Announcements 5-21-12

Spotlight on Dynamic Design

Lots of work and activities have been happening in Dynamic Design!

On Friday, May 11th, Dynamic Design students got to play a game of "Real Life Junk Pile" based on their favorite SumDog computer game called "Junk Pile."  Dynamic Design teachers collected their own "junk" from broken printers to sleds and even a pair of old winter boots!  Two teams of students raced to answer trivia questions from all content areas (Where is the nucleus found in an atom?  Give an example of a simile.  What is 25% of 48?) to collect a piece of junk and get the most points for their team.  Then, the teams competed to create the tallest free-standing structure using all of their junk.  Many students of all ages were outside that afternoon and made the connection to SumDog right away!  It was a lot of fun, and we'd like to thank our Mathematics Content Coach, Lisa Lucas, for coming to check out the fun and take pictures for us!

Dynamic Design students have started working with our art teachers on the restoration of the library mural.  Students are working on this decoupaged mural by repairing and repainting the paper.   The work will continue through this school year and into the fall.

We are also continuing our work with our school-wide sustainable fundraising initiative with the Box Tops for Education and Labels for Education programs.  We celebrated with the winners of our previous Box Top Bonanza contest (Mrs. Curley's 6th grade class) by providing them with a Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Party.  Currently, students are collecting and sorting Box Tops and Labels for one last shipment before the end of the year.  Students will also be spreading the word and putting together materials about continuing to collect throughout the summer in the hopes of having a Back-to-School collection contest in the fall.

In Math, the 7th graders are working on an inquiry task about rate & unit rates.  They spent some time outside collecting data on their own rates while walking forward and backward, tiptoeing, skipping, hopping, and more, and will continue to use this data throughout the inquiry.  8th graders are into a unit on higher-level algebra tasks.  Both 7th and 8th graders have started a collaborative math Blog to discuss topics, ask questions, and compile resources.  In Language Arts, 7th graders are creating 'Zines about various aspects of City School, including the Arts, Technology, Enrichment, Health & Wellness, and School-Wide Beautification projects, among others.  8th graders are working on independent research projects on a topic of choice, while also drafting and revising graduation speeches!  In 21st Century, our last Culminating Event is based on the scientific method and chemistry, and the students have created their own Soda Companies.  Each company has divisions for Research & Development; Manufacturing; Design & Packaging; Sales, Marketing & Advertising; and Legal.  Their tasks include mock trademark and patent applications, creating formulas and recipes for their soda, samples of their product, packaging mock-ups, print ads, and 30-second commercial spots.  The culmination of this work will take place in a few weeks' time with a contest for votes from students across the school for best packaging and design, best advertising, and best tasting.

News from Team Triumph

Five IBM Engineers visited Team Triumph on May 16th as part of their Electricity Day.  Students had a chance to explore the concepts of voltage, current, and resistance by making circuits that completed certain tasks such as Flying Saucers and Alarms!


Cafeteria Reminder


Please make sure you are current on your child's lunch account. As of today, there will be no more charging on student accounts. If your bill presents a hardship, please contact Desiree Gunter at gunterd@fcsuvt.org or by phone 527-0565 ext. 1112. You can also download a Free and Reduced Lunch application here: http://www.education.vermont.gov/new/pdfdoc/pgm_nutrition/school_nutrition/program/forms/educ_nutrition_fr_application_meal.pdf


Hot Lunch Entree for Monday May 21st


Fish N Chips 
Fish Sticks & French Fries w/Creamy Tartar Sauce 
Oven Baked French Fries 
Wheat Dinner Roll 
Fresh Fruit
Farm Fresh Milk