TCS Student News November 22, 2019
November 22, 2019
This week’s edition of TCS Student News was researched written, produced and anchored by ninth grade students Le’Onnie Rodriguez and Ethan Christou.
This week’s edition of TCS Student News was researched written, produced and anchored by ninth grade students Le’Onnie Rodriguez and Ethan Christou.
Most people only get the opportunity to view comets from afar as they blaze past the earth’s orbit. Today, the students had the opportunity to view these celestial bundles of ice and dirt up close with a simulated comet activity in Space Lab. Using soil and dry ice, the students formed small objects that simulate the materials and appearance of comets. When heat is applied, the mini-comets grow tails like those that appear when real comets get close to stars.
The students continue their study of the moon this semester in Space Lab. While discussing the different space objects that affect the moon’s surface, one of the students questioned the difference between asteroids, meteors, and comets. Ms. Elaine Lewis, a former NASA-Goddard educator who has been leading Space Lab at TCS since last year, decided to show the students first-hand with this comet lab.
With this hands-on knowledge, the students are more informed and equipped for this semester’s space lab project. The students are designing a habitat for living on the moon. In building this habitat, they must take into account the various factors that make the moon inhospitable. They are learning how radiation from the sun and objects like meteors constantly bombard the surface of the moon. The students must design a habitat that protects from these elements, because there is nothing on the moon or in the moon’s atmosphere that protects from these elements naturally. Thank you Ms. Elaine for providing the informative and fun comet activity!
This Tuesday The Community School welcomed five students for a shadow day. TCS shadow days, which run from 7:30 AM to 2:30 PM, are set up so prospective students can get a first-hand look at what it is like to attend TCS. This week we had Sean, Kyle, and Trent from Roland Park Elementary/Middle School, Julian from Hampden Elementary/Middle School, and Cameron from Garrett Heights Elementary/Middle School. Students find our school in many ways. These students found us through family who attended TCS in the past, word of mouth from a current TCS student’s family, and guidance counselors.
The shadow students participated in Current Events, sat in on Health and English class, and were treated to Ms. Peg’s Thanksgiving inspired turkey lunch. Salma and Joshua also took the shadows for a tour of the school.
We enjoyed having the students here and look forward to receiving their applications! Our next shadow days are Monday, December 9th and Tuesday, January 14th.
This week’s edition of TCS Student News was researched, written, produced and anchored by student Ronan Guilfoyle.
The assignment of the day: create a cover the The New Yorker magazine. If this seems like a tall order, don’t worry; professional illustrator Alex Fine led the students in this seminar about the conceptual process of creating an editorial cartoon. Alex Fine’s work can be seen in Newsweek, the Washington Post, and many more publications. Alex also teaches at the Baltimore Academy of Illustration.
Alex explained that editorial cartoons are “basically socio-political commentary”. Unlike political cartoons, editorial cartoons don’t use words and rely on the content of the illustration to convey a message. Simple ideas are better, Alex said, to communicate an idea that can be understood quickly simply by looking at the image. Although the cartoons can be about any subject, Alex advised the students that in his own work, he makes sure to keep the subjects based on facts and truth. Additionally he says cartoonists should always “punch up”, that is, never go after someone who doesn’t have a position of power- and don’t be afraid to criticise those in power no matter what part of the political spectrum they occupy.
With Alex’s one-on-one coaching, the students worked on cartoons with subjects ranging from climate change to body image to tobacco addiction. This workshop was an excellent lesson in turning concepts into visual communication. Special thanks to Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts for arranging this seminar and thanks to Scholastic, who sponsored today’s seminar to promote the new Political Editorial category of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Alex offered to continue to coach the students with their illustrations over email to get them ready to submit to the Art & Writing Awards. We are very grateful for opportunities such as this for the students to get hands-on experience with creative professionals!
This week’s edition of TCS Student News was written, researched, produced and anchored by students Claude Nicholson and Le’Onnie Rodriguez.