TCS Student News September 13, 2019
September 13, 2019
This week’s news broadcast from The Community School was researched, written, produced and anchored by students Aidan McIntosh and Salma Ruiz-Cruz.
This week’s news broadcast from The Community School was researched, written, produced and anchored by students Aidan McIntosh and Salma Ruiz-Cruz.
Last night we welcomed everyone to the first sponsor meeting of the year. Students, parents, and sponsors filled every chair in the main classroom. We started the evening by inviting everyone to share how they feel the year is going so far, and we heard a very positive response from new and continuing community members alike.
The meeting first delved into the details of TCS academics. Mr. Tom answered questions about what the students are graded on, how often grades are published, quiz and testing policies, and the importance of homework.
Attendees were also treated to a first-look of the TCS Student News, typically published on Fridays. TCS Student News is a great way for families and sponsors to keep up with what is going on around the school, from birthdays to speakers to special projects. Watching the TCS Student News every week is a great way to support the student’s hard work, too; it is 100% student led, from the research and script to the filming and editing!
We also took a moment to recognize everyone who has signed up for providing lunches so far. We have been very successful with filling this semester’s calendar with lunch volunteers and it wouldn’t be possible without our dedicated community members – thank you!
Our next big event, happening in a month on October 12th, is the 3rd Annual Bull Roast. Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, Dave Bayer, handed out flyers and solicitation letters to be distributed at local businesses. The Bull Roast is our biggest fundraiser of the year and it is very important that we have all hands on deck to prepare. There are many ways to help. You can buy tickets for students and your family, advertise the raffle tickets in your workplace, give the solicitation letter to your favorite local businesses for donations, and hang the flyers around your neighborhood.
The next sponsor meeting is October 17th at 6:30pm. Thank you to everyone who attended last night and we look forward to seeing everyone again soon!
No matter your previous strengths and weaknesses, we want you to give your best effort. This lesson, a common theme throughout all of our courses at TCS, was at the heart of the first Physical Education class of the year. To start the class students got to know Mr. Eduardo, who is serving another year as our volunteer P.E. teacher.
The first activity the students did was a twist on the classic game of tag. After the game, Mr. Eduardo gathered everyone together. “I don’t care how good you are, or how good you think you are, which is not the same thing by the way. I want to see you try your best,” he told the students. The second half the class was spent practicing soccer skills with fun, creative games.
During the class debrief, Mr. Tom discussed how P.E. improves all three aspects of health that the students learn in health class- physical health, social health, and mental/emotional health. Improvements to physical health may be obvious, but if you watch, you can find evidence of social and mental health improvement as well.
Socially, P.E. helps bring the students together. Tyleiah said, “it helped me bond with the new students in a different way than in the classroom”.
Mr. Tom and Mr. Eduardo wrapped up the class by emphasizing that the goal of P.E. is to help students who aren’t usually active learn that you don’t have to feel embarrassed or nervous about physical activity. Thank you Mr. Eduardo for helping the students be healthy and well-rounded!
Those familiar with the TCS program know that Fridays are a time for writing and discussion. To kick off the first Friday of the year the Board of Trustees prepared lunch and led a conversation with the students. This important event is traditionally the first of the Conversation With series. It is a time for the Board to get to know the students, and for the students to learn more about how the Board functions and how they influence the school.
As always, the students asked some thought-provoking questions. They discussed what meetings are like and what happens when people have conflicting ideas, and what the Board does about tough decisions. The Board emphasized that they come to a consensus for every decision, and they do so by talking about it thoroughly. There is never much disagreement because each member of the Board approaches decisions through the framework of doing what is best for the school. The biggest responsibility that the Board has, they said, is ensuring that the school is here in the future. Mr. Tom added, “You made a commitment when you walked in the door to graduate, and we have to see that through”.
At the end of the discussion, Ed Gavin reminded the students that the Board is there to hear any concerns people might have. Students and families may write a letter to the Board, confidentially if need be, to bring up an issue. Although we try to resolve conflicts on a smaller level, it is important to know that the Board is there if necessary.
Today’s conversation was a great start to this year’s Conversation With seminars. New students were able to get a sense not only of what the Board of Trustees does, but how Conversation With works. We look forward to the great discussions yet to come.
Welcome back to another school year! The classroom was full with all twenty students this morning as the day started off, as always, with the important topic of current events. Students watched news stories and discussed the events, sharing their current knowledge and opinions. Mr. Tom emphasized that not only do we want students to have opinions, “we want you to move towards an informed opinion. If you stay tuned in this course, you will be extremely well-informed”. After current events, we held an introduction session. Everyone paired off and interviewed each other, then used that information to introduce each other to the rest of the class. We have a diverse class this year with interests ranging from sports to cooking/baking to drawing and science and everything in between. The students spent the day switching between their classes and getting to know each teacher and subject. At lunch, we honored Aidan’s birthday (which is today!) and all of the birthdays that happened over the summer. Fun fact- we have three students with birthdays on August 26th! The students dove right in to working in the afternoon in the independent study session, getting off to a good start with balancing the workload.
It was a successful start to what will be a productive year full of learning and growth.
Please click here to view the full photo gallery from the first day of the 2019-2020 school year!
Today’s spotlight shines on Mark Harris, community volunteer and father of senior-year student Sara Harris. HVAC extraordinaire Mark has been working around the school the past few weeks to ensure all three classrooms maintain a comfortable temperature for learning. Mark has donated his time to help the school with all things heating and cooling for the past four years; he has installed two HVAC systems for the school and he maintains them regularly.
According to Mark, he keeps coming back to help around the school because of “the quality of the education that my daughter receives and the professionalism of the people that teach her”. When he is not volunteering at TCS, Mark is an instructor at Community College of Baltimore County. We are very grateful for all of Mark’s work around the school!