Dear Friends, 
Tomorrow's trip to the lake is "On"! I like to think about it as an opportunity to visit the Moon: to good to turn down. But, have your spacesuit on. 
Our 7th graders will hustle from warm school to warm bus,
from warm bus to warm Yacht Club where we will have a lesson. 
Then, bolstered and swaddled we will make for the Point, the Lake, the Moon.
We will judge the extent of the cold, 
take in the scene, 
the bracing shocking air, 
and run back to the Club.

Wednesday's and Thursday's trips have been canceled and will be re-scheduled. 

Mr. Leki

​This last week of January 2019 was jam packed with outdoor adventures, many re-scheduled for these dates because of previous cancellations for Cold.  And now, a quick look at the weather prediction suggests we may lose all three trips this week.  Truly bitter cold can be a dangerous, if awesome thing, to witness, to experience. 
So what are our parameters for calling off a trip because of cold??
Firstly, our school has long cherished and valued the exposure of our students to the rigors, and beauty, that winter can bring.  It cannot be experienced in book, or video, or in told stories. It has to be experienced, in person, face to the wind. 
We cannot do our winter trips in spring. It would be like teaching Spanish in English. 

That said,  we still have the problem that small mass humans, poorly dressed for the cold, can find themselves in a dangerous place.  Part of our educational goal for winter excursions is to instruct, head on, how to be prepared for frigid temperatures. How does the junko and cardinal handle it? Talk about small mass! These animals and all cold hardy animals wear the finest furs and insulated garments ever invented. They have evolved coping systems to keep their "naked" feet from freezing, the "rete mirabile"  which reduces the temperature of blood to the feet so that heat is not lost!
We can learn from these brave and fearless animals by imitating their basic strategies. Cover up with fur and down! Prevent heat exchange from happening especially from out parts of us that stick out: the feet and fingers, the ears and nose. 
And we teach the kids to "play the piano" with their toes and fingers inside boots and mittens.  We tell them to run, 100 yards, to get warm blood circulating through the system. Jumping jacks. We tell them to be cognizant of their own condition, and that of their class mates. A child with purple lips that is shivering and crying, has lost the fight with Cold. Time for a re-set in a warming center. 
On all Mighty Acorn Winter trips our bus is on stand by to serve this role. They must be accompanied by an adult volunteer, thus re-emphasizing the importance of this venerable role. After warm up, students are often happy to face the challenge once again. 
Similarly on Lake trips, we have use of the Yacht club as warming shelter.  The spectacular beauty, the raw icy power of the Lake is not to be missed. Exposure might need to be limited, but the experience will never be forgotten. 
We have been doing these trips for many, 25+, years, and are very much aware of the challenges that we face. The most bothersome to me, is when we are forced by circumstances to cancel a trip, and try to re-schedule before we run out of Winter. 
Predictions can change. Ten degree weather with Sun and no wind, can be very comfortable.  Thirty-five degrees with a cold, persistant wind and rain, can make for alot of misery.  So I think we need to be calm, and patient and prepared. 
The predictions for this Tuesday are for temperatures to go above 32 degrees! Perfect for a Mighty Acorns trip. Will that "warm" air shift into Wednesday??? We don't know. 
I have an impressive selection of winter boots, extra socks, snow pants, coats, scarves, hats and gloves available for student use.  Our job is to make sure our kids are outfitted with winter gear, and cold weather strategies, so that they can safely venture out. 
I remember once stand by the breakers at Montrose point during a giant storm, Waves were crashing and blasting up into the sky, then back to earth with great power and music. For the first time ever I was dressed in full, heavy duty rain gear, and was able to stand right in the path of this drama, dry, and warm. It was spectacular.

So standby!
Enjoy the fierce, fine cold. 

Mr. Leki

... and Friday have been called off for the cold. 
So sorry for those of you who took time off work.
More info soon.
​
Stay warm, 
Mr. Leki

Room 204, 5th Grade, will venture out in the wintry weather to explore, experience and do stewardship. Dress up warm. Bus leaves at 9:30, back by 12:45.
Volunteers will meet in the Conference room at 9:00 for a briefing.  Extra boots, snow pants, gloves, jackets and scarves are available from me, 
​
Mr. Leki

Dear Friends, 
I hope that when I am challenged to confront hatred and evil, 
that I will have some of the courage that Dr. King carried with him during his too short life.  Happy birthday, amazing man.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGKW3O6EpMo

In the glow of Dr. King Day, and the gorgeous orange lunar eclipse, and the stunning snow and bracing air, we start the school week with:

8th Grade Tea Party! On Tuesday, January 22, at 8:30 Room 301 will be stripping dried mint leaves from our garden, and stuffing them into paper filter bags for tea. A sub group will be brewing tea for the class and serving it with crispy bread, butter and our own organic mixed berry jam.  Quite a lovely tradition. If anyone would like to help, and experience High Tea, please join us. Room 303 with repeat the affair at 11:30.

On the same day the three 6th grade classes will begin a project to take new steps to reduce our waste stream. They will watch "What a Waste," a Waters-produced film that documents the beginning of our composting program. At that time we used all styro-foam lunch trays, thousands and thousands of them.  Today all our paper trays are composted. But what else can we do? At school? At home? Stay tuned for our students' campaign.  

On Wednesday, January 23, 5th Grade Room 204 will visit Sauganash  to count deer and cut buckthorn.  Bundle up and join us. Briefing at 9:00. Bus leaves at 9:30, and returns by 12:45.

On Thursday, January 24, 5th Grade Room 209 repeats the adventure above.

On Friday, January 25 our 7th Graders in Room 309 will venture out to the Lake to regard the wonders of that wonder of the world. They have been studying geology in science class, including the glaciers of the Pleistocene that carved out the Lake basin. They will also learn Mr. Leki's 10 Amazing Facts About Lake Michigan.
I will share two with you.
1. If you stood the John Hancock building in the deepest part of the Lake, only the antennae would show above the water.
2. The Hancock Building is about 1,200 feet tall. The glaciers that rose out of the Lake were 6,000 feet tall. A glacier would literally sweep the city away and grind it up into bits. Don't mess with Mother Nature!
We will travel on a school bus leaving at around 9:00 and returning around 1:00. Dress warm. Winter Lake weather is extreme, but definitely worth experiencing. 

Trip date switches:
The Room 207 Sauganash trip scheduled for last Friday, January 18 has been rescheduled for Thursday, February 21.
The Room 211 3rd Grade Sauganash trip has been re-scheduled for Tuesday, February 5.
Please remember that volunteers must be registered with CPS. Check your status in the Office. 

Many Thanks, 

Mr. Leki

...all day they were saying that the sky would be cloudy. 
But, 
tonite, 
just now,
the Moon is full and beautiful.
It's cold, 
but, 
peak out every few minutes,
to see something very beautiful!
Mr. Leki

Hello 2019!
Hope everyone is rested and revved up.
Our field ecology program is approaching and I, for one, am hoping for freezing temperatures and lots of snow.

I also have some special traditions to uphold:
Kindergarden Spiderplants ~I am going to have all the Kinder kids grow and care for some spider plant babies. Spider plants are those tropical plants that toss out these pretty white flowers that in turn become miniatures of the adult plant. Often a mature plant will have 30-40 of these little ones. They can be clipped off and put into water to develop roots. That's what we will do with the kinderkids. So, I have about 40 small plants, and I need about 40 more. Does anyone have any to spare? Also, I have about 20 baby food jars and I will need another 60. Anybody feeding babies out there.? If so, please pass the jars on to me. We have a song that goes with the project:
Spider took a walk
And saw a lovely palm tree,
The Palm tree said to Spider
"Do you want to crawl on me?"
Soon they were married
And had alot of children.
The children all were spider plants,
One, two, and three.

First Grade, Snake and Turtle
We will be performing the Snake and Turtle play with and for 1st grade. They will also perform for the Kindergarden and 8th grade. This play was originally created to enlist the younger students to help to protect (and not destroy) the Snake and Turtle effigy mounds that lie in the garden to the east of the playground. It is bittersweet that that entire site will apparently be destroyed by the construction of a new addition. I am hoping to relocate the mounds to an area south of the sports field, behind the net. I am also hoping that the contractors will dig up the 25 hazelnut trees that are planted there.
Snake and Turtle also have their own song.

8th grade Tea , bread and jam.
Our 8th graders will be processing the mint plants that they harvested in Fall. The bundles are hanging in the shed drying out. They will strip the leaves and sift them through a colander. Then they will pack them into tea bags, label and staple. While doing this, their classmates will prepare and serve mint tea, crispy bread with Waters School fruit jam. Very nice smells.
​