Welcome Back! We hope that everyone had a fun and restful Spring Break! The push to the final days of school is on and that means the halls of ESK are full of activity!

Check out all the happenings in Lower School and Middle School in this week's edition of Headlines! Parents- be sure to pay special attention to the information for testing next week!

Easter Eucharist

Prior to Spring Break, ESK students, faculty and staff participated in an all-school Chapel and Holy Eucharist in honor of Easter. Reverend Caroline Vogel from the Church of the Good Samaritan assisted Father Josh Hill with the service and Holy Communion. The service began outside the school where Father Josh led the student body in the burning of their sorrows and worries as a representation of the new birth celebrated during Holy Week. Thanks to everyone who had a part in making this service special!  

ESK held an all-school Chapel before Spring Break to celebrate Holy Eucharist in honor of Easter.

Seder Lunch Wednesday

ESK students had the opportunity to share in a Seder lunch in honor of Passover on Wednesday.

Also, as a continued ESK tradition of an educational and participatory observance of the Jewish Passover, Rabbi Alon Ferency, from Heska Amuna Synagogue in Sequoyah Hills, spoke during Middle School Chapel about the history and current practice of the Jewish feast. He was a wonderful speaker and really interacted with the students! Thanks for the visit!  

Rabbi Alon Ferency from Heska Amuna Synagogue, spoke in Lower School and Middle School Chapel on Wednesday.

Testing Next Week

Achievement testing begins next week for students in grades four through eight. The CTP will be administered the mornings of April 9, 10, and 11. Please make sure your students get to bed early next week, eat a good breakfast, and arrive on time. Students in grades six through eight will have an adjusted schedule due to testing, but should expect homework from the classes that are meeting. All middle school students will need to bring a TI30x calculator for the math test on Thursday. Please make sure your child brings the calculator to school before Wednesday and leaves it at school so that it is available for use on Thursday.

Sixth graders will be taking the CTP online. We are excited about the new direction ERB testing is going, and all of the benefits offered by online testing. Sixth graders who have a laptop or iPad and want to take the test on their own devices need to bring them on MONDAY so that the proper testing software can be downloaded. They also need to bring a charging cord, and their laptops and cords will need to remain at school through April 11.

Third graders will also be taking the CTP online on iPads in their classrooms. Testing for third grade will be the mornings of April 16, 17, and 18. Mr. Tannhauser has been working with third and sixth graders during technology time on logging in and going through the CTP demonstration tests. If you have any questions about testing, please email Lois Ross at ross@esknoxville.org.

Parent Sports Survey Meeting

Please join Board members Amy Schumaker and Scott Batey in the Googe Dining Hall at 8:15 a.m. tomorrow (Friday, April 5) to discuss the future of the sports program at ESK. To assist the committee in formulating our new Master Plan, it is important that the Board hear from parents. Please come prepared to share your ideas about interscholastic and intramural sport offerings at ESK. Your input is a valuable edition. Any questions, please email Amy at adschu@comcast.net or Scott at sbatey@bpexpressinc.com.

Kindergarten Open House

The Episcopal School of Knoxville will host a Kindergarten Open House for prospective families next Friday, April 12 from 8:30-10:00 a.m. If you have questions (or for more information), please contact Admissions Director Susan Denton via email at  denton@esknoxville.org.

Current ESK Kindergarteners Lily Egner and Mary Campbell Doss explore books during library class.

REMINDER: 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. 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 musical theater and dance. Open Registration for non-ESK students begins on April 8th! Reserve your spot NOW! 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.

All-School News

Talent Show Coming!

Save the date for the ESK Lower School Talent Show scheduled for Tuesday, April 30 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. in the Kline Gymnasium. A required practice will be held on Monday, April 22, right after school from 3:00-5:00 p.m. Those interested in participating should pick up a form in the Lower School Office and observe the following guidelines:

-Acts should be limited to 2-1/2 to 3 minutes

-Students should participate in one act only

-Please choose appropriate materials and costumes

-Participating students should be prepared to bring music and props to the rehearsal

For more information, please contact Ghadeer Musharbash: 803-2424 or Ghadeer3@aol.com.   

State Chess Tournament

ESK sent two teams to the finals of the Tennessee State Team Chess Tournament at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tenn., on March 23, with one team competing in the Elementary School Division (grades 4-6) and one in the Primary School Division (grades 1-3).

Each team scored 1.5 points and finished tied for 10th place in the 16-team tournament.

Tono Vowell, competing on both of the ESK teams, won three games in the Primary Division and one in the Elementary Division, and finished as the #4 Board One player in the Primary Division. Austin Rhea won two games in the Elementary Division and finished as the #8 Board. Phil Spates won a match in the Elementary Division, and also claimed the #3 spot in the Alternates competition. JP Quigley won a game in the Primary Division and also scored several touchdowns in the football game.

ESK chess instructor Richard Bennett said "The ESK teams made a very respectable showing at the state finals. I think the kids are not only savoring their victories, but feeling inspired to work hard on their chess so they can do even better next year."

The chess club is planning a special introductory session for current first graders for the Spring semester. Details to follow.

9th Annual Saints Gala

Save the Date: May 11! Invitations for The 9th Annual Saints' Gala, "An Evening on the Hilltop, Celebrating the Flavors of Tennessee," will be mailed soon. If you would like to be a Sponsor click on the link: Join Me at the Gala! The auction and dinner are the school's largest fundraiser to help provide students with the tools for Technology, Athletics, Library Resources, and Fine Arts for each classroom. The Episcopal School will host a fun-filled evening with fresh food stations to represent products within the state of Tennessee. If you would like to be a sponsor, donate an item, or just volunteer please contact Alice Smith, Director of Special Events, at 218-4494. The picture on the left features a quilt with squares drawn by Kindergarten students that will be part of the Student Art auction.  

Upcoming Field Days

All families - please mark your calendars for upcoming Field Days! All field days are 12-3 p.m. More details will follow. Parent volunteers will be a must to make these annual events a success! Please contact Lower School Gym Teacher Pansie Evans via email at evans@esknoxville.org, with any questions. Mrs. Evans is in need of the following items: baby wipe containers, giant stuffed animals, clown costumes/props. Check your basements and attics to see if you can donate to the fun!

3-5th Grade: Friday, April 26 - MINUTE TO WIN IT!

K-2nd Grade: Monday, May 6 - UNDER THE BIG TOP CARNIVAL

Middle School: Friday, May 17

Lower School News

Lower School Timeline

Students in Grades K-5 have been generating a timeline throughout the halls of the Brewington Family Lower School. The timeline is labeled with century markers and was put up to help students visualize history and make connections to their reading and writing. For example, when learning about inventors in Third Grade, the historical setting is not always fully developed. By placing a card on the timeline, students learn about other events that happened during an inventor's lifetime. Many classrooms have individual timelines, and a centrally located timeline such as the one in Siler Hall, places historical events in a larger perspective. Please look up

next time you visit the Brewington Family Lower School. In the picture on the left Second Graders Madison Farmer, AP Slaughter and McKenzie Burkhalter add African American heroes to the timeline.   

Third Grade Economics

Students in Mrs. Jenkins' and Mrs. Parham's Third Grade classes have been working on an economics project. The students are learning about goods and services, supply and demand and even how to manage money and write a check! The students have formed "companies" that they are running with classroom "money" earned by doing class jobs and making profits in their companies. The students have had to learn how to work together with fellow classmates as a team to accomplish their goal.  

Third Graders Lauren Klappholz, Cambell Koella, Whitney Repine and Samantha Pappano learn about economics.

A Readers' Theater

Fourth Grade students have spent a lot of time this semester studying about animals and Tennessee history. Last week, it was time for Mrs. Bornemann's class to present their Readers' Theater featuring legends they wrote about the animals they selected to study and a feature that makes the animal different. The plays included Legends of the Forest Animals, the Picnic of Disaster and the Legend of the Paintball Fight. The students did a spectacular job presenting the legends, which they had written themselves.  

A group of Fourth Grade students present their legend as part of Mrs. Bornemann's class Readers' Theater.

Storyteller Visit

Before Spring Break, storyteller Sheri Liles treated both Second Grade classes to a visit. Sheri worked in education for a long time and now lives on a totally organic, self-sustained farm in Maryville. She and her husband raise llamas, angora bunnies and use solar panels to generate power. During her visit with the students, Sheri shared three different stories and allowed the students to ask her questions. In Mrs. Tyler's class, the students are learning how to tell their own stories and following the visit, they talked about what elements made Sheri's stories good.  

Storyteller Sheri Liles shares a story with a group of Second Grade students.

Cheez-It Man

Second Grade students in Mrs. Thurman's class have recently been studying area and perimeter in their math unit. This week, students were tasked with creating a model person out of Cheez-It crackers with the parameter that the head had to be bigger than the body. Once the student finished their Cheez-It Man, the students counted out both the area and perimeter before transferring their drawing to graph paper.     

Middle School News

Let's Talk Middle School Parent Meeting

Chris Jones, Instructor for Let's Talk, will offer an informational meeting to parents of Middle School students on Friday, April 12 from 8:15-9:15 a.m. in the Middle School dining hall.  Let's Talk is the sexuality education program for sixth and eighth grade students through P.E. classes.  Boys and girls are split by gender and grade for the two-session classes.  For more information, please email Lois Ross at ross@esknoxville.org.

Spring Uniforms

Beginning Tuesday, ESK Middle School students are now permitted to wear the Blue Polos on school days that do not require formal uniform dress (i.e. Eucharist days and special field trip occasions.)

Latin Competition

On Friday, March 22, the ESK Latin Club was in Murfreesboro, TN competing in the state Junior Classical League competitions. Each student competed in many academic competitions and some competed in the Certamen, Sillympika, Art, Dramatic Latin and Mythology Spelling Bee events. Participants in the convention were Sixth Grader Thomas Simunovic, Seventh Graders Jamie Hickling, Alex and Tori Schrubb, and Zan Killeffer and Eighth Graders Alex Levi, Florentin Kunz, Erin Wallace, and Piper Vassallo.  

Middle Schoolers Florentin Kunz, Zan Killeffer and Alex Levi work with Curtis Bower at the state Junior Class League competition.

The ESK Latin Club had the good fortune to bring home three ribbons: 4th Place in Division A Certamen, 1st Place in Sculpture (Alex Levi), and 5th place in level 1 Grammar (Alex Levi). Latin Club Advisor Curtis Bower said that the students had fun and look forward to attending the event again next year!

Prosthetic Arms

Eighth Graders Piper Vassallo, Noah Robbins and Sarah Jane Kline use limited supplies to create a prosthetic arm.