April 18, 2008
Vol I., Issue 30

  Around Campus

So much cool stuff was going on in classrooms this week that we couldn’t even get to it all! Enjoy…

Second grade art students were camera totin’ prodigies this week. First they snapped shots of their posing classmates. Then they developed the photos into cyanotypes or sun prints. (Yeah, we didn’t know what that meant either. It’s a developing process that uses UV light and results in blue and white pictures – just F.Y.I.)

Third graders were busy with their own, slightly ickier, project. They dissected a cow heart during science and appeared to be quite interested in seeing the “real thing.” Also impressive – there were no reports of queasiness, not even from the girls!

Sixth grade science lab was a little less – well, organic. Students shook a toy car, set it on a race track and tried to determine what made the car run. Was it kinetic or potential energy, both, or was it the battery? You’ll have to ask one of them to get the answer!

And next up… high-tech math. Upper and Middle School math teams participated in an online math competition sponsored by UTD earlier this week that put our students up against students from all over the world. Talk about a global approach to education! We’ll let you know when the results are in.

Our students are used to math and technology in the same room, though. Some of our Middle and Upper School math classrooms are equipped with TI Navigators, which are interactive calculators that work with SMART Boards. They really are pretty neat!

  Hot Topic

Tuesday, April 22, is Earth Day, and the Parish Green Team is offering incentives to participate.

On Tuesday, if 3rd through 12th graders bring a “no waste” lunch, they can wear jeans and a Parish t-shirt to school on Friday, April 25, as a reward for their (and your) effort.

So, what is a “no waste” lunch? It means at the end of the meal, there is nothing to throw away. NOTHING. Here’s an example of a “no waste” lunch: real eating utensils, a cloth napkin, a washable cup, and all reusable containers all packed in a lunch pail or reusable bag (no brown baggin’ it on Tuesday).

And for you faculty and staff members, if you carpool to work on Tuesday, you get to dress down Friday as well.

Let’s all pitch in and show our support for a greener, cleaner earth!