12th Grade Newsletter

Happy October! It’s hard to believe our seniors are already well into their final year at CREC Academy of International Studies. This is an exciting time filled with important milestones, big decisions, and plenty of opportunities to celebrate along the way.

As we move through the fall, our seniors should be meeting with their counselors to discuss their post-graduation plans and make sure they are on track for what comes next. For students planning to attend college, this is an especially important time to work on college essays, complete applications, review deadlines, and make sure all required materials are submitted on time.

We encourage families to stay connected with their senior throughout this process. Ask about their plans, help them keep track of important deadlines, and encourage them to reach out to their counselors whenever they have questions or need support. Every student’s path after graduation will look different, and we want each of our Dragons to feel prepared and supported as they take their next steps.

• Senior Shirt Day is October 27th
• Senior cap and gown photos will take place on November 10th.

Thank you for continuing to support and encourage our seniors during this exciting chapter. We can’t wait to see all that the Class of 2027 accomplishes!

Students are BACK! And we are diving into review of their summer work. We are wrapping up the unit with a quick project and short summative assessment. Summative will take place during the week of Sept. 7th

Students' summer work was due 8/28. We will be diving into some more statistics after this summative. We will be exploring Spearman’s Rank.

Contact: Glenn Rogers

Students are investigating and developing research based arguments on current advancements in digital technology. Last week was a Flock camera debate while the upcoming weeks we will discuss the ethics of AI

Contact: Angie Kwasny

Students are continuing to work on their political engagement project. They have started taking Cornell notes on their issue and will be setting up their engagement activity in the next few weeks.

Contact: Gina Gadue

ggadue@crec.org

Students dove head first in their political engagement project! Students are completing their introduction, secondary research, and engagement activities in order to be on track to finish the assignment in December. As we dedicate less time to the IA, students are beginning to engage in discussion on inequality through a global political lens.

Contact: Maria Lepak

mlepak@crec.org

Band is in full swing, with Small Group Ensembles in our instrument families (percussion, brass, strings, and woodwinds), as well as some full band pieces! We are going to the US Coast Guard’s Band Concert on Oct 27th, and our concert is January 14th @ 6:00pm here at AIS!!

Contact: Ellie Campbell

ecampbell@crec.org

Students in Studio Art are wrapping up their summative drawing on one-point perspective. Throughout this unit, students learned how artists create the illusion of depth and space by making objects appear to get smaller as they move toward a single vanishing point. We practiced this skill through lots of step-by-step drawings, giving students plenty of opportunities to build their confidence. For their final summative, students got to put their own creativity into action.

Contact: Bonnie Livingston

In October, we will be exploring the natural sciences as an area of knowledge. Specifically, we will learn about the roles of imagination and doubt in scientific innovation. We will learn about cutting-edge scientific technologies and their ethical implications.

Contact: Emily Wright

ewright@crec.org

In DP Visual Arts, students are learning how to create art using a wide variety of techniques, tools, and materials. So far this year, students have explored collage, collagraph and multiple monoprinting techniques. We are now using some of our monoprints as backgrounds for new processes, including neurographic prints and tape transfer prints. Next week, students will experiment with using natural objects to create prints!

The first few months of DP Visual Arts are all about exploration and building a toolbox of possibilities. Students will eventually need to develop their own artistic direction and create a personal plan for their artwork, so these mini-workshops give them the opportunity to try lots of different techniques and discover what interests them. The goal is to help each student find the materials, processes, and ideas that will allow them to create artwork that is truly meaningful to them.

Contact: Bonnie Livingston

Theatre is nearing the end of our “soft skills” development, and we’re almost done with our first major project of a flower box! Students have been learning to measure, saw, drill, hammer, paint, and soon will plant their tulip bulbs in their finished product! Then we’ll move into our focus study on “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” and begin making/building in prep for the upcoming show!

Contact: Ellie Campbell

ecampbell@crec.org