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Two Rivers Students Dylan and Erin win the Latin Dance Competition.
Champ, and eighth grader James Holladay, the school’s Pi Champ! On the courts, the St. Peter Varsity Girls basketball team ended the season as league champions!
Newbery Club Reading Adventure Students in grades four through six again embarked upon the annual St. Peter School Newbery Club reading adventure. The club is an independent reading group, centered on books awarded the prestigious Newbery Medal for distinguished contribution to American literature for children. This year’s Newbery clubbers read “Bridge to Terabithia” along with three other award winning books. Participants were required to complete four Newbery reports. The club celebrated with a field trip to Kingman and Heritage Island Park. St. Peter School is located at 422 Third St. For more information call 202-544-1618, visit www. stpeterschooldc.org.
Friends Community School Students Celebrate Pi Day Middle school students celebrated Pi Day at Friends Community School (FCS) on March 14 as part of an international celebration of the number Pi. Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Its value is about 3.14. That is why the number is celebrated March 14. Pi is an irrational number, meaning that it goes on infinitely. It has been calculated to over 13.3 trillion digits. The FCS celebration was organized by middle school math teachers Jordan Abramson and Christie Ray. It included math games, math-themed pies
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and a Pi recitation contest. The contest was won by fifth-grader Emmaly Thompson, who recited Pi to 114 digits; and seventh-grader Mika KretzmannClough, who recited Pi to 149 digits. “Pi Day is a fun way to create interest around and a connection to the highly abstract concepts of irrational numbers and the relationships found in circle measurements,” said middle school math teacher Christie Ray. “Making it fun and peaking student interest makes it easier to teach and makes it stick. The kids are excited to figure out what Pi is and how to use it.” The middle school math program at FCS focuses on flexible thinking, problem-solving and the high-level application of concepts. Students complete work through Algebra 1 or Geometry or sometimes even Algebra II. FCS is a progressive, Quaker kindergarten to eighth grade school that educates students of all beliefs. It is located at 5901 Westchester Park Dr., College Park, MD. Visit www.friendscommunityschool. org for more information. –Eric Rosenthal u
Two Rivers Public Charter School ¡Vamos a bailar! The annual Latin Dance Competition is a timehonored tradition at Two Rivers Public Charter School. This year, Dylan and Erin placed first! Students from third through sixth grade compete, demonstrating their best salsa, merengue and bachata dance moves. They are assigned partners and spend weeks working on their communication and coordination skills, pushing themselves to persevere while learning new and sometimes complicated dance steps in their physical education classes. Though only third through sixth graders competed for the title of Latin Dance Competition Champions, staff, parents and middle school students also had an opportunity to show off their best Latin dance moves. After receiving their trophy, winners Dylan and Erin traveled to Two Rivers at Young (820 26th St. NE) to perform for the preschool through first grade students during one of their weekly Community Meetings. The Spanish program is an important part of the curriculum at Two Rivers. All Two Rivers students, from preschool through eighth grade, receive Spanish instruction. The incorporation of Latin dance into physical education is just one way that the school celebrates its diverse community.
Two Rivers Public Charter School has three schools located at 1227 Fourth St. NE (elementary school); 1234 Fourth St. NE (middle school); and 820 26th St. NE (elementary school). Follow the school @TwoRiversPCS on Twitter and Facebook. Questions? Call 202-546-4477, email info@tworiverspcs.org, or visit www.tworiverspcs.org. –Chantele Martin u
BASIS DC Soaring in Science BASIS DC middle school students are headed to the US Department of Energy (DOE) National Science Bowl. The National Science Bowl is a nationwide academic competition that tests students’ knowledge in science and math. Five middle school students competed in and won DOE’s regional science bowl in late February, allowing them to advance to the national event in DC held between April 28 and May 2. BASIS DC middle and high school students competed for the first time ever in the Maryland Science Olympiad at the University of Maryland in late February. They won a total of 25 awards at the Central Maryland Regional tournament, landing spots at the state finals at Johns Hopkins University on April 23. The high school team built a water clock in which water is used to mea-
BASIS DC middle school students, from left to right: George Turmail, Nate Petersen, Mia Rothstein, Elizabeth Quinn and Jack Johnson qualified for the National Science Bowl.