A A S KAardvarks Advocate Skills and Knowledge • August 2011 • Volume 13 • Number 2

Whitford Middle SchoolOregon Episcopal School Vose Elementary School

R each for the Stars!!The AASK theme this year inspired everything from looking through the Hubble Telescope online to participating in astronaut training that emphasized science and math, sending up space rockets and painting moon rocks. Students made planets and space helmets in art, gave speeches about their own heros (moms and dads, you played a big part in those pre-sentations!), memorized passages from Shakespeare and celebrated Fantastic Fridays with swimming, cooking, art classes, friendship bracelets and soccer. It was an exciting camp!

Reading Rocks On!Reading is a big part of camp, and yet it was amazing to discover that togeth-er we read a total of 2, 047 hours!

Lit groups, reading at home every night, and Reading Olympics paved the way for this accomplishment. Special congratulations go to Frankie

Roberto, who will be in 6th grade this fall, interviews his partner at an assisted living center to find out how he had been a star in his life.

Ashton, created bottle rockets with her class as they thought about all the ways they could Reach for the Stars!

Science is combined with technology in AASK; students conduct experiments and then integrate technology for analysis and presentations. Gem (Jennifer L. OES ’09) helps LiIly with her bottle rocket project.

What did kids, parents and staff say about AASK this summer?

“I learned that I can put up signs or announcements so people can stop bullying or something bad they’re doing. I can stop violence in the world.” – 4th grade AASK student

“Creo que la communicación y el respeto para todos los niños y los padres es el parte de AASK más importante y valiosa. (I believe the most important and valu-able thing about AASK is the communica-tion and respect that AASK has for all the children and parents).” – AASK parent

“Let us have lit groups a little longer.” – Nathan L., 5th grade AASK student.

“I learned to let the students blossom in their own time.” – Mike B., 5/6 grade teacher

“La más importante es que mi hija está aprendiendo en AASK. (The most important thing is that my daughter is learning in AASK).” – AASK parent

“We were always teaching each other things from our different cultures, schools and families.” – Katie L. OES ’12.

Garcia, who led the effort by reading 79.5 hours! He went home with the grand prize of a complete set of the Harry Potter books.

Initial reading assessments show that on average each student in AASK maintained or increased English literacy skills this summer. We’ll be following up to see how this compares to their reading progress during the school year.

Service Learning isTransformational The fourth grade blew us all away with their service learning project this year. They researched issues that would make their community a better place through education, then made posters to present to the whole camp. The next day they presented an awareness fair outside the Beaverton Library and helped educate library patrons about alcoholism, drug abuse, diabetes, the environment, poverty and hunger (to name a few of the topics). It was amazing!

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we watched the movies the eighth grade had made, enjoyed a rap concert by the P-Town Gangstas, awarded the perfect attendance students with a final swim at Wilson Pool, and participated in a wonderful Field Day and Ice Cream Party. At dinner that night, AASK served 410 guests (we had only expected 325!) raffled off swim passes and bikes, and bid a final goodbye for the summer to everyone who had come. It was a wonderful end-of-camp celebration! !

Don’t Forget!The donations of people like you are the only reason that AASK can operate! Any amount helps to build academic skills, provide meals and transportation and books for students. We are in our second year of the matching grant from the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, so every dollar you can give is matched by the Foundation. Please, consider a gift!

Thanks to all of you for your support! It was a wonderful summer!

The fifth and sixth grades visited the Edgewood Downs retirement community and interviewed residents about their lives, asking who their heroes are and why. A book of those interviews is being given to the residents. Teachers said, “It was a very profound and meaningful experience for the kids.”

The connection with Whitford Freedom Fighters for Literacy continued in seventh grade from last summer. They felt the magic of helping first-graders at Vose, the same elemen-tary school they themselves had attended. Several students planned to continue reading even when AASK was over.

Strategic Planning Underway!Prior to day camp this year, AASK went into a deep strategic planning process to ensure the longevity of the program. A group of 30 people, representing all the consituents of AASK from students to school administrators to the Beaverton School District met to envision the next three to five years of working together. The group developed four strategic direc-tions and set quarterly goals for the upcoming year. Stay tuned for more of the results stemming from these four sessions! Thanks to everyone who participated, it was an invigorating and galvanizing process.

Closing DayThere were tears and cheers on the last day of camp as

Pictures Tell the Story Best! Clockwise from bottom left: OES Outdoor Education Director Tom Handel puts 7th-graders through their paces on the challenge course; 4th-graders present their research to the public at the Beaverton Library; 7th-graders draw their first self-portraits; happiness is being at AASK!; 8th-graders make awesome movies with the help of their day camp counselors; 7th- graders have fun while raising money with a car wash for their field trip; 5th-graders memorize and present Shakespeare; (middle) 6th-graders work as a team on their science project.