Category: General

New Benches On Campus

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We have two new wooden benches on campus! The benches were completed as part of Cole Peters Eagle Scout Service Project. Eagle Scout is the highest achievement rank attainable in the Boy Scouts of America. Scouts are required to complete 21 merit badges and one Eagle Scout Service Project. Cole completed his 21 merit badges and decided on making two benches for our school.
The Eagle Scout Service Project gives the scout an opportunity to demonstrate leadership of others while performing a project that benefits his community. He and Mr. O’Connell worked on a design plan together. Supplies were donated by Home Depot. Working with his scout adviser, Cole organized the volunteers and dates for the building of the benches. The volunteers spent about 12-15 hours finishing the benches.
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The students have already been enjoying the benches. Thank you for a job well-done, Cole!!
#SaklanCreative

Saklan’s Lighthouse for Education Auction Shines Bright

On March 15, our community came together to celebrate and support our students and our school. There was a lot of excitement about who was there, Saklan75 signature cocktails, legacy baskets, croquembouche and cremant, Kay Long Martin’s famous lemon cheesecake, lighthouse decorations everywhere, and dancing afterwards. Everyone had a great time!

Together we raised almost $50,000 dollars for our Fund-A-Need. We’ll be able to provide all students in every grade with even more opportunities for hands-on academics, deeper experiential learning opportunities, a new van to take them out into the world, and more books in our library collection with an emphasis on diversity.

Our auction was all-around successful, because of the contributions received from many–parent volunteers, student artists, teachers and staff, alumni parents, grandparents, and our first-ever returning alum, Sarah Dey ’12.

Deepest thanks to so many. You are supporting our students, school, and our Saklan teachers who are our Lighthouse Keepers.

#Saklangrateful

Spanish Activity with Exchange Students

Blue Block students brought their Japanese buddies to Spanish class this week. In a collaborative activity, the students shared their thoughts on why it is important to learn a new language and its culture.

“¿Por qué es importante aprender un nuevo idioma y su cultura?”

The students drew images and wrote words in three different languages on their posters: Spanish, English and Japanese. While working with a diverse student body, they were able to gain a more profound understanding of their own culture, values and beliefs.

#SaklanWellRounded

Third Annual Hula Hoop Contest

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Saklan’s Third Annual Hula Hoop Contest concluded last Friday. We started with twenty participants and after two contests the finalists finished off with a double hula hoop finale. Nine competitors used two hoops.

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After about ten minutes there were two people left: Chloe in fifth grade and Jack D. in second grade. The tiebreaker used three hula hoops!

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In the end, Chloe was the two hoop champion, Jack was the single hoop champion, and Lilia (third grade) was the no hoop champion. Good job to all those who participated! The contest was a fun way to spend time outside during recess. #SaklanWellRounded

The Great Migration

The Middle School is learning about Jacob Lawrence’s The Great Migration series. Students researched and chose a painting from his 60 panels of work.
The series depicts African Americans from the rural South who migrated to cities in the North due to the lack of social and economic opportunities in the South. The students did a rough sketch of the painting and are finishing the project using a torn paper collage method. #Saklancreative

Hopscotch Tournament

The Saklan School’s Third Annual Back to School Hopscotch Tournament has concluded. Back in September over forty contestants started a single elimination tournament playing hopscotch during recess.

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The matches where very close, with a few perfect games. Aaron (7th) finished fourth. Sadie (4th) finished third. The final match was between Niko (3rd) and Harrison (8th). Both finalists played perfect games and another finals match was needed to determine a champion. Harrison pulled it off with Niko close behind!

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Shout out to all the competitors, they all did a great job! The next recess contests will be a hula-hoop competition and the Saklan Cup soccer round-robin.

If I Were Trapped in a Snow Globe

The third grade students have been busy working on a creative writing piece titled: “If I Were Trapped in a Snow Globe.” They used the strategies we learned in our personal narrative writing unit to create such fun, original stories!

Their writing, along with a picture of their snow globe, is on display in our classroom. Please come by and take a look!

Update Alert! The students are loving clay!

The kiln is getting used to its fullest potential! The photo on the left is the middle school Dinner Party Project bone dry and ready to go into its first firing. The photo on the right shows the work completed to bisque ware and ready to get glazed! After the work is glazed, the work goes back into the kiln for its final fire. Working with clay is quite a process, so the students are learning all the science behind how clay works.

Traveling Teddy Bear is Coming to Saklan

This November, you will notice a Teddy Bear on campus. This Teddy Bear is named Jerry and is an international traveler. Jerry is part of the Traveling Teddy Bear Project that connects students around the globe.
The Traveling Teddy Bears Project was started in 2014 with the goal of connecting young children in classrooms across the globe. This year, each of the bears is supporting one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to help spread awareness in schools around the globe. You can learn more about these goals here.

Jerry will be supporting the goal of Responsible Consumption and Production. Jerry believes that we need to protect our earth and resources by reducing waste.

Jerry started out his journey in Hong Kong visiting a Kindergarten class. He currently is in Australia hanging with some 1st and 2nd graders. From there he will be coming to Saklan. You can keep up on his travels here.

Earth Science

The sixth grade has spent the last few weeks learning about our Earth’s plate boundaries and earthquakes. They have seen how each plate boundary has moved our continents to where they are today and are continuing to move them. Students have researched historic earthquakes and reported on them to the class. They also learned about new technologies that help those in earthquake zone areas stay safe in buildings.

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Along with this, the students were tasked with building a four story building that could withstand an earthquake. The students were allowed to use different earthquake building technologies which can reduce the shaking to a building. These included x-braces, cross braces, mass-dampers and extended building shapes. Each student created their own design and we tested them to see which building would allow for the least amount of shaking.