Weekly Blast 2.8.19
February 8, 2019 -
School Dates to Note:
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A Note From the Headmaster
Hello Parents, For the last week or so, the concept of integrity has been something on my mind. My 8thgrade students and I are reading To Kill a Mockingbird. What is apparent in the text is that Atticus Finch is a man of integrity. One character states, “Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets”. Atticus says of himself when asked by Scout as to why he is defending Tom Robinson: “if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, and I couldn’t even tell you and Jem not to do something again”.
On Tuesday, Mr. Withers and I spent time with other teachers and administrators in Great Hearts discussing various topics; particularly four hours on integrity. What came out was the idea of integrity as not merely keeping one’s word but honoring it. Here is why; we are bound to break our word. This breaking of one’s word could be a result circumstances, forgetfulness, poor planning, or just a lack of care or willingness. The real test of integrity comes if we are able to honor our word if we break it. Will we own up to not fulfilling our commitment and blame only ourselves? I was certainly convicted of the ways I do not honor my word, and sadly for me, it is with those of whom I am closest. One example is that at least 2-3 times a week I get home later than when I tell Mrs. Navarrette, and rarely apologize and acknowledge I did not keep my word. I just assume it is not a big deal, and she will understand that the job requires it. However, integrity should be seen by me all the time as that which is of the greatest value and makes life meaningful. Integrity is something I hope I model for our teachers, you, and our students. My hope is that our teachers model integrity for our students, so they come to see its value. GP is a place where we value integrity and hope to uphold it; I know it is something of value to all of you as well, and for that I am grateful. Sincerely, Traffic Flow The barricade will be moved for student drivers to exit and will be made available if Prep parents need to pick up athletes to transport to an off-campus game. For home athletic events beginning shortly after dismissal, Prep parents should enter through 83rd Ave and move through the queue to find a parking space in the regular lot. Prep parents of athletes will receive an athletics placard they can show Archway faculty on traffic duty, who will then direct them to park/wait in the West/Student lot when coming to transport players to an away game. Placards will be given to the student-athletes of Spring Sports in a player’s packet. Mr. Drake and/or athletic personnel will be present for any remaining Winter home games or early dismissals to direct parents to utilize the West/Student lot. Change is something difficult, and it will take time to adjust. Your understanding is appreciated, and believe our Prep traffic flow will run smoothly and quickly if parents heed the instructions to arrive no earlier than 2:55 p.m. as was communicated first semester. High School Winter Dance Who: All Glendale Prep High School Students Griffin Robotics At the last competition, we placed second overall and in this competition, we were recognized by the judges with having a strong design and work ethic, and they presented us with the Judges Award. I am very proud of how we have improved each season. Tomorrow, Saturday, February 9th, our team is competing in their last qualifying tournament to try to make it to the State tournament. Come cheer on the robot and its human drivers at Canyon View High School, starting at 10:30 a.m. Currently, we are raising funds, about $1000 for a dedicated 3D printer for custom designed parts for the robot this season and next. Feel free to contact Mr. Roper at broper@glendaleprep.org if you have any questions or have an interest in supporting the team this season or next financially or by volunteering. 2019-2020 Senior Course Selection The American Rhetorical Tradition This course teaches the art of rhetoric as generated by the classical world and exposes students to the robust American tradition of oratory. Students will learn this famous liberal art by being instructed in rhetorical theory, by imitating the best writings and speeches America has to offer, and by regularly producing original compositions. Throughout the course, they will both learn and practice: the various types of rhetoric, the progymnasmata exercises, the five canons of rhetoric, the three modes of persuasion, and much more. All of this will be done through exemplars of American oratory, such as Madison’s The Federalist Papers, Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address”, The Lincoln Douglas Debates, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a Dream” speech. The goal, of course, is not to produce mere well-spoken young men and women. On the contrary, this course has in mind the cultivation of eloquent young men and women who love truth, goodness, and beauty as embodied in our common American heritage. Logic and Coding The goals of this course are to give students (1) a grounding in the progression of logic from Aristotle through Boole, (2) a foundation in basic coding, and (3) the philosophical connection between the two, (4) initiation into seeing the world through the lens of computation, which is proving a rethinking of the world on a scale at least as large as the introduction of calculus caused, and (5) an understanding of the limits of formal logic and computation. All of this is oriented towards the end of getting students to think computationally and algorithmically. Senior Trip If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Roiger at rroiger@glendaleprep.org. 9th Grade Field Trip Regular Uniform Dress Code is required. Students will depart by bus at 8:15 a.m. sharp (please arrive by the start of school at 8:05 a.m.) and must bring a sack lunch to be eaten after their visit. Only water is permitted on the bus. Students will be released at the usual time of 3:05 p.m. The expectation is that all ninth-grade students will attend. If your student is unable to attend, please contact Ms. McLoughlin at tmcloughlin@glendaleprep.org. Middle School Epic Cycle 2019: Night of the Event:
Community Investment Like everything that happens at our school, the Senior Thesis program is a remarkable partnership between students and teachers. Your support in Community Investment is vital and provides both students and teachers with the resources they need to excel! We are honored to publicly recognize those families and friends who have contributed to this year’s Community Investment campaign. To make a pledge to Glendale Prep’s 2018-19 Community Investment campaign you can: Thank you for supporting our scholars! Griffin Athletics Winter Sports Pictures are scheduled for Monday, February 11th after school. End times for each sport will vary. Winter Sports Awards Ceremony is Tuesday, February 19th. We will be honoring our teams from both the Middle School and High School on that night in the Glendale Prep Gymnasium. Middle School awards will begin at 7:00 p.m. and High School at 8:00 p.m. There will be a 15-minute intermission between the two ceremonies to celebrate with cake. Those families who do not have high school athletes may leave after cake; however, you are more than welcome to attend both ceremonies. Young men should wear a dress shirt and tie, and ladies should wear a modest-length skirt or dress with hems that approach the knee or dress pants. For more about the Non-Uniform Dress Code for Special Events please see the Family Handbook here. We hope you all can make it. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Mr. Drake at sdrake@glendaleprep.org. College Counseling Summer Program: ASU’s School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership (SCETL) will be hosting a Civic Leadership Institute for current freshman, sophomores, and juniors on June 16-21. It is a week-long, intensive residential seminar and last summer two of our students attended and had very positive experiences. Additional information is available here. If you are interested, please let Mrs. Sarbacker know. Last Call for the SAT Workshop: We will be holding a Spring SAT Workshop. Please view here or a flyer and here to sign up. The initial baseline test is tomorrow, Saturday, February 9th from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Classes will be held on Mondays and Thursdays from 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. beginning on Monday, February 11th and ending on Thursday, April 4th. Please note that instead of meeting on February 14th we will meet on Wednesday, February 13th as we will be bringing in a presenter to review strategies. The cost is $399 and checks can be made payable to North Valley Learning. Course Selection Forms: Juniors, please remember to submit your Course Selection Forms to Mrs. Sarbacker no later than Friday, February 15th. |
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