Happy Thursday! Check out all the happenings in Lower and Middle School in this week's edition of Headlines!

APRIL EVENTS AT ESK

4/10                 Middle School Musical, "Annie" - 1/6 p.m.

4/14-16            ERB Testing - Lower School - 8:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.

4/15                 NJHS Induction Ceremony - 10:20 a.m.

4/16                 Portfolio Night - 6:30-7:30 p.m.

4/18                 11th Annual Saints' Gala: Headmaster's Dinner & Auction

4/20                 Mandatory LS Talent Show Rehearsal - 3:30-4:30 p.m.

4/21-23            ERB Testing - Middle School - 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.

4/22                  Holy Eucharist in Honor of Earth Day - 8 a.m./10:20 a.m.

You Be The Chemist Challenge

Thirty-two fifth through eighth grade students at The Episcopal School of Knoxville have qualified to compete in the You Be The Chemist challenge, sponsored locally by DOW Chemical.

The competition will be an active, question-and-answer game-style competition set for Monday, April 13, at 1:15 p.m. in the Kline Gymnasium on the ESK campus. Students will answer a variety of chemistry and general science questions over multiple rounds of competition. The competition hopes to motivate students to sharpen their knowledge of chemistry concepts and their real-world applications.

The winner of the ESK competition will advance to the National Competition on June 22, in Philadelphia, PA. Dow Chemical will pay the expenses for the ESK winner and a parent to travel to the National Competition. ESK is the only school in the state participating.

Students qualified for Monday's competition based on their scores from an in-class test. All fifth through eighth grade students were eligible to participate.

Great Llama Race

All ESK students and families are invited to come out and cheer on the ESK llama in the Great Llama Race this Saturday, April 11, at World's Fair Park in downtown Knoxville. The events will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Great Llama Race is a foot race in which local celebrities are paired with a Knoxville school and a llama provided by Southeast Llama Rescue. The race will be run in heats, with the final heat determining 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. Proceeds will benefit Southeast Llama Rescue and Casa de Sara, an international non-profit with headquarters in Knoxville. All proceeds will go to sponsor their elementary school in La Guardia, Bolivia. Other activities will be going on throughout the day in addition to the main race. Vendors, entertainers, food, music, a children's section, crafts, games, and other competitions will be spread out around the grounds.

SASEF Honorees

Nine ESK students exhibited their science fair projects two weeks ago at the 61st annual Southern Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair, held at UT. Sydney Aikens, Caiden Bach-O'Donnell, Carson Davis, Josh Martinolich, Gregory New, Lu Warnke, Erin Conley, Leoni Kunz and Jack Feddersen participated, along with about 200 students from around East Tennessee. Gregory won the Broadcom Award and earned 4th place for his project "Measuring Mountains on the Moon." Erin, Caiden and Josh each won Honorable Mention! Congratulations to all of our SASEF participants!

Fourth Grade Community Service

The Fourth Grade classes raised money for local charities a couple weeks ago as part of their community service project. Students at ESK had several opportunities to donate to this great cause, including Free Dress Day, purchasing snacks at the bake sale and Jazzy Jars and finally Wacky Hat Wednesday. Each student could purchase a ticket to wear a hat to school. The Fourth Grade raised a total $2,106.85 for Second Harvest Food Bank and The Love Kitchen. Thank you to everyone who donated to this great cause!!

Lower School Soccer Play Day - DATE CHANGE

The Lower School Soccer Play Day, for ESK lower school students currently playing organized soccer, has been moved to Sunday, April 26, at 3 p.m.

Author Visit

Author, John Thompson, will return to ESK on Monday, April 13. He will present to Fifth and Sixth Grade students from 10:30-11:30 a.m. in the Chapel. Mr. Thompson will focus on the writing, researching, and editing process. His books include: The Girl from Felony Bay and Disappearance at Hangman's Bluff from the Felony Bay Mysteries series.

8th Grade Portfolio Night

Please join students from the Eighth Grade on Thursday, April 16, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. as they share their portfolio projects with the ESK community. For the yearlong project, each student selected a topic of personal interest. He or she then wrote an MLA-style research paper that includes an interview with an expert, envisioned and carried out a service project, and produced an artifact related to their chosen topic.

Upcoming Field Days

All families - please mark your calendars for upcoming Field Days! 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.

LS: Friday, May 8 - "Get on Board"

MS: Friday, May 15 - "Games around the World"

Alumni News

Webb School Gathering

On Tuesday afternoon, Cicely Upham, Development Associate and Alumni Relations Coordinator, visited Webb School of Knoxville with Susan Denton, Director of Admissions, and Curtis Bower, MS Latin teacher, for an ESK Alumni gathering! There was a great turnout and everyone loved seeing one another.

Alumni were asked what piece of advice they would give to current Eighth Grade students. Here are some of their responses:

"Don't forget the lessons ESK taught you. They've helped both me and my peers face new challenges." -Laura Altawil

"Work hard and persevere. The things you learn now will be the foundation for your high school experience." -Austin Hoffarth

"Don't be afraid to try new things. Love yourself. Join different clubs, but don't overload yourself." -Christoph Ewing

"Strive for greatness." -Alex Schrubb

The Alumni Relations office invites all alums to the Annual Alumni Summer Gathering. Save the date for May 27 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. on the ESK Campus. Come catch up with old teachers and friends and enjoy some delicious dinner. What better way to kick of the summer than reconnect with your ESK family! Be looking for more information in the next few weeks. In the meantime, update your information with Cicely Upham, Development Associate at upham@esknoxville.org.

Summer Math Workshops

Lower School

Mrs. Cathy Stivers will be holding her annual summer math workshop for rising 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders on Tuesdays from June 2nd - July 28th**. Students will work on their summer math requirement, play math games, and review math skills. Students will meet in Mrs. Stivers' room from 10-11 a.m. each Tuesday. The cost for the summer workshop is $200, payable by the first session. To ensure individual attention space is limited to the first 12 students. (**No session on June 30th) Feel free to contact Mrs. Stivers at stivers@esknoxville.org with questions or to enroll your child.

Middle School

This summer, Mrs. Barb Quaint will be offering a weekly math class to help keep students' minds sharp. Students will complete the summer math requirement, as well as preview next year's textbook. Class will meet in room 111 in the middle school on Tuesdays. The cost for this class is $200 (payable to Mrs. Quaint by the first day of class) and meets from for Tuesday, June 2 through Tuesday, July 28*. Please contact Mrs. Quaint (quaint@esknoxville.org) if you would like your child to participate. *There will be no class Tuesday, July 7.