• PALS - Virtual Coffee & Check In
• Middle School - Library Book Check Out 1:00-1:25

• Pajama Day for Read-a-Thon Readers
• Middle School - Library Book Check Out 1:00-1:25

• Middle School - Library Book Check Out 1:00-1:25

• Last Day to Turn in Toys For Tots Gifts

• December 14th - 16th Candy Gram Sales - Middle School
  
• December 14th -Christmas Sock Day (uniform)
  
• December 15th -Christmas Hat/Headband Day (uniform)
  
• December 16th -Pajama Day
  
• December 17th -Ugly Sweater Day
  
• December 18th - All Auction Items Due
  
• December 18th - December 18--Free Dress/Candy Cane Day (wear red and white)
  
• December 21st - January 1 - NO SCHOOL Winter Break
• January 4th - Classes Resume

Get ready for a week filled with fun! Each day, December 14th-18th, brings a fun holiday dress up moment. Listed below are the celebration days voted on by House Council.

Monday, December 14--Christmas Sock Day (uniform)
Tuesday, December 15--Christmas Hat/Headband Day (uniform)
Wednesday, December 16--Pajama Day
Thursday, December 17--Ugly Sweater Day
Friday, December 18--Free Dress/Candy Cane Day (wear red and white)

*Please note that all students must be in uniform on the 14th and 15th. Students will also need to remember to bring appropriate shoes to wear outside on Pajama Day.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me. Thanks for your support!

Leigh Ann Freeman lfreeman@thefranklin.academy

The Franklin Academy

Middle School Math/Econ

Want to help PALS spoil our wonderful teachers and staff? Here's an easy and safe way to chip in! Donate here and all funds collected will go to enhance the PALS budget for teacher gifts.

Holiday Giving 2020

This year, while trying to maintain limited person-to-person contact during the COVID pandemic, we are trying to bundle all holiday/end-of-year gift giving into one delivery. To ensure no class teacher, specialist, or admin staff are left out, we're colleting donations in a pool from every class/house that will be spent evenly among all staff members. PALS has pledged $40 per staff member to start with, and all donations received before December 11th will be pooled and spent to increase the value of that baseline gift among all 46 teachers and staff.

Please chip in whatever you can afford. If every family contributed $10-20 per child, it would allow us to add and additional $55 - $110 in value to EVERY staff member's gift. Gifts are usually presented as gift cards for popular stores, accompanied by a small plant, holiday mug, or other small gift, along with a card signed by PALS on behalf of all the parents (you) who make up our organization. Gifts will be assembled by our Markell Hall and Robin Hall parent liaisons, and delivered to the school on Monday, December 14. The will be stored securely for two days to "cool off" then distributed to teachers on December 17th.

Please contact PALS (pals@thefranklin.academy) if you have any additional questions about Teacher Appreciation or this holiday gifting effort.

Our students in 2nd Grade are encouraged by their lovely homeroom teachers to build self-awareness and consistently develop their "Thankful Hearts."

As you can tell the feathers of this turkey are all their delightful reflections For example, this particular pink feather states, "I am thankful for school."

Mrs. Ho Shared: "Last week was "Native American Week." The children really enjoyed this theme. They made Totem Poles and retold their story, they made a dreamcatcher, both of them came home on Friday and some Indian corn."

"Children love stickers. Having them put stickers on a page and count them is a great way to help them with their counting skills."

Such Fun!

Mrs. Owen one of our fantastic 4 Year Old Preschool Teachers Shared this:

"We did a Frozen Spider Fizz experiment. We started by making a baking soda dough and had a lot of fun adding googly eyes and spooky plastic spiders. Then we put it in the freezer overnight. We discussed the three stages of matter and, you guessed it, performed another Acid/Base Reaction. We learned that the fizzy bubbles are actually filled with a gas called carbon dioxide."

Great Job everyone!

Hello Franklin Families! Like so many things this year, COVID has disrupted Chapel Service Guild's class community service projects. Normally by this time of the year the Kindergarteners would have delivered apple baskets to our neighbors on Victor St., the 6th and 7th graders would have put together sack lunches for the Salvation Army food bank and our 1st graders would be preparing to carol at the Woodway Retirement Inn down the street. In place of our class projects for the school year, Chapel Service Guild will be providing two opportunities during the holiday season for your student to continue with Franklin's tradition of loving our neighbors. We chose organizations that we thought would be of particular interest to the students in order to make their service be as meaningful as possible.

Toys for Tots

Preschool through 4th grade can bring in a new, unwrapped toy to donate for Toys for Tots through the end of the school day on December 11. They have a particular need of toys for ages birth to 3 years and 13 to 18 years. There will be donation bins at school where the students can drop off their gifts. Like many organizations this year, Toys for Tots has seen a drastic drop in donations. Normally, they would have around 130 donation boxes placed around the county, but this year they have received requests to place only 30.

Northwest Youth Services

Grades 5th through 8th can support Northwest Youth Services. This organization serves homeless kids ages 13-24. Besides providing housing, counseling and job training, they also fulfill basic needs like food, clothing and safety gear for sleeping outside. NWYS has an ongoing Amazon wishlist where you can go to donate items like towels, backpacks, tents and toiletry items (they have a big need for underwear). Please consider sitting down with your middle schooler in the next couple of weeks and picking out an item to donate to this organization. Their list can be found at https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/X99BKZ5QCXIM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_9iwFCbYW3RJYS

You can contact Christy Fankhauser at ce_em_why@msn.com with any questions. Thank you for your support of Chapel Service Guild!

In our study of Ancient Egypt, we have discovered a multitude of symbols and figures that were important and sometimes valued for bringing power, luck, or protection. Amulets were created by students to represent something they related to personally. Having this form of expression with such an ancient culture brings new meaning and value to students while having fun!

Here is a link to an online exhibit hosted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art that students enjoyed.

Ancient Egyptian Amulets

Aaron has been with us for a few weeks and has definitely hit the ground running. He is a wonderful addition to our community!

Aaron Booker was born in Oakland, CA, and grew up near the tiny town of Monte Rio, CA. He spent his summers and winter breaks in Bellingham with his mom’s extended family and fell in love with Bellingham early on in his life.

He attended the University of California, Davis where he majored in Agricultural and Managerial Economics. He came out of college with a passion for technology and has actively worked in the technology industry since 1996, embracing new technologies as they’ve arisen. He has founded two technology related firms but was looking for a new challenge and way to give back to our community. He is excited to be the Director of Technology for The Franklin Academy and utilize his diverse experiences to help staff, teachers, and students achieve technological success.

Aaron feels fortunate to have two relatives as students at The Franklin Academy and to have them wave at him every time they pass by his office. It’s the best kind of distraction!

When not working, Aaron spends his free time with his family – Kelly Booker (a past substitute Spanish Teacher at The Franklin Academy) who is now a teacher at Whatcom County Juvenile Detention. They have two children in middle school and high school, too.

A favorite saying: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” ~ Apocryphal, often attributed inaccurately to Albert Einstein

To learn more about our staff here at the Franklin Academy visit our website:

https://thefranklin.academy/staff/aaron-booker/

It's the little things that get us excited around here! Dawn ordered these Clorox Wipes in June - yes last summer! They finally arrived this week and now we have yet another method of killing germs. Die Germs Die!

Former Franklin Academy student [pre-K through Grade 9] Clara Reid, will be joining the parade this year decked out on her sailing vessel Que Sera Sera with a lighted giant snowflake.

For more information about the event visit the Bellingham Yacht Club link below:

http://byc.org/event/2020-lighted-boat-parade/

While we have a lot of classroom resources and small-but-mighty library resources, Franklin families should definitely look to their local public library for more! During non-pandemic times they have classes, events, book sales, and shelves and shelves of books, magazines, music, and movies. But since we can’t access the inside of libraries right now, a lot of libraries around the world are offering curbside pick up instead!

For the Bellingham Public Library, you can place holds online or call, and then call to schedule your pick up time at the Downtown location: https://www.bellinghampubliclibrary.org/

For Whatcom County Libraries, you can place holds online or call, and then call to schedule your pick up your local library or one of the two unstaffed Library Express Locations: https://www.wcls.org/ You can even access WiFi from their parking lots!

For Mount Vernon City Library, it is the same procedure: http://www.mountvernonwa.gov/175/Library

And for Central Skagit Library, it is the same procedure:

https://www.centralskagitlibrary.org/index.html

The libraries still have their eBooks, databases, and online resources available, and many of them will even put together a bag of books and media based on your interests! As a former public library librarian, I can tell you that the public librarians MISS YOU and love talking to you on the phone or over email or chat to answer your questions or help you find the next great book to read.

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Samuel

Joke:

What goes “Oh, Oh, Oh”?

Santa walking backwards!

Proceeds from the Auction go to support the General Budget. Tuition only covers about 60% of the cost to educate each student. We make up that cost each year by hosing an Auction and promoting the Annual Fund.

More Ideas of What to Donate:

• Wine & Spirts
• Craft Beer - we even had neon beer signs one year
• A Rainy Day Activity Basket
• Pamper Your Cat Basket
• Collection of Puzzles
• Bring the Theater Home Package - With Projector, treats and Popcorn
• A two night stay at a cabin or get a way condo
• Dessert Every Month For a Year
• Gift Cards for Restaurants
• Gift Cards for Sporting Goods
• Gift Cards for Home Goods or the Greenhouse to help spruce up the home
• A Day of Yardwork
• Handyman For a Day
• Kids Science Basket
• Kids Art & Crafts Basket
• All Things Teen Girl Basket
• All Things Teen Boy Basket
• Pampering Basket with Soaps and Massage
• Gift Card for a Massage

Don't have time to shop? CASH DONATIONS ARE WELCOME! We can purchase many things at cost.

You may also order gift cards online and have them sent to the school. Send to: The Franklin Academy c/o Auction 1509 East Victor Street, Bellingham, WA 98225

Amazon (use AmazonSmile)

Whole Foods (use AmazonSmile)

Airbnb (use AmazonSmile)

REI

Lowe’s (use AmazonSmile)

What else can I do to help?

• Provide donations directly from you or your business - merchandise, services, gift certificates, cash etc.
• Sponsor the event - there are many levels to choose from - this is great visibility for your business
• Be an underwriter - cover the cost of an auction item
• Purchase advertising space in the Gala Auction Catalog - Full Page $200 Half Page $100

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me. hblack@thefranklin.academy

Thank you,

Heather Black Auction Coordinator

In our 5th Grade Science class, our students had the task of designing a "Robot Chef" who can measure a variety of properties in standard units to cook a delicious meal!

If you shop at Amazon.com, this is a great opportunity to raise money for Franklin Academy. Sign up at Amazon Smile and 0.5% of your purchase price will go towards the FA Annual Fund. Here’s how:

1. Go to Amazon Smile
2. In the “pick your own charitable organization” box type in Franklin Preschool
3. Click on the Bellingham Franklin Academy (may still be listed under St. Paul’s Episcopal School through the summer)
4. Very Important! Please make sure whenever you shop on Amazon you go to the Amazon Smile webpage. If you shop on Amazon.com we won’t receive the donation.

A supportive community with STEM focused education in a safe, small class environment for all grades.

Website: https://thefranklin.academy/
Location: 1509 East Victor Street, Bellingham, WA, USA
Phone: (360) 733-1750
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FranklinAcademyBellingham/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel&eid=ARBJZqnuWM2fzJSJOXO6X6qVO60w_ijnQdCgtmUFYZCSwnd0NO7wI_Jgq5_odVo2A3bLV76Yg91UH5TB

Gretchen Bucsko, Head of School: gbucsko@thefranklin.academy

Katie den Hartog, Associate Head of School, kdenhartog@thefranklin.academy

Dawn Regier, Administrative Assistant, dregier@thefranklin.academy

Rachel Lee, Administrative Assistant, rlee@thefranklin.academy

Natalie Bennett, Admissions Director, nbennett@thefranklin.academy