Magazine Submissions Needed

Eighth graders Levi, Makenna, Reese, and Evy are working on creating the next edition of Saklan’s Literary Magazine. The theme for this edition is time! The eighth graders are looking for submissions of poetry, short stories, photographs, digital designs, and/or artwork connected to the theme, to be featured in the upcoming edition. Submissions should be placed into the large envelopes in each teacher’s classroom. All Saklan students are invited and encouraged to participate!

#SaklanCreative #SaklanLeadership

Why We Give

“We joined Saklan in 2007 when our oldest, Finn, started Kindergarten. Saklan has gone through many changes since then, but it has remained constant as a source of support for our family. It has helped shape our children–Finn (class of ’17), Evy (8th), and Lilah (5th)–into the people they are today. 

Finn is now a senior at Athenian and is doing virtual college interviews. I overheard him during a recent one talking about how his role in the middle school musical back in 8th grade–he was “The Man in the Chair” in The Drowsy Chaperone–was an experience that truly changed his life. To hear how he still considers playing that role as such a pivotal experience three and a half years later was a poignant reminder of what an impact Saklan had on him. 

He was never interested in theater, but Mrs. Chaffey encouraged him to take on increasingly challenging roles. Learning how to memorize pages of monologues and portray this character and dance on stage took a ton of courage and emotional vulnerability. The unwavering support and guidance he received made it possible for him to do something he never knew he could do. It not only helped him build confidence; it allowed him to learn to understand the life of a character’s emotions, as well his own. It gave him a new passion. 

Saklan also gave Finn an incredible academic foundation for high school. He is leaning towards continuing in science in college, but he is just as interested in the humanities and is still passionate about theater and poetry. We credit this wide range of interests to the inspiring teachers at Saklan. They encouraged him to dive into new things and supported him to strive to do his best even when he didn’t think he was good at something. 

Our girls–Evy in 8th and Lilah in 5th–have literally grown up at Saklan. Like Finn, they have also had many experiences since their preschool days where they were challenged and were able to shine, and they’ve grown tremendously academically and creatively. The enriching experiences outside of the classroom, along with the Saklan teachers’ support, have been transformative and inspired them to love to learn. 

We are grateful that Saklan has helped all three of them to become respectful, compassionate, and engaged students and people. They are aware of themselves, have the confidence to contribute, and want to understand the world.

We are not sure we are ready to have a child move onto college and another on to high school this next year, but we are confident that they are ready and have an incredible foundation. What the Saklan teachers and community have given our kids is hard to measure.  To quote Finn’s Saklan graduation speech, ‘Saklan will always be home.‘”

Lori and Eric Anders

Finn (Class of ’17), Evy (8th), and Lilah (5th)

#SaklanGiving #SaklanAlum

Otsaliheliga

Before the Thanksgiving break, the Hoot Owls and Owlets in Ms. Jessica’s class considered some of the things they are grateful for. They read the book We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, by Traci Sorrel. “Otsaliheliga” is the Cherokee word for expressing gratitude. The book taught the students many other Cherokee words, and showed some of the traditions and celebrations that members of the Cherokee Nation experience throughout the year.

After reading the story, the Owls made their own handprint Thanksgiving turkeys while sharing what they are grateful for.

#SaklanGrateful

Pumpkin Book Characters

The third graders just completed a book report project where they transformed a pumpkin into a character from their book. The students were quite creative in their use of many different materials to create the pumpkin book characters.  The third graders also used the reading strategies they have been learning in class, such as identifying character traits, using text evidence and summarizing, to complete the written portion of the project. They had a great time presenting their pumpkin characters to their classmates on Thursday and sharing their books with each other. 

Do you recognize any familiar book characters?

#SaklanCreative

Marble Tracks

The Hoot Owls and Owlets in Ms. Jessica’s class have been showing a lot of interest in building marble tracks.

This became such a popular classroom toy that they decided to try creating their own marble tracks. Instead of plastic pieces that fit together, the Owls used peg boards, foam tubing, and brass fasteners to create unique paths for their marbles. The class was able to cut the foam tubes into different shapes and lengths to get the exact pieces they wanted. The Owls noticed how fast and far the marbles traveled depending on how they placed their tubes. It was an exciting new way to do one of their favorite activities, and to introduce basic physics concepts!

#SaklanHandsOn

A Change is a Chance

Saklan seventh grader, Ryan Lo, was recently featured in Plastic Free Living Magazine. It is Ryan’s podcast, “A Change is a Chance,” that interested the magazine’s editor. In his podcast, Ryan aims to help young listeners understand some of the environmental challenges we face today. The magazine specifically highlighted the episode on Ryan’s podcast about Plastic Free July, in which he interviews Ms. Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, the founder of the Plastic Free July Foundation, to better understand what it’s like to be plastic free and how everyone can take small steps to reduce plastic usage.

Thank you, Ryan, for helping us all become more aware of the environment and individual changes we can each make to help the world become a better place!

#SaklanCourageous

The Mayflower

The second grade students have been learning about the Mayflower. They learned that the ship was 90 feet long and carried 102 people. They also learned who those 102 people were and why they were sailing on the Mayflower. Additionally, the second graders learned about life on the ship, including the sleeping accommodations, what the passengers ate, and how long the journey took. The students each identified and wrote down five key facts about the Mayflower, and then used their facts to write a paragraph about the ship. Finally, the second graders each created a picture of the Mayflower using construction paper and glued it above their Mayflower paragraph. Their work was then hung in their classroom for their classmates to enjoy!

#SaklanAcademic

Duffel Bags for Foster Kids

Saklan’s 8th grade students completed another Pledge to Humanity activity last week. This time they partnered with Together we Rise, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of children in foster care, to decorate and fill duffel bags. Each student got to be creative and spread a unique, positive message to kids in the foster system through the decorations on the bags. After decorating the bags, the eighth graders stuffed them with a teddy bear and coloring books for the foster kids to enjoy.

Thank you to Kim and Jack D. for taking the lead on this project. 

#SaklanCompassion

Head’s Corner

COVID-19 Travel Guidance

Dear Saklan Community, 

On Monday, we enter our third week of having all grades on campus. It has been a heavy lift with many moving parts, but it has been absolutely worth it. Your children are engaged in their learning, their spirits are high, and our teachers walk with a purpose. 

Overall your children have been fantastic in understanding the importance of wearing their masks and are cooperative beyond our wildest expectations. As parents, you have done a fantastic job with the screening, have kept your children home when they are not feeling well, gotten tested when asked, and been incredibly supportive of our teachers.  

As I am sure you know, COVID infection rates are on the rise across the nation. While California has done well comparatively speaking, there is a concerning rise state-wide and in Contra Costa County. We continue to be vigilant on campus. While knowing we will not be able to 100% stop the virus from coming to campus, we feel our safety protocols significantly mitigate its spread.  

But this system is only as good as its weakest link. It is up to our entire community to be dedicated to reducing the possibility of COVID-19 from entering campus. Rising numbers and the holidays will only lead to increased cases across the state. I know of schools that have had to close because their community members let down their guard, attended get-togethers, or joined small parties. I am sure they all felt they were being safe enough. 

For those of you planning travel, the California State Government has issued a travel advisory asking those who travel outside of California to self-quarantine for two weeks upon return. Saklan will apply this policy to our community. If you have to travel outside the state, we request that you quarantine for two weeks upon your return. We will work to keep your child caught up with their school work through distance learning and/or assignments. The advisory also recommends that Californians refrain from all non-essential travel during this period; therefore, we encourage families not to travel until the advisory has been lifted. 

Educating your children in person is our number one priority. If you have to travel, we understand, but please help us stay in person by quarantining. Help us give your students the education they deserve by remaining vigilant. If we have our priorities straight, we can have a pandemic and school at the same time.

Stay well,

David

#SaklanInPersonLearning

Veterans Day Study

The second graders have been learning about Veterans Day, why we celebrate it and how it is different from Memorial Day. The students learned that it dates back to World War I, and was originally known as Armistice Day, before being renamed to Veterans Day in 1954. Veterans Day is a day to honor all military personnel that have served the country.

The students learned about the 5 branches of the military: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard, and what each branch does. They also discussed what it means to be a hero and wrote about how we can all be heroes every single day. Some ideas the students wrote about included:

Caring for other people.

Telling the truth.

Being nice to people, even if they are being mean.

Saying a nice compliment.

Additionally, the second graders talked and wrote about what it means to be brave. Each student’s ideas on being brave and a hero, as well as the information they learned about veterans and Veterans Day, were assembled into a graphic organizer, and hung in their classroom.

#SaklanCompassion