Let the Trebugames begin!

A few weeks into the beginning of each school year we do an All School Challenge. This year the challenge was called the Trebugames : may the marshmallow be ever in your flavor!  Oh yes, that's a shout out to the Hunger Games famous line "and may the odds be ever in your favor." We didn't have a fancy wigged, outrageous outfit wearing announcer to lead off the Trebugames, however. 

These challenges are meant to bring the whole school together- we mix all the grades and pair up our new kiddos with our veteran builders- and challenge them to create amazing functional pieces of work (pasta boats, balsa wood towers, etc).  It's really neat to see our returning kids be leaders and show the new students the ropes.  For the Trebugames the school was divided up into 4 teams and within those teams were smaller groups of kids (2 or 3 per group). 

This year's task was to create trebuchets and catapults out of the following materials: string, rubber bands, pencils, paperclips, washers, straws, dixie cups, pop stix, an old t-shirt, hot glue, and tape. They had 4 days to construct and build their device, then practice launching things with it.  I had the pleasure of having small pencil top erasers launched at me while I was setting out lunch.  These kids think they're so funny :-) 

Round 1: Individual launch! Each mini team uses their trebuchet or catapult to launch a mini marshmallow across the big room. Each attempt was measured to see which team could launch it the farthest.  One team had to go out outside to do it because they needed more room to launch - their marshmallow went 52 feet and was the longest of the day!

Round 2: Battle of the teams!  4 tables were set up all around the big room. They started with their tables at a far distance and launched marshmallows at each other. If a marshmallow hit a team member or the table, it was counted as a "hit".  After 30 seconds, they stopped, tallied up the hits, then moved the tables a bit closer together. This happened 2 more times. If a team was hit 10 times by a marshmallow they were eliminated.  

Round 3: Slay the giants! The kids gathered around their tables and launched marshmallows at the giants in the middle (aka the teachers).  Giants who were hit fell to the ground….

As you can see, we had a ton of fun making a big mess! There is never a dull moment at CLC.

End of Year Wrap Up

We have now officially hit the homestretch there are only 3.5 days of school left!  How this year has flown!! Here is a quick rundown of the fun we have had at CLC over the last several weeks.

Future Legends of Rock Concert: annual CLC Rock Concert, featuring our own CLC bands.

Plastic Recycling Challenge: CLC came in 3rd place among 16 SCASD schools. For only having 100 students we did very well keeping up with the big schools!  For our hard work we were rewarded with a bench made from Trex recycled plastic, a cool bird house, and a $50 gift certificate to get plants for our butterfly garden! 

The girls sitting on our bench holding new plants for the garden

Lame Island: Both 7th /8th grade classes joined together for this boat building project. They had 5 materials to use in the building of their boats: duct tape, plywood, pvc pipe, rope and tarp.  The boats had to be transportable so that the teams could hike with them to the water, where the boats would be assembled and rowed across the lake to get to off Lame Island before they are bored to death.  Check out the link for more information about this awesome project: http://www.clccharter.org/mark/LameIsland/Intro.html

8th Grade Graduation: Even though our last day of school was pushed back a few days, we still had graduation on June 1st.  This is one awesome group of creative, innovative, smart, funny students. What was amazing about this graduation is that so many students spoke after receiving their medals. It was heartwarming to hear what they had to say and see a few kiddos who started out as shy, soft spoken students, stand up and tell everyone how the school has changed them for the better.  The parents were incredibly sweet as well. We heard so many wonderful things from them.  It will be hard to see them all moving on- parents and students both! One of the many good qualities of working in a small school is getting to know the parents as well as the students. We are our own little community!

Congratulations to the 8th grade class of 2014! Come back and visit!

The Museum of Betterment

Two weeks ago, our school was transformed! It was time for our annual museum. This year the theme was The Museum of Betterment- things or people that helped make the world a better place.  We saw everything from Dr Seuss, to the Olympics, to Ancient Civilizations, to a green energy power plant, and several charities. Each of the four classrooms transformed into their specific topic within the broad topic of betterment.

Team M/R: This room was full of diverse topics.  Aviation, Operation Smile, Adopt a Pet, the Olympics, etc.  Here are some fun pictures from that museum!

Team SBoogle: These students created a green energy super-facility. The class gave tours of their energy plant- they even wore hard hats to make it more realistic!

Team M/K: This class took us way back in time to Ancient civilizations.  Their students got really into it dressing up like Vikings, Cleopatra, Native American Indians, even security guards.

Team A/A: All the students in this team created fundraising events and food to sell. The funds raised from the sales would go to their charities.  Visitors were given an imaginary amount of $200 to spend supporting charities of their choice, chosen after they listened to each charity's spokesperson.  

Our museum got a nice write up in the Centre County Gazette...hopefully, next year we'll get some more press! This museum is always open to the public and we love having visitors come see our school, especially when our students transform it into something as cool as this!