THE JOY of working alongside an outstanding team of 28 learners this year will remain a fond memory of my first year at White Pines. Parents, thank you for entrusting me with your fine children during the past 36 weeks. My belief that "kids are teachers, too" is once again validated by the engagement and amazing achievement of this class. As students seal their time capsules this week, we place artifacts of this past year into temporary storage (seven years). It is my hope, however, that the memories of our shared experiences will remain fresh as we commence on another part of our journey this week.
OUR TEAM PICNIC provided a memorable afternoon of activities in the green space outside St. Paul's United Church of Christ. Students enjoyed a box lunch and a host of activities coordinated by parents. Several photo highlights of our picnic appear below. Click on a photo for a full screen view.
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| The guys wasted no time diving into their Jimmy John's box lunch. |
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| Emily, Brennan, Lexi, and Ashley prepare to "Steel the Bacon." |
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| Lauren, Tatum, Morgan, Destiny coordinate their collaboration. |
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| Catching marshmallows isn't all that easy when using butterfly nets. |
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| Our class even enjoys the "agony of defeat" against Ms. Westerman's students. |
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT is a non profit organization that brings the real world
to students through hands-on curriculum delivered by a trained
classroom volunteer. On Tuesday, our class shared in 5 lessons under the guidance of Renee Visser, Senior Business Consultant, of Haworth, Inc. We focused our attention on the following topics:
- identify factors needed to create a entrepreneurial venture and advertising design
- learn about natural, human, and capital resources and how they apply to technology, business, and industry
- examine the skills (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) needed by jobs that are in demand by businesses in a free enterprise system
- learn about job clusters and being introduced to a simple resume and its components
- explore how our nation is connected to the global economy and the contribution of specialization and technology
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| Emily and Sam display their team's "Turbo Taxi" concept advertisement. |
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| Ashley, Ryan, Claire, and Brandon discuss their "Get Connected" game card. |
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| Kirk, Evan, Tatum, and Lexi discuss the the impact of a scarcity of workers. |
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| Renee Visser of Haworth, Inc. discusses three types of resources and the STEM skills. |
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| We created a visual representation of our nation's connectivity with the global economy. |
THE WHITE PINES Library/Media Center (LMC) now offers a link to several online whiteboard resources that transform informational text into videos, leveled texts, ebooks, and more. Links toTrueFlix and FreedomFlix are located on the LMC web page. Students have been given a user name and password to access these sites this summer. The activities help students hone literacy skills, build knowledge of subject-area content, and cultivate 21st century skills through the inquiry process.
