One Author Vista: Ken Mochizuki

On, February 3rd, Vista Students had the opportunity to hear from Ken Mochizuki.

A Seattle native, Ken has written books for a wide range of ages, from picture books about the Japanese American internment camps and their aftermath (Baseball Saved Us, Heroes) to realistic fiction for middle and high school students (Beacon Hill Boys) to a work of local history (Meet Me at Higo: An Enduring Story of a Japanese American Family).

He has also written two biographies for all ages, Be Water, My Friend: The Early Years of Bruce Lee, about the martial arts legend, and my personal favorite, Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story. Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania during World War II who saved the lives of thousands of Jews.

For those unfamiliar with One Author Vista, it was inspired by Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl's "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book" project. Each year, Vista students are encouraged to read books by an assortment of local authors. They then have the opportunity to vote for the one they would like to invite to campus.

PNAIS Student Diversity Leadership Retreat

Two 8th graders (Colin Acton and Sarah Walker), two 7th graders (Noah Funk and Mukisa Lumala) and Ms. Simeon attended the second PNAIS Student Diversity Leadership Retreat held this year at Northwest School on February 10-11. The goal of the retreat was to encourage middle schoolers to take on leadership roles in diversity at their current schools and prepare them to continue to engage in diversity work at the high school level. Our Vista representatives were joined by dozens of others from Washington, Oregon, Utah and British Columbia to learn about and discuss the theme "Is there a 'me' in media?" Students viewed an educators' version of the powerful documentary "Miss Representation" and attended sessions led by PNAIS upper school students on a variety of topics including perceptions of self and others in social networking sites, stereotyping and humor in TV, gender roles in music videos, reality TV and concepts of privacy, and advocacy through social media. The overnight retreat culminated in each team's creation of a short PSA, all of which were shared at the end of the retreat. Our Vista attendees will be presenting their work and talking about what they learned to the OWS Diversity Council and to fellow students.

7&8th grade Poetry Coffeehouse

On February 9^th, students gathered at tables with friends and family to join in a celebration of poetry-- beatnik style.  Hot chocolate and snacks were served as 7^th and 8^th graders read original poetry with confidence and shared their imaginative creations.

7th grade Vista Presidential Election Debate

The 7^th grades separated into political parties, analyzed their key issues, showcased their campaign posters and commercials, and now the debate begins!  Our candidates and campaign managers candidly  delivered their opening statements, and I have been impressed with the sophisticated rebuttal arguments thus far.  7^th grade, keep up the good work!

6th grade Han Dynasty News Broadcasts

Breaking news: The 6^th graders continued their examination of Ancient China by creating and filming news broadcasts portraying advancements of the Han Dynasty. The broadcasts were informative and wonderfully creative. Terrific cooperation, 6^th grade!

Tea with Miss Alexandra

For the final project for To Kill a Mockingbird, students wrote an analysis for a character of their choice and then portrayed that character at a tea party hosted by Aunt Alexandra (Ms. Long).  Many students dressed in head-to-toe costume and everyone brought delicious treats to share.  The citizens of Maycomb (the living, the dead, and the outcast) shared their feelings regarding the trial of Tom Robinson and the Finch family.

8th grade Community Meeting

As part of our community meeting on Friday, Feb. 3, eighth graders worked in teams to lead the class in community-building activities. The highlights were playing soccer in pairs and trust falls.

Game Developer Visit

Vista 5^th graders have been very busy programming Scratch games in Technology class.  Recently, students were treated to a wonderful visit from Vista parent and real life game developer, John Anderson!  John prepared an awesome simulation for the students.  Each student was assigned a job (Producer, Developer, Test Manager, Game Designer, Publicist, Content Lead, UX Director, etc.) and each class worked together as a team to design, build, test, debug, advertise, and ship a game before the deadline.  This was an awesome way for students to see how the skills they have learned in tech class apply to the real world of game development!

6th Grade Miller Hull and NOAA

The sixth grade students had the unique opportunity, on January 24th, to visit the Miller Hull Architecture Firm in Seattle.  Miller Hull is the architecture firm retained by Open Window School.  During their visit, students learned how to incorporate sustainability into house designs and the benefits of “Going green.”  In addition, they took a tour of the office where they looked at various models.  Next, students shared their dream house plans with the architects, who gave them constructive feedback on their plans.  The two hour tour concluded with the architects showing students how to build a model.  Miller Hull has impressed by our students and hope they can see some of the models when they are completed.  Students shared their appreciation for what they were able to learn in such a short period of time. 

After Miller Hull, students went for lunch at "House of Hong". The food was a traditional Chinese lunch style called “Dim Sum”.  Some of the kids had eaten this type of food before and loved it.  For others, it was quite unusual and we had a lot of “What is this?”.  But they gave it a try and, for the most part everyone enjoyed it.  A few kids even gave chop sticks a try for the first time!

In the afternoon sixth graders visited the National Weather Service in Seattle.  We heard from several meteorologists about the fun and challenges of forecasting weather in Western Washington, such as our recent 'snow week'! Students deciphered weather map isobars, held a weather balloon, and saw the sophisticated online maps produced by powerful computers that help determine the forecasts that are reported to the public.  Visit http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sew/ to view some of these maps!

8th Grade Redcoats v Patriots Capture the Flag

It was the Redcoats against the Patriots!  Students played American Revolution Capture the Flag.  In each of the six rounds, students examined the historical analogy between playing instructions and the revolution.  For instance, in one round, one Patriot was told he would be able to switch teams, since he wouldn’t get candy if his team won.  This was analogous to the situation of the African Americans who fought for the colonies:  they were not fighting for the same freedoms as other Patriots.

In the end, with the assistance of the French, the Patriots won handily!