SPIRIT WEEK 2018: Week of 10/8-10/12

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1 1 SPIRIT WEEK 2018: Week of 10/8-10/12 Ms. Picara & Mrs. Silverman on Twin Day, Judah & Charissa on Throwback Thursday, and Mr. Pytel & Raelin on Throwback Thursday. Dear Families, We are sending out our Weekly Update a day early to make sure you are in the know about all of the Homecoming events we have planned for the weekend. Many students took the SAT and PSAT on Wednesday, and we of course kicked off our first annual Homecoming and Spirit Week with Twin Day, Throwback Thursday, and tomorrow (Friday, 10/12) is Color Wars! Seniors will wear black, juniors will wear royal blue, sophomores will wear white, and freshmen will wear silver or grey. The Admin Team purchased a t-shirt for every student, teacher and staff member with our new Design Thinking Academy logo. We will have a Pep Rally during Block 5 tomorrow, Friday 10/12 in the Sanctuary, and weather permitting, we will have some fun activities and contests outside. Students can wear their new shirts at the Pep Rally. We thank you for your patience and understanding as we addressed the air quality concerns earlier this week. As you know, we were concerned with higher than normal levels of carbon dioxide (not to be confused with carbon monoxide, a much more dangerous gas). The building air quality has improved significantly and we are working closely with our facilities team to have a long term solution in place soon. Please know that you should always feel free to contact myself or Mr. Burke

2 2 directly for any questions or concerns. We are currently sharing the Interim Head of School Role, so please feel free to reach out to either of us at any time. Sincerely, Principal Stephanie Silverman, NBCT DTA Upgrades & Updates! New Illuminated Display case in Main entry. Currently on display are the winners of the All School Design Challenge and Alejibres from Ms. Yonker s Spanish class. Soon, we will be installing large transparent gel-cling reproductions of 2D Designs created by Ms. Sirajee s class.

3 3 Check out our new signage on The Annex! Home to Math, Driver Ed, Music and ELA classes, the Annex is now officially named with bold white signage so new students and families can better navigate our campus. In the Classrooms This Week! Entrepreneurship Students Participate in the Stock Market Game - Grades 4-College/Adult The Stock Market Game (SMG) gives students the chance to invest a hypothetical $100,000 in a real-time portfolio while they compete against their peers across the state. They think they're playing a game. You know they're utilizing technology to improve math scores and learn economic, financial, and business concepts all while building 21st century skills that will last a lifetime. Follow up the SMG experience by entering InvestWrite*, a national essay competition which adds a language arts and critical thinking component to the SMG experience. Pictured Right: Ms. Penza introduced her Art & Design students to color theory and mosaics using paper collage on grey ground. Pictured Above Left: Design by Michael Schumate and Natasha Crespo. Ms. Sirajee s students applied their understanding of Function Transformations to create works of twodimensional design! We will be reproducing the student designs large-scale on transparent gel clings

4 4 for our main entry stairwell to achieve a student-designed interdisciplinary project and spectacular stained glass installation! Stay tuned for details on this project as it develops. Pictured Right: Alejbre paper mache and found object sculpture created by Adrian Walker. Ms. Yonker s Spanish class recently completed their Alebrijes projects. A Selection are on view in the new display case in the main entry. Alebrijes are traditional Mexican folk crat from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. They are formed using either paper mache or by carving dried copal trees. They often depict fanciful creatures that are a combination of many different animals. They are then painted with colorful designs. According to the folk tale, each person has an alejibre, or spirit guide that delivers them from the land of the living, to the land of the dead. What would your spirit guide look like? What combination of animal features would it have? What colors and designs would it be decorated with? These were some of the guiding questions (of course, asked and answered in Spanish!) in Ms. Yonker s class as students planned, designed, and created three-dimensional Alejibres sculptures. HOMECOMING 2018!! See pages to follow for a complete Schedule of Events. All staff and students will receive a Design Thinking Academy t-shirt for Homecoming 2018!

5 5 Pictured: Our New DTA Wolf Mascot! Go Wolves! The 2018 Design Thinking Academy Pep Rally will be held during Period 5 on Friday, October 12 th in the Sanctuary! Music, cheers, and recognition of our athletes will kick off the 2018 Homecoming Weekend Festivities. All Homecoming Athletic Schedule: Boys Homecoming Soccer Game- 10/12/18 Place: Kirk wood Soccer Club River Road New Castle, DE Time: 4:00 pm against Christian High School Girls Homecoming Field Hockey Game- 10/13/18 Place: Kirk wood Soccer Club River Road New Castle, DE, Time: 9:00 am against McKean High School DTA HOMECOMING DANCE! Location: VFW, 649 Churchman's Road Newark, DE, Time: 7-11 pm Faculty Chaperones & PTO Members will be present for the entire duration of the dance.

6 6 A Special THANK YOU to our PTO! Here are just a few of the items that our AMAZING PTO has sourced out to provide for our classrooms and students: snacks and drinks for dances and Parent Night & the Homecoming Dance, graph paper and resources to contact outside agencies for math tutoring, basketball hoop, the water dispenser in the cafe for PE classes, and provided a Military Safety Kit, large rolls of construction paper, a laminator, bean bag chairs, lamps and rugs for classrooms, vocabulary games and headphones, plants for classrooms, and additional white boards. THANK YOU for all that you do to enhance and improve our school for our students and teachers! Welcome Ms. Heather Brison-Brown, our new Dean of Students! Ms. Brown will work closely with Mr. Harris to continue ensuring an optimal school climate for community, respect, personal growth, and success. Ms. Brown has years of experience working with adolescents and providing socialemotional support. Ms. Brown wants to help all students be the best they can be. We are excited to have her join the team! The Design Thinking Academy Parent Teacher Organization s official contact information is: DTA PTO website: DTAPTO.org PTO's address is: DEDTAPTO@gmail.com Meetings start at 7pm and are on Tuesday evenings except for the 11/5 Monday meeting; 11/6 Tuesday, is Election Day Meetings: 11/5, 12/ Meetings: 1/8, 2/5, 3/5 4/2, 5/7, 6/4

7 7 Important Upcoming Events: Monday, October 15 th : 5pm Charter School Accountability Committee Hearing (CSAC), Towsend Building, Dover, DE Come show your support for our school! Design Thinking Academy Students, Staff, Teachers, and all of our Parents and Guardians are invited to attend this very important meeting to speak on behalf of our great school. You may also write letters to the Department of Education on our behalf. 10/16 Cooper Hewitt Teen Design Fair in NYC! All School Design Winners to Attend with Teacher Chaperones of their Choice! 10/19 Students taking Holocaust & Genocide in Literature & Film will be going on a Field Trip to Washington DC -United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Mr. Doherty s class will be visiting the Newseum. 10/25: First Marking Period Ends. 11/1-SCHOOL PICTURE DAY! 11/2- Field Trip to Philadelphia, PA -Tempus Conference for Young Entrepreneurs -50 students attending. Student Delegates will attend the Mock Election Convention at Legislative Hall in Dover with Ms. Wilkes