Have a Wonderful Winter Break!
Dear SMASHing Families,
“Like life, racial understanding is not something that we find, but something that we must create.” --Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Save the Date: Wednesday, January 11, 6:00-8:00 pm SMASH and John Muir are sponsoring an opportunity for adults and 5th-8th grade students in the SMASH/Muir community to come together to participate in a Dialogue on Race in our SMASH/Muir Library. This is a site based follow up to the District’s Dialogue on Race event that occurred October 29 at Samoh Superintendent Sandy Lyon is planning to join us as well as School Board member, Oscar del la Torre, so this is an important chance to build connections with them. We welcome your voice and contribution to the dialogue as we further our campus’ respectful community.
Also, for those who have not done so already, please add your SMASH voices to the District homework conversation and participate in the Homework Survey. It took me three minutes to complete mine as Micah’s mom.
Go to www.smmusd.org , look on the left side of the home page where it says “Parent Homework Survey” and click on “Take survey in English.” Thanks for taking 3 minutes to give your thoughts about the type and amount of homework your kids experience at SMASH.
Wishing you a happy holiday season and peaceful new year.
See you January 4th when we return to school.
Jessica
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WINTERLIT - HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS IN SANTA MONICA
Tuesday, December 20-27 - Chanukah Menorah Lighting at sundown
Nov 1—Dec 31 - Gift Your Schools. Shop & dine at Santa Monica Place and earn SMASH 5% donation. Just present your receipts at the Concierge on level 1. For details 310-260-8333.
SANTA MONICA PLACE
Thursdays 5-7pm & Saturdays 1-3 & 5-7pm - Live carolers
Now through Christmas Eve - Visit Santa in The Market and Snow Falls at 7pm in Center Plaza
SANTA MONICA PIER - 2011 HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, December 17 11:00am - 5:00pm
11:00-3:00 - Santa Claus visits the Merry-Go-Round. FREE rides during his visit
1:00-3:00 - Cirque du Soleil Oh Snap Experience, interactive truck & free photo opportunity for the entire family
2:30-5:00 - Holiday Caroling - Carolers stroll along the pier.
December 1-18 - Canned Food Drive supporting Upward Bound House. Drop off in the Merry-Go-Round building
For a list of all events visit WinterLit.com - SantaMonicaPlace.com - ICEatSantaMonica.com
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DATES TO REMEMBER
WED, Dec. 21 - TUES, Jan. 3 - WINTER BREAK - SCHOOL CLOSED
Wed, Jan 4 - 5:00-6:00pm - Site Council Mtg
Sun, Jan 8 - Fri, Jan 13 - Yosemite Trip for 7th grader students
Mon, Jan 9 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour
Wed, Jan 11 - 6-8pm - Dialogue on Race
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Welcome Nurse Magdalena Iyela to SMASH & John Muir!
Magdalena will be here Monday - Friday, 9:45 - 1:15
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LOOKING FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE?
Bennett Zemke’s Boy Scout troop #2 has trees up to 11 feet tall, as well as wreaths and garlands. Located on Montana Ave between 15th & 16th Streets. The lot is open 9am-9pm, with local delivery available Bring the flyer for a 10% discount, go to http://www.troop2bsa.org /2011TreeLotFlyer.pdf to print the flyer.
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The D.C. Dance Center Presents “THE LAND OF SWEETS….AND SOME TREATS”
Saturday, Dec 17 - 6:30pm
12422 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles 90025
Emma Green & Mac Varner will be dancing in this fun children’s holiday performance.
Proceeds from this performance go to local charities.
Children’s Workshops at 1:00pm (ages 3-5) and 3:30pm (ages 6 and up)
Children can celebrate the holidays with arts, crafts, snacks,
and be able to learn and perform excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker “Land of Sweets”
For information and tickets go to www.dancecenterla.com
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UCLA FAMILY COMMONS presents Helping Girls Have a Healthy Relationship With Food & Exercise Family Public Square: Expert Series with Dr. Michael Strober
Wednesday, January 4; 7:00-8:30pm $20/person
Even girls with healthy eating and exercise habits experience social pressure around anorexia and bulimia — whether it's hearing other girls talk about it, seeing fellow athletes go to extremes, or being urged to try dangerous behaviors themselves. Learn how to talk to your daughter about eating disorders, recognize the warning signs for risk of anorexia or bulimia, and help your daughter build the coping skills to feel good about herself and her body.
Dr. Michael Strober, a clinical psychologist, is the Franklin Mint Professor of Eating Disorders in the UCLA Psychiatry Department. He is Director of the UCLA Eating Disorders Program and the Adolescent Mood Disorders Program, and he has conducted extensive research on topics such as the developmental risk factors for eating disorders and the prevention and treatment of mood disorders among young people.
REGISTER: 310-395-5650 or e-mail at unfo@uclacommons.com
The UCLA Family Commons presents
Navigating Divorce: for Children ages 7-11With Dr. Rebecca Eberlin, PhD.
Mondays 4:00-5:15pm; January 9 - February 27 $350 per person
Classes include: identifying, labeling and controlling feelings; solving problems; divorce specific coping skills; age appropriate understanding of divorce-related concepts and creating positive perceptions of one’s self and family. 1221 2nd Street; Santa Monica 90401 310-395-5650 www.uclacommons.com
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SMASH Site Council Agenda
Wednesday, January 4, 2012; 5:00 PM Core 2
Adopt Agenda
Approve minutes of last meeting
Community participation
Reports and Announcements (regular agenda items)
Principal’s Report
Student Reports
Community Organization Reports (to include but not limited to the following):
PTSA
Student Council
Other
Old Business
Vote on final site plan including literacy, math, and school climate goals
New Business
Discuss SMMUSD centralized fundraising working group
Community participation (if applicable)
Adjourn
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SMASH Site Council Minutes
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 5:00 PM Core 2
In Attendance: Laura Sherman, Jessica Rishe, Candis Berens, Jackie Boyd, Mimi Lichterman, Aurora Delaney, Toby Romero, Nathan Goldenberg, Malaika Boyer
Absent: Graciela Barba-Castro, Chrysta Wyse, Elizabeth Kramer Nina Fresco, Shaquil Johnson, Izzy Strick
Moved by Mimi. Seconded by Jackie. Agenda Adopted.
Moved by Jackie. Seconded by Candis. Minutes approved from last meeting.
Community participation: None
Reports and Announcements (regular agenda items)
Principal’s Report: Middle School Music Meeting at SMASH resulted in search for Jazz Club instructor for Winds and Winds-Strings collaboration around a contemporary piece “My Girl” which is being made into short film. Fundraising for this music program is underway (ICE 12/8). SMMUSD Board of Education passed centralized fundraising policy with Education Foundation as partner. People interested in serving on Superintendent’s advisory group to give input to details of this policy should let Jessica know. PTSA will be letting people know about “Our Children Our Future” initiative on November 2012 ballot. CA lost $18Billion in education spending and this initiative would raise $10 Billion through a sliding scale income tax. Creates $1300 per student to spend on programs and personnel (Art, Music, PE, Librarians, Counselors)
Student Reports: Core 3 is finishing science projects and learning about the Civil Rights Movement. Can do a speech; blow up map, posterboard or a song to demonstrate facts about Rosa Parks boycott and other moments. Will be drafting science fiction stories soon. Core 3 final visual art projects will be displayed next week Dec 13th at the Sharing. Core 3 designed umbrellas for the Holiday Boutique. DARE graduation is 11:00 December 16th. Core 3 is going to the Griffith Observatory next week. Nathan proposes having designated amount of time have to sit at the benches and eat and then go and play after. Look in February for a way for Site Council to lead surveys or focus groups to see student feedback about play before eat pilot. Need more instrument storage in Surf Shack. Might need designated areas for types of instruments. Get Core 2 and Core 3 student leaders together to come up with a plan.
Community Organization Reports (to include but not limited to the following):
PTSA
Student Council: Upper School planned the last Community Group Morning Meeting. December 16th will be Crazy Hair Day.
Old Business: None
New Business:
Early Literacy and Conceptual Mathematics goals reviewed
Early Literacy Goal: Support students struggling to learn to read in grades 1st-2nd
Focus on early literacy intervention by complementing the classroom Reading Workshop with Reading Recovery instruction. Funding Source: $5,828 Tier III and $2,851.30 Equity
Description: 6 hours per week of Reading Recovery support for identified 1st and 2nd graders
Math Goal:
In order to promote rigor, relevance, and effectiveness, identify where student thinking was being stretched by questions posed and participation levels, students had clarity about why they were learning the lessons, and where students interact with the curriculum in a variety of ways.
Actions
2nd and 7th/8th grade teachers rotate filming model math lessons. They edit them into 5 minute shorts for use with protocols at staff banked time meetings after school Fridays. Teachers work with Graciela Barba-Castro, Instructional Leadership Team Math Teacher Leader to design lessons and examine student work from lessons, including focus student work. Every grade level will engage in the Learning Walk process. This process will allow teachers time to see K-8: ”We know it’s rigorous/ relevant/effective when teachers/students…”
Host JAMS Pathway Principals’ Math Learning Walk
Funding Source: $0 from site, all sub time and training provided through RGK SMMUSD Educational Services Grant
Community participation: None
Moved by Candis. Seconded by Jackie. Meeting Adjourned.
Next meeting is Wed, January 4.
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ptsa news
president’s message
Dear SMASHing Parents,
I hope everyone had and a great time at last Friday’s Holiday Boutique. It was one of the best Holiday Boutiques ever and very fun for both kids and adults. Congratulations and thank you to Birte, Tamara, Helga and everyone who helped make this event a great success.
Last week’s mention in the Friday letter of the recent vote by the School Board on November 29 to implement centralized fundraising, was intended to let everyone know that there will be changes in the future with regard to our fundraising efforts. This week our superintendent, Sandra Lyon, sent an email to confirm the vote of the Board and the forthcoming changes, but she also wants everyone to know Nothing will change at schools in the 2012-13 school year. The Board policy states that the earliest the policy could be implemented would be July 2013, and the latest date by which it must be implemented is July 2014. This gives us time to determine how this policy will be implemented as well as to raise the funds we need to pay for the desired staff positions and professional development. Now is the time for SMASH parents to get involved in formulation of the new policy by applying to join the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee and/or attending meetings of the SMMUSD Education Foundation. Please call the district office to get an application for the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee and attend a meeting of the Education Foundation. SMASH needs your voice in implementing this new policy.
This is also the time of year when we need parents to step-up and take a role on the SMASH PTSA Executive Board. Most of the positions on the Board, including President and Treasurer, need to be filled so that a new Board can take over at the end of this school year and be ready for the 2012-2013 school year. Please note that many of the Board positions do not require a significant commitment of time, but they do offer the chance to be a voice and participate in the process of fulfilling the PTSA’s mission on behalf of SMASH.
Thanks,
Dan McGee
ptsa annual family investment drive
·The SMASH Annual Family Investment Drive continues throughout the year and we need every family to participate, even if you cannot afford the recommended amount. For those families who have not made a decision and have waited until the end of the year before deciding, now is the time to make a decision about your end of the year tax deductible contribution. If you haven’t made a commitment for your Annual Family Investment, we ask that you please make a commitment before the end of the year. Donations can be made by check, Paypal or credit card.
Annual Family Investment (AFI) envelopes are available in the office. Please remember that your investment helps pay for classroom teaching assistants, reading and math specialists, the SMASH fine arts program, science equipment, technology upgrades, professional development and so much more. If you have any questions, contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) or Helga Schier (helgaschier@verizon.net)
SMASH green tip
Green For The Dogs Part II: Concrete floors are not comfortable for anyone. Old blankets and towels you don't want anymore would make perfect soft spots for shelter animals. Check your local animal shelter if they will take these donations.
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CORE 1 NEWS
CORE 1 PARK DAY
On Tuesday, December 20, we are planning a WALKING FIELD TRIP to HOTCHKISS PARK (the hill park on 4th and Hollister). We will be offering a variety of games and activities. Parents are invited to join us – and encouraged to bring your own activity as well, such as a parachute or jump ropes. Children will need to wear comfortable running shoes and plenty of sunscreen. All children will need to bring a packed lunch. Core 1 will be leaving school at 10:45 and returning by 1:00. Parents are encouraged to come if you can. The more, the merrier!!
ART SHARE
What does the world look like through the lens of a child? Did you see the photography presented in Chrysta’s room?
What are the collections that represent your child’s heart – in this moment, at this stage of his/her life? Did you assemble the collection from your child’s cubbie? What materials, colors, and shapes does your child use to represent him/ herself? Did you see the drawn portraits and assemblage in all of the classrooms?
We want to, again, congratulate your artists and thank you for coming out to our Core 1 Art Share on Tuesday night. It was an overwhelming success, and the children had so much fun! We appreciate your support of our program, especially during this busy time of year.
Kristy, our next artist-in-residence in Core 1, will begin a drama study as soon as we come back from Winter Break. The children will be studying and performing FAIRY TALES, and presenting them through a life-size SHADOW THEATER, which we will construct in Graciela’s room. This will be a fun connection to our year-long LIGHT STUDY with Graciela. Stay tuned for more!!
HOLIDAY SHOPPING
Please look for your order forms in this Friday's folder, if there are any extra goodies you would like to buy: Note cards (flower and driftwood varieties, ) and a flashdrive of the 1,235 student created photographs will be available for purchase ($20). The children took most of the photos of each other, and there are countless truly amazing photos, suitable for framing!
JACKETS and SWEATERS and SHIRTS, Oh My!!
Winter Break is a LOOOONNGG time to be without your jackets and sweaters. Please stop by your child’s cubby and the hooks outside of Chrysta’s classroom to collect your child’s left clothing before Break.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org
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CORE 2 NEWS
Announcements
Thanks for coming to our Arts Sharing!
Dates to Remember:
Friday, December 16 – Last Friday Letter until 2012
Wednesday December 21 – Tuesday, January 3, 2012 – Winter Break
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 – Welcome back! New mixed up Advisories! Art with Juliana!
Monday, Jan 16 – Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday – No school
Wednesday, Jan 18 – Multicultural Potluck, 6pm
Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
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CORE 3 NEWS
Thanks for the Tissues!
Thanks to our chaperones, Marc (Toby's dad), John (Kate's dad), Dan (Molly's), and Yvonne (Aurora's mom) for helping to make our trip to Griffith Park safe and fun! A special thanks to Yvonne for using her connections and making the visit possible! Please look on our website for a few photos of our trip.
Arts Share! Thanks to Juliana and to all our Core 3 artists for putting on a great visual arts show! Their drawings are amazing and are still on view in Core 3 if you haven't had a chance to see the installation. Also, make sure you open up your Core 3 email blast to see the pdf file reflecting on our drawing art unit.
Thanks for purchasing the Holiday Boutique Umbrellas! Many students expressed how fun it was to design and draw on umbrellas. "This is the best project ever!" Alex said. There are still some students who have reserved their umbrella and others are up for sale. If you would like to purchase an umbrella in support of our SMASH PTSA, please come choose one!
6th Grade Math with Carrie: We reinforced our understanding of equivalent fractions, comparing fractions, and adding fractions by playing games like "Fraction War", "Fraction Concentration", and "Fraction Bingo". Homework 6B is due on Tuesday.
Science with Carrie: Our Space Presentations started this week for a few students who are going out of town. The rest of the presentations will be on Monday and Tuesday. Please see the list below to know when your child's presentation will be. We are going to try to keep close to these times (the kids know that it is supposed to be about 5 minutes and that at the 7 minute mark, the need to be done).
Orange Group (Monday):
10:35 Clara
10:42 Ifeyani
10:48 Luke/Sam
10:55 Alan
11:05 Toby/Shaquil
11:15 Liam/Duncan/Theo
11:25 Lydia
11:35 Nathan G
11:45 Molly
11:55 Sophie
12:05 Willow/CJ
12:15 Bailey/Zoe
Blue Group (Monday):
1:15 Isabel/Riley
1:24 Lucie
1:33 Olivia/Nathan M.
1:42 Robbie
1:51 Kaiden
2:00 Iris/Kate
2:09 Lillian/Mosi
2:18 Mina
2:27 Sydni
2:36 Alex
2:45 Cole, Zoey Rose, Solal
Tuesday (could be from either Blue or Orange group)
8:35 Mika/Simeon
8:43 Caleb
8:51 Aurora
9:00 Timmy
9:09 Izzy
Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: We started drafting our Science Fiction Short Stories! The drafts should be finished before break so we can take our minds and eyes off our work to return in the new year with fresh minds and eyes which is a great way to start RE-vising!
Social Studies with Erin: Please finish Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary over the winter vacation. We will continue to discuss the issues and events in the book when we return in January. We will also have a chance to share our Civil Rights final projects at that time.
Winter Break Homework:
READ, READ, READ! Read lots of good books or at least one!
Play some games with your family!
Watch a good movie!
Practice your multiplication or division facts!
Be ready for learning in the new year and for new advisories! Carrie and Erin's schedule will be switching. Carrie will be teaching on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Erin will be teaching on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Erin will be taking her maternity leave in the middle of February and Amanda will be our long term sub.
Have a wonderful winter break!
Genie: gwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org
Dear Core 3 and Core 4 Families,
Our Middle School 2011-2012 Music Program Pilot continues to thrive and evolve thanks to thoughtful student and organized parent input. It was wonderful to hear our 3 inspired middle school groups (strings, winds, choir) perform at the Holiday Boutique.
Next two known performances will be Tuesday, January 24th 8-9pm Winter Music Concert and Tuesday, March 13th 6:00-7:30pm Talent Show. Perhaps other performance opportunities will also arise.
Choir will continue to meet with Jessi Tuesday/Thursday 9:15-10:15
Strings will continue to meet with Robbie Tuesday/Thursday 8:00-9:15, and
Winds will have the following pilot starting in January:
1) District Middle School Winds Program with Kevin Tuesday/Thursday 9:15-10:10 with Mike Hyziak teaming with Kevin on Thursdays.
2) Jazz Club for Winds Students (optional but highly encouraged) Fridays 1:45-2:45 at SMASH with Instructor Mike Hyziak. This will begin Fri, January 6 in the Music Room next to our Cafetorium.
Mike is a professional Jazz music arranger and looks forward to determining which music pieces students want to work on where he can create parts targeted to their instrumentation and playing level. His vision for the Friday group time includes: having fun playing Improv along with structured learning about phrasing, articulations, or the context behind
the music.
Who May Join? This is available to those in our Middle School District Winds Program as well as to those 6th-8th graders who are unable to participate in our District Middle School Music Program because they play an instrument not currently supported within our music program such as rhythm instruments, electric bass, piano, electric guitar, French horn, or tuba. Interested students not involved in our District Middle School Music Program will need to meet with Mike privately to confirm intermediate skill level in order to join the group.
While we begin this club at a manageable size, without 5th graders, vocalists or traditional string instruments, Mike is very interested in expanding in future years if the club gets solidified.
If interested in joining, email jrishe@smmusd.org so we may compile a list for Mike to get in touch with you.
Thank you to those who have already made donations to this SMASH Middle School Music Program. Others who wish to make your donation to this music program may write a check to “SMASH PTSA” and put “Middle School Music” on the memo line.
Looking forward to 2012 where we get to hear the strings/winds “My Girl” collaboration, more vocal harmonies, and a little SMASH Jazz!
Jessica
PLEASE NOTE: NO MIDDLE SCHOOL STRINGS CLASS WITH ROBBIE ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 5. Class will resume on January 10.
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CORE 4 NEWS
Holiday Happenings In Core Four: On the schedule are two activities and parents are encouraged to join us.
Ice Skating in downtown Santa Monica on 12/19 is always a blast and we would like to do this again after missing a year. Our plan is to walk over starting around 09:30am, skate, fall, and play for an hour and one half before walking back to school for lunch. Please have your kids bring $15.00 for entrance fees and a snack. As always, if this presents a problem, contact us and we shall work it out with you.
The second big event is our Caribbean Junk-a-Roo on the 20th. This multi-cultural event celebrates our kid’s efforts in humanities. The event kicks off with brief presentations starting at 11:30, breaks for lunch at the normal time and resumes just after with a Caribbean style secret Santa activity. Around 14:00 we will begin snacking on what we hope will be a sumptuous collection of Caribbean style snacks. Please bring anything to this potluck: plantains, dirty rice, jerk chicken, etc…
Our intention this year is to model a materialism free manner of celebration that focuses upon people, relationships, and careful choices. We seek to avoid the endless cycle of consumerism that has frivolously eroded the world’s resources; instead, we will celebrate the enduring bonds, special qualities of creativity, and thoughtfulness that exist amongst our community. We feel this is consistent with CARES, our social curriculum and our intention to model what we value in life.
If thinking of holiday gift giving, the Global Adolescent Project (www.globaladolescent.org) is something we support and thought you might be interested in learning about.
Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org
Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org
Bailey: bailey.field@mac.com
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PAPPA JOHN’S PIZZA
FRIDAY, JANUARY 13 AND 27, 2012
Opt out of Nonfat Chocolate Milk at
fns@smmusd.org. Simply give us your child’s
Name, ID # and school
Friday, December 9, 2011
Dear SMASHing Families,
As we wind down from another special Holiday Boutique chaired by Birte Reimer, Helga Schier, Siridyal Shilo, and Tamara Mugalian, we get ready for our next artistic SMASH event. Have you asked your children about visual arts with Julianna or drama with Kristy lately? As you get ready to attend the December 13 (Cores 1,2,3) and December 14 (Core 4) Art and Drama Sharings, here are a few creative experiences to ask your young artists to describe:
Core 1 artists have been making portraits out of found objects, drawings, painting on clay, and assemblage.
Core 3 students are having more technical lessons about drawing such as interpreting basic shapes according to eye level and various perspectives or left/Right brain use in visual perception of an artist.
Core 2 puppeteers and Reader’s Theater performers have storylines, props, and characters they’ve developed.
Core 4 film crews have been editing their footage now that the writing and acting stages are over.
Thank you SMASH PTSA for our thriving K-8 arts program. Come hear Dan McGee speak about our SMASHing Arts Program and other SMASH successes at the December 15, 6:00pm Board of Education meeting at the district office. E-mail me at jrishe@smmusd.org if you are able to attend.
Jessica
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CITY OF SANTA MONICA CONSTRUCTION NOTICE
OCEAN PARK BLVD COMPLETE GREEN STREET
THIRTY DAY NOTICE
The city of Santa Monica has awarded a contract to Excel Paving Company for the Ocean Park Blvd Complete Green Street Project. The project is scheduled to start December 2011 with completion in January 2013.
This notice is to make you aware of the start of this project. We will receive additional flyer approximately three weeks from work in the SMASH area, and again given a notice two days before the start of construction.
The Ocean Park Blvd Complete Green Street Project will consist of five phases
1. South side of Ocean Park Blvd.
2. North Side of Ocean Park Blvd.
3. Median of Ocean Park Blvd.
4. Ocean Park Blvd. Paving
5. Los Amigos Park Infiltration System
During each phase, traffic control will be in place and will maintain one lane of traffic in each direction.
This project will provide wider sidewalks and parkways for storm water runoff. The project will provide wider sidewalks and parkways for storm water biofilter swales and infiltration, new landscape medians, new marked crosswalks with enhanced overhead flashing beacons, new painted bike lanes and traffic striping, pedestrian level lighting, new trees and landscaping, street furniture, bike racks and traffic signal modification.
Contractor’s work operation, which will normally be from 8:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday.
If you want to know more, have questions, or need additional information, you can contact Michael Aguilar, Construction Manager/Inspector at 310-857-4946
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DATES TO REMEMBER
Fri, Dec 9 - Fri, Dec 16 - SMASH Book Fair
Tues, Dec 13 - 6:00-7:30pm - Art Share (Cores 1, 2 & 3), Book Fair open
Thurs, Dec 15 - 6:00pm - SMASH Board of Education Presentation
Fri, Dec 16 - 8:45am - Hess-Kramer Assembly AND Crazy Hair Day
WED, Dec. 21 - TUES, Jan. 3 - WINTER BREAK - SCHOOL CLOSED
Wed, Jan 4 - 5:00-6:00pm - Site Council Mtg
Sun, Jan 8 - Fri, Jan 13 - Yosemite Trip for 7th grader students
Mon, Jan 9 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour
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LOOKING FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE?
Bennett Zemke’s Boy Scout troop #2 has trees up to 11 feet tall, as well as wreaths and garlands. Located on Montana Ave between 15th & 16th Streets. The lot is open 9am-9pm, with local delivery available Bring the flyer for a 10% discount,go to http://www.troop2bsa.org/2011TreeLotFlyer.pdf to print the flyer.
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SANTA MONICA SYMPHONY HOLIDAY CONCERT
Saturday, Dec 10 at 7:30pm Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
Allen Robert Gross, Music Director & Conductor
FREE ADMISSION - Bring school-age children! www.smsymphony.org 310-395-6330
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WESTSIDE FOOD BANK DONATION BARREL
IN THE SMASH OFFICE UNTIL THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15
The following items are needed (no glass except for baby food)
Cans of: tuna, vegetables and soup; fruits and fruit juices; pork & beans; stews & other meats
Packaged food: pasta, lentils and beans; macaroni & cheese and packaged dinners; instant soup, hot and cold cereal; peanut butter and other nut butters; nutritional bars: protein, granola, energy or breakfast bars
Baby foods are urgently needed. Two thousand babies and toddlers are without adequate nutrition each day right here on the west side of Los Angeles.
Baby/Toddler needs:
Infant formula; jar foods-all flavors & stages; crackers, teething biscuits and cookies; raisins & fruit snacks; juices: jars, cans, pouches & boxes; infant & children’s cereals
Other items need at Westside Food Bank:
Socks - new or clean gently-used socks—any size. Blankets - new or clean gently-used
Travel size sundries are urgently needed: travel sized shampoo, hair conditioner, soap, bath & shower gel, toothpaste and toothbrush and towels (new or clean gently-used)
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Santa Monica High School Winter Choral Concert: Motus Perpetuus VII
Thursday, December 15 at 7:00pm - SAMOHI Barnum Hall
$5 Students, $10 Adults - At the door
This annual concert of perpetual motion features all of the students in the Santa Monica High School Music Program.
Choirs are strategically situated throughout Barnum Hall, with songs following each other without applause, from one piece to the next. From Gregorian Chants to the work of French composer Francis Poulenc, this year’s concert will intertwine one thousand years of choral music history as students traverse every area of Barnum Hall creating an exciting, immersive experience that is a perennial favorite of concertgoers. The concert concludes with the traditional singing of The Hallelujah Chorus, for which audience alumni choristers are invited to the stage to join in.
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SANTA MONICA LITTLE LEAGUE REGISTRATION
Community baseball with Divisions from T-Ball to Seniors, boys and girls ages 4 to 16. Spring 2012 Registration is Now Open! Go to www.smll.com for a description of Divisions, League Boundaries and more. Register Online or print the Mail-in Registration Form Scholarships are available Contact registrar@smll.com for more info
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WINTERLIT - HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS IN SANTA MONICA
Tuesday, December 20-27 - Chanukah Menorah Lighting at sundown
Nov 1—Dec 31 - Gift Your Schools. Shop & dine at Santa Monica Place and earn SMASH 5% donation. Just present your receipts at the Concierge on level 1. For details 310-260-8333.
Ice Skating - 5th & Arizona, November 11-January 16 - admission & skate rental $12
2 for 1 Tuesdays, Wacky Hat Wednesdays, After-Hours Broom Ball, Rock ‘N’ Skate Fridays, Costume Skate Sundays
Breakfast with Santa: RSVP at smpholiday.evenbrite.com
Sat, Dec 10 - 9:30-10 at Santa Monica Place Food Court
Pet Photos with Santa: Thurs, Dec 8 - 6-8pm - The Market Place at Santa Monica Place
For a list of all events visit WinterLit.com - SantaMonicaPlace.com - ICEatSantaMonica.com
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SANTA MONICA PIER - 2011 HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, December 17 11:00am - 5:00pm
11:00-3:00 - Santa Claus visits the Merry-G0-Round. FREE rides during his visit
2:30-5:00 - Holiday Caroling - Carolers stroll along the pier.
December 1-18 - Canned Food Drive supporting Upward Bound House. Drop off in the Merry-Go-Round building
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PAL 6th ANNUAL BEST GIFT EVER DRIVE - Now through December 13
Donate a new unwrapped gift, gift card or make a cash donation to any of the following locations and help youth ages 6 to 17 in the Santa Monica community experience the joy of the holiday season
GIFT DROP LOCATIONS
Santa Monica PAL at 1401 Olympic Blvd
Downtown Santa Monica Police Substation at 1433 2nd St
Santa Monica Place Concierge, 3rd & Broadway (Gifts only, no cash or gift cards at this site please)
***************
In honor of Kwanzaa, the John Adams Middle School Pathway schools cordially invite you to the:
Karamu Community Dinner Celebration
Thursday, December 15 - 4:30-6:00pm
Check-in begins at 4:00pm at Will Rogers Learning Community; 2401 14th Street
R.S.V.P. by December 8th to Donna McCoy dmccoy@smmusd.org or (310) 452-2326 x 72218
***************
The UCLA Family Commons at Santa Monica
PROMENADE COMMONS KIDS CLUB
1221 2nd Street, Santa Monica (behind 3rd St Promenade) 310-395-5650
Mon-Fri: 10:00am-6:30pm
Sat: 9:00am-7:00pm (after 3pm by appt only)
Sun: 1:00-7:00pm
$15/hour - Siblings $5/hour
Drop off you child at the new Promenade Commons Kids Club. Children enjoy an afternoon of crafting, active games
and other healthy fun. Children are welcome to stay for one to six hours or anything in between.
***************
The UCLA Family Commons presents
Navigating Divorce: for Children ages 7-11
With Dr. Rebecca Eberlin, PhD.
Mondays 4:00-5:15pm; January 9 - February 27
Cost $350 per person
Classes include: identifying, labeling and controlling feelings; solving problems; divorce specific coping skills; age appropriate understanding of divorce-related concepts and creating positive perceptions of one’s self and family.
1221 2nd Street; Santa Monica 90401 310-395-5650 www.uclacommons.com
***************
ptsa news
president’s message
Dear SMASHing Parents,
As we move toward the Winter Break and heart of the holiday season, this is the time to start looking ahead to a bright future at SMASH. One of our unique qualities at SMASH is the strong sense of community and the shared belief that we strive to balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the community.
With the recent vote by the School Board on November 29th to implement centralized fundraising on a district wide level, this is the time for all of us to reflect and consider what we can do as a community to contribute to the success of this new fundraising model. Though the new fundraising plan will not begin until the 2013-2014 school year, development of the details will begin with the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee, which will begin meeting after Winter Break, and will include the input of the SMMUSD Education Foundation, which will lead the centralized fundraising plan. At SMASH we have parents and families that have been leaders in past efforts, such as the SOS Campaign, and who have demonstrated year after year the ability to organize and coordinate efforts on behalf of our schools. These groups need the talent and input of our community. Now is the time to get involved and contribute to the exciting process to develop a comprehensive and successful district wide fundraising plan by volunteering to serve on the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee and attend Education Foundation meetings that are held on a regular basis.
For the present, the fundraising that we do at SMASH will not change. More importantly, much of our fundraising, whether the rummage sale, holiday boutique, jog-a-thon or SuperSMASH is as much about community and the things we share together as it is about the money we raise. We must continue to set an example for the entire district with our community, our energy and our volunteer spirit.
Thanks,
Dan McGee
ptsa annual family investment drive
· The SMASH Annual Family Investment Drive is on-going and will continue throughout the year. We are striving to surpass last year’s record breaking family participation. For those families who have not made a decision and have waited until after the end of the year before deciding, now is the time to make a decision about your end of the year
tax deductible contribution. If you haven’t made a commitment for your Annual Family Investment, we ask that you please make a commitment before the end of the year. Donations can be made by check, Paypal or credit card. Annual Family Investment (AFI) envelopes are available in the office. Please remember that your investment helps pay for classroom teaching assistants, reading and math specialists, the SMASH fine arts program, science equipment, technology upgrades, professional development and so much more. If you have any questions, contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) or Helga Schier (helgaschier@verizon.net)
SMASH green tip
Green For The Dogs: Even old sports balls that no longer stay inflated can be repurposed. Check with your local animal shelter if they would like them for their dogs.
***************
Wigs, gel, pipe-cleaners and bows…
On Crazy Hair Day
anything goes!!!! Show your school spirit and wear a crazy hairdo on December 16
***************
CORE 1 NEWS
CIRCLE GROUPS
Our Core 1 children met in their new circle groups yesterday. Circle groups are comprised of Partners, Bigs, and Mentors. We meet in circle groups for Morning Meeting, Projects, and Magic Circle. Candis’ group is called The Golden Puff Balls, Chrysta’s group is called The Swimming Uffys (pronounced uh-fee-s) and Graciela’s group is call The Glowing Stars. We used a democratic process to select the group names. Even though some children were disappointed that their first choice did not win, everyone accepted their new names. Here’s what two Bigs had to say:
Simone: First we picked names, and then we were voting. The Gardening Gummy Bears didn’t make it, but the Golden Puff Balls did. I wish the Gardening Gummy Bears had made it.
Ana-Sofia: I don’t! I love Golden Puff Balls!
Simone: Me, too!
ART PROGRAM SHARE
On Tues, December 13 at 6:00pm your family and friends are invited to our ARTS PROGRAM SHARE! Core 1 will be sharing our study of PORTRAITS and COLLECTIONS in all 3 classrooms. Come see our paintings, drawings, photography, and assemblage representing ourselves and the world around us. You will be amazed at the depth and quality of our artists’ creations. Thank you to Marni and Julianna for your leadership in this study! We would love PARENT VOLUNTEERS to help us with the installation.
SILENT AUCTION ITEMS
In conjunction with our portrait study, Core 1 will collaboratively create stunning artwork, which will be auctioned off as a fundraiser. This project is still in-progress, so we dare not reveal too much. But be on the look-out for these one-of-a-kind pieces. Proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to our Winter/Spring Holistic Drama Study. More details regarding the silent auction coming soon!!
BOOK FAIR Please remember to visit the book fair to buy books for home and for the classroom. We have put some books in the wish basket, based on the children’s recommendations, that we would love to add to our Core 1 library. Thanks for making our wishes come true.
CRAZY HAIR DAY Will be on Friday, December 16th. Show your school spirit by changing your do! Hats, wigs, pipe-cleaners, bows…anything goes!
BIRTHDAY BASH
We will be celebrating December birthdays on Friday, December 16th at 11:45 in the Magic Garden. If your child will be celebrating his/her birthday this month, please sign up in Candis’ room to bring a Birthday Bash peanut-free snack to share with 75 children.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org
***************
CORE 2 NEWS
Advisory News: It’s hard to believe that we are already at Winter Break (!) Tamara, Jayme, and Laura will be creating new mixed-group advisories (putting students from both advisory groups together). We do this to give students opportunities to work with a wide variety of classmates and have experiences with both Advisors. The students have given us some of their ideas, which we do our best to accommodate. Please respect the time and thought we put into the groups. They will start in their new groups after Winter Break. Let us know if you have
any questions or concerns about this process.
Theme: In Theme, Laura has been helping the students explore concepts and construction of simple machines. With Tamara, the students have been using atlases to learn about the continents and oceans. They are working in groups to color and label physical and political maps of each continent, which they will put together into individual atlases for each student.
Literacy: In Readers Workshop, we have been indentifying and discussing the Main idea and details in nonfiction books. In fiction books, we identified and discussed the theme, lesson, or big idea in our read alouds and Just Right books. By identifying what we think stories are really, really about, we can begin to put that understanding into our writing. We have also been discussing the importance of choosing Just Right Books for independent reading. It is critical for all students to read a book that is not too hard (5 or more “stumbles” on a page), but also not too easy (duh). It should be a book of high interest to the student that they can read and understand
by themselves. Please help your child choose appropriate books at home for reading homework.
In Writing Workshop, we just published our first narrative piece, a Small Moment story. We are currently demonstrating what we learned in that unit by doing a Small Moment quick publish piece—spending 1 – 2 days on each step of the process. Our next nonfiction/non-narrative writing unit will be a personal essay: using an idea or opinion as an angle to write about ourselves. (We also hope you enjoy the gifts of their mini-poetry unit.)
Math: Laura’s 3rd graders have started Collections and Travel Stories, another addition and subtraction unit.
Tamara’s 4th Graders just started Multiple Towers and Division Stories, a second multiplication and division unit, with an emphasis on division with remainders. These units will continue after Winter Break.
Wednesday Drama with Kristy: Theater Arts with Kristy was, as always, an amazing communal process. We look forward to sharing our hard work with you on Tues, 12/13, 6:30 – 8:00 pm. We will be starting VisualArts with Julianna as soon as we return from Winter Break.
Media Center: Both groups visit the Media Center twice a month on Thursdays (alternating weeks). Students may bring their library books home. Please help them be responsible for their books—and returning them to school on Thursdays.
Thank You to all the parents who helped make our beautiful Holiday Boutique projects and to all the SMASH families and students for shopping, snacking, and creating to make our Holiday Boutique a SMASHing success.
*Special shout out to Mimi for helping Tamara, Laura, and Jayme by subbing and volunteering to support Core 2. Her help, insight, and teaching expertise is invaluable.
CRAZY HAIR DAY Will be on Friday, December 16. Show your school spirit by changing your do! Hats, wigs, pipe-cleaners, bows…anything goes!
Have a joy-filled, stress-free, happy and warm holiday this Winter Break!
Tamara, Laura, Jayme, (and sometimes Mimi!!!)
Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
Jayme:j.wold@smmusd.org
***************
CORE 3 NEWS
Tissues needed—we didn't get any last week and with all the colds, the paper towels were a bit rough!
Field Trip Reminder - Wednesday we LEAVE AT 8:00 for the Griffith Park Observatory. We are taking a chartered bus so we can get there by our 9:00am appointment. BE HERE EARLY so you don't miss it! Also, because it's a chartered bus, the cost is greater than we put on the permission slip. We are asking for an $8 donation to help cover the cost. Thanks to all the parents who have volunteered to chaperone!
6th Grade Math with Carrie: Our study of fractions has progressed to more complex topics. This week we worked on finding fractions between fractions (for example, naming two fractions that fall between 1/4 and 1/5). Ask your child to show you how they figure it out. We also started our study of improper and mixed fractions.
6th Grade Math with Erin "Data About Us": We continued delving into 2 dimensional geometry with our study of angles.
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: How was playing Close to 1,000 and Close to 7,500? Were you impressed with any of the strategies your child used? We have been working on story problems that involve large numbers and realized that we are great at computation but sometimes try to solve the incorrect equation because we didn’t read all the words carefully. Your mathematician knows the final assessment of the unit is coming up and know there are times when it's ok to rush and not worry about accuracy and there are times when it counts.
Science with Carrie: Space Presentations will be on Monday, December 19. Students will sign up for times on Monday, December 12. If there is a particular time you would like your child to sign up for so you can be there to see them, please let your child (and Carrie) know so we can plan accordingly. The Orange Group will have their presentations between 10:45 and 12:25 and the Blue Group will be between 1:15 and 3:00. Presentations should be about 5 minutes each so the times will be approximate but, if you let Carrie know that you're planning to be there, she can make sure to hold your child's presentation until you get there. The creativity in the projects is impressive we have songs, PowerPoints, slide shows, posters, puppet shows, and much more. Carrie will video tape all of the presentations so we can watch them later (so, if you miss it, it will be on tape).
Social Studies and Geography with Erin: Students were busy working on their final Civil Rights project this week. We also took some time to read aloud from and discuss the Malcolm X book.
Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: As writers we know it's challenging to write a short story especially since we are involved in our just right books that are so long! Ask your child how they are introducing characters and settings while moving the plot to make their story not too short and not too long. We are coming to an end of our Read Aloud White Mountains. The formal English is challenging to understand but we've learned a lot of vocabulary. And more importantly, we have been making personal connections to the story and connecting the story to different science fiction and fantasy stories we have read and seen. We've been taking notes during Read Aloud which will aid us when we write our literary essays.
Visual Arts with Juliana: We had our last visual arts session this week! We have been working on our independent projects that will be on display in Core 3 at our Arts Share on Tuesday, December 13 from 6:00pm- 7:00pm. Our artists will also be available to do quick sketches of visitors—portraits, hands, shoes, and object you have handy—Street-Artist-style! Come join us to see their phenomenal drawings, get sketched, as well as browse the SMASH book fair! Thanks to Juliana for an amazing semester of art!
Homework:
6G math: Assignment 5B due 12/13
5G math: packet #14 due Friday, 12//16.
RW: READ, READ, READ! Make sure to log in finished books on the yellow card in class.
WW: work on Science Fiction Short Story—we've finally started drafting!
CRAZY HAIR DAY Will be on Friday, December 16. Show your school spirit by changing your do! Hats, wigs, pipe-cleaners, bows…anything goes!
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org
***************
CORE 4 NEWS
8th graders need to bring in photos on a memory stick by Friday, January 6 so they are ready to make yearbook pages.
Any 8th grader interested in submitting a design for the yearbook front and back covers should submit it to Jessica by Friday, January 6.
CRAZY HAIR DAY will be on Friday, December 16. Show your school spirit by changing your do! Hats, wigs, pipe-cleaners, bows…anything goes!
As we wind down from another special Holiday Boutique chaired by Birte Reimer, Helga Schier, Siridyal Shilo, and Tamara Mugalian, we get ready for our next artistic SMASH event. Have you asked your children about visual arts with Julianna or drama with Kristy lately? As you get ready to attend the December 13 (Cores 1,2,3) and December 14 (Core 4) Art and Drama Sharings, here are a few creative experiences to ask your young artists to describe:
Core 1 artists have been making portraits out of found objects, drawings, painting on clay, and assemblage.
Core 3 students are having more technical lessons about drawing such as interpreting basic shapes according to eye level and various perspectives or left/Right brain use in visual perception of an artist.
Core 2 puppeteers and Reader’s Theater performers have storylines, props, and characters they’ve developed.
Core 4 film crews have been editing their footage now that the writing and acting stages are over.
Thank you SMASH PTSA for our thriving K-8 arts program. Come hear Dan McGee speak about our SMASHing Arts Program and other SMASH successes at the December 15, 6:00pm Board of Education meeting at the district office. E-mail me at jrishe@smmusd.org if you are able to attend.
Jessica
***************
CITY OF SANTA MONICA CONSTRUCTION NOTICE
OCEAN PARK BLVD COMPLETE GREEN STREET
THIRTY DAY NOTICE
The city of Santa Monica has awarded a contract to Excel Paving Company for the Ocean Park Blvd Complete Green Street Project. The project is scheduled to start December 2011 with completion in January 2013.
This notice is to make you aware of the start of this project. We will receive additional flyer approximately three weeks from work in the SMASH area, and again given a notice two days before the start of construction.
The Ocean Park Blvd Complete Green Street Project will consist of five phases
1. South side of Ocean Park Blvd.
2. North Side of Ocean Park Blvd.
3. Median of Ocean Park Blvd.
4. Ocean Park Blvd. Paving
5. Los Amigos Park Infiltration System
During each phase, traffic control will be in place and will maintain one lane of traffic in each direction.
This project will provide wider sidewalks and parkways for storm water runoff. The project will provide wider sidewalks and parkways for storm water biofilter swales and infiltration, new landscape medians, new marked crosswalks with enhanced overhead flashing beacons, new painted bike lanes and traffic striping, pedestrian level lighting, new trees and landscaping, street furniture, bike racks and traffic signal modification.
Contractor’s work operation, which will normally be from 8:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday.
If you want to know more, have questions, or need additional information, you can contact Michael Aguilar, Construction Manager/Inspector at 310-857-4946
***************
DATES TO REMEMBER
Fri, Dec 9 - Fri, Dec 16 - SMASH Book Fair
Tues, Dec 13 - 6:00-7:30pm - Art Share (Cores 1, 2 & 3), Book Fair open
Thurs, Dec 15 - 6:00pm - SMASH Board of Education Presentation
Fri, Dec 16 - 8:45am - Hess-Kramer Assembly AND Crazy Hair Day
WED, Dec. 21 - TUES, Jan. 3 - WINTER BREAK - SCHOOL CLOSED
Wed, Jan 4 - 5:00-6:00pm - Site Council Mtg
Sun, Jan 8 - Fri, Jan 13 - Yosemite Trip for 7th grader students
Mon, Jan 9 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour
***************
LOOKING FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE?
Bennett Zemke’s Boy Scout troop #2 has trees up to 11 feet tall, as well as wreaths and garlands. Located on Montana Ave between 15th & 16th Streets. The lot is open 9am-9pm, with local delivery available Bring the flyer for a 10% discount,go to http://www.troop2bsa.org/2011TreeLotFlyer.pdf to print the flyer.
***************
SANTA MONICA SYMPHONY HOLIDAY CONCERT
Saturday, Dec 10 at 7:30pm Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
Allen Robert Gross, Music Director & Conductor
FREE ADMISSION - Bring school-age children! www.smsymphony.org 310-395-6330
***************
WESTSIDE FOOD BANK DONATION BARREL
IN THE SMASH OFFICE UNTIL THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15
The following items are needed (no glass except for baby food)
Cans of: tuna, vegetables and soup; fruits and fruit juices; pork & beans; stews & other meats
Packaged food: pasta, lentils and beans; macaroni & cheese and packaged dinners; instant soup, hot and cold cereal; peanut butter and other nut butters; nutritional bars: protein, granola, energy or breakfast bars
Baby foods are urgently needed. Two thousand babies and toddlers are without adequate nutrition each day right here on the west side of Los Angeles.
Baby/Toddler needs:
Infant formula; jar foods-all flavors & stages; crackers, teething biscuits and cookies; raisins & fruit snacks; juices: jars, cans, pouches & boxes; infant & children’s cereals
Other items need at Westside Food Bank:
Socks - new or clean gently-used socks—any size. Blankets - new or clean gently-used
Travel size sundries are urgently needed: travel sized shampoo, hair conditioner, soap, bath & shower gel, toothpaste and toothbrush and towels (new or clean gently-used)
***************
Santa Monica High School Winter Choral Concert: Motus Perpetuus VII
Thursday, December 15 at 7:00pm - SAMOHI Barnum Hall
$5 Students, $10 Adults - At the door
This annual concert of perpetual motion features all of the students in the Santa Monica High School Music Program.
Choirs are strategically situated throughout Barnum Hall, with songs following each other without applause, from one piece to the next. From Gregorian Chants to the work of French composer Francis Poulenc, this year’s concert will intertwine one thousand years of choral music history as students traverse every area of Barnum Hall creating an exciting, immersive experience that is a perennial favorite of concertgoers. The concert concludes with the traditional singing of The Hallelujah Chorus, for which audience alumni choristers are invited to the stage to join in.
***************
SANTA MONICA LITTLE LEAGUE REGISTRATION
Community baseball with Divisions from T-Ball to Seniors, boys and girls ages 4 to 16. Spring 2012 Registration is Now Open! Go to www.smll.com for a description of Divisions, League Boundaries and more. Register Online or print the Mail-in Registration Form Scholarships are available Contact registrar@smll.com for more info
***************
WINTERLIT - HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS IN SANTA MONICA
Tuesday, December 20-27 - Chanukah Menorah Lighting at sundown
Nov 1—Dec 31 - Gift Your Schools. Shop & dine at Santa Monica Place and earn SMASH 5% donation. Just present your receipts at the Concierge on level 1. For details 310-260-8333.
Ice Skating - 5th & Arizona, November 11-January 16 - admission & skate rental $12
2 for 1 Tuesdays, Wacky Hat Wednesdays, After-Hours Broom Ball, Rock ‘N’ Skate Fridays, Costume Skate Sundays
Breakfast with Santa: RSVP at smpholiday.evenbrite.com
Sat, Dec 10 - 9:30-10 at Santa Monica Place Food Court
Pet Photos with Santa: Thurs, Dec 8 - 6-8pm - The Market Place at Santa Monica Place
For a list of all events visit WinterLit.com - SantaMonicaPlace.com - ICEatSantaMonica.com
***************
SANTA MONICA PIER - 2011 HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, December 17 11:00am - 5:00pm
11:00-3:00 - Santa Claus visits the Merry-G0-Round. FREE rides during his visit
2:30-5:00 - Holiday Caroling - Carolers stroll along the pier.
December 1-18 - Canned Food Drive supporting Upward Bound House. Drop off in the Merry-Go-Round building
***************
PAL 6th ANNUAL BEST GIFT EVER DRIVE - Now through December 13
Donate a new unwrapped gift, gift card or make a cash donation to any of the following locations and help youth ages 6 to 17 in the Santa Monica community experience the joy of the holiday season
GIFT DROP LOCATIONS
Santa Monica PAL at 1401 Olympic Blvd
Downtown Santa Monica Police Substation at 1433 2nd St
Santa Monica Place Concierge, 3rd & Broadway (Gifts only, no cash or gift cards at this site please)
***************
In honor of Kwanzaa, the John Adams Middle School Pathway schools cordially invite you to the:
Karamu Community Dinner Celebration
Thursday, December 15 - 4:30-6:00pm
Check-in begins at 4:00pm at Will Rogers Learning Community; 2401 14th Street
R.S.V.P. by December 8th to Donna McCoy dmccoy@smmusd.org or (310) 452-2326 x 72218
***************
The UCLA Family Commons at Santa Monica
PROMENADE COMMONS KIDS CLUB
1221 2nd Street, Santa Monica (behind 3rd St Promenade) 310-395-5650
Mon-Fri: 10:00am-6:30pm
Sat: 9:00am-7:00pm (after 3pm by appt only)
Sun: 1:00-7:00pm
$15/hour - Siblings $5/hour
Drop off you child at the new Promenade Commons Kids Club. Children enjoy an afternoon of crafting, active games
and other healthy fun. Children are welcome to stay for one to six hours or anything in between.
***************
The UCLA Family Commons presents
Navigating Divorce: for Children ages 7-11
With Dr. Rebecca Eberlin, PhD.
Mondays 4:00-5:15pm; January 9 - February 27
Cost $350 per person
Classes include: identifying, labeling and controlling feelings; solving problems; divorce specific coping skills; age appropriate understanding of divorce-related concepts and creating positive perceptions of one’s self and family.
1221 2nd Street; Santa Monica 90401 310-395-5650 www.uclacommons.com
***************
ptsa news
president’s message
Dear SMASHing Parents,
As we move toward the Winter Break and heart of the holiday season, this is the time to start looking ahead to a bright future at SMASH. One of our unique qualities at SMASH is the strong sense of community and the shared belief that we strive to balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the community.
With the recent vote by the School Board on November 29th to implement centralized fundraising on a district wide level, this is the time for all of us to reflect and consider what we can do as a community to contribute to the success of this new fundraising model. Though the new fundraising plan will not begin until the 2013-2014 school year, development of the details will begin with the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee, which will begin meeting after Winter Break, and will include the input of the SMMUSD Education Foundation, which will lead the centralized fundraising plan. At SMASH we have parents and families that have been leaders in past efforts, such as the SOS Campaign, and who have demonstrated year after year the ability to organize and coordinate efforts on behalf of our schools. These groups need the talent and input of our community. Now is the time to get involved and contribute to the exciting process to develop a comprehensive and successful district wide fundraising plan by volunteering to serve on the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee and attend Education Foundation meetings that are held on a regular basis.
For the present, the fundraising that we do at SMASH will not change. More importantly, much of our fundraising, whether the rummage sale, holiday boutique, jog-a-thon or SuperSMASH is as much about community and the things we share together as it is about the money we raise. We must continue to set an example for the entire district with our community, our energy and our volunteer spirit.
Thanks,
Dan McGee
ptsa annual family investment drive
· The SMASH Annual Family Investment Drive is on-going and will continue throughout the year. We are striving to surpass last year’s record breaking family participation. For those families who have not made a decision and have waited until after the end of the year before deciding, now is the time to make a decision about your end of the year
tax deductible contribution. If you haven’t made a commitment for your Annual Family Investment, we ask that you please make a commitment before the end of the year. Donations can be made by check, Paypal or credit card. Annual Family Investment (AFI) envelopes are available in the office. Please remember that your investment helps pay for classroom teaching assistants, reading and math specialists, the SMASH fine arts program, science equipment, technology upgrades, professional development and so much more. If you have any questions, contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) or Helga Schier (helgaschier@verizon.net)
SMASH green tip
Green For The Dogs: Even old sports balls that no longer stay inflated can be repurposed. Check with your local animal shelter if they would like them for their dogs.
***************
Wigs, gel, pipe-cleaners and bows…
On Crazy Hair Day
anything goes!!!! Show your school spirit and wear a crazy hairdo on December 16
***************
CORE 1 NEWS
CIRCLE GROUPS
Our Core 1 children met in their new circle groups yesterday. Circle groups are comprised of Partners, Bigs, and Mentors. We meet in circle groups for Morning Meeting, Projects, and Magic Circle. Candis’ group is called The Golden Puff Balls, Chrysta’s group is called The Swimming Uffys (pronounced uh-fee-s) and Graciela’s group is call The Glowing Stars. We used a democratic process to select the group names. Even though some children were disappointed that their first choice did not win, everyone accepted their new names. Here’s what two Bigs had to say:
Simone: First we picked names, and then we were voting. The Gardening Gummy Bears didn’t make it, but the Golden Puff Balls did. I wish the Gardening Gummy Bears had made it.
Ana-Sofia: I don’t! I love Golden Puff Balls!
Simone: Me, too!
ART PROGRAM SHARE
On Tues, December 13 at 6:00pm your family and friends are invited to our ARTS PROGRAM SHARE! Core 1 will be sharing our study of PORTRAITS and COLLECTIONS in all 3 classrooms. Come see our paintings, drawings, photography, and assemblage representing ourselves and the world around us. You will be amazed at the depth and quality of our artists’ creations. Thank you to Marni and Julianna for your leadership in this study! We would love PARENT VOLUNTEERS to help us with the installation.
SILENT AUCTION ITEMS
In conjunction with our portrait study, Core 1 will collaboratively create stunning artwork, which will be auctioned off as a fundraiser. This project is still in-progress, so we dare not reveal too much. But be on the look-out for these one-of-a-kind pieces. Proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to our Winter/Spring Holistic Drama Study. More details regarding the silent auction coming soon!!
BOOK FAIR Please remember to visit the book fair to buy books for home and for the classroom. We have put some books in the wish basket, based on the children’s recommendations, that we would love to add to our Core 1 library. Thanks for making our wishes come true.
CRAZY HAIR DAY Will be on Friday, December 16th. Show your school spirit by changing your do! Hats, wigs, pipe-cleaners, bows…anything goes!
BIRTHDAY BASH
We will be celebrating December birthdays on Friday, December 16th at 11:45 in the Magic Garden. If your child will be celebrating his/her birthday this month, please sign up in Candis’ room to bring a Birthday Bash peanut-free snack to share with 75 children.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org
***************
CORE 2 NEWS
Advisory News: It’s hard to believe that we are already at Winter Break (!) Tamara, Jayme, and Laura will be creating new mixed-group advisories (putting students from both advisory groups together). We do this to give students opportunities to work with a wide variety of classmates and have experiences with both Advisors. The students have given us some of their ideas, which we do our best to accommodate. Please respect the time and thought we put into the groups. They will start in their new groups after Winter Break. Let us know if you have
any questions or concerns about this process.
Theme: In Theme, Laura has been helping the students explore concepts and construction of simple machines. With Tamara, the students have been using atlases to learn about the continents and oceans. They are working in groups to color and label physical and political maps of each continent, which they will put together into individual atlases for each student.
Literacy: In Readers Workshop, we have been indentifying and discussing the Main idea and details in nonfiction books. In fiction books, we identified and discussed the theme, lesson, or big idea in our read alouds and Just Right books. By identifying what we think stories are really, really about, we can begin to put that understanding into our writing. We have also been discussing the importance of choosing Just Right Books for independent reading. It is critical for all students to read a book that is not too hard (5 or more “stumbles” on a page), but also not too easy (duh). It should be a book of high interest to the student that they can read and understand
by themselves. Please help your child choose appropriate books at home for reading homework.
In Writing Workshop, we just published our first narrative piece, a Small Moment story. We are currently demonstrating what we learned in that unit by doing a Small Moment quick publish piece—spending 1 – 2 days on each step of the process. Our next nonfiction/non-narrative writing unit will be a personal essay: using an idea or opinion as an angle to write about ourselves. (We also hope you enjoy the gifts of their mini-poetry unit.)
Math: Laura’s 3rd graders have started Collections and Travel Stories, another addition and subtraction unit.
Tamara’s 4th Graders just started Multiple Towers and Division Stories, a second multiplication and division unit, with an emphasis on division with remainders. These units will continue after Winter Break.
Wednesday Drama with Kristy: Theater Arts with Kristy was, as always, an amazing communal process. We look forward to sharing our hard work with you on Tues, 12/13, 6:30 – 8:00 pm. We will be starting VisualArts with Julianna as soon as we return from Winter Break.
Media Center: Both groups visit the Media Center twice a month on Thursdays (alternating weeks). Students may bring their library books home. Please help them be responsible for their books—and returning them to school on Thursdays.
Thank You to all the parents who helped make our beautiful Holiday Boutique projects and to all the SMASH families and students for shopping, snacking, and creating to make our Holiday Boutique a SMASHing success.
*Special shout out to Mimi for helping Tamara, Laura, and Jayme by subbing and volunteering to support Core 2. Her help, insight, and teaching expertise is invaluable.
CRAZY HAIR DAY Will be on Friday, December 16. Show your school spirit by changing your do! Hats, wigs, pipe-cleaners, bows…anything goes!
Have a joy-filled, stress-free, happy and warm holiday this Winter Break!
Tamara, Laura, Jayme, (and sometimes Mimi!!!)
Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
Jayme:j.wold@smmusd.org
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CORE 3 NEWS
Tissues needed—we didn't get any last week and with all the colds, the paper towels were a bit rough!
Field Trip Reminder - Wednesday we LEAVE AT 8:00 for the Griffith Park Observatory. We are taking a chartered bus so we can get there by our 9:00am appointment. BE HERE EARLY so you don't miss it! Also, because it's a chartered bus, the cost is greater than we put on the permission slip. We are asking for an $8 donation to help cover the cost. Thanks to all the parents who have volunteered to chaperone!
6th Grade Math with Carrie: Our study of fractions has progressed to more complex topics. This week we worked on finding fractions between fractions (for example, naming two fractions that fall between 1/4 and 1/5). Ask your child to show you how they figure it out. We also started our study of improper and mixed fractions.
6th Grade Math with Erin "Data About Us": We continued delving into 2 dimensional geometry with our study of angles.
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: How was playing Close to 1,000 and Close to 7,500? Were you impressed with any of the strategies your child used? We have been working on story problems that involve large numbers and realized that we are great at computation but sometimes try to solve the incorrect equation because we didn’t read all the words carefully. Your mathematician knows the final assessment of the unit is coming up and know there are times when it's ok to rush and not worry about accuracy and there are times when it counts.
Science with Carrie: Space Presentations will be on Monday, December 19. Students will sign up for times on Monday, December 12. If there is a particular time you would like your child to sign up for so you can be there to see them, please let your child (and Carrie) know so we can plan accordingly. The Orange Group will have their presentations between 10:45 and 12:25 and the Blue Group will be between 1:15 and 3:00. Presentations should be about 5 minutes each so the times will be approximate but, if you let Carrie know that you're planning to be there, she can make sure to hold your child's presentation until you get there. The creativity in the projects is impressive we have songs, PowerPoints, slide shows, posters, puppet shows, and much more. Carrie will video tape all of the presentations so we can watch them later (so, if you miss it, it will be on tape).
Social Studies and Geography with Erin: Students were busy working on their final Civil Rights project this week. We also took some time to read aloud from and discuss the Malcolm X book.
Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: As writers we know it's challenging to write a short story especially since we are involved in our just right books that are so long! Ask your child how they are introducing characters and settings while moving the plot to make their story not too short and not too long. We are coming to an end of our Read Aloud White Mountains. The formal English is challenging to understand but we've learned a lot of vocabulary. And more importantly, we have been making personal connections to the story and connecting the story to different science fiction and fantasy stories we have read and seen. We've been taking notes during Read Aloud which will aid us when we write our literary essays.
Visual Arts with Juliana: We had our last visual arts session this week! We have been working on our independent projects that will be on display in Core 3 at our Arts Share on Tuesday, December 13 from 6:00pm- 7:00pm. Our artists will also be available to do quick sketches of visitors—portraits, hands, shoes, and object you have handy—Street-Artist-style! Come join us to see their phenomenal drawings, get sketched, as well as browse the SMASH book fair! Thanks to Juliana for an amazing semester of art!
Homework:
6G math: Assignment 5B due 12/13
5G math: packet #14 due Friday, 12//16.
RW: READ, READ, READ! Make sure to log in finished books on the yellow card in class.
WW: work on Science Fiction Short Story—we've finally started drafting!
CRAZY HAIR DAY Will be on Friday, December 16. Show your school spirit by changing your do! Hats, wigs, pipe-cleaners, bows…anything goes!
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org
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CORE 4 NEWS
8th graders need to bring in photos on a memory stick by Friday, January 6 so they are ready to make yearbook pages.
Any 8th grader interested in submitting a design for the yearbook front and back covers should submit it to Jessica by Friday, January 6.
CRAZY HAIR DAY will be on Friday, December 16. Show your school spirit by changing your do! Hats, wigs, pipe-cleaners, bows…anything goes!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Dear SMASHing Families,
Our SMASH community encourages students to proactively advocate for themselves in a respectful, informed way. Some recent examples include a Core 4 petition for iPod use during independent writing that cites the research studies showing benefits to adolescent focus and a Google document proposing new, more fair lunch bench clean up procedures. The excerpt below comes from a newspaper three students asked me to share in the Friday Letter in order to build more interest in a book they hope more will want to read (perhaps through our upcoming Book Fair 12/9-12/16) and to raise awareness of an upper school concern.
The School Chase Times:
To tell you all stuff that’s hip happening around the school for kids
Written by Asher, Shai, and Tali Chase
The new book of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series just came out on the 15th of November 2011. Cabin Fever is the name of the Smashing book. It is a book for the whole family to enjoy. It is written by Jeff Kinney.
Also, somebody keeps writing on the walls in the upstairs bathrooms. If you know something about the writing in the bathrooms, report to Core 3 classrooms and we’ll see what we can do.
As the “Occupy” movement is promoting societal talks about how to consider many different needs, I admire our SMASH students’ articulate, enthusiastic, increasingly organized group advocacy.
Looking forward to seeing many of you at the SMASH Holiday Boutique next Friday, Dec 9th 11:30-5:30pm!
Come enjoy the Middle School musicians at the Boutique:
12:30-1:00 - Strings
1:45 - 2:15 - Winds
2:30 - 3:00 - Choir
Jessica
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WESTSIDE FOOD BANK DONATION BARREL
IN THE SMASH OFFICE UNTIL THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15
The following items are needed (no glass except for baby food)
Cans of: tuna, vegetables and soup; fruits and fruit juices; pork & beans; stews & other meats
Packaged food: pasta, lentils and beans; macaroni & cheese and packaged dinners; instant soup, hot and cold cereal; peanut butter and other nut butters; nutritional bars: protein, granola, energy or breakfast bars
Baby foods are urgently needed. Two thousand babies and toddlers are without adequate nutrition each day right here on the west side of Los Angeles.
Baby/Toddler needs:
Infant formula; jar foods-all flavors & stages; crackers, teething biscuits and cookies; raisins & fruit snacks; juices: jars, cans, pouches & boxes; infant & children’s cereals
Other items need at Westside Food Bank:
Socks - new or clean gently-used socks—any size. Blankets - new or clean gently-used
Travel size sundries are urgently needed: travel sized shampoo, hair conditioner, soap, bath & shower gel, toothpaste and toothbrush and towels (new or clean gently-used)
Westside Food Bank
1710 22nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90404
Phone:(310) 828-6016, Fax:(310) 828-2646
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DATES TO REMEMBER
Wed, Dec 7 - 5:00-6:00pm - Site Council Mtg.
- 6:00pm - PTSA Mtg
Thurs, Dec. 8 - All Day - SMASH fundraiser at ICE Santa Monica skating rink. Bring the flyer and SMASH receives 25% of the proceeds. Flyer available in the SMASH office and is being attached to today’s e-mailed Friday Letter.
Fri, Dec. 9 - 11:30-5:30 - SMASH Holiday Boutique & Art Affaire Sale - Something for everyone - unique handmade
items, food and fun activities.
Fri, Dec 9 - Fri, Dec 16 - SMASH Book Fair
Tues, Dec 13 - 6:00-7:30pm - Art Share (Cores 1, 2 & 3), Book Fair open
WED, Dec. 21 - TUES, Jan. 3 - WINTER BREAK - SCHOOL CLOSED
Thurs, Dec. 8 - All Day - SMASH fundraiser at ICE Santa Monica skating rink. Bring the flyer and SMASH receives 25% of the proceeds. Flyer available in the SMASH office and is being attached to today’s e-mailed Friday Letter.
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Don’t shop for the holidays until you’ve been to our annual
Holiday Boutique & Art Affaire
December 9, 11:30 – 5:30pm
We need parent volunteers** to help manage our food stands (Waffles, Chili) and activity booths (Candle-Making, Spin Art… NEW ideas always welcome). If you can help, please contact Helga Schier at helgaschier@verizon.net. PTSA receives 20% of vendor’s gross receipts. **If you want to help at the Core Art Tables, please contact Chrysta, Tamara or Genie.
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WESTSIDE BALLET'S "THE NUTCRACKER" ENCHANTS THIS DECEMBER
SMASH's Olivia Sparling performs the lead role of Clara in four of the eight scheduled performances.
Get in the holiday spirit with Westside Ballet's Winter 2011 performances of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. One of the most highly regarded productions of The Nutcracker in all of Los Angeles, this year's performances are being held over the first two weekends of December at the Wadsworth Theater in Westwood.
WHAT: The Nutcracker, produced by Westside Ballet
WHEN: 1PM and 5PM, December 3, 4, 10, 11
WHERE: Wadsworth Theater, Veterans Administration, 11301 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles 90073
COST: $25 per ticket if purchased at Westside Ballet, 1709 Stewart St., Santa Monica 90404 on 11/19 and 11/26 from 10AM-noon, or $30 per ticket plus fees via Ticketmaster.com
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America's Got Talent
will be coming to Anaheim on December 10 & 11th at the Anaheim Convention Center looking for talented students. If your child is interested in auditioning, please contact: America’s Got Talent Casting Coordinator Grace Kim at 818.794.7817 agtauditions.com http://agtauditions.com/
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The UCLA Family Commons & Parents Education League present
When Stress is Good for Children with Dr. Rebecca Eberlin, PhD.
Friday, December 2 - 10:00-11:30am
Sometimes stress helps children grow. If you protect your children from every hurt, problem and rejection, they can’t develop a sense of their own power. Learn the difference between “bad” stress that causes children harm-being bullied, for example—and “good stress that helps their long-term development. Call 310-395-5650 to reserve your space - $20 per person.
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LOOKING FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE?
Bennett Zemke’s Boy Scout troop #2 has trees up to 11 feet tall, as well as wreaths and garlands. Located on Montana Ave between 15th & 16th Streets. The lot is open 9am-9pm, with local delivery available Bring the flyer with today’s Friday Letter for a 10% discount, or go to http://www.troop2bsa.org/2011TreeLotFlyer.pdf to print the flyer.
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SANTA MONICA SYMPHONY HOLIDAY CONCERT
Saturday, Dec 10 at 7:30pm - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
Allen Robert Gross, Music Director & Conductor
FREE ADMISSION - Bring school-age children! www.smsymphony.org 310-395-6330
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WINTERLIT - HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS IN SANTA MONICA
Tuesday, December 20-27 - Chanukah Menorah Lighting at sundown
Nov 1—Dec 31 - Gift Your Schools. Shop & dine at Santa Monica Place and earn SMASH 5% donation. Just present your receipts at the Concierge on level 1. For details 310-260-8333.
Ice Skating - 5th & Arizona, November 11-January 16 - admission & skate rental $12
2 for 1 Tuesdays, Wacky Hat Wednesdays, After-Hours Broom Ball, Rock ‘N’ Skate Fridays, Costume Skate Sundays
Breakfast with Santa: RSVP at smpholiday.evenbrite.com
Sat, Dec 3 - 9:30-11:30 at The Market Place at Santa Monica Place
Sat, Dec 10 - 9:30-10 at Santa Monica Place Food Court
Pet Photos with Santa: Thurs, Dec 8 - 6-8pm - The Market Place at Santa Monica Place
For a list of all events visit WinterLit.com - SantaMonicaPlace.com - ICEatSantaMonica.com
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MAIN STREET CELEBRATIONS
Saturday, December 3
5:00pm - Time with Santa to take photos with kids. Free - bring your own camera.
6:00pm - Tree lighting with holiday songs by the Samohi Choir at the California Heritage Museum Lawn Ocean Park Blvd & Main St)
6:30pm Candlelight Walk to the Shopping Cart Tree at Edgemar courtyard with music by Off Their Jingle Bell Rockers. Santa will be on hand for more photos.
6:00-9:00pm - Participating Main Street merchants invite you to their special holiday parties complete with refreshments and music.
5:00pm Nov 25 until 9:00pm on Dec 3 - Vote for your favorite Main Street window and/or interior decorations. Your ballot doubles as a raffle entry for a chance from over 30 Main Street businesses.Ballots can be found a mainstreetsm.com
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CANDY CANE DRIVE
Sponsored by the Santa Monica Firefighters’ and Police Officers’ Associations Santa Claus is coming to your neighborhood, escorted by the Santa Monica Police in cars & Motorcycles. Listen for sirens and look for him on the bright red fire engine. Candy canes available for all
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3
10:30-10:50am Douglas Park (California Ave & 25th St.)
11:00-11:15am - Christine Reed Park (California Ave & Lincoln Blvd)
11:25-11:50am - 3rd Street Promenade at Wilshire Blvd
1:15-1:30pm - Virginia Ave Park (2200 Virginia Ave)
1:45-2:00pm - Marine Park (Marine & 17th Sts)
2:15-2:30pm - Clover Park (Ocean Pk & 25th ST.
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SANTA MONICA PIER - 2011 HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, December 17 11:00am - 5:00pm
11:00-3:00 - Santa Claus visits the Merry-G0-Round. FREE rides during his visit
2:30-5:00 - Holiday Caroling - Carolers stroll along the pier.
December 1-18 - Canned Food Drive supporting Upward Bound House. Drop off in the Merry-Go-Round building
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PAL 6th ANNUAL BEST GIFT EVER DRIVE - Now through December 13
Donate a new unwrapped gift, gift card or make a cash donation to any of the following locations and help youth ages 6 to 17 in the Santa Monica community experience the joy of the holiday season
GIFT DROP LOCATIONS
Santa Monica PAL at 1401 Olympic Blvd
Downtown Santa Monica Police Substation at 1433 2nd St
Santa Monica Place Concierge, 3rd & Broadway (Gifts only, no cash or gift cards at this site please)
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CAN WE TALK?
A community conversation with City Manager Rod Gould about neighborhood projects, the economy, and the future
...about how we are doing… How does the economy look from a local perspective. Rod will discuss our fiscal outlook
and talk about the city’s strategies for difficult times.
…and what are we doing?... What did we do last year? How will we build on that? Talk with Rod about what we
accomplished last year, upcoming City initiatives and outreach projects, and what is going on in your neighborhood.
Monday, Dec 12 - 7pm - Virginia Ave Park, Thelma Terry Community Rm, 2200 Virginia Ave
Wednesday, Jan 4 - 7pm - Montana Branch Library, Community Rm, 2401 Montana Ave
Wednesday, Jan 19 - 7pm - McKinley School, 2401 Santa Monica Blvd
All locations are wheelchair accessible. For additional disability-related accommodations or for more information about these meetings, please call 310-458-8281 or visit www.smgov.net/neighborhoods
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WINTER CHEER 2011 - Douglas Park Clubhouse
Baking Buddies -#1601.300- - Tues Dec 6, 13 & 20; 3:30-5:00pm 4-12 years
$6 materials fee due on first day of class. SM residents $45/non-residents $52
We will bake different creations in each class, going over different ingredients, measurements, cooking safety all in a
fun-filled class.
Holiday Arts & Crafts - #1601.301 - Thurs Dec 8, 15 & 22 - 3:30-5:00pm - 4-12 years old $6 materials fee payable to instructor on first day of class. SM residents $45/non-residents $52 Come share in the festive spirit as we make all sorts
of holiday crafts using a variety of mediums
Friday Night Stay and Play - #1601.302 - Friday, Dec 16; 5:30pm-8:30pm - 3-12 years old
SM residents $36/non-resident $41 Drop off your children on Friday night for some holiday cheer. We will sing songs, hear stories, decorate and have a great time. Children should bring a snack.
Teachers:Anna Flynn & Sarah Goldman
City of SM Community Classes - 310-458-2239 recenroll.smgov.net
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Santa Monica High School Winter Choral Concert: Motus Perpetuus VII
Thursday, December 15 at 7:00pm - SAMOHI Barnum Hall
$5 Students, $10 Adults - At the door
This annual concert of perpetual motion features all of the students in the Santa Monica High School Music Program. Choirs are strategically situated throughout Barnum Hall, with songs following each other without applause, from one piece to the next. From Gregorian Chants to the work of French composer Francis Poulenc, this year’s concert will intertwine one thousand years of choral music history as students traverse every area of Barnum Hall creating an exciting,
immersive experience that is a perennial favorite of concertgoers. The concert concludes with the traditional singing of The Hallelujah Chorus, for which audience alumni choristers are invited to the stage to join in.
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Freedom Riders: A Community Conversation on Democracy in Action
Wednesday, December 7 - 7:00-9:00 p.m. - The Broad Stage - 1310 11th Street, Santa Monica,
Join us for a Community Conversation featuring the award-winning film Freedom Riders by PBS American Experience. The program will include excerpts from the film and conversation led by former Justice Department civil rights attorney, author, and Facing History board member Gerald Stern. He will be joined by Freedom Rider Ernest “Rip” Patton Jr., who will share experiences as a participant in the Nashville Movement and the Freedom Rides.
Seating is limited. Visit facinghistory.org/communityconversations.
For info contact Jennifer Lenardson at 213-202-2811 x28 or Jennifer_Lenardson@facing.org.
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INTERCULTURAL DISTRICT ADVISORY COMMITTEE
At its board meeting on November 17, the Board of Education reconstituted the Intercultural District Advisory Committee (DAC) and directed the superintendent’s office to solicit applications for community members to serve on the committee.
Applications to serve on this committee can be found in English and Spanish at http://www.smmusd.org/DAC/index.html or in the superintendent’s office (1651 16th Street, Santa Monica). The deadline to submit applications to the superintendent’s office is Tuesday, December 20, 2011. The goal is for the Board of Education to review the applications and appoint members to the committee at the January 19, 2012, board meeting.
Reconstituting the Intercultural DAC, which has a temporary name of the Intercultural Equity and Excellence DAC, is part of the school district’s response to the May 2011 racial incident that took place at Santa Monica High School.
The board charged the committee with the follow directives:
• Support the district’s work of closing the achievement gap by assisting in the identification and elimination of inequities in educational processes and outcomes of underserved students in district schools.
• Serve as a vehicle for parents, community, and students to communicate with the Board on matters related to the successful participation in the educational process of students and parents who come from diverse socio-economic, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds or from the LGBTQ community.
• Provide a forum for the articulation of ideas and activities being implemented in the district, school sites, and the greater community that are successfully meeting the needs of our diverse student and parent population.
• Provide input on district and school site efforts to facilitate the building of bridges of understanding between diverse student and parent populations so that all groups feel connected to, and part of the school community.
• Work collaboratively with other advisory committees as appropriate.
Report to the Board annually on the scope of their work, and recommendations that are developed relative to their charge.
Additionally, the board provided staff with the following guidelines for the committee’s composition:
• In accordance with District guidelines, there shall be a minimum of seven and maximum of nineteen active members.
• Up to three positions will be held by site staff. The Superintendent or designee will work with site administrators to encourage district employees to apply to serve on the committee. The board will appoint employees to the committee taking into account school levels, experience and/or expertise, and diversity of geographic location.
Community organizations whose charges intersect directly with the core work of this advisory committee will be invited to designate a representative to serve. These organizations include, but are not limited to, the Santa Monica-Venice Branch of the NAACP, Virginia Ave. Park, and the Westside Chapter of the Association of Mexican-American Educators. The DAC will be governed by the guidelines prescribed in Board Policy and Administrative Regulation 1220.
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SMASH Site Council Minutes Tuesday, October 4, 2011
In Attendance: Laura Sherman, Jessica Rishe, Nina Fresco, Malaika Boyer, Mimi Lichterman, Candis Berens, Elizabeth Kramer,
Toby Romero, Nathan Goldenberg, Aurora Delaney, Shaquil Johnson, Izzy Strick
Absent: Graciela Barba-Castro, Chrysta Wyse, Jackie Boyd
Agenda Amended with addition of “School Climate goal review” to School Improvement Plan New Business : Moved by Laura
Sherman. Seconded by Nina Fresco. Approved.
Agenda approval: Elizabeth Kramer moved. Toby Romero seconded. Agenda approved.
Approve Minutes of last meeting with one punctuation correction.
Moved by Mimi Lichterman : Seconded by Malaika Boyer. Approved
Community Participation: None
Reports and Announcements (regular agenda items)
Principal’s Report: Whole Child nutrition and fitness with A La Carte healthier choices, fewer Bake Sales since they are Fridays only not Wednesdays and Fridays,
Student Reports: Some students eat food with time still left before bell rings. Some girls want more time to eat and some boys want more time to play. There is trash left at the lunch benches that we need to clean up. It is hard if we are really hungry and need to go straight out to play. If a student has a lunch from home s/he can take a few bites to hold over before going onto the field but this won’t work if buying hot lunch.
Core 3: Memoir Writing Celebration was today. Do UCLA Royce Hall field trip every year. Catalina Trip for 6th graders is next week. Griffith Observatory field trip is coming up. We are taking JPL science field trip in November, which ties with our studies about the solar system. 5th graders will go to Astrocamp in February.
Middle School band musicians would like to be able to do choir too and want more playing time, less time talking and putting room back together. They don’t think it is fair winds get to work with String Project LA. Music Committee meeting with District schedulers, music teachers, and student musicians and parents will be happening this Fall. Community Organization Reports
PTSA Meeting: 60 people signed up each night of the SMASH Camping trip and we got to do Archery this year. Rummage Sale, Halloween Carnival, and SMASH Bash sign ups are coming up.
Student Council: Community Group Morning Meeting will happen this Fri, October 7th.
New Business:
School Climate Counseling Services Site Improvement Plan Goal: Improve school climate through a counseling program that meets school stakeholder social and emotional needs.
Performance gains expected for these Student Groups:
Students will use “CARES” more effectively (Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, Self-control)
Means of evaluating progress toward this Goal:
OLWES survey results and SMMUSD Middle School survey
Middle School Initiative Student Survey Responses (SMASH Students)
N=70 6th/7th/8th graders April 2011
81.4% of middle school students say they can often or almost always manage stress at school.
81.4% of middle school students say they almost never or once in a while feel stress at school.
85.5% say they feel safe at school.
86.9% say they feel supported by classmates.
88.4% say students respect each other.
94.3% say teachers treat everyone fairly.
94.3% say they can go to at least one staff member on campus if they need help.
40.6$ say almost never see bullying. 43.5% say once in a while. 11.6% say often. 4.3% say almost always.
Questions: Is there a survey given to student and parent participants in the counseling groups? No but staff looks at patterns of office referrals. Will there be more staff “Creating Upstanders” training? Committee meets every other month and we will also do a parent event around February.
Old Business: None
Community Participation: Would a field trip to the LA County Fair be possible next year on a Wed TH or Fri?
Next meeting: Wednesday, December 7th 5:00pm. (1/4, 2/1, 3/7, 4/18, 5/23)
Adjourn: Malaika Boyer motioned and Elizabeth Kramer seconded. Adjourned.
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ptsa news
president’s message
Dear SMASHing Parents,
We hope our entire SMASH community had an outstanding Thanksgiving and long holiday weekend. Our kids can now focus on finishing out the last three weeks of school in 2011, with outstanding effort before Winter Break, which is December 21st to January 3rd. If you haven’t starting making plans for your kids during Winter Break, now is the time to take action to line up trips, outings, parties, camps and other activities for the two weeks school will be closed.
As many parents already know, our students are creating art and other items to sell at the Holiday Boutique, which is scheduled for Friday, December 9th. Please calendar the date today, so you don’t miss out on the opportunity to purchase something made by your child and to purchase gifts for the upcoming holidays. The Holiday Boutique will be followed by the SMASH Bookfair which runs from December 9th to the 16th.
SMASH green tips
• Green Up Your Holidays: Remember to take your reusable shopping bags when you go retail shopping for gifts. A good idea is to have a couple of bags, washed clean, dedicated to retail shopping so germs from groceries don't contaminate your gifts. Reuse things like leftover or old linens/scarves/clothes, newspaper, and shopping bags to wrap gifts. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!
• GREENer Christmas Trees - delivered in a pot and picked up so you (or someone else) can use it again next year! Smash Families get a 5% discount on renting any Living Christmas Tree this year by using Code: SMASH2011 at check out. The company delivers and picks it up. All you have to do is say what size tree you want, and how long you'd like to rent it! At the end of the season, 10% off all these proceeds will be donated to SMASH as well! Go to:
www.livingchristmas.com Look for the Living Christmas Tree display and raffle at the Holiday Arts Boutique on 12/9!
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Sustainable Works Green Living Workshops 101
Would you like to educate and empower yourself with simple steps that save our environment and save you money but you can't commit to a 6 week Green Living Workshop? Then the 3 hour GLW 101 is for you.
SILENT AUCTION ITEMS
In conjunction with our portrait study, Core 1 will collaboratively create stunning artwork, which will be auctioned off as a fundraiser. This project is still in-progress, so we dare not reveal too much. But be on the look-out for these one-of-a-kind pieces. Proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to our Winter/Spring Holistic Drama Study. More details regarding the silent auction coming soon!!
WISH LIST
Rakes, brooms, and latex-free band-aids
These are busy times for some families, and many children were TIRED this week. Hope you can find some time for your family to rest this weekend and return to your home routines and sleep schedules. These rhythms allow for maximum learning and enjoyment at school.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org
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CORE 2 NEWS
Look for photos from Day of the Dead Altars in the e-mailed version of today's Friday Letter.
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CORE 3 NEWS
Tissues needed! Thanks for sending them in with your child!
Field trip coming up! We're going to the Griffith Park Observatory on Wednesday, 12/14. The bus will LEAVE at 8:00am so we can get there on time! A permission slip went home today. Please return it by next Friday, 12/9. We are asking for an $8 donation to help cover the cost of the charter bus. Packed lunches will be needed! We still need parent chaperones. Let Genie or Carrie know if you can join us!
Core 3 has been aware of vandalism/pranks to personal and public property. As a community we are concerned and have begun discussions around the moral and ethical issue of destruction—some that can be repaired and some that cannot. Why do some want to break their own pencil, write on or rip a Core 3 binder, write on bathroom walls, steal snack, or rip another community member's paper? Some ways to start talking about these issues at home are to ask "What if" scenarios. What if you could take $20 from your mom's purse and not get caught? What if you could run less in PE without Coach Tony knowing? What if you could write on the bathroom walls to say something and be anonymous? Why would someone do these things?
6th Grade Math with Carrie: We are deep in our study of fractions! This week we focused on finding equivalent fractions and determining where fractions fall on a number line. This will help us determine the how fractions compare to each other.
6th Grade Math with Erin "Data About Us": This week we started our 2 dimensional geometry unit. Students are familiarizing (or re-familiarizing) themselves with different types of angles and rules surrounding angle measurements.
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: We have focused the last few weeks on different addition and subtraction strategies and practicing a lot of mental math. We've also talked about the importance of clear and concise notation so our work can be read and understood by our math community. And we dissected the US subtraction algorithm. We know it's an efficient strategy but it's important to look at the numbers we're working with first, because sometimes we can use our mental math faster than the multi-stepped stacking algorithm with all that borrowing and carrying! For example, 1,002 – 899, try solving it without paper.
Science with Carrie: Our astronomers and astrophysicists are hard at work learning about the wonders of the Universe. This week they decided what they were going to do for the written, visual, and oral portions of their presentations. Ask your child what they are doing. They also gave a list of supplies needed to complete their projects. Carrie will get the supplies (if they told me what they need). The presentations will be on Monday, December 19.
Social Studies and Geography with Erin: This week we began working on our final Civil Rights project. Students are working on showing what they've learned through essays, maps, posters, and songs - whichever way they felt they could best share their knowledge and understanding. Please make sure your child comes to school prepared with all their project making materials. If they bring their materials in a timely manner and use class time wisely, they should not have to finish the project for homework. Project is due Dec. 15th.
Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: We have begun our Science Fiction Short Story unit by collecting possible ideas have chosen our main character, plot and setting! Remember to remind your child to read daily! The depth of life understanding is evident among our avid readers, because they have lived a thousand more lives than their own through the characters they live with in each book they read. If your child isn't an avid reader, what is a way you could encourage them to read?
Homework:
6G math: HW #4B. The odd problems are required, even problems are extra credit.
5G math: packet #13 due Friday, 12/9/11.
RW: READ, READ, READ! Make sure to log in finished books on the yellow card in class.
WW: work on Science Fiction Short Story.
SS: Please read the first four Chapters of Malcolm X, By Any Means Necessary.
You are invited to SMASH’s First D.A.R.E. Graduation on Tuesday, Dec 20 2-3pm - Auditorium Please come and support your child’s pledge to be drug free. (Students must wear their D.A.R.E. t-shirt)
Come enjoy the Middle School musicians at the Boutique:
12:30-1:00 - Strings; 1:45 - 2:15 - Winds; 2:30 - 3:00 – Choir
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org
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CORE 4 NEWS
8th Grade Notes: These fine young scientists are rocking the house! We are four solid weeks ahead in academic learning and the quality of student work has improved significantly to near high school level. Needless to say, I am very impressed, excited, and gratified at the opportunities for deeper learning that these students are creating for all of us with consistently good choices. One clear, measurable signal of the group’s serious approach is that I am experiencing a 98% turn in rate for the first time in eight years of Novembers spent with 8th graders. This is profoundly good news, so please share with your 8th grader your pleasure at the group’s achievement. It also looks like we should start the Planned Parenthood/Risk unit just after the holiday break as opposed to waiting for spring.
Please advise me! We have an unprecedented opportunity to visit a lab at UCLA where live animal testing is being conducted. My personal feelings about this type of testing are deeply conflicted; however, as a science guide, I am attracted to the idea because it is a very real controversy and teachable moment. Naturally, the final decision about what your child is exposed to is yours, so lets have a conversation about this before I commit to anything beyond lessons on bioethics. The researcher is willing to join us here at SMASH to work through the issues with our learners. Let me know by email before Dec, 7th.
Parent Involvement is Critical: Research, our experience, and reports from returning students make clear that having parents around school is deeply valuable. Please find the time to visit us during the school day. Drop around whenever you find a moment. Unannounced visits are of particular value to our entire community. I am aware of how hard it is to find time in a busy life; however, middle school represents one of your best opportunities to influence your child’s life before adult influence wanes and peer groups take a primary steering role. Do this now! It’s important. If you need help fto comfortable drop-ins call any of the core four team and we will help. On the calendar are three opportunities to help kids become young adults. Fun too!
1. We are throwing a Caribbean Holiday Junk-a-roo, party time, on the 20th at 12:00. This event celebrates our humanities unit including history, geography, and philosophy of government activities. Please show how much you value this work by showing up.
2. Ice skating with core four on the 19th between 10 and 13:00
3. Field trips to the Skirball center, Museum of Tolerance, and a writing center are all coming up soon. Please find the time to join us. I assure you that it is worth your valuable time. We love sharing this adventure with our parent partners.
Come enjoy the Middle School musicians at the Boutique:
12:30-1:00 - Strings
1:45 - 2:15 - Winds
2:30 - 3:00 – Choir
Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org
Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org
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Our SMASH community encourages students to proactively advocate for themselves in a respectful, informed way. Some recent examples include a Core 4 petition for iPod use during independent writing that cites the research studies showing benefits to adolescent focus and a Google document proposing new, more fair lunch bench clean up procedures. The excerpt below comes from a newspaper three students asked me to share in the Friday Letter in order to build more interest in a book they hope more will want to read (perhaps through our upcoming Book Fair 12/9-12/16) and to raise awareness of an upper school concern.
The School Chase Times:
To tell you all stuff that’s hip happening around the school for kids
Written by Asher, Shai, and Tali Chase
The new book of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series just came out on the 15th of November 2011. Cabin Fever is the name of the Smashing book. It is a book for the whole family to enjoy. It is written by Jeff Kinney.
Also, somebody keeps writing on the walls in the upstairs bathrooms. If you know something about the writing in the bathrooms, report to Core 3 classrooms and we’ll see what we can do.
As the “Occupy” movement is promoting societal talks about how to consider many different needs, I admire our SMASH students’ articulate, enthusiastic, increasingly organized group advocacy.
Looking forward to seeing many of you at the SMASH Holiday Boutique next Friday, Dec 9th 11:30-5:30pm!
Come enjoy the Middle School musicians at the Boutique:
12:30-1:00 - Strings
1:45 - 2:15 - Winds
2:30 - 3:00 - Choir
Jessica
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WESTSIDE FOOD BANK DONATION BARREL
IN THE SMASH OFFICE UNTIL THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15
The following items are needed (no glass except for baby food)
Cans of: tuna, vegetables and soup; fruits and fruit juices; pork & beans; stews & other meats
Packaged food: pasta, lentils and beans; macaroni & cheese and packaged dinners; instant soup, hot and cold cereal; peanut butter and other nut butters; nutritional bars: protein, granola, energy or breakfast bars
Baby foods are urgently needed. Two thousand babies and toddlers are without adequate nutrition each day right here on the west side of Los Angeles.
Baby/Toddler needs:
Infant formula; jar foods-all flavors & stages; crackers, teething biscuits and cookies; raisins & fruit snacks; juices: jars, cans, pouches & boxes; infant & children’s cereals
Other items need at Westside Food Bank:
Socks - new or clean gently-used socks—any size. Blankets - new or clean gently-used
Travel size sundries are urgently needed: travel sized shampoo, hair conditioner, soap, bath & shower gel, toothpaste and toothbrush and towels (new or clean gently-used)
Westside Food Bank
1710 22nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90404
Phone:(310) 828-6016, Fax:(310) 828-2646
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DATES TO REMEMBER
Wed, Dec 7 - 5:00-6:00pm - Site Council Mtg.
- 6:00pm - PTSA Mtg
Thurs, Dec. 8 - All Day - SMASH fundraiser at ICE Santa Monica skating rink. Bring the flyer and SMASH receives 25% of the proceeds. Flyer available in the SMASH office and is being attached to today’s e-mailed Friday Letter.
Fri, Dec. 9 - 11:30-5:30 - SMASH Holiday Boutique & Art Affaire Sale - Something for everyone - unique handmade
items, food and fun activities.
Fri, Dec 9 - Fri, Dec 16 - SMASH Book Fair
Tues, Dec 13 - 6:00-7:30pm - Art Share (Cores 1, 2 & 3), Book Fair open
WED, Dec. 21 - TUES, Jan. 3 - WINTER BREAK - SCHOOL CLOSED
Thurs, Dec. 8 - All Day - SMASH fundraiser at ICE Santa Monica skating rink. Bring the flyer and SMASH receives 25% of the proceeds. Flyer available in the SMASH office and is being attached to today’s e-mailed Friday Letter.
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Don’t shop for the holidays until you’ve been to our annual
Holiday Boutique & Art Affaire
December 9, 11:30 – 5:30pm
We need parent volunteers** to help manage our food stands (Waffles, Chili) and activity booths (Candle-Making, Spin Art… NEW ideas always welcome). If you can help, please contact Helga Schier at helgaschier@verizon.net. PTSA receives 20% of vendor’s gross receipts. **If you want to help at the Core Art Tables, please contact Chrysta, Tamara or Genie.
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WESTSIDE BALLET'S "THE NUTCRACKER" ENCHANTS THIS DECEMBER
SMASH's Olivia Sparling performs the lead role of Clara in four of the eight scheduled performances.
Get in the holiday spirit with Westside Ballet's Winter 2011 performances of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. One of the most highly regarded productions of The Nutcracker in all of Los Angeles, this year's performances are being held over the first two weekends of December at the Wadsworth Theater in Westwood.
WHAT: The Nutcracker, produced by Westside Ballet
WHEN: 1PM and 5PM, December 3, 4, 10, 11
WHERE: Wadsworth Theater, Veterans Administration, 11301 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles 90073
COST: $25 per ticket if purchased at Westside Ballet, 1709 Stewart St., Santa Monica 90404 on 11/19 and 11/26 from 10AM-noon, or $30 per ticket plus fees via Ticketmaster.com
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America's Got Talent
will be coming to Anaheim on December 10 & 11th at the Anaheim Convention Center looking for talented students. If your child is interested in auditioning, please contact: America’s Got Talent Casting Coordinator Grace Kim at 818.794.7817 agtauditions.com http://agtauditions.com/
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The UCLA Family Commons & Parents Education League present
When Stress is Good for Children with Dr. Rebecca Eberlin, PhD.
Friday, December 2 - 10:00-11:30am
Sometimes stress helps children grow. If you protect your children from every hurt, problem and rejection, they can’t develop a sense of their own power. Learn the difference between “bad” stress that causes children harm-being bullied, for example—and “good stress that helps their long-term development. Call 310-395-5650 to reserve your space - $20 per person.
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LOOKING FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE?
Bennett Zemke’s Boy Scout troop #2 has trees up to 11 feet tall, as well as wreaths and garlands. Located on Montana Ave between 15th & 16th Streets. The lot is open 9am-9pm, with local delivery available Bring the flyer with today’s Friday Letter for a 10% discount, or go to http://www.troop2bsa.org/2011TreeLotFlyer.pdf to print the flyer.
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SANTA MONICA SYMPHONY HOLIDAY CONCERT
Saturday, Dec 10 at 7:30pm - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
Allen Robert Gross, Music Director & Conductor
FREE ADMISSION - Bring school-age children! www.smsymphony.org 310-395-6330
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WINTERLIT - HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS IN SANTA MONICA
Tuesday, December 20-27 - Chanukah Menorah Lighting at sundown
Nov 1—Dec 31 - Gift Your Schools. Shop & dine at Santa Monica Place and earn SMASH 5% donation. Just present your receipts at the Concierge on level 1. For details 310-260-8333.
Ice Skating - 5th & Arizona, November 11-January 16 - admission & skate rental $12
2 for 1 Tuesdays, Wacky Hat Wednesdays, After-Hours Broom Ball, Rock ‘N’ Skate Fridays, Costume Skate Sundays
Breakfast with Santa: RSVP at smpholiday.evenbrite.com
Sat, Dec 3 - 9:30-11:30 at The Market Place at Santa Monica Place
Sat, Dec 10 - 9:30-10 at Santa Monica Place Food Court
Pet Photos with Santa: Thurs, Dec 8 - 6-8pm - The Market Place at Santa Monica Place
For a list of all events visit WinterLit.com - SantaMonicaPlace.com - ICEatSantaMonica.com
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MAIN STREET CELEBRATIONS
Saturday, December 3
5:00pm - Time with Santa to take photos with kids. Free - bring your own camera.
6:00pm - Tree lighting with holiday songs by the Samohi Choir at the California Heritage Museum Lawn Ocean Park Blvd & Main St)
6:30pm Candlelight Walk to the Shopping Cart Tree at Edgemar courtyard with music by Off Their Jingle Bell Rockers. Santa will be on hand for more photos.
6:00-9:00pm - Participating Main Street merchants invite you to their special holiday parties complete with refreshments and music.
5:00pm Nov 25 until 9:00pm on Dec 3 - Vote for your favorite Main Street window and/or interior decorations. Your ballot doubles as a raffle entry for a chance from over 30 Main Street businesses.Ballots can be found a mainstreetsm.com
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CANDY CANE DRIVE
Sponsored by the Santa Monica Firefighters’ and Police Officers’ Associations Santa Claus is coming to your neighborhood, escorted by the Santa Monica Police in cars & Motorcycles. Listen for sirens and look for him on the bright red fire engine. Candy canes available for all
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3
10:30-10:50am Douglas Park (California Ave & 25th St.)
11:00-11:15am - Christine Reed Park (California Ave & Lincoln Blvd)
11:25-11:50am - 3rd Street Promenade at Wilshire Blvd
1:15-1:30pm - Virginia Ave Park (2200 Virginia Ave)
1:45-2:00pm - Marine Park (Marine & 17th Sts)
2:15-2:30pm - Clover Park (Ocean Pk & 25th ST.
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SANTA MONICA PIER - 2011 HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, December 17 11:00am - 5:00pm
11:00-3:00 - Santa Claus visits the Merry-G0-Round. FREE rides during his visit
2:30-5:00 - Holiday Caroling - Carolers stroll along the pier.
December 1-18 - Canned Food Drive supporting Upward Bound House. Drop off in the Merry-Go-Round building
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PAL 6th ANNUAL BEST GIFT EVER DRIVE - Now through December 13
Donate a new unwrapped gift, gift card or make a cash donation to any of the following locations and help youth ages 6 to 17 in the Santa Monica community experience the joy of the holiday season
GIFT DROP LOCATIONS
Santa Monica PAL at 1401 Olympic Blvd
Downtown Santa Monica Police Substation at 1433 2nd St
Santa Monica Place Concierge, 3rd & Broadway (Gifts only, no cash or gift cards at this site please)
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CAN WE TALK?
A community conversation with City Manager Rod Gould about neighborhood projects, the economy, and the future
...about how we are doing… How does the economy look from a local perspective. Rod will discuss our fiscal outlook
and talk about the city’s strategies for difficult times.
…and what are we doing?... What did we do last year? How will we build on that? Talk with Rod about what we
accomplished last year, upcoming City initiatives and outreach projects, and what is going on in your neighborhood.
Monday, Dec 12 - 7pm - Virginia Ave Park, Thelma Terry Community Rm, 2200 Virginia Ave
Wednesday, Jan 4 - 7pm - Montana Branch Library, Community Rm, 2401 Montana Ave
Wednesday, Jan 19 - 7pm - McKinley School, 2401 Santa Monica Blvd
All locations are wheelchair accessible. For additional disability-related accommodations or for more information about these meetings, please call 310-458-8281 or visit www.smgov.net/neighborhoods
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WINTER CHEER 2011 - Douglas Park Clubhouse
Baking Buddies -#1601.300- - Tues Dec 6, 13 & 20; 3:30-5:00pm 4-12 years
$6 materials fee due on first day of class. SM residents $45/non-residents $52
We will bake different creations in each class, going over different ingredients, measurements, cooking safety all in a
fun-filled class.
Holiday Arts & Crafts - #1601.301 - Thurs Dec 8, 15 & 22 - 3:30-5:00pm - 4-12 years old $6 materials fee payable to instructor on first day of class. SM residents $45/non-residents $52 Come share in the festive spirit as we make all sorts
of holiday crafts using a variety of mediums
Friday Night Stay and Play - #1601.302 - Friday, Dec 16; 5:30pm-8:30pm - 3-12 years old
SM residents $36/non-resident $41 Drop off your children on Friday night for some holiday cheer. We will sing songs, hear stories, decorate and have a great time. Children should bring a snack.
Teachers:Anna Flynn & Sarah Goldman
City of SM Community Classes - 310-458-2239 recenroll.smgov.net
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Santa Monica High School Winter Choral Concert: Motus Perpetuus VII
Thursday, December 15 at 7:00pm - SAMOHI Barnum Hall
$5 Students, $10 Adults - At the door
This annual concert of perpetual motion features all of the students in the Santa Monica High School Music Program. Choirs are strategically situated throughout Barnum Hall, with songs following each other without applause, from one piece to the next. From Gregorian Chants to the work of French composer Francis Poulenc, this year’s concert will intertwine one thousand years of choral music history as students traverse every area of Barnum Hall creating an exciting,
immersive experience that is a perennial favorite of concertgoers. The concert concludes with the traditional singing of The Hallelujah Chorus, for which audience alumni choristers are invited to the stage to join in.
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Freedom Riders: A Community Conversation on Democracy in Action
Wednesday, December 7 - 7:00-9:00 p.m. - The Broad Stage - 1310 11th Street, Santa Monica,
Join us for a Community Conversation featuring the award-winning film Freedom Riders by PBS American Experience. The program will include excerpts from the film and conversation led by former Justice Department civil rights attorney, author, and Facing History board member Gerald Stern. He will be joined by Freedom Rider Ernest “Rip” Patton Jr., who will share experiences as a participant in the Nashville Movement and the Freedom Rides.
Seating is limited. Visit facinghistory.org/communityconversations.
For info contact Jennifer Lenardson at 213-202-2811 x28 or Jennifer_Lenardson@facing.org.
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INTERCULTURAL DISTRICT ADVISORY COMMITTEE
At its board meeting on November 17, the Board of Education reconstituted the Intercultural District Advisory Committee (DAC) and directed the superintendent’s office to solicit applications for community members to serve on the committee.
Applications to serve on this committee can be found in English and Spanish at http://www.smmusd.org/DAC/index.html or in the superintendent’s office (1651 16th Street, Santa Monica). The deadline to submit applications to the superintendent’s office is Tuesday, December 20, 2011. The goal is for the Board of Education to review the applications and appoint members to the committee at the January 19, 2012, board meeting.
Reconstituting the Intercultural DAC, which has a temporary name of the Intercultural Equity and Excellence DAC, is part of the school district’s response to the May 2011 racial incident that took place at Santa Monica High School.
The board charged the committee with the follow directives:
• Support the district’s work of closing the achievement gap by assisting in the identification and elimination of inequities in educational processes and outcomes of underserved students in district schools.
• Serve as a vehicle for parents, community, and students to communicate with the Board on matters related to the successful participation in the educational process of students and parents who come from diverse socio-economic, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds or from the LGBTQ community.
• Provide a forum for the articulation of ideas and activities being implemented in the district, school sites, and the greater community that are successfully meeting the needs of our diverse student and parent population.
• Provide input on district and school site efforts to facilitate the building of bridges of understanding between diverse student and parent populations so that all groups feel connected to, and part of the school community.
• Work collaboratively with other advisory committees as appropriate.
Report to the Board annually on the scope of their work, and recommendations that are developed relative to their charge.
Additionally, the board provided staff with the following guidelines for the committee’s composition:
• In accordance with District guidelines, there shall be a minimum of seven and maximum of nineteen active members.
• Up to three positions will be held by site staff. The Superintendent or designee will work with site administrators to encourage district employees to apply to serve on the committee. The board will appoint employees to the committee taking into account school levels, experience and/or expertise, and diversity of geographic location.
Community organizations whose charges intersect directly with the core work of this advisory committee will be invited to designate a representative to serve. These organizations include, but are not limited to, the Santa Monica-Venice Branch of the NAACP, Virginia Ave. Park, and the Westside Chapter of the Association of Mexican-American Educators. The DAC will be governed by the guidelines prescribed in Board Policy and Administrative Regulation 1220.
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SMASH Site Council Minutes Tuesday, October 4, 2011
In Attendance: Laura Sherman, Jessica Rishe, Nina Fresco, Malaika Boyer, Mimi Lichterman, Candis Berens, Elizabeth Kramer,
Toby Romero, Nathan Goldenberg, Aurora Delaney, Shaquil Johnson, Izzy Strick
Absent: Graciela Barba-Castro, Chrysta Wyse, Jackie Boyd
Agenda Amended with addition of “School Climate goal review” to School Improvement Plan New Business : Moved by Laura
Sherman. Seconded by Nina Fresco. Approved.
Agenda approval: Elizabeth Kramer moved. Toby Romero seconded. Agenda approved.
Approve Minutes of last meeting with one punctuation correction.
Moved by Mimi Lichterman : Seconded by Malaika Boyer. Approved
Community Participation: None
Reports and Announcements (regular agenda items)
Principal’s Report: Whole Child nutrition and fitness with A La Carte healthier choices, fewer Bake Sales since they are Fridays only not Wednesdays and Fridays,
Student Reports: Some students eat food with time still left before bell rings. Some girls want more time to eat and some boys want more time to play. There is trash left at the lunch benches that we need to clean up. It is hard if we are really hungry and need to go straight out to play. If a student has a lunch from home s/he can take a few bites to hold over before going onto the field but this won’t work if buying hot lunch.
Core 3: Memoir Writing Celebration was today. Do UCLA Royce Hall field trip every year. Catalina Trip for 6th graders is next week. Griffith Observatory field trip is coming up. We are taking JPL science field trip in November, which ties with our studies about the solar system. 5th graders will go to Astrocamp in February.
Middle School band musicians would like to be able to do choir too and want more playing time, less time talking and putting room back together. They don’t think it is fair winds get to work with String Project LA. Music Committee meeting with District schedulers, music teachers, and student musicians and parents will be happening this Fall. Community Organization Reports
PTSA Meeting: 60 people signed up each night of the SMASH Camping trip and we got to do Archery this year. Rummage Sale, Halloween Carnival, and SMASH Bash sign ups are coming up.
Student Council: Community Group Morning Meeting will happen this Fri, October 7th.
New Business:
School Climate Counseling Services Site Improvement Plan Goal: Improve school climate through a counseling program that meets school stakeholder social and emotional needs.
Performance gains expected for these Student Groups:
Students will use “CARES” more effectively (Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, Self-control)
Means of evaluating progress toward this Goal:
OLWES survey results and SMMUSD Middle School survey
Middle School Initiative Student Survey Responses (SMASH Students)
N=70 6th/7th/8th graders April 2011
81.4% of middle school students say they can often or almost always manage stress at school.
81.4% of middle school students say they almost never or once in a while feel stress at school.
85.5% say they feel safe at school.
86.9% say they feel supported by classmates.
88.4% say students respect each other.
94.3% say teachers treat everyone fairly.
94.3% say they can go to at least one staff member on campus if they need help.
40.6$ say almost never see bullying. 43.5% say once in a while. 11.6% say often. 4.3% say almost always.
Questions: Is there a survey given to student and parent participants in the counseling groups? No but staff looks at patterns of office referrals. Will there be more staff “Creating Upstanders” training? Committee meets every other month and we will also do a parent event around February.
Old Business: None
Community Participation: Would a field trip to the LA County Fair be possible next year on a Wed TH or Fri?
Next meeting: Wednesday, December 7th 5:00pm. (1/4, 2/1, 3/7, 4/18, 5/23)
Adjourn: Malaika Boyer motioned and Elizabeth Kramer seconded. Adjourned.
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ptsa news
president’s message
We hope our entire SMASH community had an outstanding Thanksgiving and long holiday weekend. Our kids can now focus on finishing out the last three weeks of school in 2011, with outstanding effort before Winter Break, which is December 21st to January 3rd. If you haven’t starting making plans for your kids during Winter Break, now is the time to take action to line up trips, outings, parties, camps and other activities for the two weeks school will be closed.
As many parents already know, our students are creating art and other items to sell at the Holiday Boutique, which is scheduled for Friday, December 9th. Please calendar the date today, so you don’t miss out on the opportunity to purchase something made by your child and to purchase gifts for the upcoming holidays. The Holiday Boutique will be followed by the SMASH Bookfair which runs from December 9th to the 16th.
Our next PTSA meeting is on Wednesday, December 7th at 6:00 p.m. This is also the time of year that we need to find out who is interested, in taking over a position on the SMASH PTSA Executive Board for the 2012-2013 school year and being a leader in our PTSA mission during a very exciting time of change. As many have already heard, it appears that SMASH and all the schools in our district will be facing district-wide changes in regard to our fundraising efforts and how the money raised can be spent. While the exact format of these changes has not been determined, this is a great time to get more involved in your child’s future, to help lead the way into the next year school year and to be a voice in the process of helping to formulate the details for the new fundraising procedures.
Thanks,
Dan McGee
Thanks,
Dan McGee
SMASH green tips
• Green Up Your Holidays: Remember to take your reusable shopping bags when you go retail shopping for gifts. A good idea is to have a couple of bags, washed clean, dedicated to retail shopping so germs from groceries don't contaminate your gifts. Reuse things like leftover or old linens/scarves/clothes, newspaper, and shopping bags to wrap gifts. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!
• GREENer Christmas Trees - delivered in a pot and picked up so you (or someone else) can use it again next year! Smash Families get a 5% discount on renting any Living Christmas Tree this year by using Code: SMASH2011 at check out. The company delivers and picks it up. All you have to do is say what size tree you want, and how long you'd like to rent it! At the end of the season, 10% off all these proceeds will be donated to SMASH as well! Go to:
www.livingchristmas.com Look for the Living Christmas Tree display and raffle at the Holiday Arts Boutique on 12/9!
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Sustainable Works Green Living Workshops 101
Would you like to educate and empower yourself with simple steps that save our environment and save you money but you can't commit to a 6 week Green Living Workshop? Then the 3 hour GLW 101 is for you.
The Green Living Workshop 101 is a condensed version of the 6 week Green Living Workshop which covers the following topics: Water Energy Waste Chemicals Transportation Shopping & Food
We will spend 3 hours learning about the main problems related to each of the above topics. We will then review the top 3 or 4 solutions for each topic which participants can implement very quickly and easily after completing the workshop. Sustainability tools will be raffled off to help participants carry out the solutions discussed during the workshop.
THIS IS THE LAST WORKSHOP BEING OFFERED IN 2011
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011, 10:00am-1:00pm: Santa Monica Main Library – 601 Santa Monica Blvd.
For more information about Sustainable Works visit us at www.SustainableWorks.org
Sign up at: www.sustainableworks.eventbrite.com 310.458.8716 ext 4 info@sustainableworks.org
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CORE 1 NEWS
THIS IS THE LAST WORKSHOP BEING OFFERED IN 2011
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011, 10:00am-1:00pm: Santa Monica Main Library – 601 Santa Monica Blvd.
For more information about Sustainable Works visit us at www.SustainableWorks.org
Sign up at: www.sustainableworks.eventbrite.com 310.458.8716 ext 4 info@sustainableworks.org
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CORE 1 NEWS
CHANGE OF CIRCLE GROUPS
As we mentioned in our last Friday Letter, the children in Core 1 will be changing Circle Groups in December. Every child will have the opportunity to experience and connect with a different Circle Group teacher. We will also be adjusting the mix of children to maximize on group dynamics and create new opportunities for the children.
As we mentioned in our last Friday Letter, the children in Core 1 will be changing Circle Groups in December. Every child will have the opportunity to experience and connect with a different Circle Group teacher. We will also be adjusting the mix of children to maximize on group dynamics and create new opportunities for the children.
Your child will know most of the children in his/her new group, and will have the opportunity to get to know a handful of new children as well. We will begin these new Circle Groups on Thursday, December 8th at Morning Meeting.
ART PROGRAM SHARE
This is an event you won’t want to miss!! On Tuesday, December 13th at 6pm your family and friends are invited to our ARTS PROGRAM SHARE!!
Core 1 will be sharing our study of PORTRAITS and COLLECTIONS in all 3 classrooms. Come see our paintings, drawings, photography, and assemblage representing ourselves and the world around us. You will be amazed at the depth and quality of our artists’ creations. Thank you to Marni and Julianna for your leadership in this study! During the next two weeks, we will be taking time to reflect on our study and assemble it for presentation. We would love PARENT VOLUNTEERS to help us prepare the artwork for presentation. We have so much to share!
ART PROGRAM SHARE
This is an event you won’t want to miss!! On Tuesday, December 13th at 6pm your family and friends are invited to our ARTS PROGRAM SHARE!!
Core 1 will be sharing our study of PORTRAITS and COLLECTIONS in all 3 classrooms. Come see our paintings, drawings, photography, and assemblage representing ourselves and the world around us. You will be amazed at the depth and quality of our artists’ creations. Thank you to Marni and Julianna for your leadership in this study! During the next two weeks, we will be taking time to reflect on our study and assemble it for presentation. We would love PARENT VOLUNTEERS to help us prepare the artwork for presentation. We have so much to share!
SILENT AUCTION ITEMS
In conjunction with our portrait study, Core 1 will collaboratively create stunning artwork, which will be auctioned off as a fundraiser. This project is still in-progress, so we dare not reveal too much. But be on the look-out for these one-of-a-kind pieces. Proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to our Winter/Spring Holistic Drama Study. More details regarding the silent auction coming soon!!
WISH LIST
Rakes, brooms, and latex-free band-aids
These are busy times for some families, and many children were TIRED this week. Hope you can find some time for your family to rest this weekend and return to your home routines and sleep schedules. These rhythms allow for maximum learning and enjoyment at school.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org
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CORE 2 NEWS
Look for photos from Day of the Dead Altars in the e-mailed version of today's Friday Letter.
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CORE 3 NEWS
Tissues needed! Thanks for sending them in with your child!
Field trip coming up! We're going to the Griffith Park Observatory on Wednesday, 12/14. The bus will LEAVE at 8:00am so we can get there on time! A permission slip went home today. Please return it by next Friday, 12/9. We are asking for an $8 donation to help cover the cost of the charter bus. Packed lunches will be needed! We still need parent chaperones. Let Genie or Carrie know if you can join us!
Core 3 has been aware of vandalism/pranks to personal and public property. As a community we are concerned and have begun discussions around the moral and ethical issue of destruction—some that can be repaired and some that cannot. Why do some want to break their own pencil, write on or rip a Core 3 binder, write on bathroom walls, steal snack, or rip another community member's paper? Some ways to start talking about these issues at home are to ask "What if" scenarios. What if you could take $20 from your mom's purse and not get caught? What if you could run less in PE without Coach Tony knowing? What if you could write on the bathroom walls to say something and be anonymous? Why would someone do these things?
6th Grade Math with Carrie: We are deep in our study of fractions! This week we focused on finding equivalent fractions and determining where fractions fall on a number line. This will help us determine the how fractions compare to each other.
6th Grade Math with Erin "Data About Us": This week we started our 2 dimensional geometry unit. Students are familiarizing (or re-familiarizing) themselves with different types of angles and rules surrounding angle measurements.
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: We have focused the last few weeks on different addition and subtraction strategies and practicing a lot of mental math. We've also talked about the importance of clear and concise notation so our work can be read and understood by our math community. And we dissected the US subtraction algorithm. We know it's an efficient strategy but it's important to look at the numbers we're working with first, because sometimes we can use our mental math faster than the multi-stepped stacking algorithm with all that borrowing and carrying! For example, 1,002 – 899, try solving it without paper.
Science with Carrie: Our astronomers and astrophysicists are hard at work learning about the wonders of the Universe. This week they decided what they were going to do for the written, visual, and oral portions of their presentations. Ask your child what they are doing. They also gave a list of supplies needed to complete their projects. Carrie will get the supplies (if they told me what they need). The presentations will be on Monday, December 19.
Social Studies and Geography with Erin: This week we began working on our final Civil Rights project. Students are working on showing what they've learned through essays, maps, posters, and songs - whichever way they felt they could best share their knowledge and understanding. Please make sure your child comes to school prepared with all their project making materials. If they bring their materials in a timely manner and use class time wisely, they should not have to finish the project for homework. Project is due Dec. 15th.
Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: We have begun our Science Fiction Short Story unit by collecting possible ideas have chosen our main character, plot and setting! Remember to remind your child to read daily! The depth of life understanding is evident among our avid readers, because they have lived a thousand more lives than their own through the characters they live with in each book they read. If your child isn't an avid reader, what is a way you could encourage them to read?
Homework:
6G math: HW #4B. The odd problems are required, even problems are extra credit.
5G math: packet #13 due Friday, 12/9/11.
RW: READ, READ, READ! Make sure to log in finished books on the yellow card in class.
WW: work on Science Fiction Short Story.
SS: Please read the first four Chapters of Malcolm X, By Any Means Necessary.
You are invited to SMASH’s First D.A.R.E. Graduation on Tuesday, Dec 20 2-3pm - Auditorium Please come and support your child’s pledge to be drug free. (Students must wear their D.A.R.E. t-shirt)
Come enjoy the Middle School musicians at the Boutique:
12:30-1:00 - Strings; 1:45 - 2:15 - Winds; 2:30 - 3:00 – Choir
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org
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CORE 4 NEWS
8th Grade Notes: These fine young scientists are rocking the house! We are four solid weeks ahead in academic learning and the quality of student work has improved significantly to near high school level. Needless to say, I am very impressed, excited, and gratified at the opportunities for deeper learning that these students are creating for all of us with consistently good choices. One clear, measurable signal of the group’s serious approach is that I am experiencing a 98% turn in rate for the first time in eight years of Novembers spent with 8th graders. This is profoundly good news, so please share with your 8th grader your pleasure at the group’s achievement. It also looks like we should start the Planned Parenthood/Risk unit just after the holiday break as opposed to waiting for spring.
Please advise me! We have an unprecedented opportunity to visit a lab at UCLA where live animal testing is being conducted. My personal feelings about this type of testing are deeply conflicted; however, as a science guide, I am attracted to the idea because it is a very real controversy and teachable moment. Naturally, the final decision about what your child is exposed to is yours, so lets have a conversation about this before I commit to anything beyond lessons on bioethics. The researcher is willing to join us here at SMASH to work through the issues with our learners. Let me know by email before Dec, 7th.
Parent Involvement is Critical: Research, our experience, and reports from returning students make clear that having parents around school is deeply valuable. Please find the time to visit us during the school day. Drop around whenever you find a moment. Unannounced visits are of particular value to our entire community. I am aware of how hard it is to find time in a busy life; however, middle school represents one of your best opportunities to influence your child’s life before adult influence wanes and peer groups take a primary steering role. Do this now! It’s important. If you need help fto comfortable drop-ins call any of the core four team and we will help. On the calendar are three opportunities to help kids become young adults. Fun too!
1. We are throwing a Caribbean Holiday Junk-a-roo, party time, on the 20th at 12:00. This event celebrates our humanities unit including history, geography, and philosophy of government activities. Please show how much you value this work by showing up.
2. Ice skating with core four on the 19th between 10 and 13:00
3. Field trips to the Skirball center, Museum of Tolerance, and a writing center are all coming up soon. Please find the time to join us. I assure you that it is worth your valuable time. We love sharing this adventure with our parent partners.
Come enjoy the Middle School musicians at the Boutique:
12:30-1:00 - Strings
1:45 - 2:15 - Winds
2:30 - 3:00 – Choir
Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org
Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org
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Friday, November 18, 2011
www.smash.smmusd.org
Dear SMASHing Families,
What a caring, celebrative, great learning community we are a part of. There were so many responses to my message about having a family cultural exchange with our Chinese guests David and Tony.
Special thanks to Ken, Yung, Caleb and Simeon for opening up their home as such gracious hosts to our Chinese guests David and Tony for all nine nights!
Thank you
*to Carrie and CJ for the Beverly Hills tour,
*to John, Patty, Andrew and Jason for the Temescal Canyon exploration,
*to John, Jeannine, Mac, Riley, and Violet for the taco feast,
*to Mike, Lori, Mica and Ari for the Getty adventure,
*to Janice, Jackie, and Tamara for Happy Hour/ Santa Monica Place rooftop dinner,
*to the SMASH staff for all the teaching explanations and demonstrations
*to Tamara and Mitch for the Downtown LA photo shoot,
*to Tom, Barbara and Liam for the attempted lunch.
*to Charles, Alicia, Bradley, and Rachel for the family dinner complete with high school tales
“We miss SMASH warm-hearted teachers and parents and of course the smart kids. Thank you for helping us to understand the special school-SMASH, giving us so many detail introductions of teaching, curriculum. Especially thanks for your great parents, gave us new day and new experience everyday. Please say "thank you" to who gave us help on behalf of us.” David and Tony
Jessica
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Westside Annual THANKSGIVING COMMUNITY DINNER & CELEBRATION
This is the table to be at on Thanksgiving, and everyone is welcome. A carnival for the kids, live music, free medical, dental and eye exams, plus free clothing, blankets and haircuts.
Thanksgiving Day, November 24
Santa Monica Civic Center (Pico Bl & Main Street)
Carnival and Medical open at 8:00am
Dinner 11:00am - 3:00pm
Bring the Whole Family. It’s Free. It’s Fun. Fantastic Food
Please join folks from every faith and all walks of life
in a day of thanks and celebration
Info Hotline: 310-394-3153 www.westsidethanksgiving.org
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DATES TO REMEMBER
No Friday Letter next week
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day - NOT minimum day
Thursday & Friday, Nov 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH CLOSED
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Don’t shop for the holidays until you’ve been to our annual
HOLIDAY BOUTIQUE & ART AFFAIRE
Friday, December 9, 11:30 – 5:30
We are looking for vendors and artisans* who have unique handmade items to offer at the sale.
If you are interested in selling your creations (jewelry, scarves, art work), contact Birte Reimer at reimer.birte@gmail.com. Students are welcome to sell, too.
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We also need volunteers** to help manage our food and activity booths (Waffles, Chili, Candle-Making, Soap-Making, Spin art, SMASH Gear). If you can help, please contact Helga Schier at helgaschier@verizon.net.
*Vendors fill out a vendor’s agreement, and are responsible for their own set-up and clean-up.
PTSA receives 20% of vendor’s gross receipts.
**If you want to help at the Core Art Tables, please contact your Core Rep.
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WESTSIDE BALLET'S "THE NUTCRACKER" ENCHANTS THIS DECEMBER
SMASH's Olivia Sparling performs the lead role of Clara in four of the eight scheduled performances.
Get in the holiday spirit with Westside Ballet's Winter 2011 performances of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. One of the most highly regarded productions of The Nutcracker in all of Los Angeles, this year's performances are being held over the first two weekends of December at the Wadsworth Theater in Westwood.
WHAT: The Nutcracker, produced by Westside Ballet
WHEN: 1PM and 5PM, December 3, 4, 10, 11
WHERE: Wadsworth Theater, Veterans Administration, 11301 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles 90073
COST: $25 per ticket if purchased at Westside Ballet, 1709 Stewart St., Santa Monica 90404 on 11/19 and 11/26 from 10AM-noon, or $30 per ticket plus fees via Ticketmaster.com
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Terrific news from our friends at Americans for the Arts and one of their corporate partners, KRIS Wine.
As part of its second annual “Art of Education” program, KRIS has launched a new program that will award $25,000 to 16 public schools in the United States to help support arts education programs. Who decides which schools will receive the funds? We do!
Visit KRIS Wine’s Facebook page (http://apps.facebook.com/krisartofeducation/) and cast your vote for your favorite K-12 public school to win funding to help support arts education programs. Participants 21 years and older can vote one time per day through November 30. The school with the winning number of votes will be awarded $5,000. The next five schools receiving the top number of votes will receive $2,000. Schools that rank sixth through 16th in total number of votes will receive $1,000.
I hope that every SMASH member will take a moment and get started today --- cast your vote, set a reminder on your calendar to do it every day through November 30, and spread the word to your friends, family, and colleagues.
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LOS ANGELES YOUTH ORCHESTRA
With artistic director, Russell Steinberg, Ph.D. Presents
EAGLES & DRAGONS - Music Exploring Light & Dark, Heaven & Hell
Beethoven Symphony No. 2; Russell Steinberg, Flag of 9/11; Paul Simon, America
BARNUM HALL, Sunday, November 20 at 4:00pm
Santa Monica High, 600 Olympic Blvd.
ZIPPER CONCERN HALL, Monday, November 21 at 7:30pm
Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave
For Tickets and information: LosAngelesYouthOrchestra.org; 310-571-LAYO
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The new SMASH Directory is in!
PTSA member, please come into the main office to pick up your copy.
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Flyers Available in the Office
Broadway Gymnastic School Classes Grades K-5, Tues3:20-4:15 classes www.BroadwayGym.com
Youth Mindfulness - UCLA Family Commons www.uclacommons.com or 310-395-5650
Ages 8-12, Classes Wednesdays 4-5pm (Nov 16 to Dec 17) or Saturdays (Nov 19-Dec 17)2-3pm
Mad Science Enrichment Winter Camp - Dec 19-23 and Dec 26-30 www.MadScience.org
Kids On Stage/Teens On Stage: Winter Play Festival & Winter Camp www.KidsOnStage.com
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WINTERLIT - Holiday Celebrations in Santa Monica
Sat, Nov 19 - 6:00pm -Tree Lighting & Santa arrival celebration at Santa Monica Place, Center Plaza at Santa Monica Place. Event includes Tree Lighting, Santa and Mrs. Clause arrival, musical entertainment, giveaways and snowfall.
Tuesday, December 20-27 - Chanukah Menorah Lighting at sundown
Nov 1—Dec 31 - Gift Your Schools. Shop & dine at Santa Monica Place and earn SMASH 5% donation. Just present your receipts at the Concierge on level 1. For details 310-260-8333.
Ice Skating - 5th & Arizona, November 11-January 16 - admission & skate rental $12
2 for 1 Tuesdays, Wacky Hat Wednesdays, After-Hours Broom Ball, Rock ‘N’ Skate Fridays, Costume Skate Sundays
Arthur Christmas Activities:
Sat. Nov 19 - Santa Photo - 2:00-5:00pm. 3rd Street Promenade & Wilshire Blvd
Sun, Nov 20 - Ice Skating Party - 2:00-5:00pm. 5th St and Arizona Ave
Mon, Nov 21 - Craft Day - 3:30-5:30pm 3rd Street Promenade & Santa Monica Blvd
Tues, Nov 22 - Ornament Decorating - 3:30-5:30pm - 3rd Street Promenade & Arizona Ave
Nov 22-23 - Snow Days - 3:00, 5:00 & 7:00pm - 3rd Street & Arizona
For a list of all events visit WinterLit.com - SantaMonicaPlace.com - ICEatSantaMonica.com
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Freedom Riders: A Community Conversation on Democracy in Action
Wednesday, Dec 7 - 7:00-9:00 p.m. - The Broad Stage - 1310 11th St, Santa Monica, Join us for a Community Conversation featuring the award-winning film Freedom Riders by PBS American Experience. The film shares the powerful, harrowing, and ultimately inspirational story of eight months in 1961 that changed America forever. From May until December 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives—many endured savage beatings and imprisonment—for simply traveling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South. Deliberately violating Jim Crow laws, the Freedom Riders were met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, sorely testing their belief in nonviolent activism.
The program will include excerpts from the film and conversation led by former Justice Department civil rights attorney, author, and Facing History board member Gerald Stern. He will be joined by Freedom Rider Ernest “Rip” Patton Jr., who will share experiences as a participant in the Nashville Movement and the Freedom Rides. Patton was one of 14 Tennessee State University students expelled for participating in the Rides.
Seating is limited. Visit facinghistory.org/communityconversations.
For more information contact Jennifer Lenardson at 213-202-2811 x28 or Jennifer_Lenardson@facing.org.
As part of Facing History’s national series of Community Conversations, this event is free and open to the public. This event is presented by Facing History and Ourselves and The Allstate Foundation in partnership with Santa Monica- Malibu Unified School District, Santa Monica College, Santa Monica Bay Area Human Relations Council, and The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Westside Coalition.
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The World Leader In Obstacle Racing, Spartan Race
Comes to Malibu’s Calamigos Ranch Nov. 19
This Sat., Nov. 19, approximately 4,000 competitors from across the U.S. and several foreign countries representing every walk of life, age and stage and varying degrees of athletic abilities will converge on Calimigos Ranch in Malibu, Calif. for the Spartan Sprint Race. Spartan Race, the world’s leading obstacle racing event, is designed to test participants’ resilience, strength, stamina and ability to laugh in the face of adversity.
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Upcoming Textiles Recycling/Green Holiday Workshop–Sat, Nov 19, 9am-3pm
MODERNIZE YOUR HOLIDAY WRAPPING AND RECYCLE YOUR TEXTILES AT THE SAME TIME!
The City of Santa Monica’s Resource Recovery & Recycling Division, 2500 Michigan Ave. 310-458-2223; www.smgov.net/r3
After the unwrapping frenzy, someone in your household grabs a plastic trash bag and fills it with balled up wrapping paper, plastic bows and ribbons. This year, try tapping into your creative side! How about wrapping a gift in a gift? Tshirts make wonderful wrapping and we are here to show you how! This year’s clothing/textile recycling event will also feature a mini workshop on constructing no-sew t-shirt bags and how to reuse cloth instead of purchasing new wrapping paper.
Santa Monica Resource Recovery & Recycling is hosting a textiles collection event at the City Yards, helping you to find a new home for all your unusable clothing, towels, bedding and so much more. Residents are encouraged to take reusable goods to any of the many charities benefiting the Santa Monica area. A reuse guide is available at www.smgov.net/r3.
The average American threw away 68 pounds of textiles last year — old rags, bedding, stinky socks, and unflattering clothing. We are looking for your assistance to help recover this material. Most “old” clothing in good condition can be resold by local charities. Even torn or stained clothing that is not suitable for resell can be recycled. Some recovered fabrics become wiping and polishing cloths, those old jeans can become wall insulation and cotton can actually be composted!
We have the recycling part covered; now it’s your turn to pitch in. Drop off the clothing you no longer need or want and learn an awesome way to make your holiday a little “greener”.
What to bring?
Clean and dry textiles like clothing, shoes, towels, sheets, scarves, hats, bags and belts. (Plus, a t-shirt for the workshop!)
When? Saturday, November 19, 2011 from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM; Workshop drop-in between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM
Where? City Yards, 2500 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404
Seams split? Doesn’t fit? Sick of it? RECYCLE IT!
Clean out your closet and join in for this ONE-DAY special recycling event. Bring clean and dry clothing, paired shoes, bedding, linens, hats, belts and other fabric. Items will be sorted for re-use or recycling.
Same Day No Sew T-Shirt Bag Workshop - Plus other green alternatives to paper gift wrapping Drop in between 10am-2pm
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Solar Stuff
California is leading the nation in Solar energy generated electricity. We are currently at one gigawatt, which is equivalent to two coal fired power plants! But you could also be using more solar energy right now – even if you don’t have space for a clothes line – what about clothes racks? They are great because you can move them in and out doors, they hold a LOT and don’t take up too much space. Don't let all that clean sun-power go to waste.
Education/Activism/Gifts
As we guide our children to be effective world citizens, get involved as a family with organizations that are moving us towards a more sustainable future. Right here is Santa Monica, we have the NRDC - Natural Resources Defense Council. They are scientists and lawyers, and they never let the federal or state government slip through environmentally bad legislation without a fight. Check them out, follow what they do, get your children involved to help save the Polar Bears http://www.nrdc.org/default_t0.asp They also have great green holiday gifts - for all those family members and friends who already have enough stuff - you can make donations on their behalf to save Toucans, Gray Wolves and Grizzly Bears..... my father-in-law loved the Grizzly Bear one we got him.
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Holiday Boutique & Art Affaire
December 9, 11:30 – 5:30
We need parent volunteers**to help manage our food stands (Waffles, Chili) and activity booths (Candle-Making, Spin Art… NEW ideas always welcome). If you can help, please contact Helga Schier at helgaschier@verizon.net.
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We also have some space left for vendors and artisans* who have unique handmade items to offer at the sale.
If you are interested in selling your creations (jewelry, scarves, art work), contact Birte Reimer at reimer.birte@gmail.com. Students are welcome to sell, too.
*Vendors fill out a vendor’s agreement, and are responsible for their own set-up and clean-up.
PTSA receives 20% of vendor’s gross receipts.
**If you want to help at the Core Art Tables, please contact Chrysta, Tamara or Genie.
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DECEMBER LUNCH MENU
Thurs, Dec 1 Cool Lunch!, Turkey Taco Bar w/Tortilla Chips & Salsa,Frozen Vanilla Yogurt Cup
Fri, Dec 2 Pizza Friday! Thin Crust Cheese Pizza, w/Fresh Garden Salad, Banana
Mon, Dec 5 Turkey Corn Dog, Fresh Veggie Stix, Fresh Kiwi
Tues, Dec 6 Cool Lunch! Baked Chicken w/Green Beans, Biscuit
Wed, Dec 7 Cool Lunch! Senor Felix Bean & Cheese Burrito w/Frozen Watermelon Cup
Thurs, Dec 8 Cool Lunch! Chicken Giggles w/Baked Potato Smiles
Fri, Dec 9 Pizza Friday! Big Daddy Cheese or Pepperoni Pizza w/Fresh Garden Salad Fresh Orange Slices
Mon, Dec 12 All American Char Broiled Beef Hamburger w/Seasoned Potato Wedges, Fresh Tangerine
Tues, Dec 13 Cool Lunch! Chicken Patty Sandwich
Wed, Dec 14 Cool Lunch! Rotini Pasta W/Meatballs Warm Bread Stick
Thurs, Dec 15 Cool Lunch! Chicken Fajitas w/Flour Tortilla, Salsa
Fri, Dec 18 Pizza Friday! Slice of Cheese Pizza w/Fresh Garden Salad, Cry Baby Sour Apple Cup
Mon, Dec 19Turkey Hot Dog w/Fresh Baby Carrots, Fruit
Tues, Dec 20 Baked Chicken Nuggets Baked Tater Tots, Fruit, Holiday Cookie
BREAKFAST MENU
MONDAY - French Toast, Fruit, Milk
TUESDAY - Biscuit w/Turkey Sausage, Fruit, Milk
WEDNESDAY - Breakfast Pizza, Fruit, Milk
THURSDAY - Belgian Waffle, Fruit, Milk
FRIDAY– Turkey Sausage & Egg Frittata, Fruit, Milk
Offered Daily-Assorted fruits (fresh, canned), 4oz 100% Juice (no added sugar), 1% & Nonfat Milk. Assorted cold cereal (whole grains, reduced sugar), whole grain crackers.
Vegetarian Option
12/1-12/2 Toasted Cheese Sandwich
12/5-12/9 Cheese Quesadillo
12/12-12/18 Bean Burrito
12/19-12/20 Yogurt & Pretzel
Prepay online:www.mylunchmoney.com
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CORE 1 NEWS
SPECIAL THANKS
Special thanks to all involved in our Holiday Boutique Project: Tie Dyed Fabric Napkins. From Julie (of Jadyn) spearheading the project, to all the parents who have donated their time and supplies to make this project work. Thank you to ALL involved!
ART PROGRAM SHARE
Mark your calendars! Tuesday, December 13 at 6pm is our ARTS PROGRAM SHARE EVENING! All families are invited to come out and celebrate our visual arts program, lead by the marvelous Julianna and Marni! All Core 1 children will have participated in 9 weeks of visual art education, based in art theory, and focusing on portraits and collections. We look forward to you joining us on this special evening.
WRITING CELEBRATIONS: YOU ARE INVITED!
This week, the Partners have launched writing workshop! A few of the Bigs paid them a visit, and shared what it means to be a writer and how to stay organized with all of you writing tools. Next week, the Bigs and Mentors will celebrate the publishing of their most recent work. On Wednesday, November 23, from 2:30- 3pm you are invited to join us during our writing celebrations! The Mentors will celebrate the publishing of their personal narratives. The Bigs will also celebrate their personal narratives, with a focus on writing for readers. The Bigs will also share their work in progress: Realistic Fiction. We hope you can join us!
CHANGE OF SEASON, CHANGE OF CIRCLE GROUPS
This December, your child will change Circle Groups. Their workshop group will remain the same. Half of each circle group will move to one teacher, and the other half will move to the other. This way, all children have the experience of getting to know new Core 1 friends and teachers, while maintaining the security of staying with a large group of children they know well. The new groups will be created at the end of this month, and the new groups will be announced sometime in December.
NOVEMBER 28-DECEMBER 2
This week will be filled with many opportunities for your children to practice: learning from different adults, flexibility and leadership. Jackie and Nadja will be in class, as usual. Throughout the week, some of the other teachers, participate in professional development and some personal days (Chrysta will be celebrating her big 4-0 with her family). At least one Core 1 teacher will be present each day! Other guest teachers you will see are former SMASH teachers Mimi and Tom (Jackie’s husband)! Also, please welcome Joy! She has subbed in Core 1 in the past and is looking forward to returning. Your children are in capable and loving hands. Please, contact your child’s workshop/touchtone teacher, if you have any questions.
Wish List: Rakes, Brooms, Plastic Spoons
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmsud.org
REMINDER: No Friday Letter next week.
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day—NOT minimum day.
November 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH closed
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CORE 2 NEWS
As we embark upon our first Theme (Science and Social Studies) unit in Core 2, we are really focused on utilizing many avenues for students to take in information (interviews, personal experiences, resources, videos, experiments, nonfiction books, etc), as well as creating a variety of ways for them to demonstrate what they have learned (written report, poster, speech, skit, debate, etc.). We call this Multiple Ways of Knowing and Showing. In addition to meeting a variety of learning styles, we also try to create opportunities for students to develop and pursue their personal interests and curiosities. We call this Choice and Voice. This educational philosophy and practice is one of the many key components of SMASH education.
Please see this week’s education article, which is about improving motivation, to learn more about how these practices affect student motivation, interest, and learning. The article also points to a variety of resources for more information. You’ll find the entire article in this week’s Friday Folder.
Student Motivations and Attitudes: The Role of the Affective Domain in Geoscience Learning
Teachers have a lot to do with their students' motivational level. A student may arrive in class with a certain degree of motivation. But the teacher's behavior and teaching style, the structure of the course, the nature of the assignments and informal interactions with students all have a large effect on student motivation. We may have heard the utterance, "my students are so unmotivated!" and the good news is that there's a lot that we can do to change that.
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
Educational psychology has identified two basic classifications of motivation - intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation arises from a desire to learn a topic due to its inherent interests, for self-fulfillment, enjoyment and to achieve a mastery of the subject. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation is motivation to perform and succeed for the sake of accomplishing a specific result or outcome. Students who are very grade-oriented are extrinsically motivated, whereas students who seem to truly embrace their work and take a genuine interest in it are intrinsically motivated.
Motivating Students
This chapter from the book Tools for Teaching by Barbara Gross Davis (Jossey-Bass Publishers: San Francisco, 1993) is a great place to start for ideas and tips about increasing student motivation in your classes. The author presents a handy distillation of research on motivation and uses examples and anecdotes that bring this material to life. In addition to general strategies, this chapter addresses successful instructional behaviors, how to structure a course to motivate students, de-emphasizing grades and responding with other types of feedback to students, and tips to encourage students to complete assigned readings. A reference list points the way to more specific information.
Excerpts from this chapter:
Give frequent, early, positive feedback that supports students' beliefs that they can do well.
Ensure opportunities for students' success by assigning tasks that are neither too easy nor too difficult. Help students find personal meaning and value in the material. Create an atmosphere that is open and positive. Help students feel that they are valued members of a learning community.
Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
REMINDER: No Friday Letter next week.
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day—NOT minimum day.
November 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH closed
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CORE 3 NEWS
6th Grade Math with Carrie: We continued our investigation of fractions, decimals, and percents this week by making fraction strips to show different fractions and their equivalent fractions (for example: 1/3=2/6=3/9=4/12). We also estimated fractions of fundraising goals. Students are being encouraged to think about the relationship between fractions, decimals and percents. Any opportunity you have to talk about these at home will help them in their understanding.
6th Grade Math with Erin "Data About Us": This week we only spent a little time on data due to no school Wednesday and our Catalina assembly Friday. The students continued to work on their personal graphing question - collecting data from classmates, creating a bar graph, and finding out the mean, medium, mode, and range of their data.
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: We have started our 3rd unit, Thousands of Miles, Thousands of Seats. We are focusing on place value and addition and subtraction in large numbers. We are using our mental math skills to solve subtraction problems like 10,000-2,308 in our head. Ask and see which strategy they use! Our unit on 3D geometry ended with a general understanding of volume as well as learning the formula lxwxh for a box and lxwxh÷3 for a pyramid. These abstract concepts challenged many of our 5th graders. Please continue discussing the formulas and the concepts of volume with your child. Check out the helpful parent guide pdf file (3Dgeo) on the homework webpage sites.google.com/site/smashcore3/.
Science with Carrie: We finally started our individual space explorations! Students are studying an incredibly variety of topics from Albert Einstein and Copernicus to Pulsars and Black Holes. Ask your child what he/she is studying and encourage them to do some research at home!
Social Studies and Geography with Erin: This shortened week in social studies began our investigation of differing schools of thought during the Civil Rights movement. Was everyone involved committed to nonviolence?
Students were introduced to Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. We will continue our study of these people/groups over the next few weeks. Purchase whole class biography, Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary by Walter Dean Myers by Nov 30! For those who brought in $6, we will purchase and have the book delivered to school by Nov 30.
Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: Our writers published their personal essays and celebrated on Thursday all their hard work. They learned how to choose an idea and take it through the non-narrative writing process. They outlined their ideas on a boxes and bullets template, which helped them organize their 5 paragraphs—introduction, reason 1, reason 2, reason 3, and a conclusion. What made these essays personal was using their own narratives to help bring light to why their idea was important. Our next writing unit is Science Fiction Short Story. The students have all been asking for an opportunity to be more creative and write fiction. Realistic Fiction of course is welcomed! However with all their new universe knowledge from science and our read aloud White Mountains, many are excited to understand science fiction as a genre. The writers are back into their notebooks and should be collecting ideas. Any idea that comes to them should be jotted down and any ideas that could be part of their science fiction short story should be saved in their notebook.
Homework:
6G math: Assignment 2B is due on Tuesday.
5G math: packet #12 due Friday, 12/2/11.
RW: READ, READ, READ! Make sure to log in finished books on the yellow card in class.
WW: Collect 3 home entries in writing notebook by 12/2/11.
SS: Purchase Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary by Walter Dean Myers by Nov 30!
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org
REMINDER: No Friday Letter next week.
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day—NOT minimum day.
November 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH closed
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CORE 4 NEWS
Yosemite Trip Reminder: Our winter adventure for 7th graders in beautiful Yosemite Valley is coming up in just four working weeks and three days after the winter break.
Ways to prepare for the trip:
1. Get in shape for the trip – There is a lot of walking on this trip, so plan a few hikes with your child before the trip, break-in those hiking shoes if they are new, and have your child walk more each day.
2. It is critical that children be provided with non-cotton winter-wear made of synthetic or organic fibers that wick moisture away from their body. This is a safety issue and non-negotiable. We have many clean jackets, over-shirts, fuzzy sweaters, and some ski pants to lend to people on a first come-first served basis. You will wish to buy the long underwear, synthetic socks, and hiking boots soon as prices begin to rise after Thanksgiving.
3. Use the following link http://www.naturebridge.org/yosemite/parents to find out all you could want to know about the trip, the location, or the people we work with up in the park. Of course you may drop around to ask me questions as well. I love seeing parents.
We will be having a bag check to insure students are safe and a mandatory information meeting for parents on Wednesday, Dec 7 at 18:00. Please make plans now to join us as we finalize the arrangements necessary to insure your child’s safety during this learning adventure.
Drop around if you have any questions. You are always welcome here.
Tardiness – This past Monday and Tuesday, we had high number of students who came to school late. We don’t want tardiness to become a new habit, especially for 8th graders. Please remind your child the importance of coming to school on time. This is also a great time to see if your child is getting enough sleep (and not on facebook all night), had a good breakfast to give them energy to start their day, and is prepared for school by having all the necessary materials. If your child already has a habit of coming to school early or on time, we want them to keep it up!
REMINDER: No Friday Letter next week.
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day—NOT minimum day.
Thursday & Friday, Nov 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH closed
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Darwin and Kurt
Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org
Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org
Dear SMASHing Families,
What a caring, celebrative, great learning community we are a part of. There were so many responses to my message about having a family cultural exchange with our Chinese guests David and Tony.
Special thanks to Ken, Yung, Caleb and Simeon for opening up their home as such gracious hosts to our Chinese guests David and Tony for all nine nights!
Thank you
*to Carrie and CJ for the Beverly Hills tour,
*to John, Patty, Andrew and Jason for the Temescal Canyon exploration,
*to John, Jeannine, Mac, Riley, and Violet for the taco feast,
*to Mike, Lori, Mica and Ari for the Getty adventure,
*to Janice, Jackie, and Tamara for Happy Hour/ Santa Monica Place rooftop dinner,
*to the SMASH staff for all the teaching explanations and demonstrations
*to Tamara and Mitch for the Downtown LA photo shoot,
*to Tom, Barbara and Liam for the attempted lunch.
*to Charles, Alicia, Bradley, and Rachel for the family dinner complete with high school tales
“We miss SMASH warm-hearted teachers and parents and of course the smart kids. Thank you for helping us to understand the special school-SMASH, giving us so many detail introductions of teaching, curriculum. Especially thanks for your great parents, gave us new day and new experience everyday. Please say "thank you" to who gave us help on behalf of us.” David and Tony
Jessica
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Westside Annual THANKSGIVING COMMUNITY DINNER & CELEBRATION
This is the table to be at on Thanksgiving, and everyone is welcome. A carnival for the kids, live music, free medical, dental and eye exams, plus free clothing, blankets and haircuts.
Thanksgiving Day, November 24
Santa Monica Civic Center (Pico Bl & Main Street)
Carnival and Medical open at 8:00am
Dinner 11:00am - 3:00pm
Bring the Whole Family. It’s Free. It’s Fun. Fantastic Food
Please join folks from every faith and all walks of life
in a day of thanks and celebration
Info Hotline: 310-394-3153 www.westsidethanksgiving.org
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DATES TO REMEMBER
No Friday Letter next week
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day - NOT minimum day
Thursday & Friday, Nov 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH CLOSED
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Don’t shop for the holidays until you’ve been to our annual
HOLIDAY BOUTIQUE & ART AFFAIRE
Friday, December 9, 11:30 – 5:30
We are looking for vendors and artisans* who have unique handmade items to offer at the sale.
If you are interested in selling your creations (jewelry, scarves, art work), contact Birte Reimer at reimer.birte@gmail.com. Students are welcome to sell, too.
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We also need volunteers** to help manage our food and activity booths (Waffles, Chili, Candle-Making, Soap-Making, Spin art, SMASH Gear). If you can help, please contact Helga Schier at helgaschier@verizon.net.
*Vendors fill out a vendor’s agreement, and are responsible for their own set-up and clean-up.
PTSA receives 20% of vendor’s gross receipts.
**If you want to help at the Core Art Tables, please contact your Core Rep.
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WESTSIDE BALLET'S "THE NUTCRACKER" ENCHANTS THIS DECEMBER
SMASH's Olivia Sparling performs the lead role of Clara in four of the eight scheduled performances.
Get in the holiday spirit with Westside Ballet's Winter 2011 performances of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. One of the most highly regarded productions of The Nutcracker in all of Los Angeles, this year's performances are being held over the first two weekends of December at the Wadsworth Theater in Westwood.
WHAT: The Nutcracker, produced by Westside Ballet
WHEN: 1PM and 5PM, December 3, 4, 10, 11
WHERE: Wadsworth Theater, Veterans Administration, 11301 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles 90073
COST: $25 per ticket if purchased at Westside Ballet, 1709 Stewart St., Santa Monica 90404 on 11/19 and 11/26 from 10AM-noon, or $30 per ticket plus fees via Ticketmaster.com
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Terrific news from our friends at Americans for the Arts and one of their corporate partners, KRIS Wine.
As part of its second annual “Art of Education” program, KRIS has launched a new program that will award $25,000 to 16 public schools in the United States to help support arts education programs. Who decides which schools will receive the funds? We do!
Visit KRIS Wine’s Facebook page (http://apps.facebook.com/krisartofeducation/
I hope that every SMASH member will take a moment and get started today --- cast your vote, set a reminder on your calendar to do it every day through November 30, and spread the word to your friends, family, and colleagues.
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LOS ANGELES YOUTH ORCHESTRA
With artistic director, Russell Steinberg, Ph.D. Presents
EAGLES & DRAGONS - Music Exploring Light & Dark, Heaven & Hell
Beethoven Symphony No. 2; Russell Steinberg, Flag of 9/11; Paul Simon, America
BARNUM HALL, Sunday, November 20 at 4:00pm
Santa Monica High, 600 Olympic Blvd.
ZIPPER CONCERN HALL, Monday, November 21 at 7:30pm
Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave
For Tickets and information: LosAngelesYouthOrchestra.org; 310-571-LAYO
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The new SMASH Directory is in!
PTSA member, please come into the main office to pick up your copy.
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Flyers Available in the Office
Broadway Gymnastic School Classes Grades K-5, Tues3:20-4:15 classes www.BroadwayGym.com
Youth Mindfulness - UCLA Family Commons www.uclacommons.com or 310-395-5650
Ages 8-12, Classes Wednesdays 4-5pm (Nov 16 to Dec 17) or Saturdays (Nov 19-Dec 17)2-3pm
Mad Science Enrichment Winter Camp - Dec 19-23 and Dec 26-30 www.MadScience.org
Kids On Stage/Teens On Stage: Winter Play Festival & Winter Camp www.KidsOnStage.com
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WINTERLIT - Holiday Celebrations in Santa Monica
Sat, Nov 19 - 6:00pm -Tree Lighting & Santa arrival celebration at Santa Monica Place, Center Plaza at Santa Monica Place. Event includes Tree Lighting, Santa and Mrs. Clause arrival, musical entertainment, giveaways and snowfall.
Tuesday, December 20-27 - Chanukah Menorah Lighting at sundown
Nov 1—Dec 31 - Gift Your Schools. Shop & dine at Santa Monica Place and earn SMASH 5% donation. Just present your receipts at the Concierge on level 1. For details 310-260-8333.
Ice Skating - 5th & Arizona, November 11-January 16 - admission & skate rental $12
2 for 1 Tuesdays, Wacky Hat Wednesdays, After-Hours Broom Ball, Rock ‘N’ Skate Fridays, Costume Skate Sundays
Arthur Christmas Activities:
Sat. Nov 19 - Santa Photo - 2:00-5:00pm. 3rd Street Promenade & Wilshire Blvd
Sun, Nov 20 - Ice Skating Party - 2:00-5:00pm. 5th St and Arizona Ave
Mon, Nov 21 - Craft Day - 3:30-5:30pm 3rd Street Promenade & Santa Monica Blvd
Tues, Nov 22 - Ornament Decorating - 3:30-5:30pm - 3rd Street Promenade & Arizona Ave
Nov 22-23 - Snow Days - 3:00, 5:00 & 7:00pm - 3rd Street & Arizona
For a list of all events visit WinterLit.com - SantaMonicaPlace.com - ICEatSantaMonica.com
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Freedom Riders: A Community Conversation on Democracy in Action
Wednesday, Dec 7 - 7:00-9:00 p.m. - The Broad Stage - 1310 11th St, Santa Monica, Join us for a Community Conversation featuring the award-winning film Freedom Riders by PBS American Experience. The film shares the powerful, harrowing, and ultimately inspirational story of eight months in 1961 that changed America forever. From May until December 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives—many endured savage beatings and imprisonment—for simply traveling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South. Deliberately violating Jim Crow laws, the Freedom Riders were met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, sorely testing their belief in nonviolent activism.
The program will include excerpts from the film and conversation led by former Justice Department civil rights attorney, author, and Facing History board member Gerald Stern. He will be joined by Freedom Rider Ernest “Rip” Patton Jr., who will share experiences as a participant in the Nashville Movement and the Freedom Rides. Patton was one of 14 Tennessee State University students expelled for participating in the Rides.
Seating is limited. Visit facinghistory.org/communityconversations.
For more information contact Jennifer Lenardson at 213-202-2811 x28 or Jennifer_Lenardson@facing.org.
As part of Facing History’s national series of Community Conversations, this event is free and open to the public. This event is presented by Facing History and Ourselves and The Allstate Foundation in partnership with Santa Monica- Malibu Unified School District, Santa Monica College, Santa Monica Bay Area Human Relations Council, and The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Westside Coalition.
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The World Leader In Obstacle Racing, Spartan Race
Comes to Malibu’s Calamigos Ranch Nov. 19
This Sat., Nov. 19, approximately 4,000 competitors from across the U.S. and several foreign countries representing every walk of life, age and stage and varying degrees of athletic abilities will converge on Calimigos Ranch in Malibu, Calif. for the Spartan Sprint Race
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Upcoming Textiles Recycling/Green Holiday Workshop–Sat, Nov 19, 9am-3pm
MODERNIZE YOUR HOLIDAY WRAPPING AND RECYCLE YOUR TEXTILES AT THE SAME TIME!
The City of Santa Monica’s Resource Recovery & Recycling Division, 2500 Michigan Ave. 310-458-2223; www.smgov.net/r3
After the unwrapping frenzy, someone in your household grabs a plastic trash bag and fills it with balled up wrapping paper, plastic bows and ribbons. This year, try tapping into your creative side! How about wrapping a gift in a gift? Tshirts make wonderful wrapping and we are here to show you how! This year’s clothing/textile recycling event will also feature a mini workshop on constructing no-sew t-shirt bags and how to reuse cloth instead of purchasing new wrapping paper.
Santa Monica Resource Recovery & Recycling is hosting a textiles collection event at the City Yards, helping you to find a new home for all your unusable clothing, towels, bedding and so much more. Residents are encouraged to take reusable goods to any of the many charities benefiting the Santa Monica area. A reuse guide is available at www.smgov.net/r3.
The average American threw away 68 pounds of textiles last year — old rags, bedding, stinky socks, and unflattering clothing. We are looking for your assistance to help recover this material. Most “old” clothing in good condition can be resold by local charities. Even torn or stained clothing that is not suitable for resell can be recycled. Some recovered fabrics become wiping and polishing cloths, those old jeans can become wall insulation and cotton can actually be composted!
We have the recycling part covered; now it’s your turn to pitch in. Drop off the clothing you no longer need or want and learn an awesome way to make your holiday a little “greener”.
What to bring?
Clean and dry textiles like clothing, shoes, towels, sheets, scarves, hats, bags and belts. (Plus, a t-shirt for the workshop!)
When? Saturday, November 19, 2011 from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM; Workshop drop-in between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM
Where? City Yards, 2500 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404
Seams split? Doesn’t fit? Sick of it? RECYCLE IT!
Clean out your closet and join in for this ONE-DAY special recycling event. Bring clean and dry clothing, paired shoes, bedding, linens, hats, belts and other fabric. Items will be sorted for re-use or recycling.
Same Day No Sew T-Shirt Bag Workshop - Plus other green alternatives to paper gift wrapping Drop in between 10am-2pm
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Solar Stuff
California is leading the nation in Solar energy generated electricity. We are currently at one gigawatt, which is equivalent to two coal fired power plants! But you could also be using more solar energy right now – even if you don’t have space for a clothes line – what about clothes racks? They are great because you can move them in and out doors, they hold a LOT and don’t take up too much space. Don't let all that clean sun-power go to waste.
Education/Activism/Gifts
As we guide our children to be effective world citizens, get involved as a family with organizations that are moving us towards a more sustainable future. Right here is Santa Monica, we have the NRDC - Natural Resources Defense Council. They are scientists and lawyers, and they never let the federal or state government slip through environmentally bad legislation without a fight. Check them out, follow what they do, get your children involved to help save the Polar Bears http://www.nrdc.org/default_t0.asp They also have great green holiday gifts - for all those family members and friends who already have enough stuff - you can make donations on their behalf to save Toucans, Gray Wolves and Grizzly Bears..... my father-in-law loved the Grizzly Bear one we got him.
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Holiday Boutique & Art Affaire
December 9, 11:30 – 5:30
We need parent volunteers**to help manage our food stands (Waffles, Chili) and activity booths (Candle-Making, Spin Art… NEW ideas always welcome). If you can help, please contact Helga Schier at helgaschier@verizon.net.
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We also have some space left for vendors and artisans* who have unique handmade items to offer at the sale.
If you are interested in selling your creations (jewelry, scarves, art work), contact Birte Reimer at reimer.birte@gmail.com. Students are welcome to sell, too.
*Vendors fill out a vendor’s agreement, and are responsible for their own set-up and clean-up.
PTSA receives 20% of vendor’s gross receipts.
**If you want to help at the Core Art Tables, please contact Chrysta, Tamara or Genie.
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DECEMBER LUNCH MENU
Thurs, Dec 1 Cool Lunch!, Turkey Taco Bar w/Tortilla Chips & Salsa,Frozen Vanilla Yogurt Cup
Fri, Dec 2 Pizza Friday! Thin Crust Cheese Pizza, w/Fresh Garden Salad, Banana
Mon, Dec 5 Turkey Corn Dog, Fresh Veggie Stix, Fresh Kiwi
Tues, Dec 6 Cool Lunch! Baked Chicken w/Green Beans, Biscuit
Wed, Dec 7 Cool Lunch! Senor Felix Bean & Cheese Burrito w/Frozen Watermelon Cup
Thurs, Dec 8 Cool Lunch! Chicken Giggles w/Baked Potato Smiles
Fri, Dec 9 Pizza Friday! Big Daddy Cheese or Pepperoni Pizza w/Fresh Garden Salad Fresh Orange Slices
Mon, Dec 12 All American Char Broiled Beef Hamburger w/Seasoned Potato Wedges, Fresh Tangerine
Tues, Dec 13 Cool Lunch! Chicken Patty Sandwich
Wed, Dec 14 Cool Lunch! Rotini Pasta W/Meatballs Warm Bread Stick
Thurs, Dec 15 Cool Lunch! Chicken Fajitas w/Flour Tortilla, Salsa
Fri, Dec 18 Pizza Friday! Slice of Cheese Pizza w/Fresh Garden Salad, Cry Baby Sour Apple Cup
Mon, Dec 19Turkey Hot Dog w/Fresh Baby Carrots, Fruit
Tues, Dec 20 Baked Chicken Nuggets Baked Tater Tots, Fruit, Holiday Cookie
BREAKFAST MENU
MONDAY - French Toast, Fruit, Milk
TUESDAY - Biscuit w/Turkey Sausage, Fruit, Milk
WEDNESDAY - Breakfast Pizza, Fruit, Milk
THURSDAY - Belgian Waffle, Fruit, Milk
FRIDAY– Turkey Sausage & Egg Frittata, Fruit, Milk
Offered Daily-Assorted fruits (fresh, canned), 4oz 100% Juice (no added sugar), 1% & Nonfat Milk. Assorted cold cereal (whole grains, reduced sugar), whole grain crackers.
Vegetarian Option
12/1-12/2 Toasted Cheese Sandwich
12/5-12/9 Cheese Quesadillo
12/12-12/18 Bean Burrito
12/19-12/20 Yogurt & Pretzel
Prepay online:www.mylunchmoney.com
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CORE 1 NEWS
SPECIAL THANKS
Special thanks to all involved in our Holiday Boutique Project: Tie Dyed Fabric Napkins. From Julie (of Jadyn) spearheading the project, to all the parents who have donated their time and supplies to make this project work. Thank you to ALL involved!
ART PROGRAM SHARE
Mark your calendars! Tuesday, December 13 at 6pm is our ARTS PROGRAM SHARE EVENING! All families are invited to come out and celebrate our visual arts program, lead by the marvelous Julianna and Marni! All Core 1 children will have participated in 9 weeks of visual art education, based in art theory, and focusing on portraits and collections. We look forward to you joining us on this special evening.
WRITING CELEBRATIONS: YOU ARE INVITED!
This week, the Partners have launched writing workshop! A few of the Bigs paid them a visit, and shared what it means to be a writer and how to stay organized with all of you writing tools. Next week, the Bigs and Mentors will celebrate the publishing of their most recent work. On Wednesday, November 23, from 2:30- 3pm you are invited to join us during our writing celebrations! The Mentors will celebrate the publishing of their personal narratives. The Bigs will also celebrate their personal narratives, with a focus on writing for readers. The Bigs will also share their work in progress: Realistic Fiction. We hope you can join us!
CHANGE OF SEASON, CHANGE OF CIRCLE GROUPS
This December, your child will change Circle Groups. Their workshop group will remain the same. Half of each circle group will move to one teacher, and the other half will move to the other. This way, all children have the experience of getting to know new Core 1 friends and teachers, while maintaining the security of staying with a large group of children they know well. The new groups will be created at the end of this month, and the new groups will be announced sometime in December.
NOVEMBER 28-DECEMBER 2
This week will be filled with many opportunities for your children to practice: learning from different adults, flexibility and leadership. Jackie and Nadja will be in class, as usual. Throughout the week, some of the other teachers, participate in professional development and some personal days (Chrysta will be celebrating her big 4-0 with her family). At least one Core 1 teacher will be present each day! Other guest teachers you will see are former SMASH teachers Mimi and Tom (Jackie’s husband)! Also, please welcome Joy! She has subbed in Core 1 in the past and is looking forward to returning. Your children are in capable and loving hands. Please, contact your child’s workshop/touchtone teacher, if you have any questions.
Wish List: Rakes, Brooms, Plastic Spoons
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Jackie, and Nadja
Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmsud.org
REMINDER: No Friday Letter next week.
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day—NOT minimum day.
November 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH closed
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CORE 2 NEWS
As we embark upon our first Theme (Science and Social Studies) unit in Core 2, we are really focused on utilizing many avenues for students to take in information (interviews, personal experiences, resources, videos, experiments, nonfiction books, etc), as well as creating a variety of ways for them to demonstrate what they have learned (written report, poster, speech, skit, debate, etc.). We call this Multiple Ways of Knowing and Showing. In addition to meeting a variety of learning styles, we also try to create opportunities for students to develop and pursue their personal interests and curiosities. We call this Choice and Voice. This educational philosophy and practice is one of the many key components of SMASH education.
Please see this week’s education article, which is about improving motivation, to learn more about how these practices affect student motivation, interest, and learning. The article also points to a variety of resources for more information. You’ll find the entire article in this week’s Friday Folder.
Student Motivations and Attitudes: The Role of the Affective Domain in Geoscience Learning
Teachers have a lot to do with their students' motivational level. A student may arrive in class with a certain degree of motivation. But the teacher's behavior and teaching style, the structure of the course, the nature of the assignments and informal interactions with students all have a large effect on student motivation. We may have heard the utterance, "my students are so unmotivated!" and the good news is that there's a lot that we can do to change that.
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
Educational psychology has identified two basic classifications of motivation - intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation arises from a desire to learn a topic due to its inherent interests, for self-fulfillment, enjoyment and to achieve a mastery of the subject. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation is motivation to perform and succeed for the sake of accomplishing a specific result or outcome. Students who are very grade-oriented are extrinsically motivated, whereas students who seem to truly embrace their work and take a genuine interest in it are intrinsically motivated.
Motivating Students
This chapter from the book Tools for Teaching by Barbara Gross Davis (Jossey-Bass Publishers: San Francisco, 1993) is a great place to start for ideas and tips about increasing student motivation in your classes. The author presents a handy distillation of research on motivation and uses examples and anecdotes that bring this material to life. In addition to general strategies, this chapter addresses successful instructional behaviors, how to structure a course to motivate students, de-emphasizing grades and responding with other types of feedback to students, and tips to encourage students to complete assigned readings. A reference list points the way to more specific information.
Excerpts from this chapter:
Give frequent, early, positive feedback that supports students' beliefs that they can do well.
Ensure opportunities for students' success by assigning tasks that are neither too easy nor too difficult. Help students find personal meaning and value in the material. Create an atmosphere that is open and positive. Help students feel that they are valued members of a learning community.
Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
REMINDER: No Friday Letter next week.
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day—NOT minimum day.
November 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH closed
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CORE 3 NEWS
6th Grade Math with Carrie: We continued our investigation of fractions, decimals, and percents this week by making fraction strips to show different fractions and their equivalent fractions (for example: 1/3=2/6=3/9=4/12). We also estimated fractions of fundraising goals. Students are being encouraged to think about the relationship between fractions, decimals and percents. Any opportunity you have to talk about these at home will help them in their understanding.
6th Grade Math with Erin "Data About Us": This week we only spent a little time on data due to no school Wednesday and our Catalina assembly Friday. The students continued to work on their personal graphing question - collecting data from classmates, creating a bar graph, and finding out the mean, medium, mode, and range of their data.
5th grade Math Workshop with Genie: We have started our 3rd unit, Thousands of Miles, Thousands of Seats. We are focusing on place value and addition and subtraction in large numbers. We are using our mental math skills to solve subtraction problems like 10,000-2,308 in our head. Ask and see which strategy they use! Our unit on 3D geometry ended with a general understanding of volume as well as learning the formula lxwxh for a box and lxwxh÷3 for a pyramid. These abstract concepts challenged many of our 5th graders. Please continue discussing the formulas and the concepts of volume with your child. Check out the helpful parent guide pdf file (3Dgeo) on the homework webpage sites.google.com/site/smashcore3/.
Science with Carrie: We finally started our individual space explorations! Students are studying an incredibly variety of topics from Albert Einstein and Copernicus to Pulsars and Black Holes. Ask your child what he/she is studying and encourage them to do some research at home!
Social Studies and Geography with Erin: This shortened week in social studies began our investigation of differing schools of thought during the Civil Rights movement. Was everyone involved committed to nonviolence?
Students were introduced to Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. We will continue our study of these people/groups over the next few weeks. Purchase whole class biography, Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary by Walter Dean Myers by Nov 30! For those who brought in $6, we will purchase and have the book delivered to school by Nov 30.
Reading and Writing Workshop with Genie: Our writers published their personal essays and celebrated on Thursday all their hard work. They learned how to choose an idea and take it through the non-narrative writing process. They outlined their ideas on a boxes and bullets template, which helped them organize their 5 paragraphs—introduction, reason 1, reason 2, reason 3, and a conclusion. What made these essays personal was using their own narratives to help bring light to why their idea was important. Our next writing unit is Science Fiction Short Story. The students have all been asking for an opportunity to be more creative and write fiction. Realistic Fiction of course is welcomed! However with all their new universe knowledge from science and our read aloud White Mountains, many are excited to understand science fiction as a genre. The writers are back into their notebooks and should be collecting ideas. Any idea that comes to them should be jotted down and any ideas that could be part of their science fiction short story should be saved in their notebook.
Homework:
6G math: Assignment 2B is due on Tuesday.
5G math: packet #12 due Friday, 12/2/11.
RW: READ, READ, READ! Make sure to log in finished books on the yellow card in class.
WW: Collect 3 home entries in writing notebook by 12/2/11.
SS: Purchase Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary by Walter Dean Myers by Nov 30!
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org
Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
Erin: ehaendel@smmusd.org
REMINDER: No Friday Letter next week.
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day—NOT minimum day.
November 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH closed
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CORE 4 NEWS
Yosemite Trip Reminder: Our winter adventure for 7th graders in beautiful Yosemite Valley is coming up in just four working weeks and three days after the winter break.
Ways to prepare for the trip:
1. Get in shape for the trip – There is a lot of walking on this trip, so plan a few hikes with your child before the trip, break-in those hiking shoes if they are new, and have your child walk more each day.
2. It is critical that children be provided with non-cotton winter-wear made of synthetic or organic fibers that wick moisture away from their body. This is a safety issue and non-negotiable. We have many clean jackets, over-shirts, fuzzy sweaters, and some ski pants to lend to people on a first come-first served basis. You will wish to buy the long underwear, synthetic socks, and hiking boots soon as prices begin to rise after Thanksgiving.
3. Use the following link http://www.naturebridge.org/yosemite/parents to find out all you could want to know about the trip, the location, or the people we work with up in the park. Of course you may drop around to ask me questions as well. I love seeing parents.
We will be having a bag check to insure students are safe and a mandatory information meeting for parents on Wednesday, Dec 7 at 18:00. Please make plans now to join us as we finalize the arrangements necessary to insure your child’s safety during this learning adventure.
Drop around if you have any questions. You are always welcome here.
Tardiness – This past Monday and Tuesday, we had high number of students who came to school late. We don’t want tardiness to become a new habit, especially for 8th graders. Please remind your child the importance of coming to school on time. This is also a great time to see if your child is getting enough sleep (and not on facebook all night), had a good breakfast to give them energy to start their day, and is prepared for school by having all the necessary materials. If your child already has a habit of coming to school early or on time, we want them to keep it up!
REMINDER: No Friday Letter next week.
Wednesday, Nov 23 is a regular schedule day—NOT minimum day.
Thursday & Friday, Nov 24 & 25 - Thanksgiving Holiday - SMASH closed
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Darwin and Kurt
Darwin: dmendinueto@smmusd.org
Kurt: kholland@smmusd.org
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