A week of diverse activity

It was very fitting that the ACPTA city-wide Reflections Art Fair was held the weekend leading up to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.  Winning entries surrounding the aptly titled theme, “Diversity Is…”  were in full abundance Saturday at the new Vuka Co-op on West Monroe in South Austin.  It was great seeing all the entries around the walls and on tables, as well as our own 2 Scottie entries now headed to state competition.  Third grader Lenny Chen’s musical composition International Sonatina was available for recorded play in one area of the upstairs section.  His proud parents tell me that though Lenny is able to read music, he also has the gift of being able to play a piece from memory after hearing it 2-3 times.  Quite impressive.  Fifth grader George Guckenberger’s poem about diversity was also on display and one of many artistic bents George demonstrates – I hear he is also quite the film director.  The last line of his poem summed up the meaning of the day most aptly – “We are who we are, we are different, yet we are alike”.  Dr. King would concur I have no doubt.



Lenny and his Sonatina playing in the background



George and Ms. Workman in front of his winning poem



Extremely busy week at HP.  Various staff and/or I were involved in several activities related to the creative classroom, both on and off campus.  Tuesday, our Any Given Child Leadership team met with other pilot school teams at the Bob Bullock museum for a full day training on arts integration within content areas.  We participated in a very engaging activity with a CEDFA rep related to movement/expressions and a science lesson on magnets.  Along with my partner Mrs. Guenther and other participant pairs, we learned about and then demonstrated properties of attract and repel; all with some fun body movements and facial expressions showing such things as surprise, happiness, and sadness.  I know I will certainly remember the old adage "opposites attract, likes repel" as it relates to science concepts and I also know students who participate in this type of creative teaching activity would as well - that’s the point!   These creative strategies give teachers another tool in their toolbox to engage students in the learning and to further their understanding of content concepts.  'Cause we all learn in different ways.  Fun and powerful.

Wrapping up arts planning this week, just have to mention the meeting on Thursday with The Kennedy Center reps and Any Given Child arts steering committee.  Listening to the in-depth thinking produced by this varied group from across our community at large, not to mention their passion for the arts and its importance to all AISD kids, never fails to impress me.  I always come away humbled by my time with them.  Great things ahead for this initiative and for our district’s students as they look at next year and the years beyond. 

After school on Thursday, Grade 2-5 teachers participated in an overview of the new expository writing component on the 4^th grade STAAR writing test this year.  The takeaways from the training centered on a few key points – consistent use of the “4 Square” planning protocol at all grades (ask a teacher for specifics if interested!), the importance of students knowing and using concise, effective language in their writing, as well as the value in having teachers score  compositions besides their own student pieces in order to help build inter-rater reliability among scorers.  Good, solid training materials provided from our district and some great conversation surrounding all things writing at HP. 

In case you didn’t know, children’s singer/songwriter Ben Gundersheimer, aka Mr. G, was on campus Thursday as well, entertaining our K-1 students and staff.  Thanks to music teacher Maria Satterwhite and parent Julie Berwald for arranging this musical performance.  Mr. G sang songs, played the guitar, and engaged kids through hand and body movements to build active participation - loved the section where all Scottie bullfrogs jumped!   He managed to also get in a few lessons as well (discussion of his songwriting process and the performance of a really cool song about cleaning up pollution to name a couple).  Great reviews from those in attendance, me most especially.  Check out the event on our HP website or Mr. G’s website at the following link.  http://www.mistergsongs.com/index.html 



Mr. G rockin' the house!

Finally, look below for something we’ve been waiting for a long time.  Yes, the staging for the Aquarena Springs shade structure installation has finally happened!  Exciting, exciting, exciting  - did I mention it’s exciting?  Be on the lookout for future developments as we improve the front of our school.  Can’t wait.

Many ways to get moving!

Be sure to check out the newest addition to our upper track area as it winds its way around Perry Park.  Parent Julie Buchanan, her daughter Bridget, and some enthusiastic volunteers have installed a Story Walk to the area for all to enjoy.  In Julie's own words, " Beginning January 9, 2012, members of Brownie Troop 2380 will be sponsoring a StoryWalk installation on the HP playground.  The StoryWalk project combines physical activity with literacy and is an innovative way to get people of all ages to enjoy nature and exercise while reading children’s picture books.  Pages of selected books will be posted at various points along the walking path around the playground so people of all ages can follow the story as they walk the route.  This week’s story, "I Want My Hat Back" by Jon Klassen, is sponsored by Julie, Britt, Bennett and Bridget Buchanan.  Look for new stories in the coming weeks!".  Thanks Buchanan family and Brownie Troop 2380 for this extra boost to literacy on campus. 

Julie and Bridget

Though we don't have the ticket price details yet (those are coming next week), our 2nd community arts event (including staff!) will be the Friday, Februray 24, 8:00 pm dance performance of Diavolo at Bass Concert Hall.  Per the promotional materials, "Diavolo reinvents dance, re-imagines theater, and redefines thrills.  Dancers, gymnasts, and actors take movement, athletics, and daring to the extreme, creating abstract narratives through surreal tableaux...utilizing everyday items such as doors, chairs, and stairways to provide the backdrop for an evening of dramatic movment."  I'm told this event will be thrilling for the entire family (boys and girls, young and old!), so we hope to see you there as we come together around the arts.  Feel free to do some "pre-event" checking on the performance at the TX Performing Arts website. Again, details for tickets, with a special link to order, should be available next week in our Scottie Informer.  FUN!

Finally, speaking of fun, just have to give some special props to Coach DeLine and Coach Supak of the HP PE program.  Those guys, as a team, have created some wonderful programming around physical education.  Though many, many of you have volunteered in your child's PE class this year and have seen some of the incredible motivators these guys have put into place, look below for pictures of Coach DeLine's buckets of inspiration if you haven't yet seen them.  Put together over the last couple of years with some current and former Scotties, these buckets serve as instant motivation to move past an issue a student may be having and to turn the situation into a positive outcome.  For example, if someone is not feeling very sportsman-like and needs some inspiration to win or lose positively, the Sportsmanship Spice bucket filled with "sportsmanship magic dust" can be brought out, sprinkled on the student having a hard time, and, like magic, can turn a negative emotion into a positive.  Cool!  As you can see below, Coach has lots of buckets for lots of different things that can crop up in a PE period (and beyond); one more avenue for kids to turn their day around so that teaching and learning can still take place, as well as a tool to let kids know they indeed have the power to handle their own emotions and reactions.   Stop in to see these buckets if you haven't and also be sure to check out Coach's newest endeavor, the Waka-Waka videos, on the HP website.  You'll be glad you did! http://www.hipark.austin.isd.tenet.edu/HPhome/Recent_Events.html

Buckets of Inspiration

Former Scottie Scarlett with her Sportsmanship Spice Creation

Hitting the Ground Running

While we are still waiting on those elusive Aquarena Shade structures (just some minor glitches, they are now at the contractor's site, so give Therese Baer a big hug when you see her as she so deserves it!), Wednesday saw staff back on campus, engaging in staff development for most of the day.  In the morning, Laine Leibick provided teachers with 3 of the required 6 hours training related to their GT certification; additionally, Melissa O’Donnell and Beth Finkle gave all K-5 teachers a refresher on math invented strategies and model drawing (lots of good questions and clarifications).  In the afternoon, grades 3-5 reviewed STAAR updates, 2^nd grade teachers met with Nat Miller on the upcoming Zach Scott workshops in their classes, and K-1/Special Area planned together and worked getting ready for the next day.   A truly busy and productive day, not to mention how nice it was to see staff together once again.  Also, thanks to Jodi Leach and PTA for providing those yummy, welcome back tacos for staff as well.  Appreciated!

Of course, the first day back for students is also very special.  Lots of smiles and hugs up and down the hallways Thursday morning. Students missed their teachers, missed their friends, and missed their routines.  And you know what?  We missed them.   As you can see from our office staff below, everyone hit the ground running, registering new students, ordering supplies, and checking in parents.  A good first student day.



CC enrolling new students



Sara adding up the totals!



Megan helping an HP Dad check-in at the office

I met Wednesday afternoon with some delightful representatives of UT's Texas Performing Arts organization.  Thanks to HP parent Shannon Ratcliff for arranging this get-together, and special appreciation to TPA Development Officer and Manager Ann Stafford and Donor and Member Relations coordinator Mindy Graves for coming out to meet with me, plan with me, and brainstorm next steps for our school.  Working with these folks, I can officially say we are honing in on our second HP community arts event (another component to our Any Given Child year one action plan) and it promises to be worthwhile for the whole family. More details to come next week on this newest partnership, but start thinking some awesome night performances, field experiences for our kids, and more.  This will be our opportunity to show our continued support for the arts, so look for the info and let's enjoy this great community together.   I want as many Scotties to participate as possible in the upcoming family events -get your calendars ready.  Really cool stuff y'all!

Finally, Kathy Sederholm has shared our recent middle of the year Dibels scores and I have to say Scotties are showing great strides in all things fluency.  For example, did you know that at 2nd grade 91 students are already at end of the year (EOY) benchmark in reading fluency and that 9 have met middle of the year (MOY) benchmark?  That's awesome and leaves only a small number in need.  Or that at first grade 49 students are at EOY benchmark, 37 have met their MOY benchmark, with only 5 now needing extra fluency support?  I can list the numbers for every grade level (still working on Kinder assessments), but fluency is looking good at grades 1-5.  It can't be stressed enough the value in those parent and volunteer staffed fluency centers, nor the value in the early intervention model; fluency is only one piece of the puzzle in literacy skills - think phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, and comprehension - and teachers are working diligently on interventions in those areas as well, but fluency is a crucial piece.   We are beginning to see the fruits of our labor, the foundation is there, and kids are developing skills they will take with them beyond HP.  Not test taking skills, but foundational reading skills they need for more rigorous content reading as they enter those intermediate and middle years.  Thanks to Kathy, Maria, Jeannine for all you have done to keep fluency alive and well at our school.  We all have much work to do, we're not there yet as we know the district benchmarks and state STAAR assessments are just around the corner, but fluency at HP is lookin' good.

So really, it's been a good first week back at HP.  I must confess, by the end of last week, I was missing my routine and all of you.  Though we all need rest and relaxation, it was a nice personal reminder that if you miss your work and the people you work with, then you must really like what you do.  And I did and I do.  Welcome back Scotties.

Wrapping it up!

Third grade’s Social Studies Medieval unit concluded Monday with the annual procession and production of the Medieval Fair.  Many serfs, knights, and royals participated in the production; what a colorful parade through our halls!  In addition to the musical and story recitation in our cafeteria for parents, student projects were on display on tables of purple velvet.   Projects included in-depth study of stained glass traditions in art classrooms (and recreated in vividly decorated bottles), a further study and creation of personal shields, as well as a research paper (either straight research or creative journal entries chosen by some students) tied to the Big 6 research model components.  Loved the morning, loved the recessional around our halls following the performance for audience members, and loved the extra rigor shown in the written projects this year.  Let us then rejoice, While we are young.  After the pleasures of youth And the tiresomeness of old age Earth will hold us. – Student’s song (anonymous).

After school Math Pentathlon Club for current second graders is an extremely popular offering this year.  Sponsored by teacher (and  last year’s Teacher of Promise) Harrison Gay, this club gives students much practice in critical math skills.  Per the official website, “The Mathematics Pentathlon is a program of interactive problem-solving games, supportive curricular and instructional activities, and assessment tools for students in grades K-7. This motivational program strengthens basic math concepts and skills, aligns with National and State Mathematics Standards, and stimulates creative thinking while developing problem-solving skills through games and cooperative learning.”  When I checked in on Monday, students were intent on a Hexacross game, discovering patterns and developing problem solving strategies.  Mr. Gay shared that the  program also gives these students an opportunity to become more observant and detail oriented.  Currently he has 20-25 girls involved in the session I, next session will be all boys (though, as you can see from the picture below, Jamie got a jump start on Monday); Session III will be a co-educational offering for all interested second graders.  We’ve discussed the possibility of rolling this down to first grade next year, so spread the word!  Thanks Mr. Gay!

Second graders hard at work on Hexacross

Zach Scott is coming, Zach Scott is coming!  The brochures have arrived and they are ready to enroll students in the K-2 and 3-5 after school Acting Classes to be hosted at HP next semester.  Primary students will be involved in Creative Drama (Story Tellers), while our intermediate students will put on an actual play - none other than the classic Peter Pan!  Rog Wall,  the instructor for both classes, has more than 20 years of experience in teaching acting, creative drama and movement (13 being at Zach Scott).  We are more than excited to host this new endeavor at our school, so don’t forget to stop by the front office to pick up an informational flyer and registration packet.  Special thanks to Nat Miller for getting this on track for our school.  Truly, we can’t wait!

Finally, a special nod to our second grade students, teachers, and parents for having a winter party with a purpose.  While enjoying parent provided breakfast goodies today, students heard Cathyleen Requejo, AISD Community Ed Project Supervisor/Homeless Liaison, discuss the  many services of Project Help.  Students had gathered various toiletry/other items, stuffed socks with the items, then gave them to Ms. Requejo to distribute later today.  Thanks second graders for caring enough to give back to others. 

Ms. Requejo and Ms. Marques' 2nd grade students

The time is upon us and our holiday break is just around the corner.  If I don’t see you, know I carry continued gratitude for your grace, wisdom, and all you do for our school, our community, and most importantly, for our kids.  You, my friends, are the best gift I could receive.  Peace and Love to all. 

Something for everyone

Rewind to last weekend and you get a sense of high gear activity in the Highland Park community.  Saturday night HP staff travelled to the Golliher residence for our annual holiday get-together.  What a great evening for those who attended – who doesn't love a White Elephant game! Sunday saw the MAC performance of the holiday music and dance spectacle What-cracka?!  While I enjoyed this student created, unique performance, I only mention it here as several current Scotties hit the stage at intermission for a dance-off (seriously, there were tons of HP’ers there!).  If I’m not mistaken, the Dowd /Mendelsen trio took top honors!  What a way to get kids pumped around the arts!  Thanks MAC, thanks to fluency volunteers Alice Van Zant and Frances Cerbins for the company, and thanks to some top-notch high school performers to boot. 

Monday afternoon Austin Film Kids did indeed roll out the red carpet in our library for their first semester film festival.  We were treated to student created “shorts”, with Brian Cox giving us the ins and outs of what the kids had accomplished.  Camera angles, cut-aways, special effects, directing, and producing credits were noted, as were the actual storyboards used to create the films.   There were even out-takes shown with assistant Traviss Thomas being the good natured bearer of the inside joke.  I hear that students will move on to more in-depth editing processes in the spring and that many a kid has movie making gear high on their holiday wish lists now.  Thanks Brian for inspiring our kids in the love of story telling, for such a creative outlet for this high energy group, and for brainstorming with me the other day on where the program can grow from here. 

Mr. Cox rolling the credits

The year just wouldn’t be the same without Pajama Day.  One of a handful of “special days” sponsored by our Student Council officers, this fun day had most students and staff all cozy and warm in our PJ’s.  I saw LOTS of Scottie Dogs on LOTS of pajamas as I roamed the halls and classrooms, with teachers keeping the learning going (what better way to kick back and read than in your PJ’s?) while lounging in ultimate comfort.  Check out some of the pics below.  Fun!

                       

Kinder teachers travelled to San Antonio one day this week to attend the professional development workshop led by Dr. Jean.  Dr. Jean is known far and wide in early learning circles for creative, musical ways to make learning fun – takeaways for the day included teaching writing/spelling with karate chops – which we all practiced at Thursday’s staff meeting - and additional ways to teach language development through music. 

Scottie Singers came out in full force on Thursday evening.  Maria Satterwhite and Brion Briones led the group in their winter concert performance.  I think my favorite musical number was It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills.  Not only were all the right notes hit, but the choreography was very well done.  Special props to Marcus and Benjamin on having that swing down pat.  Our fourth and fifth graders looked quite nice in their Scottie Singers black and tan; what a wonderful addition to holiday happenings on such a wet, chilly evening.

Just have to say - George Lewellyn at Lamar Middle School, his support team of staff and parents, rock!  I was able to pop over to the Lamar Open House Thursday morning and caught the third group of interested parents and students in the library before the tour (heard the earlier ones were even more packed than the one I attended – some former HP parents tell me they had over 100 parents attend – woohoo!); yep, I continue to be impressed by George’s low key, “we’re going to get it done” approach to school change.   And you know what?  He’s doing it. George shared with me his most recent performance on the district benchmark assessments, with Lamar Middle School falling in the top 5 AISD middle schools in most tested areas (7^th grade writing was ranked 3rd overall!).  It takes a village and great leadership.  Thanks George and team for all you are doing for our kids and our community.

Many Ways to Care

Our PTA board kicked off the week with a festive dinner at Parkside Restaurant in downtown Austin Monday evening.  This incredibly hard-working, caring group of parents (plus one teacher and one principal!) came together for a bit of fellowship, a bit of work, and a bit of reflection on the year so far.  PTA activities and events slated for the year are on target or have exceeded expectations; this simply wouldn't happen without the organization, talents, time, and resources of our parent board, committee members, and parents at large.  Period.  It was a fun evening and special thanks to Parkside owner and HP parent Shawn Cirkiel for providing such a delightful, relaxing space for us to be together. Good food, good drinks, good company equals an incredibly good evening.

Thinking of "good eats", parent Julie Danehy continues her instruction to second grade classes on all things healthy eating.  I happened to catch one of her classes this week, sampled some yummy sugar free "noggin", as well as some honest to goodness sugar cane.  This week's lesson was geared toward the facts behind sugar in foods; Julie really stresses "go foods" with kids (and adults) and always prepares recipes that are far healthier than the original ones most of us are used to eating - this is a person who really cares what we all put into our bodies and is on a mission to change our habits.  These classes, part of an ABC grant Julie and Coach DeLine wrote last year, are informative, tasty, and per Julie, her hope for the start of more healthy eating initiatives on our campus and beyond.  With Julie leading the way, I have no doubt about it.

Good, solid planning (rather than eating) was the norm around here the last few days as well.  Four of our language arts teachers, Laine Leibick, Lia Nudelman, Kati Guimbarda, and Alyssa Smith, met in a day-long retreat, planning grade 2-5 aligned historical fiction units of study, with each grade level tackling a different time period in history, from pre-WWII years in the 1930's through the civil rights movement of the 1960's .  The take-aways from their retreat included historical novel selections (several selected for each unit of study), arts primary resource materials researched and ordered (think WPA posters, Louis Jordan's song "Ration Blues" tied to a 3rd grade unit around Victory Gardens for example), and some concrete inter-disciplinary projects and activities nailed down around essential skills and questions of the TEKS - the ultimate goal being an aligned thread tied to skills/arts/theme/other concept.  Teachers plan to pilot the unit this year in one class per grade level, with the units then being rolled out to all others in the future.  I even heard talk of a History Fair at some point, so we will definitely keep you posted on that.  Kudos ladies for caring enough to take the day to plan together!

Grade 3-5 teachers also had half-day retreat days in our conference room this week.  Teachers, using the district Schoolnet data system, pulled up middle of the year (MOY) benchmark data from recent assessments on reading, math, science, and writing, drilled down to standards mastery and item analysis reports, and made intervention plans for specific students in need and/or students who are now ready to go beyond.  Much work was accomplished, with refinements being made to current after school tutoring groups that have been happening since early November and instructional plans within individual classes.  Though all teachers have much on their plates these days, special "hugs" to those at our testing grades as they truly carry a lot on their shoulders and care enough to dig deep into the data on these important days each year.   Check out 3rd grade in action one day this week.

Finally, a word about the Henson-Wheat family.  I was incredibly privileged to spend a portion of my afternoon Thursday with Ryanna Henson.  As you know, the family was featured recently in the American Statesman's annual Season of Caring, with Ryanna's ongoing health issues a major concern.  A former Scottie and now a student at the Ann Richards School, this poised young lady bowls me over with her spirit, her intelligence, her attitude, and her kindness.  We reminisced about her first year on campus, and how, even though she was the new kid on the block coming in at fourth grade, she still managed to win students over with her student council speech and became an elected Stu Co officer that year!  Thanks to those in our Scottie community who are giving support in many, many ways to the family;  for further information on how you can help, please contact the Statesman at seasonforcaring@statesman.com or by calling Any Baby Can at 512-454-3743.   

A Sea of Science Fair Projects



Merrell Anne and Eileen setting up

 You can't walk into the cafeteria this week without coming into contact with a Science Fair project.  The trifold boards, 265 of them to be exact, are on table after table, as seen in the picture below.  Can I just say impressive? The annual event, traditionally held this time of year at HP, continues to grow from year to year, with many projects now spilling onto tables set up in our hallways.  All fourth and fifth grade students are required to participate, with many others at K-3 joining in due to their love of science or through the encouragement of their teacher or parent -couldn't do it without 'ya!  I love looking at all of them, but what's really cool to see are the Kinder students making their first attempts at idea development, presentation, and reporting on project outcomes - as seen in two examples below.  Today, I also had the privilege of announcing the fourth and fifth grade campus finalists; these students are now waiting in the wings, projects in hand, ready to give their oral defense/explanation of their project to a very knowledgable panel of advanced science students from Vista Ridge High School in Cedar Park - thanks Vista Ridge!  This panel's scoring, along with other scoring criteria, then determine the students who will advance to the city-wide science fair in the spring.   All to be announced by end of day.  Phew! As you can imagine, we absolutely could not pull this off without the help from some pretty terrific parent volunteers, Susan Hillman chief among them (seen below), as well as some dedicated teachers getting students ready to roll, scoring projects late into the evening, and more. Check out some pictures from this most marvelous event at our school.



Julie, Tina, and Susan





Kinder Project

 

Another Kinder Example



 

 

Vista Ridge HS students





5th Grade Project on Display


Finally, check out our hard-working staff and students in a couple of pics below.  After school tutoring in content areas is just getting geared up at grades 3-5.  Additionally, our second year of Scottie Homework Club, for 2-5 students who need extra support in organization, prioritizing, planning and more, is now taking place a couple of days per week as well.  With clubs and fitness and night events and academic supports happening, you can imagine what a busy place we are around here on a daily basis, including the weekends.  Thanks to our teachers who tutor and thanks to our HW Club staff Ms. Camarillo and Ms. Bucknall for working on those executive skill supports when and where needed. 



Ms. O'Donnell helping with math



Ms. Bucknall at HW Club