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| The Agnon Agenda |
Winter 2009
Issue #2 |
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HAPPY CHANUKAH!
Welcome to the second electronic Agnon Agenda newsletter of the 2009-2010 school year, part of our continued effort to "go green." Instead of mailing this newsletter, we will be sending it to you as an e-mail that you can forward to grandparents, other family members and friends. In addition, families receive an e-mail each week from Director of Admissions Laura Simon, highlighting upcoming school events and activities. Parents of Early Childhood through 5th grade students also get class newsletters regularly by e-mail.
Remember to access Agnon's new website to find other school information, including the calendar and monthly lunch menus.
Please note: Agnon's electronic e-mail newsletter contains several pictures. If your e-mail software prevents you from viewing them, add kpeskin@agnon.org to your e-mail software's address book or "safe sender list." | |
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A COUPLE OF GREAT MOMENTS
By Jerry D. Isaak-Shapiro
 There are moments. Last week on one of my too infrequent agenda-free strolls around the school, I dropped in to one of our Kindergarten classes, only to be immediately accosted by five- and six-year old enthusiasm. "Did I hear about the dominoes?" "Do I know how many dominoes there are in the school?" "Can we tell you about the dominoes?"
I don't have to have a building fall on me. "Does this have anything to do with dominoes?" Never feed a straight line to a Kindergartner. "How'd you know?"
It turns out that a random reference to dominoes led to a spontaneous hunting-and-gathering of all wayward dominoes in the classroom, which of course led to grouping, counting and accounting. Evidently the grand total wasn't grand enough for the class, and they petitioned their teacher to go off on a school-wide search. Read more-->
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AGNON TEACHER INTRODUCES EDUCATIONAL POLICY REPORT AT WASHINGTON, D.C. EVENT
 Agnon teacher Dina Rock, recently attended a National Press Club event in Washington, D.C. to introduce policy recommendations for improving teacher evaluation systems in the Kindergarten -12th grade education sector. Representing the Hope Street Group - a bipartisan coalition of business, civic and policy leaders - Rock and four other team leaders also visited several offices on Capitol Hill and at the Department of Education to discuss this topic. Read more -->
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ISRAELI "LONE" SOLDIER
VISITS AGNON
Agnon students broaden their scope of knowledge about the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) when an Israeli Sergeant named Jay, also known as a "lone" soldier, recently visited the school. The IDF defines a lone soldier as someone who serves in the Israeli army, but has no immediate family living in Israel. Currently, there are more than 5,000 lone soldiers from numerous countries serving in the IDF.
While at Agnon, Sergeant Jay spoke about his decision to move to Israel from the states and join the Israeli army. He also talked about the Michael Levine Memorial Center, a support organization whose goal is to ensure that lone soldiers of the IDF have the necessary information and connections to succeed. For more information, go to www.lonesoldiercenter.com.
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STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT CELLS
IN SCIENCE
As part of the 7th grade science curriculum this fall, students learned to think about cells as larger entities, since cells have many parts and each part completes a certain function. "For instance, an animal cell can be thought of as a city, where the nucleus (which controls the cell) is the town hall and the mitochondria (which break down sugar into usable energy) act as the electric company," said middle school science teacher Nanci Miklowski.
To demonstrate their knowledge, the 7th graders then worked in teams to create unique cell models designed to look like an amusement park, a small roadside attraction or something encountered in everyday life. They wrote tour guide booklets to accompany each model and explain the features of each "cell." This creative endeavor enabled students to obtain a solid understanding of a cell and its parts.
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EDUCATION COMPANY ACTS ON KINDERGARTEN STUDENT'S SUGGESTION
During a recent literacy lesson, Kindergarten students were introduced to a color coding system to help them differentiate consonants (which were light yellow) from vowels (which were highlighted in pink). Ethan Dobres noticed that the letters on the introductory board, both consonants and vowels, were blue and not correctly color coded.
So, Ethan and his teacher, Michele Sudow, contacted the company that produces these materials. As a result, the company is now reprinting all of their introductory boards using the correct color codes. They sent Ethan a letter telling him of their decision, along with the first introductory board that they produced using the correct colors. Ethan also received a t-shirt thanking him for his feedback.
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AGNON SECOND GRADER EARNS SECOND DEGREE BLACK BELT
Mazel tov to Agnon second grader Zachary Marks who recently earned a Second Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo at the Asian Sun Martial Arts School, and he just turned seven years old! |
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FEEDBACK REQUESTED
Send comments or story ideas for The Agnon Agenda newsletter to Kathy Peskin, Director of Marketing, at (216) 464-4055, ext. 123, or kpeskin@agnon.org.
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