Valentine Delivery Systems

Third Grade students hosted their 11th annual museum of Valentine Delivery Systems on Thursday. The spirited event featured magical devices made of simple machines such as lever, wedge, inclined plane and screw on display for the whole school population. Check out ESK's Facebook page for video and a photo gallery of the day!

WBIR's own Ken Schwall came out to visit the Valentine Delivery System display and asked several children about their work. Follow this link to see the result!

Middle School Science Fair Winners Announced!

Seventh Grader Ben Aikens project "The Battle of the Brands" was awarded Best in Show for the 2014 MS Science Fair.

Ninety students displayed exhibits in six categories at the Middle School Science Fair on Thursday. Seventh Grader Ben Aikens won Best of Show for his project "The Battle of the Brands," which looked to find out which type of tennis ball loses the least pressure, and thus lasts the longest, when fed through a ball machine a certain number of times and does that correlate with the smallest ball diameter change. His project also won first place in the Sports Sciences category.

Judges awarded first and second places and honorable mentions in these categories: Physics, Earth Science, Chemistry, Technology/Engineering, Biology/Life Science and Behavioral/Social Sciences.Students examined such questions as: Do rabbits see color?; Does the stride length of a person affect their efficiency or speed while sprinting?; Will the beat of a song affect the speed at which you run?; Which gender of ESK 7th graders are faster at finding Waldo in visual perception puzzles?; Can you taste the rainbow? and many, many others.

For a complete list of winners, click here.

Upcoming Admissions Deadlines

A reminder to all families that important admissions deadlines are coming up quickly: re-enrollment forms, including deposits, are due back to the admissions office on Friday, Feb. 21. Also, First Round admissions decision letters will be mailed on Friday, March 7.

The ESK Admissions Application is available at esknoxville.org. If you have any questions regarding admissions, please contact Director of Admissions Susan Denton via email at denton@esknoxville.org.

WrAP Assessments 

Please note that WrAP Assessments for Grades 3-8 are the mornings of Feb. 25-26. Please be at school on time and do not make any morning appointments for those days. The WrAP is a two-day writing assessment. On Day One of testing, students will write a rough draft in response to a writing prompt. On Day Two, students will revise their drafts and write the final copy.

ERB's CTP, the achievement test, will be given in April. Lower School students will take the CTP the week of April 8 with Middle School students testing the week of April 14. For any questions about assessments, please contact your child's teacher or Lois Ross, Director of Testing.

Parent/Teacher Conferences 

Parent/Teacher Conferences will be Friday, February 28. Be on the lookout for online scheduling information from your child's teacher/advisor.

ESK Folk Dancing Day

Please join ESK for an afternoon of Folk Dancing for Grades K-5 on Tuesday, March 4, beginning at 1:00 p.m. in the Kline Gymnasium. Classes are preparing classics such as The Virginia Reel, Cotton-Eyed Joe, and some new ones too. Come one, come all!

"Pennies for Pencils"  

This week, the ESK Interact Club concluded it's "Pennies for Pencils" fundraiser. Change jars were placed in the Lower School supply store and in each Advisor's room in the Middle School.Middle School students raised nearly $600, with almost half of that coming from students in Mr. Hoffman's advisory. Those students have earned a pizza party! The amount raised pushes ESK Interact's total amount collected for Africa ELI this year to over $1000, which equals more than 11 children's tuitions. All the funds collected will go to Africa Education and Leadership Institute. This Institute, headed by Anita Henderlight, provides education to children in South Sudan.

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Breakfast

Make plans to attend the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Breakfast on Tuesday, March 4, from 7:00-8:30 a.m. in the Bishop Center Dining hall. Tickets are $5 each and can either be purchased from next week or at the door. Be sure to get your ticket!  

Parent volunteers are needed from 6:15 to 8:00 a.m. Please email Erika Letsinger via letsinger@esknoxville.org if you are able to assist. Also contact Erika if you are able to loan a griddle or two.  

PA News

February Meeting

The next meeting of the Parent Association will be Tuesday, February 25 at 8:15 a.m. in the Bishop Center Dining Hall. Please come to hear the latest from PA President Debbie Martin and for a special financial seminar. See details below.

PA Sponsors Upcoming Financial Seminar

Helping your children pay for college is one of the biggest and most important challenges that you will face; however, many parents fail to develop an effective plan. Families who start a college savings account have more options when determining how to pay for their children's education. This seminar will address some of the most important elements of sound college financial planning:

• Identifying the college savings options
• Clarifying the role of 529 Qualified Tuition Plans
• Determining how much to save each year
• Applying sensible principles to college fund investing
• Balancing college savings with retirement planning

When: Tuesday, February 25th, after drop off (approximately 8:30am)

Where: Bishop Center Dining Hall at ESK (coffee and a morning snack will be provided)

Who is conducting: Cynthia Barreira (Gracie's - Kindergarten - mom) and Tim Mahoney

Please pre-register if possible with Cynthia at cabarreira@ft.newyorklife.com or 865-406-1605. Additional information may be acquired at http://www.ctimmahoney.com.

Spring Is In Bloom!

The Spring Used Uniform Sale is scheduled for Friday, February 28, from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. in Googe Hall. Get your short sleeve shirts for the warmer weather! You may always donate any clean, gently used ESK uniforms outside the Kline Gymnasium.   

Sustainability News

Tips for Spring

As the weather warms and spring approaches over the next few weeks, Director of Sustainability Brett Tannhauser will be sharing ways to be more sustainable and green.

Control Your Thermostat

Heating and Air Conditioning consume a huge amount of energy and drive up the cost of your energy bills, so adjust your room temperatures, and turn off your heater/AC while you're away during the day.

One of the best alternatives to an AC that you can turn to is the "swamp cooler," which consumes up to 75% less energy by using an evaporative air-cooling process.

Wash Your Clothes in Cold Water

Up to 90% of energy consumed by washing machines can be attributed solely to heating the water, even though most loads can run with cold water. Washing most of your clothes in cold water, and, whenever possible, hang-drying certain items, can drastically reduce your energy consumption.

Summer Camps

Theater Camp

ESK summer theatre camp with Dr. Sousa will be held June 9­13 for rising First through Sixth graders. Watch next week's Headlines for more information.

Minecraft Camp

This summer's camps will be held at ESK the week of June 9-13. A morning session, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., will be held for beginning players, and an afternoon session 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. for intermediate/advanced skills. Campers are welcome to sign up for both sessions, but afternoon attendees will want to have basic game skills already mastered. For more information, or to register, please go to www.techtutortime.com.