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 13 - March 11, 2017

A Look Ahead
Mark Your Calendar:

Mar 13-17     Spring Break
Mar 20          MS Trip Information Meeting 6 PM
Mar 22-23     Group/Club Photos 
Mar 26-31     MS Trip
Mar 26-Apr 2 US Trip
Apr 4             FLARES Meeting
Apr 12           Spring Market Day
Apr 14           Scholar Holiday
Apr 24           Teacher Appreciation Week Begins

To access the General School Calendar, click here. This calendar is downloadable/uploadable to your smart phone, as well.  iCal: http://bit.ly/EAYAOfficialCalendar  
Save the Date! IGNITE is coming!

IGNITE Registration is OPEN!
Visit this link to register online!
Ignite! Summer Intensives will be held during the weeks of July 10th and July 17th! Ignite! is EA Young Academy's answer to summer camp! Ignite! Summer Intensives offer extraordinary opportunities for students looking for something above and beyond the usual summer camp experience. Ignite! is open to all students in grades K-12, whether or not they are enrolled at EAYA.
Save the Date! Five Years Young, Y'all!

It's time to Save the Date for the EA Young Academy Annual Auction Gala which will take place on 
Saturday, May 13, 2017 at the Marriott Courtyard DFW Airport North .  This year's event is celebrating "Five Years Young, Y'all" and features a western theme with amazing food, adult libations, a live and silent auction, line dancing lessons and casino games complete with amazing prizes.   And you never know- you might be able to take a ride on the mechanical bull.   The attire for the evening is COWBOY CHIC so dress up those boots and jeans with your fancy threads and be ready to enjoy a wonderful evening.
See's Candies YUMraiser


We have some really sweet news for you! The See's Candies EAYA 2017 "Yumraiser" has begun! Click the link and order before March 30! The school will receive at least 20% of each purchase! Please share with your family and friends! You can also fill out a paper order form at the school. Orders will be delivered to your scholar's classroom by April 13th!
K-3 STEM Collaboration
Erin Austin, Mimi Turbeville, BA

The K/1 and 2/3 classes collaborated on a fun experiment this week.  Knowing that the K/1 group is studying states of matter, Mrs. Austin piqued their interest when she showed them a common bar of soap and asked how they could 
change its state of matter.  What if we put it in the microwave? We all predicted what we thought might happen.  It DID change!  We knew that some of the SOLID soap turned into a GAS because we could SMELL it in the air!  The texture changed as well. Thanks for including us, Mrs. Austin!
Math Lab D
Allison Ross, BS MEd
Scholars presented their Theme Park Tycoon projects last week which showcased rides that involved operations with negative integers. They even developed ticket prices and estimated attendance and revenue for their park.
Sixth Grade QUEST
Gayle Brown, BS MBA


Scholars are moving forward with their subjects of interest and looking for ways to revise and narrow their research questions. Many are deciding if they will use surveys, observations or lab experiments to help answer these questions. We also took a break one day and built fun things with Legos with partners.

Upper School Spanish
Marilu Rosales, MEd
The Upper School presented their Spanish stories, complete with masks and dramatic interpretation, as part of "La Magia de un Cuento." I am so proud of their hard work!



ELA F
Allison Ross, BS MEd



Scholars successfully designed and conducted their escape room entitled "The Mystery at Porter Manor." Scholars in grades 4-12 worked through several puzzles to complete the room, with 11th-12th grade scholars completing it with the best time, 8 min 30 seconds remaining.
Geometry
Gayle Brown, BS MBA
Geometry scholars are in the midst of perfecting the use of trigonometric functions and the various applications to the real world.
Lower and Middle School Spanish
Marilu Rosales, MEd
On Thursday night, our Lower and Middle School scholars presented their stories and masks to a captive audience. Wonderful job, everyone!




Upper School Field Investigation to the Perot




Cupid's Auction Outings


Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Raymond auctioned off some fun, relaxed visits at All About Cha, a fun cafe in Southlake, for the middle and upper school students. And they took advantage!
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Curious Minds Event!
Attention, parents of scholars in 4th grade and up! Register now for "Curious Minds: Navigating the Standardized Testing Landscape for the Gifted & Talented Child This free workshop will discuss the advantages of out of level testing through the Duke tip program for scholars in grades 4-8 and will then discuss special preparation strategies especially for gifted scholars preparing for the PSAT, SAT and ACT assessments. This is open to the public, so first - register, and then invite friends! It is hosted by EAYA with presenters from Knowsys Educational Services. Register here
K/1 Fine Art
Allison Ross, BS MEd
Scholars are in the process of practicing for their silhouette puppet show and will present their fairy tale stories to other Lower School scholars the week after Spring Break.
K-1 STEM Explores the States of Matter!
Mimi Turbeville, BA
The Kinderhawks (K/1) have been engaged in a fun and explorative unit about matter and its states and properties! Check out some of their recent experiments!


First question: Will matter change if we put Mentos in Coke?  We each put one Mentos candy in the tube. Then, we put the tube on the top of our Coke bottle. Krish was the brave volunteer who pulled the plug, and wow! There was quite a geyser of Coke! We learned that when the solid Mentos combined with the liquid Coke, GAS was created and had to escape! Then, our CURIOUS scholars wondered if Sprite and Diet Coke would create even more gas, making an even higher geyser! So, outside we went to test. Sprite went pretty high, but Diet Coke won the contest!  It went WAY high! What fun science, creating GAS by mixing solid Mentos candies with different carbonated liquids!

Another experiment mixed two common household items.  
What might happen when we mix baking soda with vinegar?
Ria remembered that a powdery substance we used another day (Borax) dissolved into the water, so she guessed that the baking soda would just dissolve. Kai, Cadence and Ryan guessed that the vinegar's state of matter would change, maybe into a solid. Krish stuck with his favorite prediction: that it would explode! Hmmm...would it make a gas?
To be able to see the matter that is created when these two things mix, we would each need a balloon and a bottle!
Everyone measured two tablespoons of baking soda and used a funnel to put it into his or her balloon.  We each put our baking soda-laden balloon on top of our bottle filled just a little with vinegar. Then, we let the two mix and watched the results! Ria jumped way back, worried Krish's hypothesis might come true! The GAS that was created when vinegar and baking soda mixed BLEW UP our balloons!

Later this week, we used HEAT to change the state of some matter!  We started with some crayons, which we decided were SOLID. We chose and broke apart our favorite colors and added them to a muffin tin. We placed them on a HOT plate, and the solid crayons quite quickly turned to liquid, and even a little bit of GAS! After they were removed from the heat source, they cooled back into liquid, but this time, they were much more interesting: rainbow crayon disks!

During our own science lesson today, we changed some states of matter again!  We started with LIQUIDS: cold water, glue, and warm water with some Borax dissolved in it.
We measured, poured, mixed and combined! The LIQUIDS we combined soon turned into a SOLID: GAK! What fun!
Math Lab C
Kerensa Prostek, BS MEd


Scholars were having fun playing games while still reviewing math concepts. Our first game of Capture the Fraction is much like was with a deck of cards. They had to turn the card over and then compare to see who had the bigger fraction. The next game of Smaller to Larger was fun because they had to order the decimal from smaller to larger.
Health Promotion
Amy Klein, BS MS

Our 2nd/3rd grade class had a very engaging lesson in dental hygiene from Keller dentist, Dr. Leslie Nason. Dr. Nason helped scholars learn about the importance of healthy eating along with healthy dental care to ensure a lifelong smile. Our students had a great time practicing brushing and tooth examination with a giant brush, dental mirror and full set of teeth. Everyone enjoyed wearing their exam masks and gloves, too! Thank you, Dr. Nason!
4/5 Advisory/Social Studies/Science/QUEST
Kerensa Prostek, BS MEd
Scholars are continuing to plan their fundraising for their chosen organization, Make-a-Wish Foundation. They are planning to host a fun run for the class and a video game opportunity for the other grade levels. Make-a-Wish has a separate section for Kids' Wishes where you can see the different kinds of wishes granted for just kids.
SS-Scholars are comparing Articles of Confederation to the Constitution. They really got excited when they researched what else was going in the world during that time period. The invention of potato chips were fun to see.

ELA-Our field trip to the Holocaust Museum proved to be very enlightening. After reading a survivor's story, Four Perfect Pebbles, it was eye opening to view some of the conditions where the Jewish people were forced to lived.
Sixth and Seventh Grade Social Studies
Brenda Edins, BEd; Allison Ross, BS MEd



Ms. Ross and Ms. Edins' sixth and seventh grade scholars presented their recent projects to the school and parents last week. The sixth graders examined the impact of humans on the environment in Latin America or Europe. They picked one issue, explained it, and had to develop a "transformation plan" for the given issue. Scholars came up with unique plans to solve issues related to trash in Ireland, deforestation in Brazil, and even coral bleaching in Belize. The seventh graders selected a significant problem in American history and engineered a useful structure influenced by the natural world that would serve to benefit the U.S. population in a given time period and geographic region.  Beehives, bromeliads, lemongrass, and the process of photosynthesis all provided inspiration.

Seventh Grade Advisory
Allison Ross, BS MEd
Advisory - Scholars wrapped up the paper towel drive and we are in the process of determining a delivery date and a time to serve on site with Operation Kindness! Thank you for your support and donations! We also enjoyed our visit to the Dallas Holocaust Museum and lunch at Klyde Warren Park with the other Middle School scholars.


Eighth Grade
Gayle Brown, BS MBA
ADVISORY: We are beginning a study on empathy. We will be looking into how that applies to the current immigration discussions and political decisions that are being made. 


HUMANITIES: In January, scholars wrote expository essays regarding organizations that touch our government in some way. They delved into why these organizations were founded and how they work within our government and ultimately how they affect our lives today. Among those organizations researched were NATO, The Electoral College, the FBI and CIA, ISIS and Al-Qaeda, The State Dept, the Secretary of State, the NSA, and Homeland Security. Most recently, scholars took the knowledge they gleaned and turned it into creative projects as a way to teach classmates of their chosen organizations. We played Electoral College Candy Land to learn about the differences in votes among our states, engaged in a game that compared and contrasted ISIS and Al-Qaeda and one involving the intricacies of the NSA, a game of "Jenga" as a metaphor for building of The Wall by Homeland Security, and finally we looked at  evidence to solve an FBI investigation regarding a criminal who robbed a bank. Scholars recently read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and learned about Mark Twain's mastery of writing in specific geographical dialects used by those living in communities along the Mississippi River during the 1800's as well as appreciating the significance of his social commentary on slavery. They also read The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank in preparation for their field trip to the Holocaust Museum in Dallas. Class discussions centered around the Nazi occupation in Europe and the horrors of war in the 1940's and ultimately realizing that the vivid impressions of Anne Frank's experiences still provide the most amazing testament to the human spirit.
Algebra II
Carol Raymond, BM BMEd MEd

Scholars just completed their study of matrices and completed investigations that led to a better understanding of properties of both the identity and inverse matrices. While listening to a bit of "The Matrix" soundtrack for inspiration, they also became pros at solving systems of equations using matrices. (And to think just two weeks ago they shuddered when I said the word "matrix"!)
Honors Biology
Carol Raymond, BM BMEd MEd
Scholars have set out on their six week project of designing their own ecosystems. Their current goal is to either create or select at least 20 organisms within various species groups that meet certain characteristics. For example, two of the animals must have identified vestigial organs, at least three must have homologous body structures and three must have analogous body structures. For each organism, they must provide the complete taxonomy. For those organisms that they create, they must list the taxonomy for an organism that comes as close as possible and then create the classification from the point that the organism differs from the real life organism. Be on the lookout for some extreme creativity!
AP Research
Carol Raymond, BM BMEd MEd
It's analyzation and writing time! Scholars are extremely busy analyzing their data and wrapping their brains around what their data tells them. They are also completing quite a few reflections as they prepare for the oral defense portion of their presentations that are coming up mid April.