Eagle Express

February 13-17, 2023

SOAR to New Heights and Go Where Eagles Dare!

Principal's Corner

The Crow & the Pitcher

In a spell of dry weather, when the Birds could find very little to drink, a thirsty Crow found a pitcher with a bit of water in it. But the pitcher was high and had a narrow neck; no matter how he tried, the Crow could not reach the water. The poor thing felt as if he must die of thirst.

Then an idea came to him. Picking up some small pebbles, he dropped them into the pitcher one by one. With each stone, the water rose a little higher until, at last, it was near enough so he could drink.

"In a pinch, a good use of our wits may help us out."

The Crow's determination, while born of necessity and thirst, drove her to think of the problem complexly, observe the world around her and use it to her advantage. A little ingenuity goes a long way; more than that, the act of thinking about problems stresses and strengthens the mental muscles needed to solve other issues. Sometimes letting our learners struggle helps them lift the cognitive weight that strengthens the parts of their minds that make them resilient, and, as in the case of the Crow, in hard times, they will have the skills to survive.

I love fables! They remind us that our earliest lessons came from the world around us.

Cheers Eagles!

Reflections

Black History Month

Click on the images below to listen to an original poem by poet, Amanda Gorman, "The Hill We Climb".

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Celebrating Black educators at Woodlawn Academy

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Ms. Hunter, 5th grade teacher

Growing up, I didn't have black teachers. Being able to be the black educator for kids that never had that experience makes me proud.

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Ms. Williams, Middle School Instructional Coach

We are now in an empowering, inspirational movement that I am super proud to be a part of and live through.

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Ms. Martinez, 8th grade Math and Algebra teacher

The best part of being a black educator is when I do have African American or black students, they are able to see someone like me. I graduated from SAISD, and when they see me, they see hope that they can accomplish more than they may see coming from their neighborhood. I am an example for them. That drives me to continue to be the educator that I am.

Learning

Storytelling

Our 4th graders have delved into their IB Unit, How We Express Ourselves: Storytelling expresses beliefs and values. They are exploring the concept of storytelling through many contexts- reading poetry, mythology as a way to explain weather patterns, the ways data tells a story, and so forth. Through their inquiry, one student made a deep connection to a poem they read stating that hearing the stories of others give you more access to being able to emotionally connect versus just hearing facts about the event.

PYP Exhibition

Congratulations to our 5th grade students who accomplished much growth and reflection during our annual exhibition journey! We had a successful night during PYP Exhibition Showcase!

Thank you to our families and our community that came out to support!

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Community Projects

Our 8th graders gave audience to the 5th grade on the eve of their PYP Exhibition. This practice was mutually beneficial as it allowed the 5th graders more practice to confidently share the outcomes of their hard work. At the same time, it provided the 8th graders with a reminder of the expectations for their Community Project presentations in March. The value of these culminating projects will affect our students throughout their academic careers.

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Researching and Communicating

Our future 8th graders build up their research and presentation skills throughout their time in the Middle Years Programme (MYP). Practice with the processes of researching and communicating prepares our students to complete their Community Projects more independently and confidently. This culminating project also prepares our 8th graders for the rigors of high school, which requires these same skills.

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Students in Ms. Yzaguirre's Texas History class analyze primary and secondary sources to answer research questions.

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Students collaborate throughout the research process, which can take place digitally or on paper.

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Mr. Lozano's 6th grade Design students communicate their research findings and prepare to present them to their audience.

Inclusion

This past week, Sam Houston High School hosted a basketball skills event for students of SAISD through APE (Adaptive Physical Education).

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Harder. Faster. Stronger.

Training and competition has not slowed down for our eagle athletes. The cross country team competed this weekend at Brackenridge.

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Running Club is Back!

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Battle of the Books

This past Saturday the book club members competed in either the Battle of the Books (3rd-5th) or Book Battle Royale (6th-8th) at Whittier MS. Close to 100 students from various SAISD campuses were in attendance. For months our book club members have been reading collectively 20 award- winning Bluebonnet or Maverick books in order to compete.

Although our teams did not rank in the top 2 to advance to city competitions, all club members did amazing and were successful as they worked together as a team to answer questions in 30 seconds. Thank you to our librarian, Ms. Cavazos, who worked countless hours supporting our students through their preparation to compete!

We are so very proud of these "Eagle Readers!"