• Memorial Day (no school): May 29
• Celebration of Learning: June 15
• Juneteenth (no school): June 19
• Passages: June 21-22
• Eighth Grade Graduation: June 22
• Last Day of School: June 23 - minimum day

Staff Appreciation Week

We're celebrating SELS staff May 8-12! We will need volunteers, so please check your email and sign up if you can.

The Great Skate 

Now on the last day of school - June 23 - at the Northstar California skating rink. We're looking for donations for the silent auction. If you or your business has something to donate, please let us know by May 26. Send your ideas to Monica Rothschild at msalas88@gmail.com.

Yearbook

The SELS PTC is donating yearbooks again this year so that every student receives one!

Coffee Cart

Our next Coffee Cart will take place on May 5! Swing by and enter the Great Skate raffle for a chance to win $500 CASH MONEY. 

Join the PTC as Co-Chair

Join Danielle Gallagher, Staci Tsuda, Carrie Riley, and Kelly Vickers on our SELS PTC as Co-Chair! We meet once per month at a local restaurant where we discuss upcoming PTC events, decide on grant allocations, and more. Dads are encouraged to apply as well - we'd love to have a dad in the mix. Want to learn more? Email us at ptc@truckeecharterschool.org.

Together We Are Crew, Not Passengers



-The SELS PTC

The Telfer Crew is wrapping up our mini expedition on weather. We are learning about weather patterns and forecasting and will be creating and sharing our SELS Weather Forecasts in the coming weeks.

We have also started our Swimming Adventure lessons at the Rec. Center pool. The students love learning how to be safe in the water and enjoy having fun playtime with crewmates!

As the snow melts, we are looking forward to planting the Kinder-Garden and finally getting to the labyrinth build! 

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The Bell Crew has been commissioned by Lord Manahan himself to build a castle here in the highlands of SELSshire! The proclamation came via the Royal Messenger... and there followed a visit from two ladies of the court. Lady Akers and Lady Brisbin surveyed the land to select the site of the castle and now construction is well underway, and overseen by Master Bell, a local engineer and master mason.

The first graders have been employed as masons, overseers, mortar mixers, and mortar carriers. They have become experts about the castle defenses necessary to protect the Lord and his family.

This castle-building serves as the kick-off to our spring expedition entitled, Once Upon a Time. During this first case study (That Was Then/This Is Now) we will focus on how people lived and worked differently hundreds of years ago. We are hoping for a visit from Lord Manahan, himself, very soon. He has promised us gold coins in exchange for our good labor!

Seaborg Crew News

Our new expedition, Anato-ME, is focused on teaching students about the importance of keeping their bodies and minds healthy and growing. Through this expedition, students will conduct research on various body systems and share their learning through informative writing. Moreover, the curriculum features numerous hands-on projects and models to aid students' understanding of the subject matter. For example, students explored the layers of a bone and learned about the different hand tendons. By engaging in these types of activities, students will develop a deeper appreciation for the intricate workings of their bodies and understand the importance of taking care of themselves.

Welch / Hansen Crew News

We are continuing with our Anato-Me Expedition, and currently studying the skeletal system. The crew has been working on their informative writing and it is so impressive! We also created bone models and experimented with glow paper to make X-rays. We recently had an opportunity to attend a Reno Aces game, which was so much fun!

The Akers Crew had guest art teacher, Shari Lacy, teach the students about abstract art. Inspired from a post Shari had shared on social media, Ms. Akers invited her in to connect history with modern day abstract art. The students collected photos from a historical time period, getting inspiration from uniforms, landscapes, indigenous and enslaved people, women’s clothing, stories and more. Using line, color, texture, form, and shape, they created a unique piece of abstract art that connected to a historical period. "Such inquisitive, intelligent and creative kids who made me feel extremely welcome and they were eager to explore art!" said Shari.

Could the students in the Brisbin Crew have any more fun? That's what it's all about, right? This week we wrapped up our Twisted Fairy Tale Skits, with students learning how to twist a well-known plot around, and they were hilarious! We truly do have some talented actors in the Brisbin Crew! 

We also created an art project with professional sit-in artist, Shari Lacy, and focused on the color blocking of period clothing from the American Revolutionary time period, looking at different perspectives. The final products turned out fantastic! 

Students are now focusing on their Time Capsules that they will fill and seal until their graduation from high school. Currently students are working on their Future Maps, and their dreams are laid out on paper so beautifully. 

They will wrap up their expository writing piece on their assigned colonial region, then host a Socratic Seminar to defend their positions on specific events around the war. Finally, they'll write an opinion piece to support their position. Finally, Passages for 5th graders has launched, and the students are excited to celebrate their transition into middle grades.... Oh, and don't forget fieldwork season! Busy, fun time of year!

Composting is one of the most powerful climate change solutions we have at the tip of our fingers and our tongues! Nick Mitchell, from SWEP (Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships), helped the crew collect their own food waste and deliver it to the town drop-off dumpster behind Ace Hardware. Students felt proud that they kept harmful methane out of our atmosphere and took action to fight climate change. The crew was dismayed, however, to find that mixed in with the food waste was plastic, paper, food stickers and other non-compostable items. Their main takeaway? Composting is easy, but make it count by only adding compostable items! 

The Santos Crew has been busy learning all about the cutting-edge science of genetic editing. They have been modeling how CRISPR works to be used as a tool that can edit genomes in plants, animals, bacteria, and even humans. They have also been learning about several applications of this gene-editing technology. 

We have been reading a lot! Students are attempting to reach the big goal of reading 20 books in a semester. Gratefully, we received a grant from Excellence in Education that helped give us a lot of new and interesting titles. 

Ms. Lobo came in and helped us learn how to do art with positive and negative space. These skills are practice for the art we will do with the mentor project and a science project. It is amazing how much students can learn in a month. 

During our first spring fieldwork in San Francisco, our students explored different neighborhoods, including Japantown, Chinatown, Little Italy, and Angel Island. The highlights of our trip were trying new foods, discovering found poetry with Ms. Lobo, and participating in an Untalent Show. In addition, the students planned and presented their original night games, showcasing their creativity and teamwork skills. Our fieldwork also marked the conclusion of our Voices of Immigrants case study, which provided the students with a deeper understanding of the immigrant experience in America. 

We have now transitioned to our Voices of Reform case study, focusing on the Civil Rights and Women's Rights movements. As part of our curriculum, we are planning social action steps to lead into social justice slam poetry. 

We're also supporting the Bell crew with their castle research, which promises to be an exciting project for all.