Over the past week, many Saklan students learned about Diwali, the festival of lights, which is observed by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs around the world—including members of our own community. Diwali lasts for five days in October or November and honors the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil.
To deepen their understanding, students read books about the festival and participated in hands-on activities that brought Diwali’s traditions and meanings to life.
Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade students gathered in the pavilion to meet with Saklan parents Molly and Manju, who read Diwali by Hannah Eliot. Inspired by the story, students created vibrant rangoli—decorative designs traditionally made on the floor or tabletops using colored powders, rice flour, sand, or flower petals—to celebrate the spirit of joy, color, and togetherness that defines the festival.
In fifth grade, two students, along with their parents, led their classmates in a beautiful Diwali celebration. Together, they explored the meaning of the five days of Diwali, the symbolism of the auspicious colors red and yellow, and the ways families honor the festival through stories, food, and traditions. Students created their own diyas—small oil lamps traditionally made of clay—and colorful rangoli designs, discovering how light, color, and creativity represent hope and goodness shining through.
Two sixth graders also shared their family traditions, teaching classmates about Diwali’s symbolism and the use of marigold garlands and diyas. After learning and crafting, the class enjoyed traditional sweets—gulab jamun and milk cake—while connecting their discussion to the novel The Night Diary and previewing their upcoming study of ancient India and Hinduism.
A heartfelt thank-you to the students and parents who shared their traditions and stories with us! Celebrations like this strengthen our community and remind us of the beauty of learning from one another—honoring the many ways light, family, and culture connect us all.
This morning, campus was buzzing with excitement as we launched our Learning Buddy program for the year! Designed to encourage cross-grade friendships, foster responsibility and mentorship, and make learning engaging and fun, Learning Buddies are a treasured Saklan tradition.
During their first meeting, buddies took time to get to know one another before diving into some shared reading. Older students modeled strong reading behaviors—using expression, fluency, and confidence—while also listening attentively as their younger buddies proudly read aloud.
The joy was evident on both sides: older students embraced their roles as mentors, while younger students felt supported, inspired, and eager to spend more time with their new friends. By the end of the morning, many were already asking the same question: When do we get to meet with our buddies again?
We look forward to seeing these relationships blossom throughout the year as students learn, grow, and shine together.
Our lower school students were recently thrilled to welcome author Traci Huahn to Saklan for an inspiring visit centered around her book, Mamie Tape Fights to Go to School. During the 45-minute session, students enjoyed a captivating read-aloud of the book, learned about the historical significance of Mamie Tape’s fight for school desegregation during the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act, and explored how this moment in history connects to the broader civil rights movement.
Ms. Huahn also shared her journey as an author, offering an inside look at the research, writing, revising, and publishing process. Students were delighted by a special video message from the book’s illustrator, Michelle Jing Chan, who revealed her creative process and behind-the-scenes details.
The visit sparked engaging discussions about bravery, standing up for your rights, and the power of storytelling. Students asked thoughtful questions during the Q&A, deepening their understanding of the themes and lessons in the book.
Last Tuesday, September 17th, the Hoot Owls, 1st graders, and 2nd graders learned about the Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, that is celebrated in East and Southeast Asia to mark the end of the autumn harvest. The Hoot Owls read the book Thanking the Moon by Grace Lin, and learned how Maggie, one of the Pre-K teachers, celebrates the festival with her family by sharing a dinner with her family under the moon. During the picnic, her family will eat fruits and mooncakes and thank the moon for a bountiful harvest.
The first and second graders welcomed Dana, a first-grade parent, who also read a book about the Mid-Autumn Festival, and then shared her experience and family traditions with the festival. The students were excited to try mooncakes, a pastry filled with lotus seed paste and an egg yolk in the middle, which Dana brought in for them to try. Some students really enjoyed the mooncakes, others not so much, but it was fun to try!
The Pre-K students also used mooncake presses to make their own mooncakes out of clay. This was a great opportunity to exercise their creativity and fine motor skills, as they each decorated their mooncakes, making very colorful creations!
Last Friday, the lower school students had their very last CLASY meet up of the year. For our social and emotional learning this month all students have been thinking about what it means to be resilient. They have been talking about what people can do when things are hard, including to keep going, positive self talk, and breaking down difficult tasks into smaller chunks. During this CLASY the Kindergarten – 5th grade students worked on a tricky activity with their friends: passing a hula hoop around a circle while everyone was holding hands, and thus couldn’t use their hands.
The students were delightfully surprised that hard work could be so much fun!
The first graders have really enjoyed their time learning about energy in the science lab over the last two weeks! The students are learning what energy is, the different forms of energy, and how it moves in waves. Additionally, they have learned specifically about sound and light waves, explored the waves the sun produces and how that energy is transferred to us here on Earth. They have also learned about the potential energy and kinetic energy found in different objects.
This week the students investigated heat energy! They looked at what affects energy’s absorption by radiation, the ways energy can be conducted, and how it creates currents through convection.
The pictures above are of the students investigating the movement of heat through fluids by convection, like in a lava lamp. Students layered cold water (blue) on top of hot water (red) and watched them switch places. Then they put hot water (red) on top of cold (blue) and saw they did not switch, proving that in fluids heat rises and cold sinks.
Next week the first graders will investigate using energy to do work!
High level Project Based Learning units at Saklan extend beyond the walls of the classroom. When students feel a sense of authentic purpose, projects become richer and more relevant for our learners. As they demonstrate understanding of academic standards, they are also engaging in sustained inquiry, thinking creatively, and acting compassionately.
The product in each PBL unit looks different depending on a number of factors including the academic learning goals, division, and student interest. However, our work at Saklan differentiates itself by final products being more than a retelling of academic content via a poster or report. Instead Saklan students demonstrate their proficiency in academic standards through the process of answering a question or solving a problem that matters to them.
This unique blend of honoring students’ interests and maintaining academic rigor empowers students to make change and impact their community. Through high quality Project Based Learning Saklan students learn that their opinions are valued, that they have creative solutions to problems that exist in our communities, and that they can take action to make a difference.
Below are some outstanding examples of public products from PBL units at Saklan this year that help answer a question, solve a problem, or support our community needs.
A concert backdrop is an essential element to our annual Saklan concert. This year our second graders took on the authentic task of designing and creating the backdrop for this important community event.
They first developed their understanding of the art world by experiencing Yayoi Kusama’s installations at SF MoMA and diving deep to understand how artists like Joseph Albers, Erin Fong, Anne Patterson communicate emotion through either a single or a combination of colors both in painting and in large-scale installations. Considering their new understanding of color theory, students engaged in a process of design, critique, and revision before deciding as a group on the direction of their concert backdrop design. From there they stretched and explored with various materials for the background before ultimately settling on ribbon and fabric since it would flow and also be weighty enough to not tangle. They helped tie the hundreds of ribbons to the 8 foot dowels that were installed professionally in our concert space at the Lesher Performing Arts Center for our annual spring concert.
For an additional second public project, students have been working in collaborative small groups to cut and redesign the original installation, creating smaller hanging pieces for our school auction later this month! Now their art that communicates love and serves our community will take on a new life and get to go home with a few lucky families!
7th Grade
Driving Question: “How can we reduce single use plastic?”
Public Product: Design of sustainable alternatives to single use plastic
Plastic trash and microplastics in our oceans are a real and relevant issue that seventh graders worked to address through design innovations and creativity.
After a field experience at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and service learning on the beaches of Oahu, seventh graders considered the impact of plastics on the environment, particularly on ocean animals and what they can do to be change makers. Students designed solutions to single use plastics and presented their designs and prototypes to a panel of adults, including a local designer and small business owner, in a Shark Tank style presentation. Through this experience they grew in their capacity to think creatively about solutions to problems that exist outside the walls of Saklan and consider how they can be part of the change they want to see in the world around them.
1st and 8th grades
Driving Question: “How do homes keep us safe?”
Public Product: Bag lunchesfor distribution with 10,000 Lunches
An ideal Saklan graduate is an empathetic, inclusive, and kind leader. First graders lived into those descriptors during the final milestone of a months-long Project Based Learning unit on homes.
The Homes unit in first grade is a cross-curricular unit that integrates informational reading and writing, geometry, weather, social studies, and art. This year students moved from geometry and shapes that can be used to make a strong structure to learning from our 8th graders about what can happen when people lose their homes due to natural disasters, like hurricanes. In their final milestones, first graders learned how communities can come together when housing insecurity impacts food insecurity and were inspired to think about how they can be helpers too. Together 1st and 8th graders helped their family groups bag 200 lunches for a local organization called 10,000 Lunches that aims to support local people experiencing housing and food insecurity.
The Hoot Owls have emerged from their ocean unit and blasted off into space! To start their latest project-approach unit, the Hoot Owls made a topic web to showcase their prior knowledge of space. As they meet experts and read books, they will add to the web. They also created a space wonder wall, which they will continue to add questions to throughout the unit.
The first space guest experts to visit the Hoot Owls were the 1st graders! The 1st grade students shared what they learned during their Space PBL Unit in the fall. Prior to the visit, the Hoot Owls generated questions for the 1st graders, which they shared ahead of time. The 1st graders then researched answers to the Hoot Owl questions, and during their visit were able to answer all of the Hoot Owl questions. The Hoot Owls were very impressed!
Thank you, 1st Graders, for sharing your expertise with the Hoot Owls!
Did you know that on Thursday, February 8th, Saklan students celebrated the 100th day of the school?
The Hoot Owls celebrated by making 100 hand prints, 100-day crowns, and counting to 100.
Kindergarteners made a special snack of 100 things, did 100 different exercises, counted to 100 in many different ways, made cheerio necklaces with 100 cheerios, wrote numbers to 100 and built different structures with 100 cups!
One of the highlights of the 100th day of school for the Hoot Owls, Kindergartners and 1st graders was the opportunity to gather in the Pre-K room and watch a video of Joanna’s 100 year old grandmother, who answered questions the students had about being 100. Witnessing a healthy centenarian left the students in awe and provided them with a unique perspective on the passage of time. Check out the video here!
The 4th graders celebrated during their Ohana Circle Time by estimating 100 in various ways, writing their names in cursive 100 times, and tackling an Order of Operations challenge to create equations of 100.
The students had a wonderful day celebrating 100 days of learning!
In December, the first graders learned about simple machines. The class discussed what work is (the transfer of energy from one object to another in order to make the second object move in a certain direction) and what makes work easier and harder. Then they learned about the six simple machines by participating in a series of hands-on activities.
The first graders learned about levers and balanced a lever on a fulcrum. They had an egg drop challenge and learned that an incline plane made it easier and safer to move a load. They made a paper helicopter and learned how a screw works. The class made funny faces with apples and sticks, and discovered that the sticks in the shape of a wedge made it easier to split the apple skin apart. They had a bubble race and learned how a wheel and axle makes work easier. Lastly, the class completed a “going up” activity, where they used a string as a pulleyso they didn’t have to lift the object with their hands.
The first graders had a great time learning about simple machines through these hands-on, fun experiments. To take their learning a step further, each student created and built their own invention using their knowledge of simple machines. The inventions will be on display in the 1st grade classroom on Thursday, January 18th at 8:40 during their Invention Show. All Saklan community members are invited to stop by and check out the creative inventions the first graders designed!
FRIDAY BLOG 
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