Smash Friday Letter

Celebrate Valentine's Day a day early with the SMASH community at Wahoo's.
Wahoo's will donate 20% of your entire purchase to SMASH PTSA.
Monday, February 13
418 Wilshire Blvd.
Valid all day. Flyer must be presented.
Flyer has been distributed to each student today and is in the e-mailed version of this Friday Letter.
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Dear SMASHing Families,
Exciting Science News: Be sure to take a look at the Santa Monica Daily Press this weekend to see the article about SMASH Core 4 Quick Science students.

Centralized Fundraising Update: Dan McGee and I have started attending the monthly Superintendent’s Advisory Group meetings as well as the monthly elementary and secondary subcommittees so that we have K-8 representation.
According to Superintendent Sandy Lyon, the purpose of the group is “to create an implementation plan that will allow SMMUSD to fully implement centralized fundraising as the means to staff extra positions and professional development at schools no earlier than July 2013 and no later than July 2014.” Thus far, the group has brainstormed what a quality program includes, and the group ideas align nicely with our SMASH practices. Now subcommittees and Principals are collecting information about what schools already have in place. Dan and I will continue to share updates at Site Council and PTSA Meetings as well as via the Friday Letter.

Looking forward to dancing, munching, and visiting with many of you tonight at the Mardi Gras Family Dance! Thank you to Student Council students and teachers (Erin, Graciela, Jayme, and Tamara) for making this special celebration possible.

Jessica

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A Night of LOVE SONGS & POETRY
Special guest artists share passions in a pre-valentine’s day
Benefit for the SMASH Middle School Music Program
Saturday, February 11 at 7:30
1939 Westridge Terrace, Los Angeles, 90049
$15 - rsvp liamjack1@mac.com Or 310-471-4718
Desserts and something bubbly
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DATES TO REMEMBER
Sat, Feb 11 - 7:30pm - A Night of Love Songs & Poetry to benefit the SMASH Middle School Music Program
Mon, Feb 13 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour
Mon, Feb 13 - All Day - SMASH day at Wahoo’s at 418 Wilshire Blvd.
Must bring flyer sent home & e-mailed today
Fri, Feb 17 - 8:30-9:30am - Parent Ed - Creating Upstanders: Anti-bullying efforts at SMASH/John Muir
Mon, Feb 27 - 9:00-10:30am - SMASH School Tour
SAVE THE DATE!
Fri, Mar 9 - SMASH Jog-a-Thon. Sign up now to volunteer
Tue, Mar 13 - 6:00pm - SMASH Talent Show
Fri, Mar 16 - 9:15am - Astrocamp assembly
Fri, Mar 30 - Last day to apply for SMASH for September (ALL siblings MUST have their applications in)
Sat, May 19 - SuperSMASH. Sign up now to volunteer.
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Only 4 more weeks until the SMASHing
Jog-a-thon 2012

Volunteer! We still need volunteers to help with refreshments, lap
counting, etc. on the day of the event.

Pledge! Pledge packets will go home 2/17 so look for your child’s pledge
packet and read the information that accompanies it. Help your child fill out the form and collect pledges. 100% of donations go right back to our classrooms.

Save the date! Jog-a-thon ‘12 happens Friday, March 9.
Come run with your athlete and/or cheer on the rest of the runners.

For questions or to volunteer:
Lillie Schlessinger (213)742-3394 lillie.schlessinger@transamerica.com
Darlene Flanders (310)314-8716 darlene@quixo.com
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Hello Friends, Students, Parents and Colleagues
I wanted to let you know about a fabulous new adventure I have just completed. I wrote a book called "101 Things To Do With Your Kids At The Airport". It is available now online. I am very proud of the work and know that if you have children you will thank me after your first trip to the airport! :) Please check it out.
Thank You,
Kristy Pace Artistic Director, Pocket Full of Tales Theatre Company
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LACMA Family Activities
Family Sundays: California Cool
February 12, 19, 26 12:30–3:30 pm
California has its own unique style—from furniture and cars to Barbie and Ken! Check out clean and cool designs in the exhibition California Design to see beachwear, ceramics, jewelry, and even an Airstream aluminum trailer! Then create your own “California look” in artist-led workshops. - North Piazza Free, with museum admission

Target Free Holiday Mondays Visitors of all ages are invited to a free* day at the museum
PRESIDENT’S DAY - Monday, February 20 12–8 pm *Free, tickets required
Visitors of all ages are invited to a free day at the museum*. Bilingual tours, programs, and other activities occur throughout the day. Check out the exhibition California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way" to see California's unique style. Live music by Rhythm Child will get everyone moving with their energetic music for all ages on the plaza at 12:30 pm and 2:45 pm.
* tickets to the Boone Children's Gallery on Target Free Holiday Monday will be timed and distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Pick up your free timed ticket in the Boone Children's Gallery on the day of the event. Timed tickets allow for a thirty minute visit.
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FREE Paper Shredding & Electronics Recycling
Saturday, February 18 - 9am-2;pm
City Yards - 2500 Michigan Avenue
www.smgov.net/r3 - 310-458-2223
Santa Monica residents only - limited to 25 boxes (12x17x9 inches each)
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Summer Adventure for Elementary School
June 25 - July 20; 8:30-12:30 daily
Roosevelt Elementary School - 801 Montana Avenue
$420 for full morning program; childcare available for additional fee - scholarships available
Brochures & Registration Forms available on March 26 and online at www.smmpta.org or www.smmef.org
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The UCLA Family Commons is excited to announce new programming for Summer 2012.
These camps are unique — full of fun for children, yet grounded in the most up-to-date scientific insights about social and emotional growth at each stage of development.
Girls Get Real (ages 8-12) http://www.uclacommons.com/courses/girls-get-real-ages-8-12
Boys Only (ages 8-12) http://www.uclacommons.com/courses/boys-only-ages-8-12
Commons Kids (Coed, ages 5-7) http://www.uclacommons.com/courses/commons-kids-coed-ages-5-7
The UCLA Family Commons’ approach to summer camp programming is truly one of a kind. Based on the latest research, camps are carefully designed to meet the developmental needs of each group. By enriching social and emotional intelligence, camps provide the foundation for later academic achievement and personal satisfaction.
Yet for children, the camps are entirely about summer fun. Learning is seamlessly integrated into activities like art projects at our Santa Monica center, play at the beach, martial arts in our on-site dojo and yoga in Palisades Park, to name just a few.
Please JOIN US on Wednesday, February 29th, from 4 – 6 pm, when we’ll be celebrating our 2nd Anniversary in Santa Monica. You’ll have the chance to learn more about our camps and see what we’re doing to bring innovative,
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ptsa news
president’s message

Dear SMASHing Parents,
As we move through the Winter season and into Spring, there are two major fundraising events that need our SMASH families to step up and get involved. For the Jog-a-thon (scheduled for Friday, March 9th), we are fortunate that Core 2 moms Lillie and Darlene are on top of this important fundraising event, but they are still looking for volunteers and donations. Please contact events chairs Darlene Flanders [dflanders@quixo.com] and Lillie Schlessinger
(lillie.Schlessinger@transamerica.com] and let them know if you or your company can donate or whether you can volunteer for the morning on Friday, March 9th,, to help assure this event runs smoothly.

As may know SuperSMASH is coming early this year (scheduled for Saturday, May 19, 2012). This summer festival and celebration of our community, is our biggest fundraiser of the year. There will be food, activities, rides and games, and of course, our ever popular Silent and Live Auction. As our main fundraiser, it cannot be successful without the entire SMASH community working together. SMASH depends on the proceeds of this one Saturday to help us meet a major portion of our annual budget. And this one Saturday needs the entire SMASH family.
While preparations for this event are well underway, we still need key volunteers to make sure this event is successful. In particular, we need help with marketing the event to the community, and we need a couple of people to help assist with organizing activities and setting up and running the music program at SuperSMASH. If you can help please contact me at 310-993-0707 (dmcgeee@mcgeelere.com) or Helga Schier at helgaschier@verizon.net

Though we have parents who have volunteered to take over most of the positions on the SMASH PTSA Executive Board for the 2012-2013 school year, we still need a volunteer to be our Historian, which has gone unfilled for several years. If you are interested, please let us know. As always this is a great opportunity to ease into PTSA leadership and get more involved in our community.
Dan McGee

ptsa annual family investment drive
The SMASH Annual Family Investment Drive continues throughout the year. Have you made a commitment? We are striving for 100% participation. If you have any questions, contact Marni Ayers Brady(marniayers@gmail.com).

SMASH bash
If you have not been able to enjoy a SMASH bash event, there are still openings. Please contact Marni Ayers Brady (marniayers@gmail.com) at your earliest convenience and find out what upcoming events are still available.

Green Tips for the Week:
Proper Microwaving: Heating plastic in the microwave can cause leaching into food and many contain hormonedisrupting compounds (not just versions made with bisphenol-A or BPA). Plastics that are labeled “microwave-safe” can simply withstand a higher temperature before losing their shape. So when heating anything in the microwave, use glass or microwave-safe ceramics.
Real Simple Toilet Paper
If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper (500 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 423,900 trees When it comes to paper in general, really think about how you can re-use what already arrives at your house – carefully opened envelopes can be used for things you need to send, or for scrap paper and the shopping list you can’t go to the market without! Padded mailing envelopes are the same, open them carefully and use them again. The more you re-use the less trees come down. Frightening statistic - 33% of municipal waster is paper and cardboard!!!!!!! Want less to recycle, less coupons and junk mail? On the bottom of the LOS ANGELES TIMES “Local Values” is an 800 number. You can call it, listen to prompts and have your address removed from the circulation list.
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CORE 1 NEWS

Valentines Shower
Core 1 traditionally showers their friends with valentines in a celebratory Magic Circle on February 14. If you wish, your child may bring 25 Valentines for all of the children in his/her circle group on the 14th. Please don’t address the cards to specific children.
You’re encouraged to write From: ________ or Love, _______, but please DO NOT write To: ________. This can get extremely confusing at our celebration. Remember: No sweets please! Your children’s love and kindness are sweet enough!


Birthday Bash
We will be honor children with their birthday in February at our next Birthday Bash on February 17th at 11:45 AM in the Magic Garden. If your child has a birthday in February, s/he will be taking home a note regarding birthday bash snacks.

Changes to Ocean Park Blvd. –
Expanding our Pathways Study with Candis
What kinds of discussions have you been having with your child on the way to school – as you pass by the cones and construction crews tearing up and reworking the road? In the spirit of our Ramps and Pathways study, our project groups set out on observation walks to see what we could discover. We watched backhoes moving dirt, jackhammers drilling through concrete, and we discovered a man in a very deep hole. We sat on the sidewalk, and noted these observations in our science notebooks.

One group interviewed a worker, who told us, “We’re widening the sidewalks, and planting trees and grass.”
Arden asked, “Are you putting in a storm drain?”
Alani wondered if they were putting in a train.

I listened to their ideas and questions, without giving much feedback, to see how their observations and interactions might inform their ideas (and misconceptions). In the upcoming weeks, we will continue our walks and begin further research about the city’s plans. I’m hoping to find opportunities for the children to read articles, look at planning maps, maybe even interview “an expert” about the project. If you’ve been involved in developing this project, or know someone who has, please let me know. As we are constantly designing our own pathways in the classroom, we would love to interview someone who helped organize/design the improvements to street in front of our school!

HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE FAMILY DANCE!!!
Candis, Chrysta, Graciela, Nadja, and Jackie

Candis: cberens@smmusd.org
Chrysta: cwyse@smmusd.org
Graciela: gbarba-castro@smmusd.org

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CORE 2 NEWS

What did you enjoy about the 100th Day of School in Core 2?
Reported by Maya Furukawa, Zelda Saltzman, and Lily Tenzer

We found out how many jumping jacks we could do in 100 seconds and because it got me thinking. (Audrey)

We have learned so much in 100 days of school. (Josh)

I liked the math games because you could choose your math game. (Hannah)

I like the 100th Day of School because we got to play math games with the 3rd graders. I never get to play math games with them. (Nathan)

I liked the 100th Day of School because we got to think of what we would do with 100 some things and could write whatever we wanted. (Dixie)

I liked everything. (Blaise)

The jumping jacks were fun. (Max)

I loved the If I Had 100 sheet. (Gala, Oisin )

I liked playing Go Collecting. (Myles)

I liked doing 100 jumping jacks! (RamRattan)

Important dates for Core 2
Friday, Feb 10 – Family Dance tonight, 6:00-8:00
Monday, Feb 13 – rescheduled trip to Star Eco Station, 9:00 – 2:00, sign
the peach colored permission slip sent home Tuesday and return ASAP
Tuesday, Feb 14 – Valentine’s Day, refer to the guidelines sent home in last week’s Friday letter
Monday, Feb 20 – President’s Day Holiday – no school
Friday, Mar 2 – Celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday, Pajama Day
Friday, Mar 9 – SMASHing Jog-a-thon
Monday, Mar 26 – Symphonic Adventure at Samo High – walking
Wednesday, Mar 28 – Arts with Julianna daytime sharing
Wednesday, Mar 28 – Open House, 6PM

Laura: lsherman@smmusd.org
Jayme: j.wold@smmusd.org
Tamara: tmugalian@smmusd.org
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CORE 3 NEWS

Field Trip to Santa Monica Daily Press! Orange Advisory-Tues Feb. 14; Blue-Advisory Tues Feb. 21! We need chaperones for these trips (departing 11:30 and returning by 3:00). Please contact Genie if you are interested! We can't go without 1 chaperone for each advisory and would ideally like 2 chaperones with each group.

Valentine's Day and its celebrations are in the month of February! Traditionally Core 3 does not have students distribute cards to each other. We will honor the day but the kids will not need to bring anything.

AstroCamp District Permission Slips went home today and need to get signed and returned! Thanks!

6th gr Math w/ Carrie: On Thursday we reviewed the work we did for this unit in preparation for the assessment on Tuesday. Students were invited to take their math binders home with them to study. Encourage your child to take some extra time to review fractions, decimals and percents.
6th gr Math w/ Amanda: 6th grade finished their UCLA math games and recently took a quiz. We will begin a geometry unit this Friday.
5th gr Math w/ Genie: We had our assessment and reflection on fractions and percents. We've moved on to decimals and their relationship to fractions and percents. Please look in your child's backpack (hopefully they show you on their own) for the final assessment and reflection. There is helpful parent information and a spot for you to sign and have returned, so I know you are aware of your child's progress in this unit.

Science w/ Carrie: Our study of biomes/ecosystems continued with looking more in depth at one biome and thinking about how that biome has been affected by humans. Next week students will begin their personal investigations of a biome/ecosystem of their choice. More information about the scope of the project will be in next Friday's letter.

SS w/ Amanda: Core 3 has started exploring Ancient Greece. We have been discussing how geography influenced Ancient Greece. Students are now in city-states and are going to earn points for their city-state by showing pride, mental prowess, and being exemplary citizens. They have also received Greek names and will present their research in a 1-minute presentation on Friday.

RW/WW w/ Genie: Visual Literacy was our vocabulary words of the week and it helped us to make sense of the documentary preview, "Miss Representation". We know that even looking at pictures and video, we need to make sense of what we read and think about the writer/artist/director's point. We also worked hard to quickly publish our column essay and our news article. We hope to get our newspapers and publications out next week—we'll see! That way we can publish at least 3 issues. Ask your child what their column and news article topics are for their first publication.

Art with Kristy: We played 2 fun improv games, "Props" and "Iris Song". Please check out the Core 3 website to see some clips. Also watch a few old episodes from "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" with your child, which helps our new comedians see experts in action.

SuperSMASH Core 3 Art Auction Piece: We have a great idea for our auction item for the students to create! We just need some parent to lead the project! Please talk to Genie or Erin McIntire if interested!

Homework:
6G Math: study for the unit assessment!
5G Math: Packet #20 due Fri 2/17.
Writing: Collect 3 entries in their notebook (3 full pages)—notebooks should be getting filled.
Reading: read every day for 30-40 minutes!

Our very own Kristy published a book with Karin and Ingrid called "101 Things To Do With Your Kids At The Airport". It is available now online at the following website https://www.createspace.com/3757115

Congratulations Shaquil!
State Senator, Fran Pavley, awarded Shaquil the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Monica’s Games Room Youth of the Year for excellence in character, leadership, and outstanding service to the community and club!

Genie, Carrie, Amanda and Malaika
Genie: ghwang@smmusd.org Carrie: cferguson@smmusd.org
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CORE 4 NEWS

Last Tuesday, on February 7, 2012 we went on a field trip to the Morgan-Wixon Theatre to see a performance of Romeo and Juliet. The play was a modern day version and it had two girls translating the Shakespearean words into simpler, modern day English. Some familiar actors in the performance were Sebastian Shier and Sadie Saltzman. Also, Gabriel Shier was a part of the stage crew and controlled the lights. We enjoyed the performance.
Written by Seanie Prendergast

QuikScience: Team Steelhead Update
Last Friday, on February 3, 2012 one of the SMASH QuikScience teams took a field trip to Malibu Creek State Park. Along the drive to the park, we visited the Rindge Dam in Malibu Creek. This dam is a huge part of our science project because it is one of the reasons the Steelhead Trout population decreased in Malibu Creek. We also stopped by the Tapia Water Reclamation Facility. While we were there, we looked over a bridge, to check out the creek and saw something red. We decided to go down to the creek to investigate. We discovered it was a crayfish catcher for the invasive Louisiana Red Swamp Crayfish. This species is contributing to our problem and we consider ourselves lucky that someone else has taken the initiative to get rid of the crayfish.

When we were arrived at the Malibu Creek State Park, we took a short hike to three different parts of the Malibu Creek Watershed. We tested for macro-invertebrates in two different pools of water and found nearly none. We returned to the first pool we visited and we did a swimming survey. We observed a sandy river bottom and multiple flood plains along all three of the river banks. The water temperature was around 48o F (8.8o C), which was freezing cold. Also, on the banks of most of the streams, there were barely any trees. We concluded that this part of the Malibu Creek Watershed is not a good habitat for Steelhead Trout to spawn.
Written by Kayla Palleiko

Upcoming Events
February 10, 2012 at 6:00 pm - Family Dance
February 14, 2012 - Core 4 starts dance during P.E.
February 17, 2012 - Field Trip to the Broad
February 20, 2012 - President’s Day (No School)
February 23, 2012 - Field Trip to the Skirball Center

Darwin Mendinueto - dmendinueto@smmusd.org
Kurt Holland - kholland@smmusd.org