SAA PAW PRINT. Fall Family Fair Draws Huge Crowd By Sammy Barr

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1 DEC 3, 2013 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 2 SAA PAW PRINT Fall Family Fair Draws Huge Crowd By Sammy Barr More than 1500 people gathered on the SAA campus on Saturday, Oct. 15, to enjoy the annual tradition that is Fall Family Fair. According to Mary Shrader, Director of Development, this year s fair was a huge success, raising close to $90,000. One area that contributed heavily to that total was the silent auction. A set of five replacement windows, donated by Southwest Exteriors, drew a bid of $3000. Ticket sales also contributed to the final dollar amount. One attraction that drew a lot of ticket sales was the eighth-grade Haunted House. This year s spooky spectacular featured zombies, a gypsy, and creepy clowns. Other attractions on the front field included favorites like the bungee jump, rock-climbing wall, and obstacle courses, as well as a couple of new items such as Bouncy Boxing and a Sabertooth Slide. BUILDING CHARACTER FOR 125 YEARS bar, and a giant gummy worm attracted a large Drop in the Bucket crowd. Although the theme this year was magic, Fall Family Fair doesn t just magically happen. It takes hours of planning and preparation. According to Shrader, this year we had more than 80 community volunteers, 140 parent volunteers, and 25 alumni volunteers. Planning for next year s fair is already underway. The fun continued inside the gymnasium where more than 100 cakes were awarded in the ever-popular Cake Walk game, and items including a five-pound Hershey Sixth-grade students, Josh Cross and Justin Pisano, show off cakes they won in the popular Cake Walk game. Pumpkin heads on page 3. Meet author Sichan Siv on page 4. What are we thankful for? Find out on page 6.

2 First-Grade Students Set Sail By Walker Noble First-grade students had a boatload of fun on Friday, Sept. 27, and again on Thursday, Oct. 10, when they took part in The Great Boat Float. As part of their study of Christopher Columbus, each first-grade student is given the task of building the strongest boat they can engineer out of tin foil. The boats are placed in tubs of water and filled with pennies. The student whose boat holds the most pennies without sinking is declared the winner. Following the competition, the students feasted on tomatoes, pineapples, and chocolate milk to commemorate Columbus feast following his famous overseas trip. This year, two different groups competed, and the winners were D r a k e R o w l a n d a n d T h o m a s Gutierrez. Each winner received a ribbon and a trophy. SAA Boys Lead the Way By Max Rosenbloom SAA students are always challenged to be leaders on campus, but on Saturday, Nov. 2, several students took that challenge off-campus when they participated in the Lead the Way race. The 5K race was held at the beautiful San Antonio Botanical Gardens, and it supported the Young Women s Leadership Academy. benefit of being able to count it as part of their community service hours. Those hours will go toward the new Community Service medal, which is awarded when the boys complete 24 hours of community service. The SAA team, (Named what else? The Wildcats!), included fifth-grade students Anthony Fletcher and Rodney Hunter. Both boys said that they had fun participating, and Hunter added that he was impressed that more than 500 people attended the race. This is not the first time that SAA has participated in a project with or for the Women s Leadership Academy. Every year, SAA invites the young women to attend the annual eighth-grade Shakespearean play. In addition to supporting this organization, the SAA students who participated in the race had the added

3 Pumpkins with Personality By Eli Greenberg If you felt like you were being watched more closely in the SAA library during the month of October, it wasn t your imagination. As part of a presentation on their favorite book, first-grade students were required to recreate one of the book s characters using a pumpkin. F i r s t - g r a d e t e a c h e r, L i n d s a y Kramme, said that she chose pumpkins because it was close to Halloween when the students were working on the project. Patrick Snyder, who designed his pumpkin as the main character from his favorite book, Diary of A Wimpy Kid, said he enjoyed the project. It was kind of hard, he admitted. But it was really fun! MEET A PRE-K STUDENT: ROWAN SIMPSON By Max Hart Rowan Simpson is a four-year-old Grizzly Bear, who says that he really loves being a Pre-K student. Rowan likes his teachers, but his favorite part of Pre-K is seeing his friends. His favorite class is gym. Rowan says he likes the lunches at SAA, and his favorite food is carrots. During lunch, you can spot Rowen with his lunch buddy, fifth-grade student Clark Webb, who Rowen says he really looks up to. Welcome to SAA Rowen!

4 Race for Glory By Vivek Beeram This year s Tour de l Academy was a nail biter, but first-grade student Hudson Taylor emerged victorious. The Tour de l Academy is a first-grade bike race, held annually on the front field of SAA. Traditionally, it takes place during the week of Fiesta. This year, however, it was held on Monday, Oct. 21, due to the construction taking place on the front field. The race consisted of four qualifiers, two semi-finals, and one final round. According to Coach Mike McClintock, the boys were excited. They acted like they had ants in their pants, he said. In the final round, it came down to Hudson Taylor and Thomas Gutierrez. Gutierrez fell off his bike, giving way for Taylor to win and join the ranks of illustrious winners that include eighth-grade student Vincent Notzon, and second-grader Harry Hassmann. A Golden Guest Golden Bones author, Sichan Siv, returned to SAA on Wednesday, Oct. 9 to speak to share his message of hope with the students. Siv, who first visited SAA nearly four years ago, returned at the urging of former SAA parent Maggie Houston, who knows the author personally and thought that the students could benefit from his message. Siv s book, Golden Bones, tells the story of how Siv escaped from Cambodia by jumping on the back of a lumber truck, in order to come to the U.S. He left with only his mother s ring, her scarf, and an empty rice bag. His amazing tale describes how he made his way from being a taxi driver in New Put a Cork in It One man s trash is another man s treasure. That s why, every year, SAA donates corks to the wine and beer company, Spec s, as part of a major recycling effort. Spec s has been working with cork recycling companies, Namacorc and Terracycle, to collect corks that will be used for up-sale items, such as cork bulletin boards. Not only does this effort keep trash out of landfills, but as an added bonus, $.04 per cork is donated to the Stehlin Foundation, a cancer research firm in Houston. By Henry Satel By Vivek Beeram York City, to being appointed a worldwide ambassador by president George W. Bush. Siv told the students that he chose the title Golden Bones because it means very lucky, and he explained that he was very lucky to get out of Cambodia alive. His message to the boys? Never give up hope! Baumgardner, who added that SAA has recycled nearly 12,000 corks. Our biggest donors? Sixth-grade student, Drew Stewart, with 2,200 corks and fourthgrader, Robert Gulley, who donated 4.900! If you would like to donate, contact Baumgardner or visit for more information. According to SA A Science teacher, Catherine Baumgardner, Spec s has recycled more than 300,000 corks to date. This is a great opportunity to participate in giving back to the community, said

5 Cross Country is Running and Rolling By Jonathan Duperier The SAA Wildcat Cross Country team enjoyed some pretty sweet victories in an unusually short season. Things got off to a quick start with the season opener, hosted by FEAST at Fort Sam Houston. Fifth-grade student, Jonathan Duperier, made his Wildcat debut,by running the sunny, two-mile course in 13 minutes, 55 seconds, and finishing first for SAA. On his heels was seventh-grader, Josh Uviedo, who finished less than one minute later. The rest of the team made an excellent showing, contributing enough for SAA to win the runnerup trophy. The team went on to compete at the Matador Invitational in Seguin, Texas. Here, it was Uviedo who finished first with a time of 12:08, ahead of Duperier by only two seconds. Both boys, along with sixth-grader, Ben Weis, and seventh-grader, Eddie Garcia, earned medals for finishing in the top 15 for boys. Sixth-grade student, Browning Shemwell, earned the final point for the Wildcats, which helped the team make it to the fifth through seventh-grade boys championship. The third, and final meet of the season, was held at the Lutheran Stampede. Here, eighth-grader, Luke Powers, crossed the finish line first for SAA, finishing an impressive sixth out of 120 runners. Uviedo, Garcia, Weis and Shemwell managed to pull off a second place victory, even with several of the team members absent due to the SAA choir trip. Other notable moments included fifth-grader, Braden Malone, who fought til the finish despite an injury. Several of the Wildcats earned Varsity letters for their impressive showings. Those individuals were: Luke Powers Josh Uviedo Jonathan Duperier Ben Weis Daniel Lemke Browning Shemwell Myles Jonas Elias Hansen Eddie Garcia Coach Natalie Bock said that she is proud of the team, but that the reward goes much deeper than simply winning trophies. The victories are far deeper than the shiny trophies might indicate, she explained. Runners spent the second half of the season shattering their own personal records and realizing new levels of potential and strength within themselves.

6 Fourth-Grade Student Serves Up Victory By Chazz Hunter While most students were just getting back in the swing of school, fourthgrade SAA student, Roan Erwin, was swinging his tennis racket to victory. competes in the Gran Prix State Tournament. Erwin, a member of the San Antonio Junior Tennis Gran Prix team, competed in the Gran Prix State Tournament held at Newks Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels, Sept While there, Erwin didn t give up a single match and was ranked second in the ten-year-old age division. He, along with his teammates, defeated long-time champions, Dallas. Being a member of the Junior Tennis Gran Prix is an impressive feat in itself. Members play in a 12-month long series of singles and doubles tournaments throughout the state. Each year, the top two or three finishers in the Masters Invitational from age divisions are asked to join this San Antonio team, which Giving Thanks Thursday, Nov. 28th, families gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving, a holiday that originated in Plymouth Massachusetts. By James Jacob I am thankful for food on my table, family and friends, and having a house to live in. Eshanth Beeram, Grade 3 Thanksgiving is held in honor of the Pilgrims making peace with the American Indians, and many special foods are served including turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. In addition to the delicious meal, entertainment in the form of the Macy s parade and big football games are a tradition for many families. I am thankful for turkey. Hugh Stone, Grade 1 I am thankful for family, friends, a house to live in, a bed to sleep in, toys to play with, and food to eat. Alex Pruitt, Grade 3. The main purpose of Thanksgiving, however, is to give thanks for all that you have. Here at SAA, all of our students are thankful for something. Here are are just a few of the things that made the list: I am thankful for turkeys,pies, celebrating the arrival of the Pilgrims and going to my grandma s house. Zachary Liu--Grade 5

7 Attention All Would-Be Cartoonists!!! By Jonathan Duperier Think you have what it takes to be a Paw Print featured cartoonist? Students of all grade levels may submit their own, original, hand-drawn comics to the front office. The Paw Print staff will select our favorites to be featured in upcoming issues. Make sure that you don t submit anything inappropriate or insulting, and you may only submit one comic per student. Have fun! Paw Print Staff Sammy Barr Vivek Beeram Jonathan Duperier Eli Greenberg Max Hart Chazz Hunter James Jacob Walker Noble Rett Pena Max Rosenbloom Henry Satel FROM THE EDITOR Thanksgiving may be behind us, but I am personally thankful for each and every talented boy on the Paw Print staff. This is such a dedicated and enthusiastic bunch! They love to write and are always looking for new ideas. If you have a story that you think should be covered by the Paw Print, please me at bosterhage@hotmail.com. Bonny Osterhage The SAA Paw Print San Antonio Academy 117 E. French Place San Antonio, TX bosterhage@hotmail.com