E.A. Young Academy is a not-for-profit, private academy created to generate transformative changes to meet  the needs  of the K-12, gifted, talented, and high ability scholar.

The Source for Firehawk News and Information
Vol. 5 Issue 4 - October 15, 2016

A Look Ahead
Mark Your Calendar:

Oct 19     PSAT (Grades 8-11)
Oct 19     K-7 Field Investigations
Oct 20     Box Tops Due
Oct 22     Aphelion Workday
Oct 28     Halloween Event
Nov 14    FLARES Meeting
Nov 17    Early Release
Nov 24    Running Club Race: CRC Thanksgiving Day Run

To access the General School Calendar, click here. This calendar is downloadable/uploadable to your smart phone, as well.  iCal: http://bit.ly/EAYAOfficialCalendar  
PSAT October 19
The PSAT is on Wednesday, October 19 for scholars in grades 8-11. What does that mean?
-Get a good night's rest.
-Eat a healthy breakfast.
-Bring a snack.
-CHARGE YOUR CALCULATOR.
-Bring your social security number.
-Bring (at least) two #2 pencils.

All other scholars will be on a field trip on this day. Please make sure that you have no appointments scheduled!
Haunted House Party, October 28!

We are excited to announce our Second Annual Halloween Dance and Haunted House on Friday, October 28th! See above image for times and age groups. Tickets will go on sale starting Tuesday, October 25th. Each ticket will be $5 and that will cover the Haunted House visit as well as entrance to the dance.  ***Please note that scholars in K-5 must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Thank you!
101 Donations Initiative

To help give our faculty the tools and supplies they need to provide these awesome learning experiences and adventures for our scholars and to help maintain our school environment, we are excited to announce the  101 Donations Initiative!   
What kind of items are we talking about?  EAYA faculty members compiled a list of items needed in the classroom, then we placed those items on a Dalmatian (get it? 101 Donations?) on the bulletin board in the hallway near the restrooms. Each Dalmatian is an item that our Faculty have identified as a need either in their classroom or in the school as a whole. 
How do I know what kind, type, color, quantity, etc. to buy?  On the back of each Dalmatian, we have outlined important information pertaining to that specific item. This includes an item description, desired quantity, vendor, and estimated cost.
What happens after I buy the item?  Once you make the purchase, please bring the item to the front office. We will be tracking the donations in hopes we can reach our goal of 101! When you bring in the item, we will also provide you with a donations receipt.
Note: Please do not give the donations directly to the faculty member that requested the item. Please bring the item to the front office so we can document we received it, provide you with a donation receipt, and then we will distribute the item to the appropriate faculty member. 
Wow, you guys are really clever, how do I participate?  Select and remove a Dalmatian from the 101 Donations board in the main hallway. Be sure to take it with you so we do not get duplicates of the same item.
ELA C
Kerensa Prostek, BS MEd
Scholars are continuing to learn about the survival skills needed after Brian, the main character in our novel, Hatchet, has to learn to survive on his own. The character has learned to rely on his strength and perseverance. The scholars are reading Holes, in which Stanley, the main character, also has to learn to survive on his own, but in a different environment.
ELA F
Allison Ross, BS MEd
Scholars began reading Brown Girl Dreaming, a memoir by Jacqueline Woodson, written entirely in free verse. To process their thoughts related to the poems, scholars are responding via journal entries. One entry from the past week challenged the scholars to write about events and memories that shaped their identities. Scholars will eventually develop their own identity poetry.
4/5 Advisory/Science & Social Studies/QUEST
Kerensa Prostek, BS MEd




Our 4/5 group visited  Camp Tonkawa in Collinsville, Texas this week. They are reinforcing the learning and research they have been engaged in at school about Native Americans. Here, they are attempting to set up a tipi and learning about outdoor survival!  The scholars also learned how Native Americans adapted to their environment using the tools around them. They also learned how to shot a bow and arrow.
ADVISORY: The scholars will be designing a school newspaper about EA Young. They are learning the importance of conveying information in a newspaper format. For QUEST, the scholars are beginning their journey on a research project. The "finale" each day is my Advisory group's favorite part of the day. The class DJs decide what is on the playlist!
Sixth Grade Science
Brenda Edins, BEd

We are so grateful for the families who provided donations so that we could purchase science lab supplies for our sixth graders! Through Adopt-a-Classroom, we were able to receive donations from the Sizemore family, Teresa Arnold and an anonymous teacher. Also, thank you to Veronica Gunter, who donated a microscope! Donations are still needed as we build a basic set of lab supplies!
FLARES News
If you are a Firehawk parent and haven't yet joined FLARES, please go to this link to pay your dues, get involved and purchase spirit wear!
You can sign up for reminders from FLARES to be sent directly to your phone by following these directions:
1. If you want to receive notifications on your phone, go to this link. Follow the instructions to sign up for Remind. (You will be prompted to download the free app.)
2. If you don't have a smartphone, or would just prefer to receive a text, you can sign up by texting @hbh83 to 81010. If this doesn't work, try texting @hbh83 to 817-310-8427.
*Your FLARES membership includes an associate parent membership in Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented (TAGT), our state's gifted organization, and a Firehawk directory!

All parent volunteer hours should be recorded on the Track it Forward   website. This information is needed for grant applications that are processed during the year. Please log your hours ! You can also download the Track it Forward app!
Facebook Updates
Join Our Mailing List
Fall Youngfest is November 12!

The Fall Youngfest committee has been hard at work to make this year's event fun for the whole family. In addition to the chunk offs, there will be a dessert cook off, a "crockpot" cook off and games for all. Pokémon will be featured at this year's event, along with nachos and snow cones.   Please sign up here  to help out or to bring items. Most of the shifts are short so that you can help out and still enjoy the Fall Youngfest. This is a great opportunity for MS and US scholars to earn Purple Cord hours by helping out with all activities except for Pumpkin Chunkin supervision and ticket sales.  If you have questions about specific tasks, please contact Anne Pfluger (flarespresident@gmail.com ) or Rachel Hernandez (Hernandezhouse3@gmail.com ). Thank you in advance for your help in making this event a success!
Kindergarten/First Grade
Mimi Turbeville, BA


SCIENCE: Our K/1 students have been studying life cycles in Science, and they have chosen to focus in particular on the life cycle of the butterfly! They have been observing caterpillars eating and growing in a special habitat in their classroom. About 8 days ago, the caterpillars made their chrysalides! At that point, the students wanted to see the shed caterpillar exoskeletons up close, so they took a look under the microscope. Of course, the scholars have been watching the chrysalides every day since then for any signs of change. Just a couple of days ago, right after school began, they noticed that their first butterfly was emerging! Then, around 11:00, they got to see the second butterfly actually "hatching" out of its chrysalis! They "cheered on" their new friend as it started to experiment with flight. What an amazing experience!

ELA:  We shared our journal writing with our 4/5 buddies this week! They were most impressed with what they heard! Our writing and proficiency progress is evident, even to other scholars!  
EAYA Running Club


Our Running Club met up this morning at the Running Scared 5K in Watauga! Coach Mike, Jonathon G. and Tyler Y. all placed first in their age categories for the 5k! Ben A. was first in the mile. Wow! Amazing job, Firehawks!

EAYA's Running Club is open to scholars in grades 4-12. We encourage all our scholars to be active but the physical demands of running club merit the decision to limit participation. Our scholars will have an opportunity to run with their classmates during their HP classes in addition to our new Saturday morning runs. Coach Mike invites all scholars in grades 4-12 to join him at Bear Creek Park each Saturday morning at 8 am. We also need several parent volunteers to join us each week. Please follow the link below to sign up as a running club volunteer. All volunteers will need to be background checked as well. Check your email or ask Aimee for a background check form. EAYA Running Club t-shirts are available for purchase - use the link below to order your shirt. Shirts are $15 each and are made of a dry wick/fit athletic material that will stay dry throughout a run.  Here is the link for v olunteer sign-up and T-shirt ordering .

Running club participants are encouraged to join their fellow Firehawks at a few community fun runs & races. We have several planned in the coming months. Information for each run is listed below. Participants can choose the distance they are comfortable running in each race - each run offers a mile fun run and 5K while others offer even greater distances.

This race offers a $200 prize to the school with the highest number of participants!  Feel free to reach out to Coach Mike directly at with any questions about running club (mpetruso@eayoungacademy.com).
Math Lab C
Kerensa Prostek, BS MEd
The scholars have been learning about how budgets are important and how they relate to life experiences. They have also learned how to apply their knowledge of changing decimals into percents and percent into decimals.
Math Lab D
Allison Ross, BS MEd
During the past couple of weeks, scholars explored microloans through specific scenarios. Through these scenarios, they developed equations to determine debt, revenue, and repayment of a loan. Soon we will examine fair trade concepts and compare the prices of fair trade and non-fair trade products.
Seventh Grade
Allison Ross, BS MEd

ADVISORY: This year, the scholars decided to adopt and serve Operation Kindness, a no-kill animal shelter in Carrollton. In order to learn more about the organization and brainstorm ways to serve, they invited Nancy Berger, a representative of Operation Kindness, to join us on campus. Next, they will complete the volunteer application and begin training to work onsite. Scholars also plan to organize a paper towel drive later in the year. Next Wednesday, October 19th, scholars will head to the Dallas Arboretum for a science lesson, exploration, and Pokémon hunting.
SOCIAL STUDIES:  Scholars are digging into citizenship and historical figures that made significant contributions as citizens. They will develop trading cards in the style of Pokémon to express the key traits and contributions of the individuals.
SCIENCE: After exploring physical science through the avenue of candy, scholars are now beginning to investigate body systems, heredity, and adaptations. In the coming week, they will teach the class about one system and explain how Pokémon would use the given system to defend itself.
QUEST:  After creating a web of interests and learning how to find sources on an online database, scholars have begun to investigate a particular topic of their choice, hoping that the articles that they find help them discover a more specific avenue for research.
VISUAL ARTS: Scholars are continuing to explore with lines and are nearly finished with their zentangle hair designs. We look forward to showing off the artwork in November!
Honors Biology
Carol Raymond, BM BMEd MEd
After exploring biological macromolecules, scholars delved into the world of the cell. They have compared and contrasted the prokaryotic cell with yeast, animal and plant cells. They have enjoyed a rousing game of biology Taboo (with digital cards created by themselves) and have discussed some fabulous current events in biology. Each week a scholar picks an article for the class to discuss. This week's article introduces a theory that wolves have been domesticated into dogs more than once as shown by mitochondrial DNA!
Algebra II
Carol Raymond, BM BMEd MEd
Scholars have been learning how to solve absolute value equations and inequalities graphically and algebraically.
AP Research
Carol Raymond, BM BMEd MEd
Scholars have created their research questions and are working on determining which research articles should be a part of their literature review. They are also all reaching out to experts in the area of expertise of their topic area to assist them through their project. A special thanks to Ms. Mattie and Mrs. Lyda for all of their help in the research question formation process!
Tea Collection Fundraiser
Tea Collection, an online children clothing store for kids 0-12, has some amazing clothes and accessories that are very high quality. They last for years! We have a new fundraiser through October 19 with this great company! For every purchase we make, 15% of the money will be donated to the school. Our unique promo code is: SDF16EAYOUNG

In order to shop, participants will need to go to TeaSchoolDays.com (not TeaCollection.com) and enter the code in the promo code box at checkout and click "apply code." Once you arrive at TeaSchoolDays.com, all customers will need to log in or create an account with Tea. TeaSchoolDays.com is a private site that mirrors TeaCollection.com. Our sale opened up on 10/12/2016. Once you enter the site, you will see that all Tea Collection items (excluding non-Tea merchandise or Tea clothing sets) have been marked down 15%, a special discount for School Days participants! Once the code is applied, our school will receive 15% of the the final order total before tax and shipping, for each purchase using this code. In addition, the customer will receive free 6-10 business day shipping (6-10 business day shipping must be checked for code to apply) which will appear on the last page of checkout. Orders placed without this code cannot be adjusted.
Impound Lot is Open!
Now that we've hit our pace for the year (sorta) and to simulate real life experiences within our Fiery Hills Microsociety, we are now converting the Lost and Found table into an Impound Lot. A retrieval fee of 9HE will be assessed to retrieve items that have been delivered to the Impound Lot. The Impound Lot fee will be increased incrementally as the year progresses. If items are in the Impound Lot longer than one week, they will be circulated into the uniform closet or donated. The Impound Lot is conveniently located in the front office and is open weekdays from 7:30 am until 4:00 pm. Parents, please help us by grabbing a Sharpie and labeling items as well. Thanks so much and please let me know should you have any questions.
Community Fundraising Info
AMAZON SMILE:   Be sure to connect EA Young Academy to your Amazon account by going to Smile.Amazon.com.
TOM THUMB: EA Young Academy participates in Tom Thumb's Good Neighbor Program. Our school ID is 13241.
KROGER: EA Young Academy participates in the Kroger Community Rewards Program. Visit this link and apply the school's ID number to your Kroger Plus Card. The school ID is 47813.
Please also continue to collect Box Tops. You can submit them in the office.
SHUTTERFLYWhen you purchase at Shutterfly through the storefront link, the school receives 13% of the sale (which is much higher than the Amazon Smile percentage)! Customers can still use Shutterfly's coupons! Check it out here!