News from Lisa
Shiver Me Timbers!
On Friday, September 19th we celebrated "Talk Like a Pirate Day" at GSA. During our Community Meeting, Second grade teacher Jennie Buckley read Pirate Girl by Cornelia Funke, and Captain Jennifer Read invited us to join in a celebration of Mary Read (a famous female pirate) with our favorite pirate song:
Yo, ho, all together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho,
thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.
(chorus, Pirates of the Caribbean 3)
Sometimes we take a break from high adventure and get down to some serious earth moving, so this summer we had three lovely new raised beds installed for our gardening program (thank you to the GSA trustees for providing for this new addition to our program). The middle school science teachers (Liberty Heise, Gary Poole, and Bridget Finn) will be making use of the beds for various projects connected to their curriculum.
We are also fond of math adventures, and we had an excellent parent turnout for Math Night (it warms the heart of a math and physics teacher to see so much excitement about mathematics). In addition to extending Everyday Math through 6th grade and adding the University of Chicago's Transition and Algebra programs in grades 7 and 8, we also offer geometry for those students who have advanced beyond algebra. This year, several math teachers will also be making use of Problem of the Week (POW) problems (Math Forum at Drexel University is a great source of such problems). In addition, many middle school students will participate in the American Math Contest (AMC 8) in November, and we might even have enough interest in a Private School Interscholastic Association (PSIA) math team this year. The idea is to provide as many opportunities and venues as we can for girls to use math. Math Rocks!
Speaking of rocks, a hard-working team of parents helped remove sticks and rocks from the summer mulch deliveries. The mulch on campus has rescued our drought-stricken campus—and just in time for the much anticipated fall rains (it is going to be a wet fall, isn't it?). I do think that we will need one more load of mulch to cover some additional bare spots, so stay tuned for a mulch spreading opportunity. Maintaining a pleasant and cost-effective playground surface in Austin without an irrigation system is an adventure of another sort.
We've even added some high tech adventures this year – with an electronic whiteboard in the 4th grade room and more laptops in the middle school. If you have never seen an electronic whiteboard, check out this interesting and dynamic teaching tool.
And, while I sometimes think that every day is a zoo at The Girls' School, we really did have a zoo on campus on Friday, Sept 11. The special treat was the baby kangaroo. Let me just say that any day that involves a baby kangaroo is a great day.
We have a busy fall planned with many wonderful adventures but quick as you can say, "Shiver me timbers," it will be winter break! Just you wait and see.
Lisa K. Schmitt
Head of School
(9/09)