January Reminders
- Uniforms: Lands' End is our exclusive vendor for uniforms. Visit www.landsend.com and use the Porter-Gaud School code: 900138413. Please contact Anne Frazier with any questions or concerns.
- Athletics: A big stretch of home games for our girls and boys basketball teams starts on Jan. 15th - for a full line-up of games and times, visit the Athletics Schedule. GO CYCLONES!
- Semi-Formal Dance is Saturday Jan. 30th!
- Save the Date for Porterpalooza, the annual PGPG spring party, is March 19. Visit www.porterpalooza.com for details!
Career Counseling with Karen Kimberly
PSAT scores: Sophomores and juniors should have received notification last week that their PSAT scores are available online. Logging in to the student portals has been difficult so if you still have not been able to view your scores, please contact Mrs. Kimberly and she can help you access your scores. We are still trying to figure out what all of this new information from College Board means so we will continue to update you as we learn more about these scores.
The new PSAT process continues to garner national attention - here is a recent Washington Post article.
NEW: Sophomore College Night will be held on February 11th at 7:00 p.m. in Gwynette.
Life Academic: Faculty Spotlights
Papa Noel O Los Tres Reyes with Gretchen Batalis
"After attending the annual ACTFL (American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages) conference in November, I have been inspired to provide more interactive opportunities for my students such as comparing and contrasting between students' experiences in their culture vs. cultures we are studying. So, last week we returned on January 6, the Ephihany, so we analyzed our Christmas traditions with Spanish traditions. The students were surprised to learn how Spanish children receive their gifts from the Three Kings rather than from Santa Claus. We discussed Spanish articles about the holiday and watched You Tube videos from Spanish businesses to analyze how they sell the holiday (and we did this all in Spanish, of course). We also talked about the U.S.'s New Year's traditions compared to the Spanish-speaking cultures, including eating 12 grapes at the strike of midnight on New Years Day. All of these exercises and classroom experiences give the students a reason to use the language and make a real connection to the culture in our global community."
More about Gretchen: Favorite word in Spanish language is trabajaba. It means "I was working" and I love the way it sounds. A must-see Spanish film is "La misma luna" because it is about a Mexican immigrant coming to the U.S. to try to earn money and make a better future for herself and her son. Her young son then goes on a journey to cross the border alone in order to reunite with his mother. It makes me tear up every time I see it, probably more now than ever because I have two sons. If I wasn't a Spanish teacher, I think I would like to do something with computers and maybe graphic design. Favorite city in Spain is Sevilla.
Building Computer Apps with Phil Zaubi
What do the students learn by building apps? When building apps (or working on other projects in our Computer Science curriculum), students are learning how to think computationally and how to use CS to solve complex problems. All of the students in our program might not be programmers when they graduate and get jobs, but I believe all will learn how to use CS to help make their jobs more efficient.
Why is technology/computer science a differentiator for PG? First, PG does a wonderful job at harnessing the power of technology and integrating it seamlessly into the curriculum. Our students are equipped across all three divisions with technology to use as a powerful learning tool. These tools are being used daily in their classes to help prepare them for a world in which they have to be comfortable creating, communicating and collaborating with technology. As far as CS, years ago we put a value on CS and coding and have worked tirelessly to develop a top notch CS program which challenges our students in ways other schools are not. We have the ability to begin at an early age and begin teaching them how to code in the Lower School. And by the time they get to the MS and US, its amazing how easily they are grasping advanced CS topics. This allows us to go farther and deeper into CS.
More about Phil: Best app in the marketplace today is ESPN (I'm a sports nerd). If you weren't a Director of Technology, you'd beworking with schools in other countries to help advance their use of educational technology. Apple or Android? Apple. I spent Christmas break in Seabrook.
From the Green: Student Spotlights
- Amanda Billings '16 wins National Council of Women in Technology national runner-up award for a second year in a row! Amanda was 1 or 300 young women selected for this award. State awards will be announced next week!
- FIVE volleyball players were named to All-Lowcountry teams last week. Congratulations to Lexi Dorminy and Maggie Cochrane named to first team, Gracie Mogul on the second team; and Bailey Allen and Hailey Turner receive honorable mention! Coach Megan Crouch was also named Lowcountry Coach of the Year for a second year in a row!
PG Wins SCISA US Math Meet
On January 13, Porter-Gaud won the SCISA Upper School Math Meet. Our two teams won first and eighth place. We also took 3 of the top 10 individual awards. PG Math Team coaches are Tina Fox and Jessica Schenkel.
Below is our first place team: Amy Yu, Kimi Xu, Award Presenter, Michael Psenka, Cross Tolliver, and Mark Anattos (left to right.) Kimi earned 2nd overall. Amy earned 4th overall. Michael earned 10th overall.
Below is our eight-place placed team overall: Waleed Hardy, Chris Doll, Alex Millman, Annemarie Thompson, and Jacob Skaggs (left to right)
Event Rewind: Elizabethan Dinner
Students in the Chamber Singers and string ensemble hosted the Elizabethan Dinner on Friday, January 8 at Amici's Italian restaurant in North Charleston. For the full story and pictures from the event, visit PG newsfeed.
Faculty/Staff Diversity Training
On January 4th, the Porter-Gaud Diversity office, in collaboration with the principals and deans, hosted an interactive professional development workshop that highlighted diversity and inclusion. The workshop was facilitated by Dr. DaNine J. Fleming of MUSC, Tam Psenka, and the Nevaeh Group. Post-workshop feedback was very positive from faculty and staff.
Serving Community with Gretchen Tate
Is your child curious about community service? Here's the lineup of upcoming opportunitites:
- This Thursday, we are visiting with the residents of the Savannah House Retirement Home from 4-5PM.
- Every Tuesday afternoon, we will be headed to Meeting Street Academy (pictured below).
- We will be supporting Pet Helpers each Wednesday afternoon (1st and 3rd Wednesdays, we will meet in Room 212 to make boredom busters for the shelter, and 2nd and 4th Wednesdays, we will work in the actual shelter).
- We are making breakfast for One80Place on 1/21 and for Ronald McDonald House on 1/27.
- We will be helping Water Missions International prepare for a special event on Thursday afterschool on 1/21.
- We will be helping build homes for Habitat for Humanity on 1/23 at 12PM, and we will be delivering Bouquets of Cheer to the Veteran's Hospital on 1/24.
Encourage your child to listen to announcements, check the service website, and email service leaders in charge to arrange rides or let them know they will be coming.
Save the date for our annual rose fundraiser the first week of February and our next Blood Drive on February 5th!
