RECOGNITIONS

Cherisse Campbell

Ms. Campbell is no stranger to Amana, as she spent two years teaching at Amana and leading the formation of our STEM program prior to rounding out her leadership skills and experience with Fulton County Schools. She is a seasoned educator with the right credentials and commitment to high academic achievement and the expeditionary learning approach.

Ms. Campbell holds a Bachelor degree in Chemistry from Spelman College and a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, and she holds Master's degrees in Ed Leadership and Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Delaware.  She also holds a Specialist degree from Kennesaw State University with a specific concentration Charter School Leadership. 

Cherisse has taught at the middle school and high school levels in Delaware, Dekalb County Schools, and Fulton County Schools. Most recently she served as Assistant Principal at Woodland Middle School for the Fulton Board of Education where she headed up the school's Talented & Gifted program, Science department, and the Special Needs Services department. While at Woodland, she implemented STEM integration (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) and enrichment opportunities for students.  

Ms. Campbell has presented forward-thinking instructional strategies at the National Expeditionary Learning Conference, the National Science Teachers Association, at Amana Academy's STEM//Bound Learning Institute, and at Fulton County Schools Principals meetings.  

Ms. Campbell joins Ms. Wanda Hopkins-McClure, our Elementary Grades Director, and Mr. Ehab Jaleel, Executive Director to complete the administrative team.  They are focused on fulfilling our mission of preparing students for high academic achievement beyond what they think possible, so that they become active contributors to building a better world.

Congratulations to the following students who were nominated by their teachers as Student of the Month Citizen Scholars.  These students were chosen because they demonstrated behavior consistent with the Expeditionary Learning Design Principles.

Expeditionary Learning Design Principles 

• The Primacy of Self Discovery (students undertake tasks that require perseverance, fitness, craftsmanship, imagination, self-discipline, and significant achievement)
• The Having Of Wonderful Ideas (curiosity about the world)
• The Responsibility for Learning (responsible for directing their own personal and collective learning.)
• Empathy and Caring (help foster a community of respect and mutual trust)
• Success and Failure (confidence and capacity to take risks and meet increasingly difficult challenges, learn from their failures, to persevere)
• Collaboration and Competition (compete not against each other, but with their own personal best and with rigorous standards of excellence)
• Diversity and Inclusion (Embraces, investigate and values their different histories and talents as well as those of other communities and cultures)
• The Natural World (stewards of the earth and of future generations)
• Solitude and Reflection (ability to explore their own thoughts, make their own connections, and create their own ideas, as well as exchange their reflections with other students and with adults.)
• Service and Compassion (As a crew, students show attitudes and skills to learn from and be of service.

Students Honor Alpharetta First Responders at Safety Day! 

Thanks to Alpharetta Community Officer Vincent Johnson (pictured upper left) and Amana staff member Dawn Fakhoury, on March 12th over 240 students in grades KG-2 learned about home safety and how first responder heroes help us all.  (Yes, that's Mr. Jaleel getting in on the action while posing with the 75 lb SWAT vest).

LEARNING SNAPSHOTS

8th Grade Expedition Kicks Off

   

This month has been a time of preparation for amazing things to come. Across the school, learning expeditions are beginning to launch.  The first stage in a learning expedition is the Expedition Kickoff. Kickoff experiences for expeditions set the stage for excitement, engagement, and deep learning.  These immersive experiences shift the student from the periphery of standards based education to the center.  

 

For example eighth grade students kicked off their expedition through examining the role of the media in bringing awareness to injustice and its impact on political and social change.   It is through this lens that our eighth grade students will investigate the eighth grade social studies standard of the role of Georgia in the civil rights movement and more importantly how it relates to them as future agents of change. Students will celebrate their learning in May - all are welcome to attend (check Amana Academy's calendar for specific times).

 

Real Scientists Conduct Fieldwork!

Scenes from overnight field studies for 4th, 5th, and 7th grade.  Students immersed themselves in Science-focused lessons at Blueridge Camp, Jekyll Island's 4-H Center, and Tremont in the Smokey Mountains.  Overnight field studies with authentic fieldwork, which offer a sense of adventure, are a hallmark of Expeditionary Learning.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

"2020 Vision" Strategic Plan is Taking Shape 

Veteran parents Pam Holloway (standing) and Andrea Cooper Gatewood facilitate a grades 3-5 parent input session on March 13th.  As we start a new charter term, Amana Academy's Board wants to update the school's strategic plan to reflect our goals for the next five years.  The Board has sponsored a series of focus group meetings with parents, teachers, and students.  This process will culminated with a strategic planning workshop on March 27 at a public Board Town Hall meeting, which will be followed by a public comment period.

Come SQUAWK & WALK with Us on April 19!

Our first annual Squawk & Walk on April 19, 2014 from 3:00 PM until 6:00 PM is sure to be a fun and fit activity for students and their families, with all participants reaching for their personal best. Our goal is to raise at least $20,000 for the Annual Fund at Amana Academy.

A portion of this amount will be matched by Mar-Jac Poultry, up to $10,000! We hope that each family will participate in the Squawk & Walkto the best of its ability. If each student raises $15.00, we will achieve our goal. We're hoping to exceed our goal, so the more donations you collect, the better!

Immediately following the walk, we will host a chicken barbecue behind the school, courtesy of Mar-Jac Poultry. Meal tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door.  At that time, participants and guests will also have an opportunity to bid on some fabulous items in our silent auction. 

Thank you very much for your participation!

Registering for the Walk and Collecting Pledges

•  Participants may start collecting donations as soon as they receive the donation sheets. You may turn in your completed donation sheet with the donations at any time. Reminder: donation sheets need to be turned in on or before April 19, 2014 (the day of the Squawk & Walk).  To receive your T-shirt on the day of the event, forms should be turned in no later than April 4.  Forms submitted on the day of the event will result in T-shirts being ordered and distributed after the event has occurred.
•  Donations may be made by anyone. We have included a letter to send to a close friend or relative. However, students are not expected to go door to door and should not ask for donations from any of the staff members. Students and their families may work in teams, but we ask that each team member raise at least $15 in order to be eligible to participate. Please ask everyone who donates if his or her company has a matching gift fund policy.
•  Each sponsor writes their name and donated amount. Donations should be collected in advance of the event. We don't want participants to have to return to collect the donation.
•  Cash or checks should be made payable to Amana Academy. Pledges may also be made online (http://www.crowdrise.com/SquawkAndWalk) and we encourage participants to set up their own micro-site to accept donations (simply follow the link and click on the "Set Up Your Fundraiser" button on the right-hand side). 

On the Day of the Event

• On the day of the Squawk & Walk, each walker or team of walkers will walk a designated path in Wills Park.  Teams are encouraged to wear matching colors or themed outfits.
•  Amana will be supplying waters for the walkers. There will be a barbecue after the walk, and meal tickets are available for purchase ($5 in advance, $7 at the door) for that event.
•  All walkers who have at least $15.00 in donations will receive aSquawk & Walk t-shirt (valued at $10).
•  No running or jogging will be allowed. Please leave your dogs at home for the safety and security of our students. Participants are encouraged to wear hats and sunscreen if it's sunny or bring rain gear if it's rainy. The Squawk & Walk will be held rain or shine.

For More Information

• We look forward to all our participants having a great time! For questions or to volunteer, email Niki Fox at nfox@amanaacademy.org

If you are interested in registering for the event, please download the Squawk & Walk Pledge Letter and Squawk & Walk Pledge Form.  If you would like to help solicit items for our silent auction, please download the Squawk & Walk Letter and Squawk & Walk Auction Donation Form. 

The Learning Garden program at Amana is in full swing. You may not see it yet, but rest assured we are making progress, and in a month or so, you'll see the brick beds in front of the school lush with cool-season vegetables.  

Implementing a program like this can be challenging.  It takes time and effort, and we don't always see the fruits of our labor immediately.  In a world where we've gotten accustomed to instant gratification, building and tending a garden can seem like a laborious and thankless task. We spend time digging and amending and planting, and it might be years before the fruit trees and bushes produce any measurable amount of fruit. 

In a lot of ways, tending a garden is like educating children.  It takes time and requires patience, and you have to lay a solid foundation before you can move on to the next step.  You won't always see immediate results, but the final product is so rewarding.  

The student garden club planted apple trees and blackberry vines last week.  The students were so excited to be outside digging in the dirt, preparing the soil and carefully placing the plants in the ground.  I think they were disappointed to hear that we probably wouldn't harvest any apples this year, or possibly even next.  When I think of the legacy we're leaving, though, it makes it completely worthwhile.  With the proper care, these trees and vines will be here for generations.  We're putting down roots.  

The garden has also found its way into the classroom.   Second grade is doing an expedition on the Farm to Table movement, and has started seeds for beets, kale and mustard greens that will soon be planted out front.  Third grade is learning about rocks and minerals, and has started a worm composting project to see firsthand the way that worms alter the makeup of soil.  Fourth grade is learning about endangered species, and plans to install some native pollinator-friendly plants in one of the beds in the front the school.  Our garden is growing - in more ways than we know.

While all of this is going on (as if that's not exciting enough!), plans are underway to establish another section of the Learning Garden at the back of the school, where we butt up against Wills Park.  If you've noticed those big piles of mulch when you've driven through elementary carpool, now you know what they're for.  This is a longer-term project that may have to be completed in stages as funding comes available. 

We hope you are all as excited about the Learning Garden as we are.  You can follow along with our progress via the garden website, and learn more about the benefits of a school garden by viewing this Prezi.  If you're interested in getting involved with this project (we always need volunteers!), please contact Niki Fox: nfox@amanaacademy.org.

In line with Amana's commitment to high achievement, active learning, character growth and teamwork, Amana parents are encouraged to be fully invested in their child's leaning environment through volunteering.  What better way is there for parents to teach character, teamwork, and responsibility to our children than by modeling it for them?  As such, we ask that each parent volunteer a minimum of 10 hours per school year (10 hours per single-parent household, 20 hours for two-parent households) as per our charter.  

Ways You Can Volunteer:

• In you child's classroom
• In the media center
• With a club
• The April 19th Squawk & Walk Event
• Field Day Planning 
• FLES Foreign Language Contests
• Much more! 

Who to Contact?  Contact your child's teacher or their Crew Parent.  You can also contact Ms. Shaheen Barde, PIE VP, at shaheenbee@gmail.com.  

This Saturday 3/29, from 8:30 PM until 9: 30 PM is Earth Hour. 

According to the Earth Hour website, "Earth Hour is a worldwide grassroots movement uniting people to protect the planet, and is organised by WWF. Engaging a massive mainstream community on a broad range of environmental issues, Earth Hour was famously started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Since then it has grown to engage more than 7000 cities and towns worldwide, and the one-hour event continues to remain the key driver of the now larger movement."

During its December public meeting, the Fulton County Board of Education approved Amana Academy's Charter petition for a third charter term of 5 years.  The petition is currently being reviewed by the Georgia Department of Education's Charter School Division.  Amana Academy Administrators and Board Members successfully completed the interview step with the Georgia Department of Education in late February.  Next, they will interview with the State Board's Charter Committee.  Final approval by the Georgia Board of Education is expected by May if everything moves smoothly.

Behind the Scenes - Planes, Trains, and Automobiles to Houston

Do you remember snowmageddon? The morning after, Mr. Ehab Jaleel, Amana's Executive Director, hiked to his stranded car in Roswell, drove to the Sandy Springs MARTA station to catch a ride to the airport not knowing whether he would catch a  flight to Houston, Texas.  It was an important trip.   

At the invitation of Ken Zeff, Fulton County Schools' head of Strategy & Innovation, and Superintendent Dr. Robert Avossa, Mr. Jaleel was to attend a convening hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation of superintendents from across the Country partnered with a charter school leader from their districts.  While Dr. Avossa and Mr. Zeff were unable to attend due to higher priority needs associated with the snow storm, Mr. Jaleel - through a series of small miracles - made it to Houston for the 2-day session.  

The sessions focused on the Foundation's work to support "charter compacts" between districts and their charter schools.  Leaders shared best practices for collaboration, and shared some of the challenges they face in states where charter schools are still a new paradigm.  While not an official Gates Foundation "charter compact" district, Fulton County Schools was viewed at the sessions as a leader nationally in establishing collaborative framework with its independent charter schools.

CONNECT WITH US 

If you ever have any questions or concerns, please contact your child's teacher directly, or any one of our Administrative team members.  If your question was not addressed, then feel free to contact our Governing Board.  Amana's main number is (678) 624-0989 and you may also find email contact information for all of our staff by visiting the Amana Staff Directory.

On behalf of the Governing Board, the Amana faculty and staff, and the school Administration, thank you for entrusting your child's education to us.  With your continued support, we will continue to mold the very best and brightest global leaders!