To all of you who made it to conferences, thank you!  It was good to meet the new parents, and good to catch up with the returning families.

 

Due to the three day week we did not have a podcast last week.  We will have a new episode this Friday.  Stay tuned for some exciting stories!

 

Our 7th/8th graders have all gone through the film "pitch" process and are now working on scripts.  We have some very interesting  films in the pipeline, from a documentary about a Middle Eastern women (now living in Walla Walla) who escaped an arranged marriage, to a comedy about people with very odd addictions, to a drama about a girl who loses her sense of adventure as she grows up only to rediscover it.  I can't wait to see these films!  Students will soon be checking out equipment.  Please help your child with equipment safety and proper use. 

 

As part of the filmmaking unit the 7th/8th graders will visit the CrewSpace media lab at the public library this week (block 1 on Thursday and block 2 on Friday).  This space is open to the public.  I hope the kids are able to make use of the equipment and expertise available there.

 

The 7th/8th graders will also be participating in the 2013 Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards program (see email from last week).  This is a first for any class in the Walla Walla school district.  It will also be exciting.

 

The 6th graders are working on their research of "intentional communities", where people live and work using a central guiding theme.  They will write, produce, and record podcasts for each community.  These will be added to our Pioneer iTunes podcast page.  I will send an email when they have been uploaded.  In addition, 6th graders are learning about the origin of human civilization and societies.  We will soon start our study of ancient Egypt, a unit which includes the very popular chicken mummification project!  More on that as we get closer.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  And, as always, thanks for your support!