Month: April 2022

Shoveling Sand & Rocks

In March, Saklan’s eighth grade students took part in a service-learning field experience in Puerto Rico. While there, the students took turns writing daily blog posts. Check out the blog post from the third day of the trip below.

March 26, 2022

In the morning, we woke up, got ready, had breakfast then went on the bus. We took the bus to go to the worksite and help out with rebuilding a house that had fallen due to the hurricane. There was a very nice dog there. While we were at the house, we helped make cement. The 12 of us were divided into groups of 6, one for rocks and one for the sand. We non-stop shoveled sand and rocks into buckets where the adults proceeded to place them in the mixer. If our bucket fell in the mixer and we reached in, it could take your hand off (Si nuestro balde se bajo en el batidora, se puede sacar tu mano!), so the adults took on that responsibility. After we mixed the concrete over 10 times, we had filled the hole where the septic tank was being built. After that, we went back to the Big Yellow House to get ready for a nice few hours at the beach. We found a cracked Go-Pro in a bed of seaweed, but unfortunately it stuck to the ground and could not be retrieved. After refreshing a bit, we went on a walk to a nearby island close to the place we were swimming in, where we took pictures. There were crashing waves and nice sand on our feet, with palm trees swaying around us. After that we had a nice walk back, where the water was warm, and there were fishermen near the shoreline catching a ton of crabs! We soon came back to the Big Yellow House where we had (Virgin) Pina Coladas prepared by one of our tour guides, Annika. Later that night, we had pasta with a choice of marinara or alfredo sauce. Lastly, we had games and the two teams competing were “Los Pollos Hermanos” and “yes, YES!”. The games ended in a tie because everyone is a winner at The Saklan School! We had a very nice day and we can’t wait for tomorrow!

– By Zoe and Alessandro

Thank you Zoe and Alessandro for sharing your experience with us.

#SaklanFieldExperience

Early Earth Day Celebration

On Thursday, April 14th, The Saklan School held an early Earth Day celebration! Earth Day is a holiday celebrated in multiple countries around the world to call attention to the need to protect our planet. At Saklan, each year we commemorate Earth Day by learning about how we can help different species on our planet by being aware of our daily choices.

This year, West Coast Falconry gave a presentation on raptors, sharing that they are meat eating birds that use their feet to eat. They brought 6 different birds with them, which they shared with the students: 2 falcons, 2 hawks, and 2 owls.

They even had one of the birds showcase their sight and flying abilities by flying across the room.

Following the presentation, the students came back to campus where they learned about a local endangered raptor, the California Condor, in family groups. The 8th graders led discussions about California Condor habitats, diets, predators, threats and recovery programs to help save the condors.

Students then wrote on a feather either one thing they can personally do to help raptors or one thing they learned about condors. The feathers were then put together to create a condor!

#SaklanFamilyGroups #EarthDayCelebration

All-School Concert

Saklan’s All-School Concert is next Wednesday, April 20th at 4:30 p.m. in the Holy Trinity Parking Lot! Feel free to invite friends and family to join us.

On the 20th, students will be dismissed at noon and are asked to return at 4:00 p.m. in preparation for the performance. Please note the following details for the afternoon:

  • The bus will leave campus at 12:05 p.m. that afternoon.
  • Extended Day will be available until 3:30, but it is recommended that students go home earlier to have some down time before the concert if possible. Reserve your child’s spot in Extended here. 
  • Hot Lunch will not be available. If your child is attending Extended, please send them to school with a lunch.
  • All students are asked to report to the Holy Trinity Parking Lot at 4:00 p.m. dressed in their “Sunday best” version of all black clothing, with an accessory of pink. Concert outfit ideas can be found here.

We are very excited about the return of the concert, and hope you will be able to join us!

Puerto Rico Service Learning

In March, Saklan’s eighth grade students took part in a service-learning field experience in Puerto Rico. While there, the students took turns writing daily blog posts. We will share more about their meaningful experience by featuring the posts the students wrote over the coming weeks. Check out the blog post from the second day of the trip below.

March 25, 2022

In the morning, we woke up to two roosters screaming at the top of their lungs at the peak of the morning. We then had a very nutritious breakfast including waffles, yogurt, and some scrambled eggs. Then, we got on the school bus and they took us to a construction site. We then worked very diligently on a house for Wilfredo. William and Angel instructed us on what we should do. After that we went back to the beach and had so much fun in the ocean! After ocean time, we went back to the Big Yellow House for the rest of the day. We had a very healthy and tasty dinner including cilantro rice, grilled salmon, and cooked chicken. To finish the day off, we had a 90-minute salsa dancing lesson and learned a lot about Puerto Rican salsa culture. In conclusion, the day was very enjoyable and eventful!

-By George, Conner, and Bjerre

Thank you George, Conner and Bjerre for sharing your experience with us.

#SaklanFieldExperience

Class Pets

As budding scientists, Saklan students learn to pose questions, make observations, plan and conduct experiments, and draw reasonable conclusions. Before Spring Break, each 5th grade student got their own “class pet” to observe and plan an experiment for.

No, they did not get to adopt pets from the Humane Society, but they did get something a bit smaller…  wriggly red worms! Students began by observing their behavior on a damp paper towel with a small black construction-paper square “tent” available.  Most worms wiggled their way under the paper towel or under the square, away from the light.  The students concluded that worms prefer dark places to bright places, and linked to what they already know – “Worms do live underground, after all!” said Jack Z. 

Next, the class set up another experiment to see if the worms prefer damp places to dry places, hypothesizing that they do prefer damp places, because they live in damp soil.  Most worms headed to damper areas as the clock ran out on the experiment, and then the students put them to “bed” in a worm habitat.  This week, the fifth graders began to plan and conduct individual experiments to test worm likes and dislikes.

#SaklanHandsOn #SaklanScience

Summer @ Saklan 2022

A summer of creative exploration awaits your child this summer during Summer@Saklan! Saklan’s summer camp offers children the chance to have fun learning new languages and cultures, creating art projects, playing games, meeting special guests, and more!

This year, Saklan is offering two, four-week sessions for both Mini Campers (ages 3-5) and Explorers (ages 6-11), with both Spanish and Mandarin options. Camp days run from 9 a.m.- 2 p.m, and feature activities including on-campus field trips, fun workshops taught by members of the community, and projects designed around art, music, language, science, engineering, tech, and more!

A smaller camp size this year means more opportunity for your child to engage in deep learning and creative, outdoor play on the Saklan campus.

More information, including session dates and rates, can be found here.

For fun, engaging learning and play, there’s no better time or place than Summer@Saklan. Join us!

#Summer@Saklan

Puerto Rico Field Experience

On Thursday, Saklan’s eighth grade students returned to campus from Puerto Rico, where they took part in a service-learning field experience. While in Puerto Rico, the students took turns writing daily blog posts. We will share more about their meaningful experience by featuring the posts the students wrote over the coming weeks. Check out the blog post from the first day of the trip below.

March 24, 2022

Through the fields of La Fortaleza, to the hundreds of cats along the way, Puerto Rico has been a blast that we will never forget. We started off the day early, with a breakfast buffet of sausages, eggs, and toast, leading into a tour with our buddy, Alvin, who brought us on an adventure through the cobbled streets of Old San Juan. We visited churches, museums, and of course, La Fortaleza, and loved every minute of it! The museum of an old over-achiever showed us how dedicated and driven people can be. Both the churches and La Fortaleza proved the almighty architecture of old. After a trek through the beautiful streets of this beautiful city, we went and had lunch at a Puerto Rican restaurant, where we devoured plantains, tres leches, and assorted meats. An energy boost of cultural goodness allowed us to push forward and enjoy another fort, where we ran through dungeons and climbed up old stairs.

After some rest and a long bus ride home, we got to quite literally jump in to some lukewarm water, where we continued to laugh, play, and pick up random pieces of trash, such as a chair, at the nearby beach. Other incredible moments included a double rainbow during Puerto Rico’s many weather mood swings, playing Cards Against Humanities after dinner, and spending time with, OJ, the pregnant cat who drops by us every now and then. The first full day of Puerto Rico has been amazing and we hope that each one is like this.

– By Ryan and Anessa

Thank you to Ryan and Anessa for sharing their experience with us. Sounds like an amazing start to the field experience!

#SaklanFieldExperience

Plants and Pollinators

The Owlets have been busy bees this month continuing their study of spring, plants, and pollinators!

The Owlets noticed that the seeds they planted earlier in the month have been growing! They discovered that of all the seeds they planted, the radish seeds sprouted the quickest. While the students have taken their sprouts home, they still have radish, carrot, onion, sunflower, marigold, snap peas, and green beans planted in planters in their classroom and around the yard, and they continue to observe how they grow!

The Owlets read Bee by Britta Teckentrup, and learned that bees and other pollinators have a very important job to help plants grow. They watched this video about how bees make honey, and then used paint and bubble wrap to make honeycomb patterns on hexagons.

The class then watched this video to learn more about pollen, and why some people get allergies during spring. They looked at different flowers and saw the pollen on each one. The Owlets then got the chance to use a microscope to look at pollen from different plants!

#SaklanHandsOn

Service to the Community

Cesar Chavez Day is a commemorative holiday celebrated yearly on March 31st in the U.S. The aim of this holiday is to celebrate the birth and the enduring legacy of the labor and civil rights’ movement that activist Cesar Chavez started while fighting for farm workers’ rights in the 1950s. Chavez gave people a sense of their own power by helping them discover that they could demand dignity and better wages. On March 31st each year, this day is commemorated to promote service to the community in honor of Cesar Chavez’s life, work, and legacy.

At The Saklan School, the kindergarten through seventh grade students supported and provided a service for The Contra Costa Humane Society by making much needed items for dogs and cats in their care, as well as learning about Cesar Chavez’s life and important legacy. Students in kindergarten, first, and second grade were tasked with making catnip sachets. The third and fourth graders made kitty pom poms for cats to play with while in their cages. The fifth grade class made several dog beds and pull toys. And finally, the sixth and seventh grade group made braided pull toys for dogs. The goal of the community service project was to show compassion and make the animals’ lives more comfortable and happy while they wait for their forever homes.

#SaklanCompassion #SaklanServiceLearning

Dinosaur Dig Site

As part of their study of food chains and food webs, the 5th graders discussed how scientists have built knowledge of dinosaur food chains. The students concluded that ancient teeth fossils are the clue to this knowledge; from herbivores’ flat grinders, to carnivores’ sharp incisors, and omnivores’ combinations teeth, fossils can reveal a lot about the dinosaurs.  The class also discussed how scientists can date the existence, and the extinction, of dinosaurs through carbon-dating fossil-rich, deep geological rock layers.  Then, the students modeled dinosaur food chains using cards, and then modeled possible food chain interruptions and determined which creatures would have died first, next, and so on, if sunlight was blocked for a long period, and plants died.  They found that even carnivores would be impacted, as their herbivore food sources would die off. 

Finally, the class created a dinosaur fossil dig site!  Each student participated in digging, brushing, and washing bones. 

Next they will face the paleontologist’s greatest challenge: classifying and reconstructing the bones into whole or partial dinosaurs.  Tricky work ahead; good luck 5th graders!

#SaklanAcademic #SaklanHandsOn