NEWSLETTER
March 2019
TABLE OF CONTENTS WELCOME
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Staff Spotlight- Mr. Andrew Sherman
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February General Assembly
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Cultural Corner
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WP TV STUDIO NEWS
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Upcoming Dates and Events
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Chinese New Year
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Valentine’s Day
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Martial Arts Demonstration for Rank Advancement
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Kids Heart Challenge
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Athletics
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Go Texan Day
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Therapy Dogs Reading Program
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ACADEMICS French-Mrs. Baird
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PYP Art- Ms. Pulla
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Pre-K
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Kinder-Mrs. Perez
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Kinder-Mrs. Bannon
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1st Grade- Mrs. Hewitt
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1st Grade- Mrs. Melendez
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2nd Grade- Ms. Papar
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3rd Grade- Mrs. Biggers
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Language Acquisition
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MYP Chinese New Year Celebration
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Discover Costa Rica-MYP Trip
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MYP Original Compositions
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CAS Corner- Tyra Magnuson
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WELCOME Welcome, WP community members, to our March Newsletter! The pace has been as quick as ever, and there have been a lot of exciting events and activities, but we’re also now getting into the rhythm of things, and with our new Headmaster and Chairman of the Board here at Woodlands Prep, we’re on a great track! We’ll be covering everything that went on during the month of February and telling you a bit of what’s to come in March.
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Staff Spotlight- Mr. Andrew Sherman As most of you know, we have recently welcomed Mr. Andrew Sherman as our new Headmaster, which we are very excited about! Mr. Sherman brings with him a very impressive background and experience, which includes an Ed. M. in International Education by Harvard University; a B.A. in Education by the University of New Mexico; an M.A.min Latin American Studies by said University as well as a B.A. in History by the San Diego State University. During his distinguished career, for over 18 years, he has held high-level positions in very prestigious schools throughout the world. He was the Headmaster and College Dean of the Westhill Institute in Mexico City; Chief Education Officer of Colegio Menor San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador; Superintendent of the American School of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Interim Head of school at GEMS World Academy Chicago; and Co-Founder and CEO of the educational services consulting firm GAMUT Education. He has direct experience in establishing IB Continuum programs in a start-up school environment, which gives him a full understanding and command of the IB programs. Together, with his guidance, we will continue to grow and improve our school. We are very excited that Mr. Sherman has joined us on this journey!
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February General Assembly Our first General Assembly of 2019 took place on February 8th, at 8 am in Gym A. During the assembly, students, teachers, faculty, and parents welcomed our new headmaster, Mr. Andrew Sherman. Mr. Sherman gave a speech about his background and experience, and he also shared his vision and future plans for the school. Our Director of Marketing and Communication also gave a few words during the event. Overall, it was a great first assembly!
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Cultural Corner Our Culture Coordinator and our music teacher, Mrs. Larisa, have been collaborating to prepare our WP Talent Show, an event where students will be able to showcase their talents in areas such as singing, dance, theater, and more. The event is open to every age and grade level. The signing-up process is complete, and now the preparation phase has begun! With regards to the foreign exchanges with other international IB schools, this month we hosted three guests from the International School of Chapala, Jalisco. This has been an opportunity for our visitors to get to know our students and facilities and participate in classes of their grade level as well as an opportunity for our own students to interact with students from another country and IB School. These foreign exchanges will continue and will help to enrich the cultural diversity of our school by providing experiences that enhance our cultural heritage.
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WP TV News Welcome back to the WP TV News section! During the month of February, we honored Black History Month by discussing its history and significance and by highlighting several important figures, such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Jackie Robinson. We observed Heart Health Month talked about the importance of hearth health and staying healthy and active. We also celebrated Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day by discussing the history of these two special days. And we talked about many other people, events, and topics, such as:
•The History of the Monopoly Board Game •The Life of Charles Dickens •International Day of Women and Girls in Science •Abraham Lincoln •World Radio Day-The History of Radio •World Day of Social Justice and Human Rights •The History of President’s Day •International Mother Language Day-The Importance of Multilingualism •and more!
And during our WP Spotlight, we got to chat with several members of our community, and even with some members outside of our local community. Our most recent special guests were: •Ananda Alberte-WP Junior Student •Mr. Andrew Sherman- Headmaster •Mr. Daniel Mass- WP Parent • Oscar Adrian Martinez, Luisa Rovina Mandfred, and professor Remys Alberto Carvajal-Foreign Exchange Visitors
We hope you enjoy our WP Spotlight videos! For now, this is WP TV signing out!
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Upcoming Dates and Events March 5th. 17:00- 19.00 DP Art Exhibition. The Glade Gallery. 2000 Woodlands Parkway, The Woodlands, Texas. For: DP Students, Parents and all the Community. March 6th. 8-9 a.m. IB Conference PYP. Auditorium. The Woodlands Preparatory International School. For: PYP Parents and special guests. March 8th. Early Release Day for PYP. 12.15 p.m. For: PYP.
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March 22 th. Talent Show. 1 p.m. Lobby. The Woodlands Preparatory International School. For: Students, Teachers and Parents. March 27 th. Open House. 17:00 hrs. For: New parents and referrals. March 30 th. Spring Festival: Family Barbecue. 11:00 a.m.-15.30 p.m. Saturday March 30, 2019 For: All The Woodlands Preparatory International School.
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2019 Chinese New Year- Year of the Pig On Tuesday, February 5th, we celebrated Chinese New Year around the school! During the morning news, we learned about the history of Chinese New Year, the Chinese zodiac, and the lunar calendar. In class, students participated in activities related to Chinese culture and crafts. Students event got to prepare dumplings! Many students, teachers, and staff also came dressed in traditional Chinese garments, and the whole school was adorned with typical Chinese decorations. It was a new year’s day to remember!
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Valentine’s Day On Valentine’s Day, February 14th, the whole school came together to celebrate love, family and friendship. Teachers and students decorated the classrooms and halls in preparation for the big day. During the morning news, we learned about the history of Valentine’s Day and about the legend of St. Valentine. In class, students did crafts and activities related to Valentine’s Day. Even Mr. Bear paid us a visit! It was a day full of much warmth and joy!
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Martial Arts Demonstration for Rank Advancement In January, the self defense students of Mr. Adornato, Kaiden Shihan Sandaikichu and Martial Arts Director at Woodlands Preparatory School, demonstrated what they have learned over the past semester. This demonstration was also to qualify them to advance to the rank of Shi chi Kyu (7th kyu - yellow belt). Last month, we shared with you some photos of the event, and this month we would like to show you some of the footage. Watch the video to enjoy some of the demonstration!
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Kids Heart Challenge As you know, our Kids Heart Challenge has come to an end. It was a very successful Kids Heart Challenge campaign. We raised a total of $2,245. = $200 in gift cards for PE equipment.
Top Fundraiser was Sem in 3rd grade raising $525 • • • • •
Sem U. $525 Maximus I. $140 Nicolas I. $140 Sofia W. $100 Rachel B. $100
Students that raised $40 or more will be invited to a Challenge the teacher event where they can silly string, pie in the face, or tape to the wall a volunteer teacher. The date of this challenge will be determined once prizes come in. Thank you everyone who participated and donated to this great initiative.
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Athletics It’s been a great run so far in the area of Athletics, and, with Basketball and Soccer season coming to a close, Tennis and Track season are around the corner. We would like to take this time to thank the following students and staff who have participated in our Athletics team:
2018-19 Volleyball - Coach Rachel Bradford #30 #2 #8 #16 #29 #13 #9 #15
Sophia Strausser Suzan Jacobs Bego Cervantes Joanna Wang Hauwa Aliyu Emma Van Praet Walaa Al Amin Iris Kayupova
Team Managers Mac Batterham Jake Edwards
2018-19 Basketball - Coach Jourdan Hicks Manager Suzan Jacobs Girls Begonia Cervantes Jacqueline Ramanan Falke De Clercq Nafisa Aliyu
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Boys Gabriel Arismendi Sanchez Anson Benoite Michael Fadahunsimi Raul Cervantes Thomas Gjervik Miguelangelo Moschella Keelan Sanders Jangir Sarsengaliyev
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2018-19 Soccer - Coach Luis Ruiz Coach Isaias Mackenzie Batterham Aliyu Bello Raul Cervantes Miguelangelo Moschella Luiz Miguel Nogueira Jamus Baptista Thomas Gjervik Miguelangelo Moschella Alberto Ruiz Contreras Roberto Ruiz Contreras Aaron Ruiz Keelan Sanders Jangir Sarsengaliyev
Magnus O 2018-19 Tennis
2018-19 Track & Field
Suzan Jacobs Miguel Moschella Iris Kayopova Olga K Natalia Jangir Nolan Mitton
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Mac Batterman Suzan Jacobs Bego Cervantes Luis Miguel Jake Edwards Jacqueline Ramanan
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Go Texan Day Howdy yal! As some of you know, Go Texan Day is the unofficial kickoff of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Traditionally held the Friday before the Rodeo begins, the day serves to encourage the Houston community to celebrate Western heritage and raise awareness of Rodeo season. Houston-area residents are encouraged to wear Western attire, such as jeans, cowboy boots, and cowboy hats. On February 22nd, our whole school celebrated Go Texan Day! Our students and staff came to school dressed in typical Texan cowboy and cowgirl gear, and our Students grades PK3-10th participated by learning about Houston Texas Culture and performed a line dancing show for parents and staff! We had a great Go Texan Day!
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Therapy Dogs Reading Program The Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs, Inc. is a nonprofit organization which evaluates, tests, trains and qualifies owners and their well behaved dogs as therapy dog teams. These teams give unconditional love, boost self-esteem, and relieve loneliness and boredom. Recently, our the Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs have been visiting our PYP library weekly and our PYP students have been reading to these very friendly dogs as part of an initiative to promote reading. As you’ll see in the the photos, the dogs have been wonderful listeners!
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PYP French- Mrs. Baird This month, our 1st Grade French students practiced their vocabulary related to weather and climate. Watch our video to see their weather reports!
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Pre-K Currently all Pre-K students are learning all about “How we Organize Ourselves” through our community helpers. We have had tons of visitors come and share a little bit about what they do and how they contribute to our communities. For an entire week we learned about construction workers and were lucky enough to have some special guests visit...the Gallardo family! They shared a little bit about their business and even brought a real cement truck for the kids to view and touch. Not only did the kids learn a lot about how a cement truck works it also turned out to be the perfect photo op. Even Mr. Sherman got in on the fun!
PYP Art- Ms. Pulla PYP Art has been learning about Alma Thomas, an AfricanAmerican Expressionist painter and art educator best known for her colorful abstract paintings. She debuted her abstract work in an exhibition at the age of 75, proving it is never too late to accomplish your dreams. Alma became an important role model for women, African Americans, and older artists. Her work has been exhibited at the White House 3 times. Here are some pictures of students recreating Alma’s brushstroke techniques.
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Kinder-Mrs. Perez Our new unit “Sharing the Planet, Around and around we go� is filled with so much science! We decided to incorporate it in Language Arts by creating Story sequence caterpillars. The students enjoyed reading the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and created their very own caterpillar. Inside its tummy you can see all the things things he ate, along with a sentence describing what he ate.
Kinder- Mrs. Bannon Mr. Sherman joins in the Valentine Day excitement while Kindergarten mails cards and treats to their classmates.
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1st Grade- Mrs. Hewitt This was first grade’s summative assessment for our current unit, How the World Works, It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. The central idea: Weather affects the way people live, dress and their routine. During this activity the students picked a place from around the world to report the weather from. They researched the weather, temperature and season from their reporting destination. They drew the background to be used for their weather report. We practiced our writing skills by writing a rough draft, then a final draft. This was also a chance to practice presenting skills, by not only presenting the information but providing the weather clothing and props while videoing the report. They all did such a great job. I am so proud of them!
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1st Grade- Mrs. Melendez Mrs. Melendez’s 1st grade started the month by celebrating the Chinese New Year of the Pig and Valentine’s Day. We ended our “How the World Works” unit by learning about weather around the world. We learned about measurement, by building Valentine’s Day-related structures out of gummy hearts, creating gallon-bots, and experimenting with “cloud in a cup” and “tornado in a bottle”.
2nd Grade- Ms. Papar Our upper school students from eight grade visited our class and shared their views and opinions about rules, regulations, rights, and laws in the US and other countries. It was a great exchange of ideas and knowledge!!
3rd Grade- Mrs. Biggers 3rd Grade is having so much fun with our current unit, Sharing the Planet! Our central idea is Humans can either work for the destruction or preservation of ecosystems. Students have been learning about different biomes and ecosystems, and how humans are negatively and positively impacting them. 3rd grade had a blast participating in our water pollution experiment where they had to figure out if you can undo water pollution. Students were given a bucket filled with polluted water, and had to work together to try and figure out a way to reverse the pollution. They all learned that it is impossible to remove all of the pollutants from the water.
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Language Acquisition The Map of Me Project Sixth and Seventh graders completed “The Map of Me” Interdisciplinary Unit where the Language Acquisition department (Spanish, French, and ESL) along with the Art department collaborated for a one-of-a kind project. The objective of “The Map of Me” unit was to allow students to explore the different areas that make them unique including: culture, family, home country, history, language, and their connection to Texas. During Art classes, students created unique silhouette designs that incorporated images and drawings that represent their identity. They also researched artists from their native countries. In language acquisition classes, students explored their own backgrounds and used the appropriate language skills to present their results through a Prezi presentation. This unit allowed them to use their imagination and divergent thinking to better understand their own identity and share that knowledge with others. This unit also allowed students to exhibit the IB learner profile traits of risk-taking and open-mindedness.
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It was wonderful to witness students taking pride in their cultural backgrounds and gaining self-confidence by speaking in front of the entire 6th and 7th grade classes. Way to go, 6th and 7th graders!! Your teacher are super proud of you. Respectfully, Mrs. Smith, Ms. Zigler, Mrs. Sierra &
MYP Chinese New Year Celebration MYP students celebrated Chinese New Year by making and enjoying Chinese dumplings! Dumplings are traditional Chinese New Year food. Usually on New Year’s Eve, the whole family gathered together and make dumplings. The traditional half-moon shape of dumplings is similar to the design of Chinese ancient currency, therefore, dumplings also represent fortune and symbolize good wishes for the new year.
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Discover Costa RicaMYP Trip Fourteen MYP students are going on an international educational trip to Costa Rica this spring break! Students will zip line through the Costa Rican jungle, visit cacao plantation and taste freshly made chocolate, kayak on Lake Arenal, snorkel on the beachside, hike in the Arenal National Park, and bath in the hot springs.
MYP Original Compositions The 8th, 9th and 10 grades Presentations of their Original Compositions will take place on Wednesday, March 6th, from 8:10 am to 9:25 am in room 211. For the past 5 weeks students have been working on the IDU Unit “Technology in Music Making� that was created in collaboration with Mr. Silva, our design teacher. They learned how to use music production software from scratch, as well as studied various aspects of musical elements to incorporate them in their original compositions. Each presentation will also be accompanied by a video clip. Therefore, you will have a chance to see a real DJ concert and discover many talents we have in our school. We hope you will join us in this unique performance!
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CAS Corner As part of her CAS project, WP senior, Tyra Magnuson, hosted a donation drive for the non-profit organization, Breast Cancer Charities of America. As a part of the donation drive, a pizza party was rewarded to our 1st grade students, who made the most donations with a total of 109 items! Congratulations, and thank you to everyone for participating and helping to make a positive difference for women undergoing such a difficult battle with breast cancer. The donated items will go toward the“Feeling Beautiful Program�, which helps women accept their post-cancer body, as losing hair due to treatments can leave patients with body image issues and low self-esteem.
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Thanks for reading!
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