Bulletin: March 16, 2009

Message from Principal Kim
This weekend was Busy for Deal students! Deal cheerleaders delivered a perfect routine at the DCIAA competition on Friday, the Deal Mathcounts team competed on the state-level successfully Saturday with two students moving on to the National level, and many Deal students presented at the city-wide science fair as well on Saturday. Wow! I was lucky enough to be at the cheerleading competition on Friday and it was amazing! The girls were just great! Additionally, it was great to see so many Deal students there to support their friends! Great school spirit! This is the last week of school before Spring Break, the last full week of school before the DC CAS test, and the last week of the advisory. I hope everyone will do their best! When we come back from break, we will have made the final modernization move of the year. All of the classes in the West Wing will move to new spaces! Have a fun and safe spring break! Happy travels to the 60 students who are traveling to Costa Rica and Spain! Principal Kim

Green Tip of the Week
Please completely turn off all school and home computers when they are not in use. Computers still use a large amount of energy when in "sleep" or "hibernation" mode. By doing so, you can help save energy and money for our school.

Weekly News

Go Viking Cheerleaders!

Congratulations to the Deal Cheerleaders for winning 1st place in the DCIAA Cheerleading Competition. The cheerleaders performed a perfect routine. We are so proud of you! We would like to thank all the parents and students who came out to support the team.

The winning team members are:

Jewel Addison, Atiya Artis, Chandler Baxter, Kamari Bowman, Antonia Brown, Makeda Burton, Tymara Burton, Imani Crawford, Monique Edwards, Erica Floyd, Destinee Foster, Tajeh Frazier, Latasha Graham, Tyler Jackson, Cara Kilgore, Kelli Myrick, Sherma Ramakrishnan, Antoneisha Robinson, Katherine Truong, & Shayla Washington

MathCounts!
The Deal MathCounts team did an excellent job in the state-level competition at Lafayette Elementary School on Saturday. Deal Students Derek Levinson and Thuy Nguyen together will make up 50% of the DC State MathCounts team, and have each won an all-expenses paid trip to the National MathCounts competition in May! Congratulations to them! The Deal team as a whole (which also included Sharmen Hettipola and Jenna Wade) came in 2nd place in DC, behind Sidwell Friends. Third place was held by St. Alban's, which was in first place at the chapter round last month. The other two students on the DC team who will be traveling to the national competition are from Sidwell and St. Alban's.

In the totally unofficial state team Countdown round, the Deal team took third place. Deal's Sumika Davidson also competed, as an individual. The other schools represented at the competition were St. Anselm's, Jefferson, Paul, and Maret.

Deal's Pennies for Patients Campaign

Thank you to Deal Community. Your support for the Pennies for Patients Campaign raised over $800. Thank you.

Once upon a mattress update from Ms. Bronstein
At lunch today (Monday) , we would like to see the following people in room 103:

Cheerleaders who did not had a chance to audition for the musical.
Alante Mayben , Billy Schultner, & David Peck
Kelly Sherman, Anna Martone, Atena Sherry, & Zoe Haynes

These are the only people we need to see at this time. With any luck, we will have a cast list up tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for your patience!

Do You Like To Rock and Roll?
Well get ready to have a great time - Steel Tears will perform at Deal for "Music in our School Month" on Friday, March 20 on a Special Bell III schedule. They will perform several Classic Rock Songs as well as their own original songs.

Zeroes Aren't Permitted (ZAP)

As the spring rolls in, more students are showing up in ZAP. ZAP is a unique program to Deal, where students who decide they want to make up some late homework or want to get a jump on the next couple of days, drop by. Deal staff (counselors, the academic advisor) work with kids individually or as a group to give them a leg up on their assignments. Parents and teachers should feel free to recommend to their students that they come on by and get ZAPped.

DC CAS Spring Break Support Session
Student are invited to join Ms. Kim, Ms. Neal, and Mr. D from 10am to 12pm next Monday and Wednesday for reading or math support! All students who are interested are invited to come! Please see Ms. Neal to sign up this week!

NEED A BAGGED LUNCH?

Chartwells has established two types of meal service for students who go on field trips: meals for students who return to school from a field trip after their scheduled lunch period and meals for students who need to take their lunch with them on the field trip.

There is a Lunch Request Form in the Field Trip Request folder in Mrs. Streeter's office. This form must be filled out and submitted to the cafeteria manager at least 10 days prior to the field trip.

Music! Just Imagine!"
March is "Music in Our Schools" month. The Music Department has put together a list of events in celebration of "Music in Our Schools" month. It is the hope of the department to promote this year's theme, "Music! Just Imagine."

EVENTS:

Department of Music Activities

"Music! Just Imagine!" Music in Our School Month

Jazz Workshops - More dates to come - Band room - Jazz Workshop Students
Kennedy Center & Wynton Marsalis Concert - March 16 - Performance Time 5:30 pm - Jazz Combo
Marsalis @ Hardy MS - March 17 - Jazz Workshop starting around 11 am - Jazz Workshop Students
NCA&TSU Vocal Jazz Ensemble - March 20, Workshop 9 am - 9:45 am in both the Choir and Band rooms, Performance 10 am - 10:50 in the Cafeteria - All Choir and Band Students and class that want to attend (concert only)
Steel Tears - March 20 - Performance in the Gym at 2:25 pm - Entire School

Cleveland Trip Next Payment Due
The Cost of trip to Cleveland is $425 per person which includes hotel, judging, some food, and all activities. Please note that transportation is not included at this time, but will be at a later date. As of 2/1/09, everyone should have paid $340. Please forward your payment of $85 as soon as possible. If you have question or concerns about payment, please see Mr. Frye or Mr. Jackson.

Department of Music Listserv
The Music Department uses a listserv in order to communicate information to its students and parents. All students involved with the Department of Music should sign up to be a member of this listserv. To become a member send an email mail to roger.jackson@dc.gov.

Lost and FOUND Textbooks
Safara Bemah - English
Ariel Garay-Flores - English
D'Mani Harrison - Spanish
Karen Herrera - History
Cleo Hines - Science
Nhat Hoang - English, Chinese
Michael Kusnet - Science (Interactions)
Ciara Mackey - Math
Emma Noel - Spanish
Jose Reyes - Science
Karen Velasquez - Spanish
Cordell Wright - History

Please take better care of your books - they are critical resources for our learning community.

Before & After School Activities This Week ...

Monday AM

Ms. Stanley's Reading Group, 7 - 8:30 am

Monday PM

Debate Team, 3:20 - 4:30 pm
Rugby, 3:30 - 5 pm
Ms. Stanley's Reading Group, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Student Council officer meeting, 3:20 - 4 pm
Tutoring with Ms. Mason, 3:30 - 4:30 pm, RM 211
LAYC tutoring 3:30 - 5:30 pm
MathCounts, 3:25 - 4:45 pm, RM 105
Tutoring with Ms. Brown & Ms. Bruce, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
NHD support with Ms. Neal (room 102), 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Yoga with Ms. Kelley, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Success Academy, 3:30 - 4:30, RM 102
Green Scholars DC CAS Prep, 3:30 - 4:15 pm, RM 109
Track Practice, 3:30 - 5:00 pm
City-wide Science Fair Workshop, 3:15 - 4:00; RM 301
Baseball Tryouts in the gymnasium; 3:20 pm
Jazz Combo Performance at the Kennedy Center at 5:30 pm

Tuesday AM

Concert Choir, 7:45 am
Ms. Stanley's Reading Group, 7-8:30 am

Tuesday PM

Student Government meeting, 3:20 pm, RM 207
Human Rights Club meeting, 3:15 pm
Ms. Stanley's Reading Group, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Drumline, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
International Cooking Club, 3:15 - 4:30 pm
Art Club, 3:20 - 4:20 pm, Ms. Washington's classroom
LAYC tutoring 3:30 pm
Chinese Club, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Team Olympians Study Hall with Ms. Kinzer, 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Wednesday AM

Ms. Stanley's Reading Group, 7 - 8:30 am
Concert, Choir, 7:45 am

Wednesday PM

LAYC tutoring, 3:30 - 5:30 pm
Show Choir, 3:30 pm - 4:15 pm
Mathcounts, 3:25 - 4:45 pm, RM 105
CAPS, Counseling Session, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Spanish Club, 3:20, RM G-5
Track practice, 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Ms. Mason's Running Club, 3:30 - 4:30, RM 211

Thursday AM

Ms. Stanley's Reading Group, 7 - 8:30 am
Cleveland Band, 7:45 am
Concert Choir, 7:45 am

Thursday PM

Rugby, 3:30 - 5 pm
Ms. Simpson-Wayne's Video Exercise Class, 3:30 -4:30 pm
Ms. Stanley's Reading Group, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
LAYC tutoring, 3:30 - 5:30 pm
Jazz Combo, 3:30 pm - 4:15 pm
Team Aztec - A Quiet Place, 3:30 - 4:15 pm, Cafeteria
Green Scholars DCCAS after school tutoring , 3:30 - 4:15 pm, RM 303
Team Olympians Study Hall with Ms. Kinzer, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Success Academy, 3:30 - 4:30 pm, RM 102
A Quiet Place, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Competition Choir 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Green Scholars DC CAS Prep 3:30 - 4:15 pm, RM 303
Track Practice 3:30 - 5:00 pm

Friday AM

Rock Choir, 8 am

Friday PM

As always, students should only be at school with parent permission!

Food for Thought...

Howard Gardner on Developing Intellectual Qualities for the Future

"What kind of minds should we be cultivating for the future?" asks Harvard multiple-intelligences guru Howard Gardner in this article in The School Administrator. He suggests five:
            · The disciplined mind - By this, Gardner means learning what it means to think mathematically, scientifically, historically, and artistically. This must go deeper than memorizing facts and figures, he says. Nowadays, mastering more than one discipline, or at least having multiple perspectives, is at a premium. A level of knowledge and perspective is vital for the other four qualities.
            · The synthesizing mind - With so much information bombarding us, the most valued quality in the 21st century, says Gardner (drawing on the work of Murray Gell-Mann), is one that "can survey a wide range of sources, decide which is most important and worth paying attention to, and then put this information together in ways that make sense to oneself and, ultimately, to others... Those who can synthesize well for themselves will rise to the top of their pack, and those whose syntheses make sense to others will be invaluable teachers, communicators, and leaders."
            · The creating mind - Those with this quality are "eager to take chances, to venture into the unknown, to fall flat on his or her face, and then, smiling, pick oneself up and once more jump into the fray," says Gardner. Americans value creativity, but it can be squashed by unwise practices, he says: "Educators protect creativity by encouraging multiple approaches to an assignment, asking students to explain their apparently flawed responses, and rewarding those who make mistakes but then learn from them." Creativity doesn't happen in a vacuum, says Gardner. You need disciplinary knowledge and some ability to synthesize. "You can't think outside the box unless you have a box!" he says.
            · The respectful mind - In the 21st-century we will all encounter thousands of people from widely differing backgrounds. "A person possessed of a respectful mind welcomes this exposure to diverse persons and groups," says Gardner. "A truly cosmopolitan individual gives others the benefit of the doubt; displays initial trust; tries to form links; and avoids prejudicial judgments." Parents, schools, and leaders in the outside world all shape children's level of respectfulness.
            · The ethical mind - Adolescents and young adults ask questions like, "What kind of person do I want to be? What kind of worker do I want to be? What kind of citizen do I want to be? What would the world be like if all persons behaved the way that I do...?" Parents and schools play an important part in guiding this quest. Ideally, an ethical person lives in accordance with the answers, even when they go against self-interest.
            The respectful and ethical minds are sometimes in conflict. For example, a person who observes bad behavior within an organization may wonder whether to be respectful of the hierarchy or blow the whistle. Gardner says that he himself was conflicted when Danish newspapers published cartoons poking fun at Islamic fundamentalism. At first he was inclined to support the free-speech right to publish the cartoons, but he later changed his mind out of respect for "the sincere and strongly held religious beliefs of others."
            How can schools develop these five qualities in students? Gardner offers a few suggestions:
-          Disciplinary knowledge is an essential foundation;
-          Synthesizing is an important skill; combined with disciplinary knowledge, it forms the basis for creativity;
-          Schools should protect and nurture creativity;
-          Exemplars of each quality are important, both within the school (for example, how it handles cheating by students and unethical behavior by staff members) and historically;
-          It's important to have a sense of the developmental trajectory of each quality;
-          Educational leaders should "outsource" qualities in which they aren't strong - for example, disciplinary knowledge or expertise at synthesizing;
-          However, leaders should take ownership for ethical and respectful behavior, which cannot be outsourced;
-          No educator is a perfect model of all five qualities, but students should see role models - parents, teachers, and others - who exemplify each quality at a high level;
-          Students should be taught that "sometimes these minds will find themselves in tension with one another and that any resolution will be purchased at some cost."

"The Five Minds for the Future" by Howard Gardner in The School Administrator, Feb. 2009 http://www.aasa.org/publications/saarticledetail.cfm?ItemNumber=11027&snItemNumber=950&tnItemNumber=
These ideas come from Gardner's book, Five Minds for the Future (Harvard Business School Press, 2007). Gardner can be reached at hgasst@pz.harvard.edu.