Week of December 16
Week of December 16
hour of code
Hour of Code took place at May School this past week during Computer Science Education Week. The idea behind Hour of Code is that every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science which helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic, and creativity. Students who participated discovered that computer science can be fun, creative, and accessible.
If your child would like to continue learning more at home, the online courses are still available at code.org. All students started with “AI for Oceans” to learn about machine learning and ethical use of AI, and there are several other challenges to choose from.
Thank you to Dr. Peter Lamborn, May School parent, for introducing our school to Hour of Code and working with our students!
Resolve
Congratulations to our Elementary and Intermediate students for completing the Resolve safety course. Students and teachers participated in an 8 week course to learn and practice skills related to boundary setting, how to ask for help and self-defense. It was a powerful experience even for those of us that were merely witnessing the classes. Hearing our students clearly and firmly say “No! Stop!” in a clear and loud voices was a clear reminder of how important it is to teach our children these skills.
Below are some reflections students had on the class.
Feast day
The Pueblo of Pojoaque celebrates Our Lady of Guadalupe every year on December 12. Feast Day dances begin in the morning and occur throughout the day on the kiva plaza area.
Several of our community members participated in this year’s Feast Day ceremony. They have spent weeks preparing their dances and spending time in reflection of the importance of Feast Day. Thanks to a thoughtful family, students and teachers were invited to observe the Feast Day dances and to have lunch at a family member’s home. Thank you for sharing your special day with our community.
To Give and Receive
Just before Thanksgiving break our students and families overwhelmed us with the number of canned food items that we were able to donate to the Bag N’ Hand Food Pantry. This week we received personal thank you messages from Santa Fe community members that benefit from the Food Pantry. Pastor Brad also shared with us that the donated food is going to help them get through the holiday break. They do not receive deliveries from other organizations between Christmas and New Years and will continue to serve the same number of families during that time. How wonderful to receive such gratitude and feedback from those that benefit from the Food Pantry services.
scientific Inquiry
Students in Ms. Jamie’s class are in full swing with scientific inquiry. I asked her class to write a summary of what they have been studying. Here’s what they had to say:
We started science last week with the hydrophobic action of oil in water. This week we started with the pH scale of acids, neutrals and alkalis. We wanted to see if vinegar was acid, neutral or alkali. Vinegar is acidic. We got out our Scientific Method Sheet to form the experiment. We wrote a question and a hypothesis. We put a penny in vinegar for 10 seconds. After, some of us rubbed it dry; some of us air-dried our penny. The rubbed pennies got shiny. The air-dried pennies got guckier. The vinegar made the oxidation go away if we rubbed it off. If we left the vinegar on the penny, it made the oxidation more. Rubbing made the difference. We still want to know: 1. What happens when you leave a penny in vinegar overnight? 2. What happens to the penny if you add other things to the vinegar like lemon juice, lime juice or grapefruit juice. –As written by Ms. Jamie’s class.
I look forward to learning what they find out.
