Hello family and friends! Welcome to another edition of Headlines, which is full of important information and a look at what our students are doing this week! Check it out!

Don't forget Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday night! That means we all need to push our clocks forward one hour before we go to bed on Sunday!

Knoxville Opera Presents "Cinderella"

The Knoxville Opera's production of "Cinderella" made a stop at ESK on Wednesday morning as part of their school outreach program. The Opera travels to nearly 25 schools around the area and presents a shortened, 35-minute version of "Cinderella". The singers perform five scenes from the comedic opera written by 19th century Italian composer Gioachino Rossini. Jennifer D'Agostino plays the role of Cinderella with Logan Rucker as Prince Ramiro. Opera Executive Director and Conductor Brian Salesky provided narration and music for the show.  

Singers Jennifer D'Agostino and Logan Rucker perform "Cinderella" as part of The Knoxville Opera.

The full production of Cinderella will be at the Tennessee Theater on Friday, April 26 and Sunday, April 28. Students also have a special opportunity to attend the show's final dress rehearsal on Thursday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m. for free. Adults are $5. Also, if you choose to attend Sunday's show, any child dressed as a prince or princess will be allowed onstage after the show to take pictures with the cast.

For more information, please visit KnoxvilleOpera.com. Wednesday's visit from the Knoxville Opera was made possible by a gift from the Bertoli family. Thank you for allowing the students and faculty to share in such a wonderful performance!

Chess Teams Qualify for State Finals

ESK sent three teams to the Regional Chess Tournament in Oak Ridge last Saturday, with both the Primary School Team and the Elementary School Team advancing to the State Finals. The Primary School Team (JP Quigley, Tripp Keeton, Luke Vesser, and Jonathan Shaver) finished in second place in their division (Grades 1-3) and the Elementary School Team (Austin Rhea, Jose Vowell, Eliot Jolley, Phil Spates, and Tono Vowell) finished in third place in the their division (Grades 4-6). ESK was the only school to send both its primary and elementary teams to the State Finals. Phil Spates led the Elementary B Team, winning three of his four games. Bobby Moran, Meg Quigley, and Anderson Clark also competed on the Elementary B Team.

Members of the Elementary School Chess Team (L-R): Tono Vowell, Eliot Jolley, Austin Rhea and Jose Vowell.

ESK chess instructor Richard Bennett said, "I hoped our ESK teams would be able to hold their own against older and more experienced opponents, but I never dreamed they would do this well. Their future looks very bright!"  

Members of the Primary School Chess Team (L-R): Jonathan Shaver, J.P. Quigley, Tripp Keeton and Luke Vesser.

Next up is the State Finals at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn., on Saturday, March 23.

Ossoli Circle Winners

Five ESK students were honored in ceremonies at the Ossoli Circle clubhouse this week for their work in the annual Ossoli Circle poetry contest for students. Honored were Eighth Grader Bevin Coburn, who won third place at the local level and honorable mention at the district level for her poem, "Where I'm From"; Sixth Grader Paige Gleason, who won first place at the local level for her poem "Jonathan O' Gary"; and Seventh Grader Tori Schrubb, who won honorable mention at the local level for her poem, "Waves Crash." Second Graders Alexis and Madison Farmer were also honored.

The ESK student winners at the Ossoli Circle along with Headmaster Jay Secor, Second Grade teacher Lucy Tyler and Middle School teachers Susan Lancaster.

Early Dismissal on Friday, May 3

ESK is providing the venue for The Rotary Club of West Knoxville's First Annual Rocky Top Hummin' & Strummin' BBQ Cookoff on May 3 and 4. The proceeds will go to support the Rotary Club of West Knoxville. Over 50 teams will compete for Knoxville's first sanctioned Tennessee State BBQ Championship. For more information and to buy tickets for this family-friendly event, visit www.rockytopbbq.com. Because of the size of this event, school will dismiss early on May 3. The school day will end before lunch, at 11:30am. Please make this change on your calendars!

ESKamp

Looking for something to do this summer? ESK has just what you're looking for: ESKamp! During the month of June, ESK will be offering a number of enrichment summer camps ranging from technology and art to music theater and dance. New camps recently added! The camps will run from June 3-28 with a morning and afternoon session. All camps will be $150 per student. Online registration is now available at eskamp.org.

CTP Achievement Testing

Please remember, ERB's CTP, the achievement test, will be given in April. This year, we are test piloting the online version of the CTP in grades 3 and 6. Students in grades 4-8 will take the CTP the week of April 8. Third grade will take the CTP the week of April 15. For any questions about assessments, please contact your child's teacher or Lois Ross, Director of Testing.

Aluminum Can Drive

Thanks to everyone who donated aluminum cans to the ESK Aluminum Can Drive! It was a great success as we collected close to 125 pounds of aluminum. As ESK moves in a sustainable direction we appreciate the interaction from our school community. Thank you!

All-School News

Red Cross Month

The American Red Cross Knoxville will host a free Youth Preparedness and Safety Day for grades K - 5 on Saturday, March 9, from 9:00 a.m. until noon at 6921 Middlebrook Pike in Knoxville. All participants must pre-register by emailing Jennifer.Ussery@redcross.org.

Learning sessions will cover safety basics that all children should know. Courses will include Disaster Dudes to help prepare for widespread and local disasters; Scrubby Bear, teaching children to "Not get sick, wash up quick;" the Fire Safety House, an interactive fire prevention learning environment; Safe on my Own, a child's guide to home alone safety and WHALE Tales, which teaches the basics of water safety.

Save The Date!

The 9th Annual Saints' Gala: An Evening on the Hilltop, Celebrating the Flavors of Tennessee will take place Saturday, May 11, from 6-11 p.m. on the campus of ESK. The evening includes a silent auction, student art auction and live auction, as well as a wonderful menu filled with classic Tennessee flavors. If you are interested in donating an item or being a sponsor, please contact Director of Special Events Alice Smith via email at smith@esknoxville.org. You can also visit https://esknoxville.ejoinme.org/Gala2013 for all event information.

Duke TIP Qualifiers

Parents of Duke TIP Qualifiers: Are you looking for a challenging and fun academic experience for your child? If your child qualified for the Duke TIP, check out the offerings from Vanderbilt Programs for Talented Youth (http://pty.vanderbilt.edu/students/intersession/).

Murder at Crooked House!

The ESK Middle School Chorus will present "Murder at Crooked House" on Tuesday, March 19th at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Please join us for this wonderful production in the Kline Gymnasium. The cast of characters includes Eleanor Tant, Erin Wallace, Peter Cooper, Abi Wilson, Bevin and Braden Coburn, Nick Lovely, Mary Margaret Banick, Piper Vassallo, Damon Rodefer (in a hysterical role as Colonel Chutney), Calder Woodward, Lindsey Stallworth, Nathan Cooley, Grace Taylor, Rosie Lambrecht and Lauren Wise! Admission is free!

Lower School News

Ice Cream and Whale Blubber

In Mrs. Thurman's Second Grade class, the students are studying the Arctic for their Polar studies Unit. Last Friday, the students did an experiment to see why so many animals have blubber or fur in this region. The students have been discussing the climate and animals survival in that climate. They made a blubber mitt out of Crisco and a feather mitt out of craft feathers. The experiment was to put their bare hand in the ice water and then put it in the feather mitt and then the blubber mitt to compare and see which one was more insulated from the cold. The children discovered that with the blubber mitt, they couldn't feel the cold water at all. That explains why arctic animals must have thick layers of blubber to survive in the arctic.  

Second Grader Rissey Bertoli uses an experiment to see why animals in the arctic need blubber to survive the cold temperatures.

The students also made ice cream as part of their science unit about freezing points and how salt lowers the freezing point of water. The students used fractions to measure the ingredients for the ice cream ball and then rolled the ball to mix it up and expose the liquid to the cold from the ice to make it go from a liquid to a solid. The children learned that ice cream has a lot of sugar and that homemade ice cream is really yummy!

A group of Second Grade girls roll around an ice cream ball to expose the liquid to the cold from the ice and turn the liquid into a solid.

Creative Discovery Museum

As a way to close out their unit on Simple Machines, Third Grade students traveled to the Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga on Wednesday to visit their exhibits that highlight simple machines and inventions. Students had the opportunity to use a pulley to lift themselves in a swinging chair, spin themselves around on a wheel, use levels and incline planes to move a ball through a maze and experience other simple machines in hands on ways. They also visited the Inventors exhibit, which featured different inventions, including those with Nano (really, really small) materials. The afternoon ended with some time in their Performing and Visual Arts area before the classes enjoyed a sack lunch.    

James White Fort Research Trip

Fourth Grade students from Mrs. Hoover's and Mrs. Bornemann's classes took a research field trip to James White Fort on Thursday. The students are preparing to be docents at the fort in late April and used this field trip as an opportunity to collect research and information on a variety of topics including cooking in colonial times, the clothes people wore, their sleeping quarters and different jobs people held. In April, the students will dress in period costumes and guide visitors through different parts of the fort. This trip ties into their month-long study on the state of Tennessee.  

Fourth Grade students took a field trip to James White Fort on Thursday to gather information as they prepare to be docents at the fort in late April.

BizTown Recap

The ESK fifth-graders shined their shoes, tightened their ties and joined the workforce last Thursday during their annual trip to BizTown. Mr. Spates' and Mrs. Stivers' students learned how to manage their personal finances while at the same time running and operating their own mock businesses. Students worked in the BizTown Bank, BizTown Television, Sweet Pea's Boutique, the Big Idea Cafe or the JA National Lab.

Fifth Graders (L-R) David Arnold, Jack Feddersen and Ben Lovely work inside the BizTown Bank.

Also on hand to help our ESK students were parent volunteers Brian Pensky, Susan Morton-Killeffer, Melissa Isaacs, Wendi Arnold and Leslie Bazzoon. Although the parent volunteers provided supervision and guidance, the students did the real work. They filled out business loan applications, balanced their checkbooks, approved purchasing orders and even completed payroll. Located in Clinton, Tenn., BizTown is a facility run by Junior Achievement.

A look inside the BizTown facility located in Clinton, Tenn., and run by Junior Achievement.

Middle School News

Young Writers' Institute

ESK students Teddy Colocotronis, Alex Levi, Florentin Kunz, and Piper Vassallo along with Middle School teachers Susan Lancaster and Stephanie McIntosh attended UT's annual Young Writers' Institute last weekend hosted by Dr. Marilyn Kallet and the Creative Writing Department. ESK has the distinction of being the only middle school that is invited to attend. Students choose two selections from workshops offered for Poetry, Performance Poetry, Screenwriting, Fiction Writing, Songwriting, and Journalism. They attend one morning and one afternoon workshop. The day ends with an open mic session during which time the students can read the work they created during one of their workshops. The teachers also have opportunities to attend professional development workshops offered by professors from across the country.  

ESK students (L-R) Piper Vassallo, Alex Levi, Florentin Kunz and Teddy Colocotronis along with Middle School teacher Stephanie McIntosh on the UT campus.

National History Day

A group of five ESK Sixth Graders took their National History Day projects to the East Tennessee District National History Day competition on Monday on the UT campus. These students were awarded Judges' Top Choice distinction at ESK's National History Day in December. Sixth Graders Hannah Nye, Rosie Lambrecht, Allie Hull, Lauren Lorenz and Max Middlecoff attended the event with Middle School teacher Tom Jones.

ESK students (L-R) Hannah Nye, Rosie Lambrecht, Allie Hull, Lauren Lorenz and Max Middlecoff attended the East Tennessee District National History Day Competition this week.

National Geographic Bee

Eighth Grader Teddy Colocotronis has qualified to represent ESK and participate at the state level of the National Geographic Bee. The state Bee will be held on Friday, April 5 at Martin Professional Development Center in Nashville. One winner from each state and territory will advance to the national competition in Washington, D.C. This is the second year in row that an ESK geography bee winner has qualified for the state tournament. Teddy had to compete against other students from across the state through a written test to qualify for the state Bee.  

After winning the ESK Geography Bee earlier this year, ESK Eighth Grader Teddy Colocotronis has qualified for the state level.

Gene Luen Yang Visit

ESK welcomed author Gene Luen Yang for a presentation to Grades 5-8 on Tuesday in the Siler Great Room. Yang visited ESK to discuss American Born Chinese, Avatar and other graphic novels. He shared with students about the process he takes when creating his novels and showed examples of how the pages of his book look through each step of the publishing process. He also took questions from the students. It was a great morning! A special thanks to Gene Luen Yang for sharing with our students!  

Author Gene Luen Yang spoke to ESK students in Fifth through Eighth Grade on Tuesday in the Siler Great Room.