The Great Skate is SELS' main community-building and fundraising event, held yearly at the end of the school year. It's a super fun, costumed roller skating party held at the Northstar Resort skating rink with a DJ, raffle, silent auction, and lots of wild times!

The 2022 Great Skate will be our 6 annual end of school party. Mark you calendars! This year it's scheduled for Friday, June 3.

We'll begin planning the event early next year and will need lots of help! Please let us know  if you can be part of the planning committee or if you have any ideas to help make this year's event another memorable one!

Contact us at: ptc@truckeecharterschool.org to find out more, or put your name in as a volunteer.

Together We Are Crew, Not Passengers

-The SELS PTC

The Bell Crew has begun work on their final product—creating a 3-D, handmade alphabet in their own maker space! In preparation for their final product, students had an opportunity to work with a local ceramicist at the Community Arts Center; they learned pinch-pot techniques and how to apply glaze to finish their work.

The Bell Crew also went on fieldwork to two local artisan galleries—Riverside Studios and Made & Maker—to gather information about what makes a product “high quality.”

Back in the classroom, students have been busy brainstorming objects they could make to represent the alphabet and planning their individual projects. These kindergartners will be hard at work over the next few weeks, hammering, sewing, "papier-mâché-ing”, working with clay, and more!

The second-grade Seaborg crew is diving deeper into literacy! At this point in the year, students can articulate what they’re good at and what they’re working on in both reading and writing. Whether it be a comprehension goal, retelling the story using story strings, or a fluency goal that encourages rereading, the crew is showing great strength to target their specific needs under the guidance of their teachers.

And back by popular demand, the Family Letter Journals help keep parents in the know about what we are doing in the classroom. These sentimental journals show the growth of these young writers and create a special written dialogue between students and their family members. This week in their journals, students wrote a poem about November, inspired by our author of the month, Cynthia Rylant. Literacy skills and lessons are embedded in the heart of all our classroom activities.

Gratitude was the focus for the Welch Crew in the month of November, and we would love to send shout-outs to our community partners who have helped make fall extra special. Thank you to the SELS PTC and Excellence in Education for the generous grants a few years back to purchase in class OSMO software to enhance math, spelling, fractions and more.

Another amazing partner is the Sunrise Rotary Club in Truckee. The Rotary gifts dictionaries to 3rd graders each year, and many of them remain in good use throughout the school years. Finally, a huge shout-out to the Nevada County Library, Truckee Branch for hosting our crew every few weeks to teach us about all the great learning that happens in our public library. Thank you—from the bottom of our hearts.

The 4th graders have been busy learning about the Outliers of the Gold Rush in our second case study. We have learned how to research people, pull information out of articles and create our own stories of these outliers who “Mined the Miners.” Then the students created hand-sewn History Mystery Books with clues about their outlier and a big reveal at the end.

We had an expert come in from Ancient Artifacts who shared Gold Rush relics, history, and stories. The best part was when the students helped “pan for gold” and each person left with their own “nugget."

The Brisbin Crew has been hard at work on our second case study, "The Outliers," as part of their Gold Rush Expedition. Students each chose a character who "Mined the Miners," and participated in informational protocols prior to researching their "Outlier." Once students were finished conducting and gathering research, they created a "History Mystery" book about their character. Students shared their books to see if members of their Crew could identify the particular Outlier by the clues on the pages. After a Gallery Walk, students then participated in a Town Hall Meeting, presenting their ideas in character, based on a guiding question.

In addition, students participated in a gratitude study and discussed how they can apply it to their daily lives. As a crew, they brainstormed ideas for a Gratitude Project. They created a list of ideas for projects that helps illuminate their gratitude toward others. Students were encouraged to share their projects with loved ones over the break.

Our latest fieldwork in the Worster crew rose to new heights, both literally and figuratively! We enjoyed exploring the tops of trees and beautiful Commons Beach on the edge of Lake Tahoe. At the ropes course, students not only pushed themselves as individuals, but were tasked with helping another student through a challenge and cheering on their crew. After walking and talking with partners as they strolled down to the lake, the crew took on collaborative challenges and journaled.

The Santos Crew had several history experts visit the classroom or zoom in this month. We had an ethnomusicologist play medieval instruments, an art historian from UNR teach us about the differences between Medieval and Renaissance art, a capoeira mestre to teach us how history is passed down through call and response songs, and Mr. Knight who taught us about the progression of armor technology.

Now we are ready to put our knowledge to use as we write our own poetry, practice art techniques and create artifact replicas.

Final product work is in full swing for McMains Crew's Planet Earth Expedition! We took a trip to the Tahoe Environmental Research Center in Incline Village to learn more about how geoscience processes are at work in our local area, as well as pick up some exhibit tips for our own projects. Can your child tell you about the faultlines under Lake Tahoe? How about where Point Reyes USED to be before it arrived where it is now? Or how earthquakes travel? (Hint: a slinky toy will help you visualize it!)

8th-grade math is playing with linear functions and the slope-intercept form to recognize patterns in and among graphs, tables, figures, and linear equations.

In English Language Arts, the crew just finished a long process-write arguing whether keeping animals in captivity is ever justified. Their focus was on using proper evidence, punctuation, and citation. We just completed a Question Formulation Technique to kick off preparation for a narrative writing piece to perform in a 3-Minute Story Slam next month.

The Who Am I Expedition continues with some guided meditations and artwork for self-discovery and many crew members have had their Core Gifts revealed—have you heard your child's yet?