In music class the Hoot Owls have been learning about Louis Armstrong. The children had fun playing a little jazz on the trumpet just like Satchmo!
Little Trumpeters
Category: Specialists
Volleyball Players Wanted
Spring time is coming and that means it is time for volleyball! We are scheduling six games this year: two in April and four in May. Once the dates are confirmed, we will post the season. Any fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders who would like to play are eligible. Just let Mr. Crabtree know.
Head’s Corner
Dear Saklan Community, 
At Flag this morning our Director of Development, Carol Goldman, announced this year’s Annual Auction, Festival Des Arts, which will be held on April 21 at the Lafayette Park Hotel.
Each year, tied to the auction, we designate a Fund A Need project for the year. The Fund A Need helps us enhance a program or our grounds and facilities to benefit all of our students.
Last year our Fund A Need was for the STEM program and thanks to your generosity we were able to raise over $55,000 to renovate our science room and add new technology and materials to enhance the program. Our students have been enjoying this new classroom and all of the additional projects and science kits they have been able to dive into this year.
This year’s Fund A Need project is Amplify the Arts and your gifts will go directly towards enhancing our music, performing and visual arts programs. At Saklan, educating our students goes far beyond acquiring important academic skills. The experiences in our Arts Programs are an essential piece of how we accomplish our mission of fostering students…
To become more Compassionate– through exploring other cultures, communities, and characters through music, art, dance, and drama, and supporting one another through these processes.
To become more Creative– through exploring various media and learning how to express themselves with their voices and hearts: singing, acting, playing instruments, or with their hands by creating unique pieces of visual art.
To become more Courageous– through being on stage, displaying their art, or composing music as means of expressing their unique ideas and voices to the world.
Our goal is to give Mrs. Chaffey, Mr. Isaac, and Ms. Natalie the items and technology they feel will be the most impactful ways of enhancing our programs and take our music, performing and visual arts programs to the next level.
Highlights of this year’s Amplify the Arts project include:
- Kiln, Mini Print Presses, and New Art Tables
- New Technology and Equipment for Recording and Composing
- African Drums in the Ewe Tradition of Ghana
- New Mac Computers for Teachers and New Digital Art for Students
- Protective Glass Display Cases for Student Art
The faculty and I thank you in advance for supporting our kids. We look forward to seeing you at the auction.
Have a great weekend!
Peter
Saklan Goes to Senegal!
In a couple of weeks, Ms. Obenchain, Saklan’s Super-Science Specialist, is heading to 
Senegal for her fellowship she won through Teachers for the Global Classroom. We are so excited for her!
Senegal for her fellowship she won through Teachers for the Global Classroom. We are so excited for her!She will be teaching Senegalese students science, and, particularly, about California and American culture. Our Saklan students and families are invited to share in this Global Classroom experience with 300 boys and girls ranging from the elementary school years through to the high school grades.
To do this, Ms. O was hoping to bring a few things, and thought maybe our entire Saklan community could help. If you come across any of these items and would like her to bring them to her Senegalese students, she would greatly appreciate it!
- She would like to teach them about some American holidays, like Halloween, and is asking to receive gifts of individually wrapped candies – Jelly Bellies, Sour Candies, Ghiradelli Minis, Hershey’s Kisses, as examples.
- For some younger Senegalese students, she would like to give small California/San Francisco mementos: erasers, pencils, bookmarks, key chains, etc.
- Consider sending any of your photos that she could use to highlight American and California holidays and/or lifestyles: holiday pictures and/or vacation pictures that Ms. O can easily pack in her suitcase. Pictures can be emailed to development@saklan.org.
Your gifts and print pictures for Ms. O’s Senegalese students can be delivered to the office or the science lab NEXT WEEK by Friday, March 30th.
Thank you so much, in advance, for your generosity:-)
Attention Volleyball Players!!!
Spring time is coming and that means it is time for volleyball! We are scheduling six games this year: two in April and four in May. Once the dates are confirmed, we will post the season. Any fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders who would like to play are eligible. Just let Mr. Crabtree know.
Let’s Go Saklan!
4th Grade Scientists
4th graders have been studying about electricity and currents in the Science Lab. In conclusion to that unit, the students got to work with our new STEM kits and collaborate to build their own inventions. They had a blast!
Way to go, Suns!
The Saklan Suns shined bright on a cloudy day! On Wednesday the Suns beat East Bay Waldorf School in two games of basketball. Junior Varsity 40 to 27, and Varsity 54 to 31.
Here is the schedule for their upcoming games:
Saklan vs. The Berkeley School Tuesday, March 6th @ 4:15pm (Berkeley)
Saklan vs. East Bay Waldorf rescheduled Tuesday, March 27th @ 4:15pm (El Sobrante)
Saklan vs. Pacific Boys Choir Thursday, March 29th @ 4:45pm (Home)
Come cheer them on – they are a dynamic team to watch!
Hawaii
The below essay, by 7th grader Kyle Yasumura, is a great summary of why we choose to spend a week in Oahu every year!
In 7th grade at the Saklan School, the entire class, lead by Mrs Kim and Miss O, fly to Honolulu Oahu and study the wildlife, the culture, and have a ton of fun. But why Hawaii of all places?
The Hawaiian islands are an excellent place to study evolution and adaptation because the ecosystem there is extremely unique, with plants that only grow in tropical areas, or some even in only Hawaii alone. The humid weather, general heat, and limited island space are large factors that really allow some pretty amazing adaptations to be made. For example, because the plants in Hawaii are all very close together, sunlight per plant is very limited, a tree called the Traveler’s Palm adapted to have massive leaves allowing it to absorb as much sun as possible. Or the Banyan tree, a plant that strangles other trees and basically takes its space and sun.
As I mentioned earlier, some species are only found in Hawaii because of some special adaptations that are very specific to the island. And because of that, it gives the class an amazing opportunity to see the full extent of adaptations to a very unique climate. For example, the humuhumunukuapua’a, or, the state fish of Hawaii. The fish has adapted to be able to lock itself into place between rocks as there is a great abundance of coral reefs in Hawaii.
In conclusion, Hawaii is a great place for the seventh grade to be able to study/observe evolution and adaptation because of the unique climate, and species adaptations that occur due to the specific environment
Annual Concert
Save the date for Saklan’s Annual Concert!
Thursday, March 15th
4:30PM
Dean Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek
Please click here for more detailed information about the concert.
News from the Sports Court
Last Wednesday the Sun’s played against the Grizzlies in a game of basketball. This was the official start of the 2018 basketball season. It was a high scoring game and the Sun’s were victorious, 58 to 47. Come see a rematch at the Tice Valley Gym next Wednesday Feb. 14th @ 5pm!
FRIDAY BLOG 
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