May is a time of review and preparation for Regents Tests. The 4th quarter is the hardest and the students need much encouragement to finish well. The best part about this month is that after all the hard work we went on our “End Of The Year Celebration”. It included going to a Chinese buffet and then to Juniper Valley Park for some R & R. It was a cool day thanks to Coach Wong, Mrs. Santana, Bernice the bus driver (The BEST bus driver ever), Mrs. Miyares, and my oldest son Ian. They helped make it very “doable”. I was thrilled to so see all my students, 6th grade through 12th grade, interacting together and having such a good time.
Mrs. Kemp
For the month of May Resource students focus on English language as well as how to study for tests. Because students need a strong vocabulary base to do well on the College Board SATs and also need it for a deeper understanding of their academic subjects they are introduced to vocabulary building exercises such as exploring word analogies and words with similar spelling; understanding context clues and key terms; using word maps or word charts; and, of coarse, playing the game called “Blurt”.
Mrs. Kemp
For the bulletin board in the Resource Room, I am challenging the students to write a passage reflecting on I Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” I’m looking forward to seeing how creative and yet thoughtful they will be.
Mrs. Kemp
Resource Room I really want to keep my students on task and not loose momentum, however, in some cases we have to start rebuilding momentum. In the aftermath of Academic Fair the classes evaluated how they did by going through each rubric and comparing what are the differences in the requirements for a “D”, “C”, and an ”A” research paper. A hindsight view of “what’s it all about” will also be explored by evaluation.
Mrs. Kemp
Now that June is upon us the students have been working hard on getting ready for their Global Regents. The students have been reviewing geography, key terms, and how this all comes together. This has been such a fun and exciting year as I have gotten to know the students and we have gone through thousands of years worth of history. The students have performed exceptionally well and have shown me so much about history and how it relates to our lives. It has been my pleasure to be there teacher the past two years and I wish them all the best. I hope the students have a wonderful summer and I hope to visit them again sometime next year.
Mr. Fowler
Challenges, over coming obstacles, personal satisfaction, taking it to the limit all apply to the end of another school year. But this year 54 high school students took it to another level when they completed the Alley Pond Park Adventure Course. These students worked as a team to complete challenges and spent the afternoon 35 to 40 feet in the air climbing walls, walking across cables, and jumping off utility poles. Many did not think they could complete the task, but with persistence and a lot of encouragement from their friends they did. They had a great time trying and came away with a sense that they could do anything. Sometimes class can feel like that cable 35 feet in the air. But this year students worked hard, persevered in their studies, and completed the course with a job well done.
Mrs. Wong
Students in Geometry have been studying and reviewing in preparation for finals and regent exam. I hope they all do well.
Mrs. Christian
High school was able to learn the ever popular Adobe Photoshop in the fourth quarter. They were taught the basics of the photo editing program to prepare them for next year when many of the computer lab classes will focus on learning this important skill. Each computer has Adobe Photoshop CS2 installed on it, which we are very blessed to have such an advanced program.
Mr. Miller
The sophomores have been moving forward with Algebra 2 in preparation for next years regents. They have evaluated and graphed functions. They have reviewed slope and solved real life problems.
Mrs. Wong
As the school year comes to an end, it’s always great to see where we have progressed and also see the areas we still need to improve on. In the beginning of the school year each student filled out a little card writing down any areas in their lives where they would like to see change. The time finally arrived to hand them back to the students! This was just a great way to see so many of them encouraged, knowing that God can change many things just in a matter of a few months. This year our students have learned the amazing power of prayer….that through Him all things are possible! My prayer is for each and every one of them to carry on what they have learned into their everyday lives even their summer vacation.
Miss Ramos