IN THE NEWS:

Irwing Bernal (10th grade) worked with Hatilie Anderson at a recent community Latino Resource evening. His voluntary efforts were much appreciated and he represented Journeys School and Teton Science Schools extremely well. Several students performed in a Dancer’s Workshop show on May 25th. Dancers included Millie Peck, Dolce Sara, Bettina Hall, Kiva McConaughy-Munn, Leila Sandlin, Ellie O’Shei, Avery Holdsworth, Brooke Blann and Cait O’Shei.

Graduation: June 14, 5:30 PM

The Class of 2006 commencement ceremony will occur at the Jackson Campus on June 14, 5:30 PM. A community celebration and music will follow at 6:30 PM. All are welcome to attend and celebrate the end of the year.

Come prepared for Community Day, Tuesday, June 6!

For a successful day of community service projects, ALL Journeys School students, Pre K-12, need to bring the following to school on June 6:

   ·non- microwavable field lunch (Drinks and dessert will be

    provided!)

  · appropriate outdoor/work clothing and shoes (no Tevas or

    sandals, please)

  · water bottle

  · sunscreen/ bug repellant

Become a Host Family

The brother of Emilie Herting, a German exchange student who studied at Journeys School two years ago, is interested in spending the first trimester on campus next year. According to his aunt who lives in Pinedale, Cam is a mature and outgoing boy, seventeen years old and 6'2" tall! If you would be interested in hosting this international student next year for the months of September and October, please contact Jessica Lindstrom or Rhonda Watson for more details. The Hertings have also indicated that they would welcome the opportunity to host a Journeys School student in their home in Germany next summer, as well.

Enrollment Agreements Due

If you haven’t already signed and returned your child’s “enrollment agreement” please send those to Rhonda. Even if you plan to pay the entire tuition in one payment, we need to have these agreements on file. Call Rhonda if you need another copy.

Monthly Tuition Payments Begin July 1

For parents choosing the monthly payment plan for next year’s tuition, please establish your Key Bank accounts. The first payment is due July 1, 2006. Signing up for monthly payments after that date will result in having to make “back payments” in order to catch up to the schedule. Informational brochures were sent out in folders of elementary students. Brochures will be mailed to parents of middle or upper school students. The information in the brochure is also available on-line at www.key.com/journeys. If you have questions about the Key Bank program, please contact John Hanson at 733-1313.

Jackson Hole Film Festival Student Films!

Join students in grades 6 – 11 as they show five short films as part of the Jackson Hole Film Festival. The world premiere of these films will be held on Tuesday, June 6 at 7 PM at the Mainstage Theatre. Student film makers will be present to answer questions about the films.

Parent Council Changes:

At Parent Council meeting last week, a draft of the new Parent Council format was presented. In the fall of 2006, this new format will be instated along with committee heads and parent council representatives. Please review the proposal below and let Nate know if you are interested in being part of the foundation of this new parent council (committee member).

                                   Journeys School

                                    Parent Council

Introduction: Given the feedback from parents and maturity of the school, it is time to move Parent Council into the hands of the parent community. It is our hope that any parent that wants to be involved with the school community will have the opportunity to do so with the Parent Council. This council would work closely with the Head of School to accomplish three primary goals:

  1. Strengthen the Journeys School community outside of the  

      classroom.
  2. Organize resources and provide support for teachers inside

      the classroom and on journeys
  3. Coordinate and support Journeys School events to support

      parent education, annual fundraising, and the three major

     Journeys yearly events (fall potluck, winter celebration,

     graduation/end of the year celebration).

Structure: The Parent Council would be led by five parents, each representing a different level of the school (Pre-K, K-2, 3-5, MS, US). The five Parent Council Directors would be responsible for running the three meetings held each year, working directly with the Head of School and the school community to achieve the goals above, and coordinate committee meetings. The first set of Parent Council Directors will be appointed by the Head of School.

Committees: Each year in the back to school information, parents will have the opportunity to sign up for a different committee. Each committee would be responsible for organizing or coordinating specific activities. The committee would have a chair that sets dates and works with the appropriate faculty or staff to help support the school. Each committee may have a faculty representative. It is our hope that any parent that wants to volunteer their time and expertise will have the opportunity to do so. Possible committees are listed below:

  1. Classroom and Journeys Support Committee (one

  representative per level): Works with teachers at each level to

  get classroom help and/or journeys support when needed.

  2. Event Support Committee: Works with the Administrative

  Director to help coordinate the three major events.

  3. Annual Fund Support Committee: Works with the

  Advancement Department to help support annual fund raising.

  4. New Family Mentor Committee: Develops a family mentor

  program for new families to help introduce them to the Journeys

  School.

  5. Social Events Committee: Sponsors group activities for

  children and adults to promote a strong community outside of

  normal classroom activities or school events.

  6.Parent Education Committee: Coordinates a set of yearly

  discussions among parents on various topics both facilitated by

  current parents or by an outside expert.

  7. Admissions Committee: Works with the Director of

  Admissions to give tours, help with open houses, and talk to

  prospective parents.

Parent Council Minutes Available

If you were unable to attend last week’s Parent Council meeting, you can read a summary of the discussions from each grade level as well as the all-school session with Nate. This summary is available on the website on the Parent Resource Page.

Discover How Your Child Learns

‘To treat everyone the same is to treat them unequally. We are making a plea for the understanding of diversity, for greater flexibility in education, so that every child can find success in his or her own way.” -Dr. Mel Levine, M.D.

On the evening of Monday, June 5th, Teton Science Schools’ Teacher Learning Center and Journeys School will host:

      All Kinds of Minds: How Every Child Can Succeed
                           Presented by Dr. Mel Levine

Dr Levine is a professor of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School in Chapel Hill and Director of the University’s Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning. He is a nationally renowned pediatrician and author.
Dr. Levine is also co-founder of All Kind of Minds, a nonprofit institute that focuses on different ways of learning. All Kinds of Minds developed the Schools Attuned Program, which is based on 30 years of significant brain research. (The Schools Attuned Program will be implemented at Journeys School next year.)

The presentation will take place at:

7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
June 5th, 2006
Jackson Hole High School Auditorium
No charge for admission
Please join us for this extraordinary experience!
For more information contact: bonnie.jones@teacherlearningcenter.org
All Journeys parents are encouraged to attend!!

A Call for Parent Volunteers

Parent volunteers are requested for the school day of Tuesday, June 6. Students will be involved in service projects, group initiatives, planning for our culminating all-school event, and having fun while learning together during a Community Day planned for all day of June 6. This is a great opportunity for parents to catch a glimpse of some of the alternative multi-age programming that happens at Journeys. On June 6 all of Journeys School’s staff will be engaged in a professional development opportunity with pediatrician and learning needs specialist Mel Levine, who has founded the All Kinds of Minds program as a means to help students maximize their learning capabilities. Because of this special in-service opportunity students will participate in the multi-age Community Day program to be led by staff members of the Jackson campus and facilitated by parent volunteers. If you can help with this program for an hour, half a day, or the whole day, please contact Nick Delmolino who is coordinating Jackson Campus staff and volunteers at 733-1313, ext 1214 or nick.delmolino@tetonscience.org. We will very much appreciate your assistance and we know you’ll enjoy spending a day with the students of Journeys School.

Pre-Kindergarten

Announcements:

Capstone Journey

June 9, 2006, is the date of our Capstone Journey for all graduating Pre-K students. We are going to Jenny Lake to ride the boat, hike to hidden falls with a Wildlife Expeditions guide, and boulder near the lake. Parents are strongly encouraged to join. You can meet us at Jenny Lake anytime during the day or join us for the entire time. Please contact Anna at anna.mccamy@journeysschool.org if you would like to come.

Parent Council

Parent Council was very exciting for we viewed the 2005-2006 slideshow and reviewed over all the many projects of the students through the year. If you were unable to attend, we will be sending a copy of the slideshow home near the end of the year. Please continue looking out for new and old documentation through the classroom.

Farewell Nic

Nic Speed celebrated his last day of school on May 26. We ventured out to the Snake River to make boats from sticks and other natural materials. The students sent the boats down stream with high hopes that the boats will make it to the Columbia River and all the way to Portland, Oregon where he will be living.

Late Pick Up on May 31, 2006

Please remember that the Pre-k is joining their family group this day. They will not be dismissed until 2:45. Pick up will be from 2:45-3:00.

INDOOR SHOES

Due to fire codes, it is mandatory that students wear shoes at all times. Please provide your child with two pairs of shoes each day. One pair is for indoor activities and the other for outdoor activities.

Curricular Updates:

Paleontologists? Archeologists?

We now have both in the Pre-k classroom. During the week, students dug out the mud pit in the play yard and set up an artifact/bone sight. They have hidden many animal bones, shells, and other items that make for an interesting find. Students have been discussing the differences between archeologists and paleontologists, as well as, learning the words artifact, excavate, and extinct. Please ask your child if you have any questions about the meaning of these words.

Exploration and Writing

Put your writing gloves on your hands, your writing cap on your head, and your writing glasses over your eyes… find your special spot and start creating! Paired with a middle school student, the pre-k students are exploring their world verbally while the middle school students write their ideas onto paper. The team is working towards developing a story about a special spot or artifact that inspires their imagination. Be on the lookout for the final creations developed through this exciting multi-age interaction.

Announcments:

Thank You...
• Dana Sara (Dolce’s mom) and Jenn Foley (Ross’ mom) for helping teach Kindergarten Math on Thursdays. This week, the Kindergarteners each chose an avocado seed to germinate. The students used this hands-on activity to practice different forms of measurement. The students practiced measuring length, weight, and volume as they measured and weighed their seed then measured the volume of water in their cup. During math, students have been observing the changing water level in their cups as well as the growth of their seed. Parent involvement is a key to each child’s success and we appreciate everyone who gives their time to help out.
• Arne Jorgensen and Teresa De Groh (Annika’s parents) for preparing and serving a delicious breakfast for the entire Journeys School faculty last Friday. It was obvious that we like your cooking (everyone cleaned their plates), and we truly appreciate your thoughtfulness. It really means a lot.

June 1st and 2nd Journeys… places to go, lots to learn!
As our journeys are rapidly approaching, please be sure to check your child’s folder for important information regarding the schedule, items to bring, etc. Both journey groups will be departing at 8:30 sharp from the Welcome Center on Thursday, June 1st, so have your child to school on time if they are planning on joining us.

Curricular Updates:
Pronghorn and Caribou Literacy Groups
The Pronghorn and Caribou literacy groups joined forces during the past two weeks to work on a shadow puppet play of the story Naya Nuki which is based on the book by local author Ken Thomasma. The literacy groups both read this book at different times during the school year. The process of turning it into a play allowed all of us to revisit the story and study it in depth. After making “story maps” of the book to track the main characters and sequence of important events, the students collaborated to write a script for the play. Writing anything as a group is challenging, but the students had recently practiced this technique when they participated in the I CAN book project, and they worked well as a team. The students had to think about voice, language and word choice. After the script was in rough form we began the process of making our shadow puppets and trying out the script “on screen”. As the students memorized lines and created puppets there were lots of suggestions for revisions along the way. Using shadow puppets is very fun and sometimes it was challenging to practice the script instead of experimenting, but team work prevailed. We performed the finished product on Monday, May 22 for our classmates and the participant’s parents.

A to Z
Kindergartners have finally finished their ABC books from A to Z! If you would like this masterpiece to be included in your child’s portfolio please return it to school. These well known authors have just started a classroom book called, Shadows of our Places and Spaces. Original watercolored pages are the backgrounds for detailed cut out black placed-based objects. It will be hitting the shelves soon, stay tuned for the release date!

K-2 Art
Kindergarten artists are really close to finishing their art books. We've been working on them little by little all year and we are excited to share them with our families. Our books have eight pages and represent the fundamentals of art we have learned along the way this year: primary and secondary colors, warm and cool colors, patterns, texture, looking closely at our place, using our imaginations, and self-portraiture. Look for these special books to come home in about two weeks.

After learning all about the origins of our landscape, 1-2 artists worked to draw and paint their vision of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. We discussed realistic vs. abstract images, and how abstract lines and pictures can represent something real without looking just like it. Using our bodies and movement, we tried to make lines and shapes that looked like the Snake River, the Yellowstone eruption, and the Tetons. After making lines with our bodies, we put them on paper using oil pastels and painted over them with watercolors. To finish off these gorgeous landscape paintings, students wrote poetry about their artwork. Please come into our classroom to see our beautiful work.

Announcements:

Library Update

Debbie Schlinger from the Teton County Library will visit our classroom on Monday, June 5. She plans to introduce the summer reading activities offered by the library and drum up excitement for their summer programs. Last year, Journeys had the most students participate in the program relative to school size at the elementary level. Be sure to ask your child how they would like to be involved!

Capstone Presentations

Fifth Grade students will present their capstone work on Thursday, June 8 and Friday, June 9. Each student will have 15 minutes to share his or her learning. Parents, other family members, grandparents, relatives and friends are invited to attend. Faculty and students from other grade levels have also been invited. Presentations will take place in the Grades 3-5 building and will most likely occur in the learning lab to allow for a darkened room. Here is the schedule:

Thursday, June 8

8:30-9:30 Forrest, Gus, Tess

9:30-10:00 Recess

10:00-11:00 Montse, Maggie, Breezy

Friday, June 9

8:30-9:30 Cassidy, Arthur, Brooke

9:30-10:00 Recess

10:00-10:35 Dani, Cait

Curricular Updates:

Capstone Journey to Space Camp

Eleven fifth graders, four parent chaperones, and Andie recently traveled to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama for the fifth grade capstone journey. It was amazing! We came as close to space travel as possible without leaving the Earth. Students simulated moon walking, experienced g-force, and participating in a shuttle launch simulation. Teamwork was a key to our success and Journeys School students were rewarded with the Outstanding Team award for the Pathfinder Program. Special thanks to Janie O’Shei, Kristin Ballard, Laurie Blann, and Brent Blue for their energy, fun, and kid care on the journey. The fifth graders are preparing to blast off to middle school!

Grades 3-4 Yellowstone Journey

Our journey to Yellowstone was a great success! The weather was beautiful, so we were able to spend lots of time outdoors. Students honed their naturalist skills by making wildlife observations, painting and drawing in the field, and observing the geology of the Fountain Paint pots. Tige observed, “The fumarole sounds like a vacuum!” Shelley noticed, “The steam from the Jet Geyser is a rising pillar of smoke.” Ruby commented, “Fountain Geyser shoots up steam and water like rockets. It sprays my face.” After our visit to the Paint pots, students watched the Imax movie “Coral Reef Adventure.” The film fit well with our theme in science, “Interesting Life and Places on Earth,” and the students learned a good deal about the fragile ecology of coal reefs. Another highlight of the journey was our “Dusk Wildlife Safari,” during which we learned to identify the song of an American Robin and saw many infant bison! Special thanks to Katie Pierce, Regena Field, and Kelly Hanson for coming with us as parent chaperones.

Illuminated Paintings

Students practiced looking closely at their place as we painted along the Madison River in Yellowstone. We referenced the work and journals of Hannah Hinchman, local artist and naturalist, as we created our own illuminated paintings like she does. What makes an illuminated painting or journal entry different from any other is that it combines both words and images to make meaning. Here are some examples of what students wrote in Yellowstone:

“Sound”

The river goes pluck pluck

The dandelion sways to and fro, to and fro

The log goes wiggle wiggle

The wind moves the grass swoosh swoosh

The rain came down pluck pluck

-Sascha Heywood

The flowers were very beautiful and yellow.

The green before the yellow and the type of

Purple brown before the green

Is really all a dandelion is.

-Ella Detwyler

After returning from Yellowstone, we hiked around our own campus at Journeys to create illuminated paintings of our place. These are examples of what students wrote while exploring our campus:

This is like a kingdom of yellow and green grass with the royal in the middle of the kingdom.

-Lyons Wells

One lonely plant, on which a spider web rests,

While clouds drift by in the sky

The hill takes up most of the background

And the wind blows,

Whistling cheerily through the sagebrush,

Like a happy old man.

-Tara Speers

The Green Gentian stands still and curved even when the wind blows.

-Garrett King

Phenology

Keep your eyes peeled for interesting spring species! We have brought phenology back in its traditional form, and will be collecting observations from students for the next three weeks.

Announcements:

Car Wash

Capstone students are tentatively planning a middle school car wash for June 9th in afternoon. Stay posted for more details.

Capstone Culminating Projects

Capstone presentations and a showing of culminating projects will take place on the mornings of June 15th and 16th.

Thank You

The middle school faculty would like to extend a heart-felt thank you to Julie McLaurin for the tasty authentic Thai lunch last week. It was scrumptious!

Curricular Updates:

Culminating Project
Culminating project for spring trimester will begin on June 7th. Students will research the media, the nature of power and leadership, the role of technology in human lives, art & music, environment, demographics and education. Each group will chose a topic and answer the question, “How does (their topic) affect middle school culture?” Using the information and data collected, students will portray their findings through a documentary-style film.

Math 2
Level 2 math students are investigating volumes and surface areas of various cylinders. Recently, students cut out a two dimensional pattern of a cylinder. Before constructing the cylinder, students were asked to think about dimensions and surface area. After forming the cylinder, students determined volume. Through this investigation, students discovered relationships between surface area and volume and they discovered strategies for finding the volume and surface area of a cylinder. Students then used their discoveries to investigate interesting problems involving the volumes and surface areas of cylinders and prisms. Students were challenged to find a rectangular prism with the same volume as a particular cylinder. Students accomplished this by designing a new juice box for a juice company.

Science
Students are in the midst of a 2 week, self-directed science project about energy. They have selected their own topic and format for the project, have mapped out a project timeline to keep themselves on track, and are working during class and at home to complete the projects by June 5. Some of the projects include building a model wind turbine that actually produces electricity, connecting a stationary bicycle to power a T.V., researching historical global climate change, and creating a video documentary about alternative fuel cars in the area. Students are excited about the chance to work hard learning a topic of their choice. Our classroom will be quite a showcase of energy projects on June 5 – please stop by to learn from them.

Life Skills
In life skills students are learning about the media and self image. During this unit students are developing an awareness that advertisements are designed to deliver very specific messages to consumers and that advertisements don’t necessarily tell the whole truth about a product. Last week students created parody advertisements in the form of a print ad or a commercial. It was a fun way for students to analyze popular advertisements, taking the elements of the ad that give it power, and making them absurd by turning the message around to show that the ad’s original message was ridiculous or even untrue.

Community
As a student teacher, I have been amazed by the interaction of students and teachers in this community. From the day that I first arrived at Journeys, I felt welcomed and I knew that my ideas and comments were cherished. The students have opened their minds to my input and the teachers have helped me hone my professional skills. It is this kind of community that makes learning fun and productive whether you’re a student teacher or a student. I have had the fortune to be a part of many daily practices, closings, and faculty meetings. The premise of these meetings is how we can strengthen our community at all levels. As a faculty, our meetings focus on how we can perform better for the students. As a community, our morning practices and closings focus on how our community can operate at an optimum level for everyone involved. The students’ behavior and openness is a direct reflection of our community operations and, I must say, as a “guest” to this community, the reflection looks good. What has inspired me most is the impact these regular meetings have on the students. Daily, I see students who are compelled to ask provocative questions, students who care about the well-being of others, and students who cherish sharing life’s experiences with their community. This community has provided enlightening opportunities that many schools are missing. I can see that the students have been enlightened, as well. I cannot thank our community enough. I cannot wait to share this community experience with colleagues and students in my future endeavors.

Announcements:

Mile High Journey: The upper school spent the week of

May 15-19 exploring and experiencing Denver, Colorado.

The focus of this journey, as it is for our annual spring journey, was to learn how to navigate the urban space and learn how to take advantage of what cities have to offer by way of education outside of schools.

Activities included an urban scavenger hunt, a tour at the Denver aquarium, viewing a Major League Baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers (Rockies won, 5-1), a guided walk with University of Denver professor Dr. Richard Biffle in Denver’s historically African American neighborhoods, and a tour of the Body Worlds 2 exhibit at the museum of science and nature including viewing an IMAX format film. The Body Worlds exhibit was definitely a highlight of the trip. Ask your child about it.

We also provided service for the Denver food bank which provides meals for under privileged young children and senior citizens. We all know what it is like to work on an assembly line now. We also had time to relax, take advantage of Denver’s beautiful parks, cook out, read, write in our journals, and even play some water polo.

The students and faculty would like to thank all upper school parents for their financial help and overall support of the journey. We all had a wonderful time and learned much in the process.

Cool Summer Learning Opportunity!

City Kids Wilderness Project is a nonprofit outdoor

adventure program located in Hoback Junction. Their

primary program serves students from financially

challenged homes who live in the greater Washington

D.C. area.

This summer they are initiating a mini-camp with the

national organization Facing History and Ourselves.

The 5-day residential camp will include the FHAO

curriculum "Choices in Little Rock", an exploration of

the integration of Central High School. Additional

activities are horseback riding, swimming, arts,

orienteering, hiking, and fun activities and games.

They are offering this special program to a select group

of City Kids teens, and for the first time, to Journeys upper school students as well other area students, including those from the Wyoming Indian School. Currently, they have just 5 spaces left!

Please contact Drew ASAP at drew.overholser@journeysschool.org or ext. 1115 if you are interested or have any questions.

Curricular Updates:

9-11 Science

Using the Upper School’s essential question for the spring trimester “What is the earth, and how does it function?” as a guide, 9-11 Science has explored the variety of life on Earth, biodiversity, on multiple levels. Students began by defining biodiversity, investigating its ecological, economic, and cultural value and looking at the current status of Earth’s species. Most recently, students learned about the process of speciation, the creation of new species, through natural selection and genetic isolation. The trimester will conclude by exploring a major cause of biodiversity loss, habitat fragmentation, through a scientific investigation in partnership with the Conservation Resource Center of the Teton Science Schools. Over the next few weeks, students will be collecting data on avian species richness in aspen communities throughout Jackson Hole in order to answer the study question: “What is the affect of housing density on song bird communities in aspen stands?”

        

    Mapmaking in Elementary Education

               by Charlie Gorski

Mapmaking in elementary education compliments the traditional academic subjects of math, literacy, science, and social studies. By making maps, children gain skills needed in all these areas while gaining first hand knowledge about the world around them.

This fall, K-2 students spent time creating maps of the new Journeys School Campus to help visitors find their way. Each student chose what to include on her own map. Each map included a red star to mark the mapmaker’s favorite place on the campus that he wanted our visitor’s to see. The stars marked a variety of places from secret spots in the forest to cozy nooks in the classroom.

By making maps, children connect to a place while learning early literacy and math skills in a hands-on way. To create their map students use basic math concepts of size comparison, scale, measurement, and spatial arrangement. Through their work with symbols, keys, and titles, they are practicing literacy skills. Mapmaking encourages and challenges students to accurately portray their surroundings on paper. While creating a map, the students pay close attention to details including scale and orientation while investigating the landscape. These maps also provide insight into which details are important to each child. By mapping areas that are important in the student’s life, they develop a sense of place. This special knowledge of their surroundings creates ownership and respect for their environment.

Instilling a strong sense of place in young children is crucial for creating aware and responsible citizens. By learning about their local environment, children gain not only knowledge, but also respect and understanding. To map an area, students must explore every angle and look for each detail in the landscape. This exploration encourages a critical evaluation of one’s surroundings. It is this evaluation and understanding that creates community members who are rooted in their community. Being rooted implies viewing the world as a part of it, not an outside observer, allowing one to become advocates for one’s place.

Mapmaking fits well within the multi-age classroom of Journeys School. Students of different ages and abilities are free to map a given area within their ability. Mapmaking class also targets a wide range of learning styles while allowing each student to succeed. A well designed mapmaking curriculum will challenge students with developmentally appropriate activities and also follow a logical progression in its scope. Many geography lessons focus on far away places that are not tangible to young students. Before learning about a world map, it makes sense to map places closer to home. Students find it easier to understand a map when they can compare it to the real terrain it covers. They also have success making maps when they can survey the land while mapping it. This means making big maps of small places that are close to the students’ daily lives. As each child’s experience broadens, so should the scope of their maps. This progression allows for a true understanding of geography as well as developing knowledge of and attachment to place.

When academics are integrated into a hands-on and personal subject, children are actively engaged in learning. When children are actively engaged in learning, using critical thinking skills, and valuing their place in the world, their learning becomes richer and more meaningful.

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