This Month At Eastwood..

THIS WEEK AT EASTWOOD…2.8.2010

DOOR DECORATION CONTEST

Eastwood teachers have a chance to win a prize by decorating their door to represent a college/univeristy they attended.   Door decorations may include pictures of their school’s mascot, campus buildings, campus activities, school colors,  and even photos of when they were in school.  The teacher judged to have the “best door” wins a prize.

The teachers of Eastwood are showing their true colors of where they came from, academically speaking, and the colorful doors have added new excitement to the school building.     By visually showcasing their alma maters, teachers show the history of their college/universities and provide students with important information about the school and what it has to offer its students.   As a school of college-bound students, Eastwood is helping promote these different colleges where our teachers matriculated.

- Selena Delgado

OUR CALENDAR OF EVENTS

2/8 

INCOMING STUDENT INTERVIEWS

This year we received 160 applications for the incoming freshman class and Eastwood hopes to accept about 125 ninth-grade students.  At the moment interviews are being held for current applicants who have submitted all their required credentials/paperwork. The first interview day was Saturday, January 30, when 45 potential Eastwood students were interviewed by teams of teachers and current Eastwood students.  Interviews will be scheduled for most Saturdays between now and early April.

Teachers who have volunteered for interviewing include Ms. Lowe, Ms. Ritchie, Mr. McMurchy, Mr. Platt, Mr. Norman, Ms. Littlefield, Mr. Forker, Ms. Hinojosa, Mr. Burgess, Ms. Vance, Mr. Trevino, and Ms. Dravis.   Ms. Limon has volunteered to provide the parent component of the interview process.  Interviews are usually held from 8:30am to 3pm with a one hour lunch break, or from 8:30 to 12 noon.

Plans call for all applicants to be interviewed over the next six-seven weeks.  Students currently enrolled in Eastwood are being encouraged to volunteer to sit in the interview to answer any questions the new students may have and to take him/her for a tour around the school. Those students who volunteer receive community service hours.

- Ana Rodriguez

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

Eastwood Academy has begun offering a number of after-school enrichment classes, in addition to the tutorial sessions provided by teachers in preparation for TAKS or to support students needing additional time in subject areas.

• Mr. Norman has a music class that meets on Wednesdays from 3:45-5 after school. Students will enjoy learning how to play guitar, the piano, and drums.  The class even includes vocal lessons. So, if you love to jam, head on over to Mr. Norman’s classroom.
• Ms. Lowe and Ms. Littlefield have a Scrabble Club that meets every Monday.  If you would like to improve your vocabulary and love to challenge yourself with sophisticated words, join the Scrabble Club.   Word games can help improve your SAT scores!
• Ms. Vance has a Video Game Club after school on Fridays from 3:40-5 PM.  If you would like to compete with your gamer friends, then go to Ms. Vance’s room for an afternoon of video games.
• Mr. Platt offers “Bored” Games every Monday. If you like to play awesome games – different from the more mundane varieties — and challenge your mind to adventure, then Bored Games may be the place for you.   Challenging your mind can improve your ACT scores!

Other after-school activities include:

• M-Fri   Homework Help/Independent Test Preparation, in the Library, 3:45-5 PM
• T, W, Th Fri    Computer Open Lab, in Mr. Platt’s lab, 3:45-5 PM

If you are interested in any of these enrichment activities, plan to show up and participate.   If you have an idea for another class, see Ms. Dravis and make your suggestion known.

- Janeen Gutierrez and Yesenia Castaneda

WHAT IS 5TH PERIOD AND SHOULD I BE SCARED OF IT?

Some Eastwood students currently participate in 5th period classes, such as SAT preparation and Literary Genres (which is preparation for the Name That Book competition.)   Other students participate in 5th period tutorials or enrichment classes.

Plans call for all students to be actively engaged in some 5th period activity.  Eastwood would like to make available to its college-bound students enrichment activities which supplement the school day and help prepare them for college/university life.    These activities are designed to help students define themselves and create their own success.

“No one goes through life untested and the answer to these tests is positive energy — the kind of positive energy consisting of vision, trust, optimism, enthusiasm, purpose, and spirit that defines great leaders and their teams.”  - from The Energy Bus

THE VALENTINE’S DANCE

Our dances here at Eastwood are rather fun despite the fact that this is a small school. On Friday the 12^th our school’s senior class will be hosting this year’s Valentine’s dance, and it will take place here on campus from 7p.m. to 11p.m. The seniors initiated the decoration process on Monday the 8^th and this will continue through Friday the 12^th.  A group of seniors bought decorations this past Saturday  to transform the Assembly into a Valentine-themed wonderland.  The dance theme includes decorations in the traditional pink and red colors along with red heart cut-outs pasted on the walls.   Tickets can be purchased from any senior class member at any time within school hours; presale tickets will be sold at three dollars each and if you do not purchase a ticket until Friday evening, you will pay five dollars at the door.   This should be a fun and memorable chance for students to spend with their loved ones here at Eastwood Academy.

-Gerardo Briano

PASTA FOR PENNIES

Olive Garden’s Pasta for Pennies is a national fundraising program that partners with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in raising money to help support the fight against blood-related cancers, to fund important life-saving initiatives and to provide critical services to patients and their families. Since 1994, Pennies for Pasta has raised more than $42 million to fight leukemia and lymphoma and has provided a wide range of services to patients and their families.

This year Eastwood Academy took past on the fundraiser and is honored to take part in something contributing to our society and we look forward to doing it again.  During the four weeks of January, Eastwood students and faculty contributed their “pennies” (and nickels, dimes, etc…) to this cause.   At the end of the fundraiser,  all the contributed coins, dollars and checks totalled $1,000.   Ms. Ritchie-Hinde’s B3 class was the winning class with $270.18 and Mr. Parker’s class was the runner-up with $267.91.   Congratulations to both of these classes, and thanks to all the generous people at Eastwood Academy!

- Miriam Villanueva

THE COMMUNITY GARDEN:  BECOMING A REALITY

Students have created gardening boxes on campus, across from the Jack In The Box restaurant.   The soil has been prepared and we are waiting on the weather for temperatures more conducive for growing our plants.   BUT, we are not idle.  Work has begun — inside, in the library!

On January 26, 2010,  Ms. Dravis, our librarian, with help from some seniors, planted the following seeds in mini-hothouses: Tall Top Early Wonder Beet, Yellow Pear Tomato, Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, Cilantro, Ferry’s Round Dutch Cabbage, and Taste of Asia Snow Pea Taichung. The purpose of these plantings is to start young plants and have them ready for transplanting as soon as the weather warms. At that point they will be moved from the window sills in the library to the community garden. The plants are making great progress in the library window.

- Brenda De La Cruz

THE SEA TURTLE CHALLENGE

The Sea Turtle Challenge participants are busy at work!

Starting last Saturday, February 6, Sea Turtle competitors along with Ms. Cooper headed to the beach to collect driftwood to be used for their sculpture.   Since materials are scarce, they looked for materials such as styrofoam, cardboard and any other usable castoffs.   The CSTEM (Communication, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) organizing group helps by providing the rest of the supplies the competitors will need.

On Sunday, February 7, GIS competitors were assigned to a team to complete a Google Sketch of a village design.  The following Eastwood teachers are working with their students on this project: Ms. Littlefield, whose Art classes have begun their designs for the murals;  Mr. Fischgrabe, whose Robotics classes have started building their own robot; and Ms. Lowe, whose literature classes will soon begin an illustrated children’s book.   Other classes will become involved and will work with the Sea Turtle participants as they prepare for their competition.  If you are interested in being part of the Eastwood effort, please see Ms. Cooper — there is much work to be done!

- Emily Hernandez

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ABOUT EASTWOOD

Eastwood Academy is an award-winning college preparatory charter high school just southeast of downtown Houston. We boast a diverse student body of approximately 325 students. All of Eastwood Academy’s students take a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum and complete 80 hours of community volunteer work prior to graduation. Our students enroll in dual credit courses, a strong Advanced Placement curriculum and we base our daily actions and behaviors on the IB Learner Profile.

At Eastwood Academy, we know that an excellent education can give you the skills you need to succeed in both college and in your professional career. In addition to our nationally recognized college preparatory program, our students participate in field trips to universities, attend lectures given by community leaders, and have access to several full-time counselors to help guide them in all areas of academic life. We offer Pre-SAT and SAT college entrance exam courses that ensure our students achieve the scores they need to get into their chosen university. Students can also take dual-credit courses to obtain college credit while still enrolled in high school. We equip all of our students with the skills, the experiences and the intellect to develop into internationally minded people who recognize their common humanity and shared guardianship of our Eastwood community, the East End community and the planet.

Our dedicated staff of educators approach each student with the attention and direction that suits their needs. At Eastwood Academy, your continued success in both school and life is our highest priority and greatest reward. If you would like more information, or to schedule a meeting with one of our enrollment counselors, please call (713) 924-1697

Join us in our learning as we dedicate our time and our energy into one mission, one vision and one purpose: to be college-bound!