time by Gregor Mendel, who (in broken English) personally explained his investigations of pea plant inheritance and how his findings led to the birth of genetics. Building off of Mendel’s work, students dove deeper into the cell to see how offspring get half of their genetic material from each parent. By becoming chromosomes, we as an entire middle school team, reenacted the beautiful dance of meiosis and fertilization. Ask your child to walk you through the steps using their notes. Next week we will apply our understanding of gene transfer and examine the probability of inheritance based on the parents’ genetic composition. The week will culminate with an assessment of our explorations to date. (Students will be reviewing all day Wednesday and going home with good study tools to prepare for Thursday).

Social Science

Students in social science just finished examining Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. We examined how Paine used intellectual and emotional arguments to try to sway the colonists’ opinion towards revolution. The students were asked to write their own persuasive essay on a current topic. Beginning this week, students in social science begin examining the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. We will investigate why these documents were created, by whom and how they inform our system of government today. One of the first assignments in this unit will ask students to memorize the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence. This would be a great task for everyone at home to work on!

Spanish

Over the past two weeks, we have been studying the Taino culture of the Caribbean.  Through readings, discussions, reflections, and drama the students have been learning about the history of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus.  After learning some common Taino words (from which we get the English words hammock, canoe, and hurricane, among others), we read excerpts from Columbus’ journal from October 12th 1492, his first day on land in the Americas.  With this information, the students wrote creative pieces in which they tried to represent the Taino perspective of the first encounter with the Europeans.  Most recently, we discussed emotions, and groups worked together to identify the feelings they believe the different parties involved may have felt about the arrival of the Europeans.  This understanding of the complex nature of the conquest of the Americas provided us the opportunity to examine the holidays Dia de la Raza and Columbus Day.  Ask your daughter or son why we choose to celebrate Dia de la Raza at Journeys School.

This week we will begin to explore the architecture and culture of the Peruvian highlands and the greater Incan empire.  The students should be able to identify the different parts of the home and describe traditional Incan techniques and building materials.  They will become architects as they design a home of their own according to these practices.  Look for floor plans and elevation drawings with Spanish labels in the coming weeks.

Announcements

PSAT Reminder – Saturday October 21

All students in grades 9 – 11 will take the PSAT test on Saturday, October 21 from 9:00 am until noon at Journeys School in the Upper School building. The test will begin promptly at 9:00 with no late admittances, per PSAT regulations. Please make sure your student arrives with enough to time to get settled. Students should bring No. 2 pencils with erasers and a calculator. They may also bring a water bottle and a snack to leave in the mudroom as there will be a break between test sections. They may not bring into the testing room watch alarms, cell phones, dictionaries or other testing aids.

Thank You

Upper school Spanish students thank Teton County Library and the Art Association for their exhibits on Tlaxcala, México and Cuban families. These were great opportunities to address our essential question “Qué observamos?” and prepare for Día de los Muertos.

Donde esta Kjera?

Kjera will be gone October 12-13 as she attends and presents at the PNAIS All Schools conference in Seattle, WA.

Curricular Updates

Physical/Health Education

This trimester started with an adventurous curriculum in Physical/Health education.  Students are participating in adventure based activities that emphasize creating community, team building, problem solving, risk taking, and creativity. The first major assessment took place this past week.  It entailed students facilitating a game of their own creation, based on one of the aforementioned topics. In the next couple of weeks we will be building on the lessons that we have learned thus far on the high elements at the Doug Walker Challenge Course.

Art

The last few weeks of art in upper school have been full of projects devoted to exploring how we observe and relating that to our large scale camera obscura project.  Camera obscura is essentially a room-sized pin-hole camera that we are designing for the community of Jackson.  We have practiced observing micro-scale texture, relaxed with large scale gesturing, studied the works of O’Keefe and Close and experimented with the dynamics of the eye.  We dissected elk eyes last week to help us understand the functions of the lens and related parts!  We have hopes of pulling all of our explorations into the trimester goal of a finished camera obscura for the public.

                               Making Our Fears Visible

                   Inspired by the article The Fear Equation

                                  Written by Erin Smith

Conversation is at the root of developing strong community. Our community is the structure that supports and teaches our children. Parents, teachers, administrators, and citizens of a town are all valued contributors and integral members of this “teaching” community. To collaborate in productive ways we need to be able to communicate, in the true sense of the word, beyond our exteriors. How do we share and converse in open and honest ways? How do we create a rapport, a sense of mutual understanding and sympathy, with members of our community? By making our fears public we give voice to the intangible obstacles that are living inside of us which create barriers to meaningful and comfortable conversation. These conflicts are inherently present in the relationship between the parent and the teacher, and are possibly at the heart of this “teaching” community. By bring awareness to the common fears that do exist for teachers and parents, I hope to promote more meaningful and more comfortable conversations and thereby build a stronger community. 

Each child is inherently diverse. Despite your best experience as a teacher or as a parent you have to learn new ways to support each child’s growth and learning. As teachers the odds are in your favor, based on the number of years of your experience, that you will have seen a child with similar characteristics. However, inevitably there will be moments when you struggle. As parents, despite all your expertise in your professional life, you are a novice with your first child or entirely different second or third child. When teachers and parents recognize these challenges from each perspective, their level of comfort in conversations tends to increase. When they can move beyond the first instinct to defend their roles they can begin to collaborate and share information to find the best possible means to support an individual child. When conversations between parents and teachers are limited to learning team meetings once per trimester, incorrect conclusions may be drawn. Teachers fear that they may be poorly represented through their students’ perspectives and parents fear that their child-rearing abilities will be judged through their child’s behavior. These fears can be dispelled by making opportunities for more informal conversations and by making a genuine effort to learn about each other as individual and diverse adults. A parent’s biggest fear may reside in having a teacher know their child better than they do. For an involved parent this will never be true. Involved parents are interested in their child’s work at school and occasionally check in with teachers even when things are going well without managing or hovering over their child. By virtue of the amount of time that young children spend in school settings; teachers are destined to learn a great deal about their students. However, teachers will not know or have experienced the spectrum of their growth. Both parties, parents and teachers, have valuable insights to offer each other about the child in relation to two separate contexts. A parent can be a child’s best advocate as they have known their child’s life in its entirety. A teacher has a microscope on what is living and growing presently. Both perspectives are valuable.

At Journeys School, our community offers up opportunities for both formal and informal conversations.  Through Learning Team Meetings, phone-calls or quick conversations at the bus stop, teachers and parents can converse in open and honest ways as they acknowledge their fears and make them visible. By making more opportunities for casual conversations and by showing genuine interest to get to know the individual; teachers and parents develop stronger and more meaningful relationships that will allow for deeper and more comfortable conversations. Through these conversations we can strengthen the core of our “teaching community”.

The Fear Equation the complete article that inspired this editorial.

Tips for Promoting Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences

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© 2005, Basecamp News, Journeys School of Teton Science Schools.