Specials Spotlight

It's that time of year again, where we look for St. Cecilia families who would like to advertise their small business in our operetta program. When you purchase ad space in the operetta program your business is seen by over 700 audience members over the course of the three performances! All proceeds raised from program advertising come back directly to our operetta directors, cast & crew. We use that money to purchase scripts, show rights, new equipment, and someday hopefully new curtains for the stage! Please contact Mrs. Koehn if you'd like to purchase ad space.

Fourth graders have been working hard learning about one point perspective. I think perspective is very tricky, but these guys picked it up really well. The first couple of class periods consisted of step-by-step, guided drawing, and we drew a winter neighborhood scene. After that, students got to choose any nature elements they wanted to add for the other half of their drawing and the section above the horizon line.

This group thrives on self-expression, and it's always fun to see what cool ideas they come up with. It's been a lot of fun watching their artistic styles develop over the years. So much so that even if they forget to put their name on it, I can usually tell whose paper it is based on their personal details or drawing style. Students could color in with markers, crayons and colored pencils. Now that they've learned one point perspective, they'll be ready to learn two point perspective soon.

What’s Happening in the Library & STEAM Lab?

It has been a busy week of storytelling and hands-on discovery! Our K-2nd graders continued their Golden Sower Nominated book tour with the hilarious Seals Are Jerks by Jared Chapman. This "fact-meets-fiction" tale about the food chain inspired some serious laughs, and students had a blast illustrating "alternative" snacks seals might prefer over penguins.

3rd-5th Grade dove into the world of Newbery Honor author Cynthia Lord. We began Home Away from Home, following Mia’s summer of change in Maine. To connect with the book's themes of nature and exploration, students practiced a new perspective—imagining they were eagles and sketching the world from a bird's-eye view.

Our Middle Schoolers are shifting into high gear with new units:

• 6th Grade: Exploring the fundamentals of circuitry using Microbits.

• 7th Grade: Stepping behind the camera for stop-motion films featuring clay animation and green-screen technology.

• 8th Grade: Diving into engineering with Sphero Blueprint Engineering kits. This week, they’ve been "debunking" carnival games by building prize wheels to test if they are truly fair using theoretical and experimental probability.

Every year, while the older students are working on putting together the Operetta program, the Kindergarten students prepare a production of their own. They have been learning about what goes into putting a production together and will be sharing their work on Thursday, February 19th. Kindergarten families, be on the lookout for more information from your classroom teachers!

The other primary students are moving on from drama and exploring the quality that allows us to distinguish sounds from different sources (timbre). We are doing some listening, composing (mostly via movement), and discussion on this topic. The 2nd graders were able to see a spectrogram in action and see the various harmonics of a sound work together to create what we hear. Soon, we will be looking at instruments and how they create different timbres.

This week 2nd through 5th Grade completed their third of four rounds of Fitness Assessments. The P.A.C.E.R. Test helps measure cardiovascular endurance while students run to an audio cadence, which reduces the amount of time per segment each minute. The Timed-Lap Test measures speed as students run a single lap at maximum effort. 4th and 5th Grade also take a Push-Up Test by following an audio cadence and use a cone to determine depth. Tuesday alone was an incredible day for 2nd and 3rd graders as they completed their third round of the P.A.C.E.R. Test. 2nd graders who hit new personal records on the P.A.C.E.R. Test were: Havanna B., Avianna D., Evangelyn C.V., David D., Isla N. D., Emery O., and Klaw R. 3rd graders who hit new personal records on the P.A.C.E.R. Test were: Cecilia B., Huxley B., Larry D., Jetta G., Hayes J., Ginny L., Sebastian L., Carolyn M., Evelyn T., Daniel A., Camille D.-B., Violet H., Kinsley R., Carter S., and Emanuel T.-H. Over the next few weeks there will be more highlights of students achieving new personal records on the various Fitness Assessments.

Middle School students on Monday wrapped up our hockey unit, which brought competitive gameplay and remarkable collaboration amongst teams. There were creative strategies put in place and an increased amount of communication within teams. Middle School students on Friday completed their final P.A.C.E.R. Test of the year. Next week, Monday classes will take the P.A.C.E.R. Test while Friday classes will complete the Push-Up Test, Timed-Lap Test, and Broad Jump Test.

PreK through 1st Grade worked with scoops this week. Students worked independently to toss a wiffle ball above their head, let it bounce, and catch it with the scoop. If students were able to do so, then we increased the challenge to eliminate the bounce. Next week we will be working on using the scoops to hit a target and possibly play catch with a partner.

Kindergarten: Engineering Bear Dens

Our KG students are diving into the Engineering Design Process! After a discussion about bears and hibernation, students identified the need for shelter and brainstormed solutions. This week they sketched their designs, and next week they will begin building their own bear dens.

2nd Grade: Robotics Rotation

• Ms. Sanchez’s Class: Students are using Botzees—LEGO-style kits that allow for creative building and easy reconfiguration. They are also learning to code their robots using the Botzees EDU iPad app.

• Mrs. Gerken’s Class: Students are working with Ozobots. They are exploring coding fundamentals, starting with color-coded marker paths and advancing to block-based programming using OzoBlockly.

Middle School: New Tech Units All middle school grades have started exciting new projects:

• 6th Grade: Coding with Micro:bits.

• 7th Grade: Filming stop-motion animation movies.

• 8th Grade: Engineering with Sphero Blueprint kits.

More to come on this!