Time Capsule!

This past week we did perhaps one of our most exciting lessons as our scholars worked on a time capsule packet and letter to themselves. This exercise is always fondly recalled by previous mentors and mentees as they love reading these packets and letters during the last week of school. This exercise gives so much perspective on just how much one can grow in less than ten months. Before we began writing our letters, we completed a two page worksheet that really got our scholars thinking about their current likes and how they are feeling this week. They were asked to name several of their current likes--from favorite food and drink to their favorite songs and movies. They then worked on writing strong sentences about topics such as "what they are looking forward to right now" in addition to setting three goals (these included both personal and academic aspects). 

4th hour did an excellent job with their letters! 

Once they all had this information recorded we moved on to writing a draft of our letters in our journals. This allowed for each to really work on grammar and syntax so that their letters read smoothly and are easily enjoyed. I could really see a lot of frustration as we worked through this process, though it was quickly followed by pride as each realized what a detailed letter they had before them.

Drafting our letters for the time capsule.

On Friday we finished up our letters and and sealed them into folders which we placed into our "time capsule." I am already looking forward to the day when we open them all--for I too did a time capsule and am quite excited to read my letter come May.  :) 

We also did our first "Tutoring Tuesday" this past week, a day where we work with our YESS scholars to ensure they are caught up and even working ahead in their classes. This year at Shaw we have a Weekly Reflection Log that each scholar is expected to fill out every Tuesday; this document is a hard copy that they must fill out and state what they learned in each class in addition to any absences or issues with behavior they might have had; parents are expected to sign these logs every Tuesday evening.

Our YESS scholars worked hard to ensure their planners are up-to-date so that they are able to fill out this log correctly--I am proud of their efforts and I know how difficult it can be to become accustomed to filling out a planner every day. They did an excellent job! 

Very proud of the time and effort our scholars put into this exercise! 

Next week we will have our Presidential Elections--stay tuned for more news!