Category: General

Head’s Corner

Dear Saklan Community,

This past weekend our Science/STEM teacher attended the Global Classrooms Symposium in Washington. As I mentioned e    lassrooms Fellowship sponsored by the US Department of State, Bureau  petitive with 76 teachers being chosen from over 1200 applications from across the United States. She was accompanied to Washington by our Middle School Dean, Kim Parks as a representative of the school administration. The TGC program is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), and all the costs of participation are covered by this organization. Vickie’s field experience will be in Senegal, where she will visit and teaching in classrooms from April 16 to May 2.  Other countries that are part of this program include Indonesia, Morocco, India, Peru and Columbia.

The Global Classrooms Program (TGC) is based on 4 key components or pillars.  These are:  1) investigate the world, 2) recognize multiple perspectives, 3) communicate ideas, and 4) take action.  Vickie has created a video which outlines these concepts, which you can view here. The ultimate objective of the program is twofold.   The short term goal is the implementation of Global Education in schools. The second, and long term goal, is to effect systematic change on a global plane for the betterment of all mankind.

Saklan already offers a rich program of global education. Our Spanish language program, which starts in PreK, naturally gives our students a different cultural perspective.  Our Summer Camp program is focused on a variety of different languages and cultures. Our Summer travel program takes students to a different county each year.  Our SEL program teaches empathy, tolerance, compassion and being open-minded, which are critical in global understanding.  Many global concepts are infused in our curriculum at every grade level. To give just a few of the many examples of this, first Grade does a unit on shelters from around the world, second grade does a unit on heritage, third grade studies Native Americans, fourth grade looks at migrations and seventh grade, in their annual field trip to Hawaii, studies the impact of plastic trash in the oceans and around the world.  Taking action is an important part of the learning experience, and Saklan students have engaged in a number of activities ranging from beach clean-ups to communicating with students in Japan.  Looking at our reading program through the lens of global education, will be part of the task of our curriculum review committee when they review and evaluate this part of the school curriculum.

After Vickie’s travels to Senegal, we will be scheduling a series of workshops for both parents and faculty where Vickie can share her experiences and discuss how these can help the school in enhancing our program.  This will take place in May with date announcement forthcoming.

Have a great weekend!

Peter

Paxti’s Fundraiser for Saklan

 Next Wednesday, February 28th is Saklan Day at Paxti’s Pizza in Lafayette!

PatxisPizzaLogo_Circle_RED
                                         Mark your calendars and spread the word!                  

10% of all sales (whether dining in or taking out) benefit Saklan!

3577 Mt. Diablo Blvd. , Lafayette, CA 925-299-0700

Electricity and Art

The 3rd grade class had an extra special visitor last week, Sarah Shaffer. Founder of Sarah’s Science (This Land is Your Land), Sarah engaged them in a quick lesson on electricity and then let them run free with their creativity to create spin art. The students didn’t want the lesson to end and were sharing strategies and experiments with each other. Thanks again, Sarah!

Day 100 in 1st Grade

Group with projects

First Graders celebrated their 100th day of school by making “100 Days Smarter” cheerios necklace, wrote numbers 1-100, rolled the dice to reach a 100 and many more! Students enjoyed their celebration and are proud of their growth after 100 days of school.

 

Stringing