General – Page 23 – FRIDAY BLOG

Kind Owls

The Hoot Owls and Owlets have been learning about kindness. The Hoot Owls read Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud and David Messing. The book taught the owls that we all carry invisible buckets; when people are kind to us or when we are kind to other people, we fill their buckets as well as our own. However, when they are not kind, it dips into their bucket. The Hoot Owls all agreed to focus on being bucket fillers. They started their own kindness jar in their classroom to serve as their classroom bucket. When teachers or a friend sees a kind act, they write a slip and fill the jar.

The Hoot Owls and Owlets read A Little Spot of Kindness and A Little Respectful Spot to learn more about kindness. The students discovered that kindness spots are part of happiness spots. Happiness occurs when one is confident, kind, respectful and loving. Being respectful is a big part of kindness. The classes talked about different ways they can be kind and then drew pictures to represent them.

The Hoot Owls and Owlets created kindness trees in their classrooms. You may have noticed the Hoot Owl tree blooming on their door, while the Owlet tree grows on their white board. The Hoot Owls painted hearts, then wrote down ways they can be kind or kind acts they have seen amongst classmates on the hearts. The Owlets are noted acts of kindness on hearts and added them to their tree.

Having physical representations around the classrooms serve as reminders to be kind. They also get the students excited to see their jar becoming full and our trees continuously growing.

#SaklanSEL #SaklanCompassion

Extraordinary Support

Thank you, Saklan, for your extraordinary support of this year’s Annual Giving Fund (AGF) campaign.

Our goals for this year’s campaign are to raise $175,000 and have 100% participation from the Saklan community. To date, we have raised over $157,000 with participation from 88% of our community (a record for this time of the year at Saklan). The chart below shows you where each class is towards reaching the 100% participation goal.

The outpouring of support from the Saklan community this year is humbling and will make a powerful impact on our ability to continue challenging students to think creatively, act compassionately, and live courageously.

If you haven’t had the chance to donate to our AGF campaign, it’s not too late! You can make an AGF gift via the following methods:

DONATE ONLINE through our secure site; or
Write your check made out to The Saklan School with “Annual Giving Fund” written on the Memo line and deliver it to our office.

If you would like to discuss your gift further, please contact Emily at ewilliamson@saklan.org.

On behalf of all of us at The Saklan School, thank you very much for your support.

#SaklanCompassionate #SaklanAGF

Holiday Food Drive

The Student Council is hosting a food drive in support of Monument Crisis Center, a community-based, non-profit family resource center serving Central and East Contra Costa County.

To ensure a well-rounded selection of food, the Student Council is asking for students in the following grades to focus on the items listed below, however, you may donate any food item on the list.

Owlets	VEGETABLES – Canned or Boxed
Hoot Owls	PEANUT BUTTER
Kindergarten	CEREAL
1st Grade	TUNA
2nd Grade	FRUIT – Canned or Boxed
3rd Grade	MAC & CHEESE
4th Grade	PASTA
5th Grade	SOUPS
6th Grade	OATMEAL
7th Grade	BEANS
8th Grade	RICE

Please, no glass containers, and make sure all items are not yet expired or past their best by date. Donations can be placed in bins in individual classrooms.

Thank you for showing compassion to our local community!

A big thank you to the Student Council for organizing this Food Drive.

#SaklanCompassion

Winter 2024 Enrichment

As the fall session of enrichment comes to an end, we are excited to share the classes that will be offered during the second half of the year! For the winter session the following classes will be available:

Check out the class descriptions here. Classes begin the week of January 22nd, and have limited space available. Registration for the classes will open on Monday, December 4th on the Saklan Enrichment Webpage.

Showcase Your Creativity

All Saklan students are invited to showcase their creativity by designing a cover for this year’s yearbook. All covers are asked to incorporate the theme of friendship, have a vertical orientation, and include the text “The Saklan School 2023-2024.”

If you have any questions about the Yearbook Cover Contest, please email Lauren at lhaberly@saklan.org.

#SaklanCreative

A Walk through African American History

The 8th grade class has been reading All American Boys, coauthored by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Keily, in their Language Arts/Humanities class. The book delves into themes of racial injustice, identity and social justice.

In conjunction with vocabulary and literary analysis work, the students have been learning about African American history to place the plot of the novel in historical context. The eighth graders examined the struggles of African Americans to achieve justice and equality after the abolition of slavery in the U.S. in 1865.

Each student studied one “step” in the “walk” through selected events and topics in African American history, starting with the arrival of the first Africans in North America in 1619 and ending with the Black Lives Matter movement today. After examining primary and secondary sources, each junior historian wrote about what they learned and analyzed its relevance to the struggles of Black Americans for social justice throughout American history. They also tied in these topics to the issues and themes in the novel.

Students shared their explanations and interpretations of African American history in individually curated displays that included informational text, historical documents, images and handmade artifacts. Visitors to their classroom exhibit were invited to take a “Walk through African American History” to view the displays and talk to each 8th grade curator. Visitors included the fifth and sixth grade students, teachers and parent guests on campus for CLAS and Middle School Open House.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by the exhibit!

Being Humble

On Thursday, 1st – 8th graders gathered with their family groups to talk about being humble and how they could show humility to others. The students then worked together to write an 8-line, rhyming poem containing a few specific words: humble, turkey, stuffing, grateful and Saklan. The students also dressed up one of their family members as a holiday character or Thanksgiving food item, using only newspaper and tape. The families definitely showed their creativity!

All family groups then gathered on the sports court to share their poems (some groups acted them out) and holiday characters/food items. Among the characters presented were: turkeys, a scarecrow, a football player and a chef!

#SakanSEL

Grandfriends’ Day: Last Call for RSVPs

Saklan is excited to host Grandfriends’ Day on Friday, November 17th from 8:45 to 10:30 a.m. We have an exciting morning lined up for grandfriends, including student presentations, time in classrooms, a photo booth and other fun activities for students and grandfriends to work on together!

Please remind your grandparents and special friends (a friend or family member that your child looks up to and/or has a grandparent-like relationship with) about this event so they join us!

Rsvp for grandfriends’ day here!

#SaklanCommunity

Pop-Up Book Fair

Next Friday, November 17th, Saklan will host a 1-day Book Fair. This will be a great opportunity to purchase books to be used as holiday gifts or to donate to a Saklan classroom. The Book Fair will be open before school, during Grandfriends’ Day and before and after Fall Follies.

We are looking for volunteers to help set up, run and clean up the book fair, and would love your help! Click on the button below to see the volunteer options.

Book Fair Volunteer Sign Up

We look forward to sharing a wonderful selection of books with you!

Halloween Fun

On Tuesday morning, the Saklan students were very excited to don their Halloween costumes and participate in our annual Costume Parade! The parade route took the students out the admissions door, through the front parking lot, and back to the Sports Court.

The students and teachers waved to the onlookers, as families cheered and took pictures along the route.

Once on the Sports Court, Grace led the community in some Halloween songs and Saul called each class up to show off their creative costumes and dance moves!