 FIRST LEGO LEAGUE UPDATE
As you know, the Scholars' Academy joined the First Lego League this year with three new teams. The SmartBots competed Saturday for the first time ever in the FLL Rookie Challenge. It was an incredible experience!
THANK YOU from the SmartBots to the folks who made it possible: David Johnston, head coach; Brian Huneycutt and Julie Firr, coaches instrumental in getting started; Sabrina Brown, Jill Alexander and Cheryl Drake-Bowers, parent coaches; Ari Pieper and Heather Turano, faculty advisors; Dr. Peine, school director; Scholars' Academy PTO; Beth Gage for hotel arrangements; Ann Gleason for buttons; Connor Johnston for signs; all the team parents for
their wonderful support; James Lynn and Lisa Tompkins with Pike Nurseries. One of their coaches, Sabrina Brown, won a special volunteer award!
CONGRATULATIONS, SmartBots for the gracious professionalism you displayed all season and over the long tournament day. You made your coaches proud!Bailey the robot scored an impressive 110 points, estimated eighth of forty teams. SmartBots also won *FIRST PLACE* for Research Quality in the Climate Connections project. The team thoroughly researched the effect of the drought on lawn care in Charlotte and other communities, and presented a well-supported solution combining cistern collection with drip irrigation.
TEAM AWARDS, an informal recognition, are presented to the SmartBots as follows. Congratulations again, guys!
- AJ = Above and Beyond: AJ's research was detailed and her homework was always done. She was instrumental in writing the script, and took on the additional task of finishing it at home over Christmas break.
- Connie = Versatility: Building the robot, researching and note-taking, programming and script-writing, Connie did a little of everything and did it all extremely well.
- Ghallia = Shooting for the Stars: Ghallia's first words tournament day were, "If we can just add..." Her constant drive for improvement boosted our robot score beyond what the team originally thought possible.
- Joshua = Most Improved: Joshua definitely stepped up for the team on tournament day, exemplifying teamwork and rising to the challenge of robot operator. He also lead the team in several rousing team cheers.
- Justin = Solutions Expert: Justin's detailed sketches were inspiration for our solutions display. As a Drought Policeman, he was also by far the best dressed member of our presentation!
- Katie = Leadership: With no official team captain, Katie commanded that role with her positive attitude. She led by example and had the well-earned respect of each member of the team.
- Natalie = Research Expert: Natalie did extensive research and had a complete understanding of our climate project. Her ability to share this with the team proved invaluable for our winning research project.
- Parth = Quiet Competence: Parth was quick to step up to whatever was asked of him, quietly doing what needed to be done, from programming to a last-minute role in the presentation.
- Sunny = Against All Odds: Despite not feeling well, Sunny was determined to stay with the team. He was a key player in our project presentation and did a fantastic job in the follow-up interview.
VIDEOS & PICTURES are being compiled now and will be available soon. Check the technology section of the school website for details! |
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The Snack Cart Schedule is as follows:
Jan. - Pieper & Muse
Feb. - Smith & Schneider
March - Miller & Moschel
April - Yodice & Hinkelman
May - Turano & Bolick
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The Eagle's Nest Update is a bi-weekly e-mail newsletter. To subscribe or submit articles, send an e-mail to mrscholarsacademy@gmail.com
The next issue will be on Feb. 2nd, 2009. The submissions will be due by Jan. 29th, 2009.
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 Dr. Peine's Pen -
North Carolina Writing Assesment Update.
A new North Carolina writing assessment is being piloted during the 2008-2009 school year. The assessment used in previous years was a one event assessment done with a writing prompt supplied by the NC Department of Public Instruction for the 4th and 7th grades. This assessment was scored using a Conventions (grammar) rubric and a Features (creativity, etc.) rubric. Evaluation was done by scorers trained by DPI and the test publisher.
The new assessment process has students completing four (4) required writing samples. Two of the samples are considered to be Content oriented. That means that they have a direct association with a selected area of curricular endeavor; for example music, art, science, math, or perhaps social issues. These content based assessment pieces are completed by students at home. Prompts for the content-based writings may be designed by the teacher or taken from suggested prompts provided to teachers from an on-line list. Seventh graders are required to complete these in an electronic format and they are stored in a portfolio on our school server. Fourth graders complete the writing on paper, and those test samples are stored in a writing portfolio in our testing center. The first NC Writing Assessment assignment was completed at home by students on December 17th. The second assignment is an On-Demand Writing, which means it will be completed at school within a specified time. Again, 7th graders must complete the writing using a computer with 4th graders using the traditional paper format. Prompts for the On-Demand writing are assigned by the NC Department of Public Instruction. The On-Demand testing date is Tuesday, February 3, 2009. A schedule for the final two writing assessments will be posted at a later date.
Staff members who teach students in grades 3 - 8, including enrichment teachers, are completing on-line training so they will be able to evaluate the writing samples. In the NC Looking Forward plan for student testing, students at all grade levels will eventually be included in this model for assessing writing. I will be happy to talk with parents who have questions about the writing assessment.
The school has been awarded a grant from the J. Richard and Sybel F. Hayworth Foundation. We will use the funds provided with our Physical Science class to complete a solar powered car project. Any families who have gently used toys with wheels are encouraged to donate the toys to the school for this project. Please see Ms. Turano or Ms. Pieper about this class activity.
A special event: Ms. Stephanie Range, Director of Advanced Programs for Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools will be at our school on January 27 at 9:15am to speak with parents of our current 7th and 8th grade students about the IB (International Baccalaureate) Program, AP (Advanced Placement) classes and other options available to our students as they move on from our school.
News About Our Students:
- Geography Bee Champion - Nicholas Lowell (Ms. Pieper's room)
- Geography Bee Runner-up - Connie Zhou (Ms. Turano's room)
- The 2008-2009 MATHCOUNTS team is Connie Zhou and Kedar Dange (Ms. Turano's room) and Kavi Jain and Kevin Rabel (Ms. Bolick's room).
- Individual competitors for MATHCOUNTS are Daniel Townley and Harish Pudukodu (Ms. Turano's room), Parth Thakker (Ms. Bolick's room), and Daniel Wang (Mr. Yodice's room).
The calendar of school events and field trips has been updated and can be found under the Calendar tab on the website.
For the earth,
Marie E. Peine, Ph.D., Director
Metrolina Regional Scholars' Academy
7000 Endhaven Lane
Charlotte, NC 28277
PH: (704) 503-1112
FAX:(704) 503-1183
Director@scholarsacademy.org |
 Community Service Project The recent coat drive supporting Steve's Coats for Kids was a wonderful success. Scholars' Academy donated over 200 coats. Your donations supported Crisis Assistance Ministry and will help clothe a number of Charlotte residents. This recent cold spell is evidence that coats are needed even in the South. A few Scholar's Academy students helped deliver coats to the WSOC-TV studio. Lawson Gage and Mary Steele were interviewed and shown on TV! A slide show and video where more of our children appear may be found at www.wsoctv.com. Thanks again Scholars' Academy. Your generosity continues to amaze and humble me. Mary Tayal, Community Service Project Coordinator mftayal@aol.com
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 The 2009 Scholars' Academy Trivia-thon is Coming in February!
This is the PTO's major fundraiser for the year. We have taken the successful "Scholars' Challenge" model used in past years and tweaked it a little to make it (even) more fun! Here's how it works: Students will ask friends and family members to "sponsor" them in the trivia-thon by pledging monetary support. On the day of the event, students will be asked a series of grade-appropriate, multi-topic, non-curriculum questions. The results will be scored and students will collect the pledged amounts from their sponsors. Last year the PTO raised over $8,000 from this event, and we are hoping for another strong showing in 2009!
The Trivia-thon will take place on Thursday, February 19, during the Teacher / Staff Appreciation lunch. While teachers and staff enjoy an off-site luncheon, parent volunteers will supervise the classrooms and conduct the Trivia-thon.
Prizes will be awarded for top scorers in each class and for top school-wide fundraisers. Pledge forms will be sent home with students on Monday, February 2, allowing about two weeks to ask for pledges.
Thank you in advance for your support!
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