Welcome to the 2015-2016 school year! I hope your summer has been wonderful, full of exploration, play, and good family and friend time. As we relish in the long summer days and warm summer nights, please begin looking forward to our journey back in time as our fall expedition, Gold Dust and Gunsmoke kicks off.

Below are some important fieldwork & school dates that we have put on our fall calendar:

September 1– Back to School Night, 5:30

September 4– Walking fieldwork to Meadow Park, Building Background Knowledge Event

September 22 – Akers Crew – Walking tour/ Gold Rush Museum at Presidio

September 23 – Akers- San Francisco Maritime National Park

October 7-8 Akers and Brisbin to Coloma and Gold Rush Live

October 22– Akers- Empire State Mine Tour (to be confirmed) & Reclaiming the Sierra Expert, Gold Mining Historic Markers, and Deer Creek Historic Mining Trail –Nevada City

* August 29– Saturday- is the 120th annual Miners Picnic at Empire State Mine. Optional event for students, just wanted to let you know in case you want to join in on the fun!

November 19- Teichert Tour (local ) – Akers

Also, I wanted to check in with you to see if you have begun reading our required reading this summer– Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson and/or Sounder by William H. Armstrong. The all-school read is The Little Prince, by Antoine Saint-Exupery. We will be conducting book clubs on these titles to help you get back into the swing of discussing, responding to, and writing about what we read! Please let me know if you need any assistance finding these books.

Mrs. Brisbin and I are brainstorming, inventing, and communicating all summer about how to make next year your best year yet! I am incredibly excited to get to know my special, new crew, to learn more about YOU and to help you be the very best you can be!

As a teacher, I do depend on parents to volunteer to have the best experience for all students. There are a number of ways that a parent can help in the classroom and not all jobs need to be done in the classroom or during school hours. I have also started a Google doc to share with you for sign-ups:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jRbdcG9GQJdbIEG-5UqPVWD7vWnQovdJvFxVtKmpUfE/edit

I have started another Google doc for our crew list information. This is a great place to find everyone’s primary information. Please take some time and fill out your phone number, email, mailing address, etc.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OfqJF0_AaUSYQI9qX2JlwSLksHWBNmVf1TxSuJtFyD8/edit

I may need to share the Google docs with you- so you may receive a couple of emails with the shared Google docs.

Our  school supplies list is also on a google doc, just in case you want to get a head start and hit any Back to School Sales. Please be sure to sign up on our google doc for specific items to be shared in our crew.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yvN28HYTlHgDPukETG5Zjx1TW_80WZhw24QY9np4Ei4/edit

MOVEMENT IS KEY

I am so excited to announce that our crew will be the piloting class for stand up desks! A generous thank you to the Shane McConkey Foundation and The Truckee Tahoe Airport who help support us financially with acquiring 25 stand up desk. (I will have one too.) I have been working on this with the help of a friend, Juliet Starett, who guided me through my many questions. We will have stools if needed for the kids and there our many places where they can sit when needed.   I encourage you to go to her website to get a good read stand up desk at http://standupkids.org/.

Here are a few highlights I borrowed from her website:

  • Sitting too much causes disease and orthopedic dysfunction, and impedes children’s ability to learn.
  • Kids at standing desks burn between 15% to 25% more calories during the school day than the ones who remained sitting.
  • Obese students the desks had an even bigger impact, increasing calorie use by up to the 25% to 35%.
  • Small movements at standing desks, such as fidgeting, has a large impact on calorie expenditure.
  • Kids in standing classrooms are more engaged.
  • Classroom management is easier.
  • If kids are given the opportunity to move throughout the day, they will do so.
  • When students move more, their education improves.
  • Children feel happier when they can move more and aren’t restricted to a chair.
  • Classroom behavior improves with active learning.
  • Children who move more have greater creativity.
  • Educational test scores improve.
  • Students can shift their bodies and change position when they need to stay focused.
  • Standing prevents the body’s tissue adaptation to static positions (i.e. short hip flexors & hamstrings, rounded upper back, poor shoulder position) AND it does not erode the child’s physiology like sitting does.
  • Standing maintains the integrity of all the complex motor skills required for optimal physical function.
  • Reducing daily sedentary time literally reduces cell aging, which means kids will live longer and be more healthy

In September 2014, the  journal Pediatrics published research that found kids who took part in a regular physical activity program showed important enhancement of cognitive performance and brain function.  The findings ” demonstrate a causal effect of a physical program on executive control, and provide support for physical activity for improving childhood cognition and brain health.”

There is a lot of information in this first newsletter. Please take time to read and if you have any questions, send me an email. I will be on a family vacation from July 25th -August 5th and will answer emails when we get home.

Continue to have a fantastic summer, keep your kids reading, and enjoy!

See you soon!

Mrs. Akers