Newsletter: November 20, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Dear Pilgrim School Families, First Church Members, and Friends Near and Far,
The holidays are upon us! What a wonderful time of year, especially at Pilgrim School. Please join me this Sunday, November 22 at First Church for what promises to be an inspiring sermon, titled “Hard Days, Thankful Times” and service at 11 a.m. Rec. Colglazier and I will be the maitre d’s at the traditional Thanksgiving dinner served at noon in Stuart Hall. Donations of $15 are encouraged, but all are welcomed regardless of ability to pay.
Pilgrim School and First Church have “adopted” the local Commonwealth Elementary School for our Christmas giving. On Sunday, a Christmas tree in Stuart Hall will be decorated with “angel tags.” The tags provide information about children who are in need of new clothes (especially jackets) and shoes. The tree will be moved into the niche near the Admissions Office, where you may also pick up an angel tag. These children also need school supplies, books (the Scholastic Book Fair is still open on Monday and Tuesday), and games. Whatever you can provide will be most appreciated. Please do not wrap the items. The deadline for donations is Friday, December 11. Thank you for your generosity to children who would otherwise do without.
I want to thank the Pilgrim School faculty, staff and our many parent volunteers who have literally been working overtime this week. We held two wonderful open houses, hosting almost a hundred families interested in joining the Pilgrim School family.
Wednesday was the inaugural meeting of the Dads Club. For those dads who weren’t able to attend, I want you to know that this Club has no by-laws, no officers, lots of laughs, and only a few meetings a year. Parent Dwayne Hall is sending out a letter to all Pilgrim dads about our future plans – look for it in your mailbox tomorrow or Monday!
By now every student has had the chance to visit our Scholastic book fair. It's exciting to see the eager way our children are devouring books! This year the Fair is in the Amanda Scott Room, giving us lots of room and allowing us to keep the library open at the same time. Thank you to parent organizers Linda Sallas and Love Streams! Other volunteers who have been helping out will be acknowledged next week.
Books have been flying off the shelves. With two more days to go if we sell 397 additional we'll reach our goal of 1000 books! That's the magic number needed to see me duct-taped to the wall! (Yes, I will need to stand still.)
If you haven't had time to stop by the Fair or need to finish off a little holiday shopping, please stop by next week. The Book Fair will be open next Monday and Tuesday, November 23 and 24. Grandparents and Special Friends are welcome to drop in too!
Read-a-Thon activities have inspired third grader Louis Armstead to start a book group. Their first meeting is this afternoon in the library, where more than a dozen students in grades 3 through 6 have signed up to discuss Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Louis was very organized, meeting several times with Mrs. McDugald to set up the logistics. Way to go, Louis and fellow Book Groupers!
Pilgrim’s Secondary students began finals today. They run through Tuesday, and I know Thanksgiving break will be an enormous relief for them. Students in grades 7 through 12 may be picked up by 1:15 daily, and 6th Graders at 3 p.m.
Thank you to parents in Grade 2 and our Toddler Room for providing a delicious Mediterranean luncheon for the faculty and staff on Wednesday. Please know how much these gestures mean to everyone! (How did you know that Mediterranean foods are my favorite??!)
We are looking forward to Grandparents and Special Friends Day on Tuesday, November 24. Check-in begins at 12:45 downstairs in the Barnum Room. If your child’s visitors need assistance getting down stairs, we will provide shuttle vans in the parking lot. The vans will take passengers to the Hoover Street entrance of the building, where there are no stairs. The students are working on a special program, and I know it will be a wonderful occasion for your children to share their school with their extended family and friends.
Congratulations to our undefeated Middle School volleyball team and to our high-ranking Mock Trial team! More information about their wonderful experiences is included below.
I hope to see you all on Sunday, so I can serve a delicious meal to each of you!
With best wishes,
Mark A. Brooks
Head of School
PS: Read-a-Thon pledge envelopes are due on Monday, November 30. We hope to raise at least $5,000 for our libraries! Thank you for participating.
DATES TO REMEMBER
Saturday, November 21
10 a.m.: Secondary Final (for some students)
Sunday, November 22
11 a.m.: First Church Thanksgiving service
Noon: First Church Thanksgiving luncheon, Stuart Hall
Tuesday, November 24
12:45 p.m.: Grandparents and Special Friends Day (Elementary and Preschool)
Last day of Secondary finals
Wednesday, November 25 – Friday, November 27
Thanksgiving Recess
Monday, November 30
Read-a-Thon Ends
Secondary trimester begins
Tuesday, December 2
8:30 a.m.: Junior Kindergarten “Jump Up to Kindergarten” Day
Thursday, December 10
5 pm – 8 pm: Secondary parent-teacher conferences
Friday, December 11
Deadline for gifts for Commonwealth Elementary School
12:30 – 4:30 pm: Secondary parent-teacher conferences
Christmas program.
Friday, December 12
7 – 11 pm: High School Christmas dance.
ATHLETICS NEWS AND DATES
Pilgrim’s Middle School girl’s volleyball team is the undefeated champion in their league! It was a tough season, and our seven girls (grades 6 through 8) were very determined in seeking their Pilgrim Victory. Last Thursday was their last game; Park Century won the first round and our Patriots won the next two, winning by just two points!
Students who have not returned their Winter Athletic Packets to Coach Sarafian must do so ASAP!.
The Gymnasium floor will be closed from Wednesday, November 25 through Sunday, November 28, for resurfacing.
Tuesday, November 24:
2:30: Girls Varsity Basketball Scrimmage with El Segundo HS, here
READ-A-THON NEWS
Ms. Um writes:
"Our kindergarten writers had their first publishing party on Tuesday, November 17th. We had a wonderful time sharing our All About Me stories with our parents and celebrating our accomplishments as writers!"
Mrs. Koller writes about the trip to Felipe de Neve public library that the 4th and 5th graders went on this week:
“The trip was fabulous! I love Lori, the librarian over there. She has a great way with kids. Our students were completely enthralled and she invited them to stay longer. What could we say? So after she gave them a very brief tour, the kids attacked the shelves. Within about 3 minutes, every kid was either sitting at a table or on the floor---reading. I thought Lori was going to cry from joy! It was a good experience all around.”
Book Critic Recommendations this week include:
Hatchet, recommended by Steve Gi (Grade 5). He writes, “The book is adventurous. If you like adventure books, this will be the best book. The ending is so mysterious. Please read it!” He found the book himself.
Maeve Johnson (Grade 5) recommends Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs, which her mother told her about. “Everything is completely unexpected and the main part of the book is turned inside out. It is a book filled with wonders. It is a book of excitement and surprises. I will read it over and over. It is easier than it looks and you get deep into it.”
A friend recommended Matilda to Alexander Liang, Grade 4. “It’s about a girl who does all these crazy things. It’s got a lot of funny things and also has a lot of imagination.”
ELEMENTARY NEWS
Grandparents and Special Friends Day is coming up! If you would like to have an invitation sent to a relative, please send the information to rsvp@pilgrim-school.org. We are going to have a very special program for our extended Pilgrim family members, and a very special surprise, as well. We don’t want your children’s loved ones to miss it!
ELEMENTARY ART NEWS
Katrina Alexy writes:
“I am constantly being inspired in life by other artists' work. Last week I attended the California Art Educators Annual conference where I took various workshops, met with other teachers, and experimented with new art products. I learned all sorts of new techniques for lessons in the workshops, but the most inspiring moment was when I eyed a poster of a fascinating sculpture. The sculpture was a large dinosaur that had been made from a VW bug sculpted by an artist named Patricia Renick. I had never heard of her before and immediately started to do research on her when I came home. I knew I wanted to make dinosaur sculpture in the classroom using matchbox cars after seeing that poster at the conference!
Here are a few images of her work:
http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/imgs/hed/art16987widea.jpg
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_fql26NH50-A/R2VhWNlFUvI/AAAAAAAADPk/omq6tvvsB1o/R0...
Please keep your eye out for old matchbox cars (metal only please) that your children may have outgrown. They can be battered! You can e-mail me at kalexy@pilgrim-school.org and I will arrange where you can bring them.
I feel very fortunate that Pilgrim encouraged me to attend the conference, and am thrilled to share all of my new inspirations in the classroom. My colleagues at The Center For Early Education also attended the conference where we brainstormed ideas for a collaborative art project with both schools inspired by the paintings of Wayne Thiebaud. I'll keep you posted!
http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/imgs/hed/art16987widea.jpg”
MUSIC NEWS
Parents of students in Grades 4 and 5, please make sure your students bring their instruments to school on Monday and Tuesday! They will need them for the dress rehearsal and performance for Grandparents and Special Friends Day. Thank you!
SECONDARY NEWS
Melanie Salter writes about an awesome use of our technology in learning:
“The 7th grade students have created a podcast historical narrative about a figure from the age of global exploration. Each historical figure interacts with a group or individuals from another culture. Narratives can be found at the following link:
http://web.me.com/melaniesalter/MelanieSalter/Podcast/Podcast.html”
Congratulations to Dr. Amy Gregory, whose proposal for a workshop at the California Association of Independent Schools conference (to be held in March) was accepted! In her words:
“My workshop will be on teaching and assessing writing in foreign languages. In the age of online translators, students left to their own devices tend to write essays that look like a mixture of, for example Martian and Spanish. I'll be sharing techniques that help avoid the use of electronic translators and promote quick, easy assessment of writing so teachers can stop dreading asking students to write.”
PILGRIM STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN MOCK TRIAL COMPETITION
Pilgrim High School students completed another successful season in the Constitutional Rights Foundation's Mock Trial Competition. More than 75 high schools competed in the Los Angeles County competition.
The trial in the case of "People v. Bratton" was based on a fictitious murder case. Students played the roles of lawyers, witnesses, clerk, bailiff, and pre-trial lawyers in mock trials, which are conducted in the main Los Angeles Superior Court building downtown. Each competition is presided over by a sitting Los Angeles Superior Court judge. Lawyers volunteer as scorers for evaluations.
A measure of the Pilgrim team's strength is that when our students took the prosecution side, the defendant (from another school) was convicted of the murder. When we took the defense role, the defendant (from Pilgrim) was acquitted!
Congratulations are in order for the entire team. Special commendations go to:
Jeffrey Bradshaw (Defense Closing Argument) 40/40 – a perfect score!
Henry Klapper (Police Officer Malone) 14 out of a possible 15 points.
Zachary Perry (Prosecution Closing Argument) 26/30
James Son (Clerk/Timekeeper) 13/15
Vivian Lin (Defense Pre-trial Lawyer) 51/60
Homer Mason (Defense Forensic Pathologist) 19/20
Hong Hong Jiang (Cross-Examination) 17/20
Jay Choi (Witness Morgan Bernard) 13/20
Steven Choi (Defense Opening Statement) 11/15
Thanks to faculty sponsor Annie Kuo, attorney coaches Mitchell Abbott and Jeff McMullen, alumnus coach Mike Abbott, and videographer Jacob Hamilton.
Pilgrim School has participated in the Mock Trial Competition annually since 1994. Next year, we hope to field both a Senior (High School) Division team and also a Junior (Middle School) Division Team.
Congratulations to the 2009 Mock Trial Team!
PRESCHOOL NEWS
The Pilgrim Preschool Science Mini Labs are scheduled on Monday, November 23rd at 2:45 p.m. The Preschool and Junior Kindergarten students will go on a nature walk in the morning to make a leaf collection. In the afternoon, they will visit the Science Lab in the Seaver building (Room S402 and Room S408) to do playful experiments (hands-on science labs). They will meet with our wonderful science teachers, Miss Hatfield, Mr. Bullock, and Miss White. Miss Hatfield is the Department Chair of Science who teaches AP Biology, 8th grade science and human anatomy. Mr. Bullock is an Academic Dean and also teaches AP Chemistry and Physics. Ms. White teaches 6th and 7th grade math and science. Their first station will be making engravings of their collected leaves using white paper and crayons and they will then visit each of the three stations for a mini-lab in each of the three major divisions of science (Physics, Chemistry, and Biology). Parents are invited.
Grandparents and Special Friends Day is scheduled for Tuesday, November 24th. Our toddlers’ grandparents and special friends are invited to their classroom at 10:45 a.m. for a special activity and stay for the monthly Mommy and Daddy Luncheon from 11:30-12:30. Their special guests can also check in at the Amanda Scott Room at 12:45 p.m. to join the rest of the afternoon programs.
JK was one of the three grades to have 100% parent participation in the annual fund. As a reward, your students will enjoy an in-class hands-on lesson with Captain Leslie on December 9. She covers science programs and is a lot of fun!
KITCHEN CORNER
Our very own Janet Howe of City Cuisine writes:
This week Ms. Basom’s Second Grade class toured the school kitchen and I was very impressed with their knowledge of the food groups, as they have been studying nutrition and the food pyramid. We ended our tour with a visit to the composter as the class had a small composter of their own and we combined it with all the green waste from the kitchen and all had a turn piling in the leaves to complete the compost mixture. The students are very aware of what we are doing and why. Kudos to Ms. Basom and her class!
CAREER DAY THANK YOUs
Quote from a 7th grade acknowledgement letter to one of our speakers:
“I still remember what you said: ‘Do you want to study hard for two to three years and have a comfortable life? Or do you want to play hard for two to three years and have an uncomfortable life?’ I really like this sentence because my mom always says that too, and I agree.”
So do we!
GOLF SPONSOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
2009 2nd Annual Golf A Go-Go
Pilgrim School Golf Tournament
Tournament Sponsor: The Jay Pritzker Foundation
Lunch Sponsor: Godmother’s Kitchen
Beverage Sponsor: Evian
Cocktail Sponsor: Goose Island
Hole in One Sponsor: Downtown Mercedes and DeVito Insurance
Tee Prize Sponsor: Media Locations
Eagle Sponsors: Larry Brown. So Cal Technologies
Inside the Circle: K & W Sasabe
Closest to the Pin: Richard Mah
Putting Green Contest: Beesley Family
Green Sign Sponsors: Rick Llanos Coldwell Banker and Eileen Rauchberg, Financial Consultant
LIBRARY CORNER
Thank you to Arath Pedroza-Alberto’s family for donating a book to the Elementary library in honor of his birthday. Happy reading, Arath!
COMMUNITY SERVICE NEWS
Admission to our Christmas program on December 11 is a can (or more!) of food. As you may know, food banks are in record demand, and supplies are low. Please help Hope-Net to have enough food items to distribute to the working poor and homeless. Thank you.
