Inspired. Inquisitive. Reporting on our world from the Roberts Elementary view. Reflect and Revise: The Year in REview

If you have known me for a while, you will have heard of my love for the synchronicity of choirs. I love choirs! I love how different voices, tones, and pitches can come together and amplify a song’s meaning. These voices agree to sing the same song at the same time. But through their own immutable contribution to the choir, something phenomenal happens. The songs that choirs sing sound stronger, more emotional, more memorable, and more meaningful.

Dr. Jane Piirto, professor and award-winning author, explains in her article “Synchronicity and Creativity,’ featured in the Encyclopedia of Creativity, that renowned psychologist Carl Jung first introduced the idea of synchronicity, “the occurrence of meaningful coincidences that seem to have no cause,” in the 1950s. Dr. Piirto paraphrases Carl Jung’s work saying, “The underlying idea is that there is unity in diversity.”

There is no wonder why I love synchronicity. This phenomenon is where difference is celebrated - each part of the whole in harmony. Ahh! That sounds heavenly, doesn’t it?

My six-year journey as a Roberts parent and watching my daughters fall in love with this haven of bliss and education has been like my beloved choir effect. It is very hard to believe that six years zoomed by that fast. The lows and the highs make up this melodious story. My daughter, Journey Victoria, has exceeded any expectations my husband and I could have had for her. Each year was incredibly different, from Harvey to the yearslong pandemic, to being a big sister at school when my second daughter proudly became a Roberts Mustang! She adapted gracefully. I tearfully appreciate the difference of each day that cumulatively has led to this milestone - the completion of elementary school. It has truly reflected the Piirto definition of synchronicity - unity of diversity.

Along with my love for choirs, I admiringly watch (and secretly wish to be) a choir director.

Hence another reason why synchronicity resonates with me. I think it is the reason why I love the Good News REview newsroom - different voices, experiences, personalities, values, and opinions coming together during one hour after school and agreeing to write for one purpose - to entertain and educate our Roberts Elementary school community through journalism.

If you walk past the newsroom on any given Friday, you may see me living out my dream to be a choir director and hear the fourth and fifth-grade students, in harmony chanting, “Good. Better. Best. Never let it rest…Until your good is your better and your better is your best.”

I have the REview chant this popular adage in chorus each time we are in the newsroom because I want to amplify its meaning. I want the words of the chant to come alive for them. I want them to remember this refrain forever and hear it even when they’re not actively reminiscing about the fun times we have had in the newsroom.

I want them to remember that life requires us to reflect, and

5th Grade Bequests

MS. JUCKER’S HOMEROOM

I bequeath all fun times to future 5th graders because we had so much fun in both classes. Alya Morsi

I bequeath the Hobbit. My favorite class novel to future 5th graders. Neha revise because that is the evolution of life…of civilization. We get better when we can come together and reflect and revise.

I teach my student journalists that in order to revise, we must reflect on the six Cs of reflective writing - writing that is concise, coherent, compelling, clear, comprehensive, and compassionate. This reflection is called editing. Editing is, perhaps, the hardest part of being a writer. Seeing the gaps, the inconsistencies, acknowledging what we have written was dissonant or cacophonous is hard work - especially when we believe in our work so strongly. My English professor taught us, “Never marry the first draft.”

One of the Cs of reflective writing that helps the student edit which is a bit unconventional, but necessary in my professional experience, is compassion. We ask ourselves, “How will what I have written affect my readers?”. We must consider our writing’s impact.

So, I beamed with pride to hear my student, during office hours with me, review his editing process and share where he considered what he initially wrote and his decision to change it based on the sixth C - Compassion.

On February 3, I asked the Roberts Community to reflect and revise how we move forward in the story of Roberts Elementary School. I asked to revise our name while maintaining our identity. I thought that the association with a person who thought that some of our students were not human nor fit for American citizenship was dissonant with who we are as a community. I wanted our community to consider how our name impacts our students, parents, teachers, and community. I introduced this change in the hope of synchronicity - unity in the diverse Roberts voices.

To be frank, saying the process was grueling is an understatement, but any editing process is. It is hard to revise and evolve because while the meaning of what you have written remains the same, in most cases, it is difficult to say goodbye to pieces that are a part of your original story. In the end, however, a revised story, an evolved story, will demonstrate that you, the storyteller, believe in your story enough to spend time with it to enrich it so that it is compelling, so that it reaches a greater audience, so that it creates a greater impact, so that it will be easier for your audience to read, digest, and appreciate, and so that your story will communicate the exact message you want to convey…and more powerfully.

To my fifth graders, you always have a writing home with Good News REview. Remember that writing will take you wherever you wish. Reflect and revise. Reflect and revise. I hope you will never forget the dancing, the listening, the singing, the snacks, the guests, the writing, the six C’s, that you started something phenomenal. And One…Two…Review.

FRAN-VICTORIA STEPHENS EDITOR

Email us at schoolnewspaper@robertspto.org

I bequeath all the mustard in the lunchroom to the future 5th graders. Kellen K.

I bequeath the field trip to Houston Museum of Natural science to the future 5th graders. I bequeath all of my Blooket victories to my little brother. I bequeath all my Kahoot wins to Alilidutt. Alexander

I bequeath all of my Gaga ball wins to my friend Mat. Caden Cooper

I bequeath all my fun I had to the future 5th graders. I bequeath all my yearbooks to Gdildot. I bequeath the Roberrt’s library books I’ve read to Sarah. David

I bequeath my good hits in nukeball to Cole J. Andrew

I bequeath everything I have learned to the future 5th graders. I bequeath all my good memories to the future 5th graders. Savannah

I bequeath my pencil for a future 5th grader who needs it. I bequeath my terrible organization skills to my brother.(Someone had to have it!) I bequeath my violin to 4th graders, I need the next size anyway! I bequeath my backpack to anyone who needs it, because I have to have a clear one next year. I bequeath my newspaper journal to the current third graders, so they can join next year. I bequeath my moss to Mr. Walker, he will understand this one. I bequeath all copies of the Hobbit to Ms. Nelsonger so future kids in the library can read the best book ever. I bequeath all the fun recesses to the new Kindergarteners, so they can have an amazing start here at Roberts Elementary. Nora P. Essinger

I bequeath all my yummy cookie butter and jam sandwiches to Adele(and me) because we deserve better lunches. I bequeath all my reading years to sll kids and teachers that come to Roberts(including me) because we need to be able to read in the library again. I bequeath all my good class time to all the kids and teachers that come to Roberts(including me) because we need fun.

Eleanor Jensen/Ellie J

MR. WALKER’S HOMEROOM

We would like to, collectively, leave the following items and legacy to the future fifth graders of

Roberts:

Haroon: Tardy passes

Ameen: Sun Chips

Vivaan: Sanitizer

Elias: My learning

John: Peanut butter crackers

Andrew: Pencils

Henry: My brain

Atiksh: Sanitizer

Samuel: Crazy hair

Malcolm: Last remaining brain cells

Malaki: Fruit snacks

Journey: Shoes that my friends signed and the opportunity to be on-time to school to my sister

Caroline: My smarts

Ava: Love for Taylor Swift

Connor: My grades

Catherine: Exhibition project

Yuji: Messy locker

Elieen: Fortune teller in my locker

Ellen: Pink locker shelf

Chloe: Origami box in my locker

Stockton: Mad scientist mentality

Noor: My Creative Writing

Dax: Love of Tennis

Ananya: My sense of humor

Ray: My learning