Sunday, April 1, 2018

4-2-18 Student Mission Briefing


GRYPHON MISSION BRIEFING
For Monday, April 2, 2018 – M-day
EARLY RELEASE SCHEDULE
School Mission – Boundless STEM: Learning & Leading
L&N Student Mission – #Own it!

School Ops:
·      Freshmen and Sophomores – today will be a computer check up day for your device.  Your teachers will direct you when and where to go, but you’ll put your Active Directory password on a post it on your keyboard then turn in your device for a check up by KCS technicians (they do this so you can keep it over the summer).  Freshmen will be without their devices 1st and 2nd block and Sophomores 3rd and 4th.  If everyone cooperates, we expect all computers to be done tomorrow but some issues may require them to be kept a little longer.  We’ll make arrangements for students to have the tools they need!  Juniors and Senior checkup will be next Monday.

·      Gryphons made a big showing at the Southern Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair!  This fair takes in projects from 4 states, the L&N had 4 projects entered, and 3 won recognitions!  Congrats to special award AND Honorable mention winners: Shay Branner and William Curtis Brewer (project: Improved Trash Collector), and Larkin Foster and Isabelle Toth (project: Infiltrating into the problems of Second Creek).  Special congrats to Cade Brown, who’s project “Rendering fractals based on escaping sets” won him a Special Award from Intel, the KCS Superintendent’s Award – and made him the Reserve Grand Champion of the whole fair!  He won an all-expense paid trip to the Intel International Science Fair to be held this summer in Philadelphia, PA.  Congrats to you all!

·      In the national John F. Kennedy Library Profiles in Courage essay contest, out of 1,989 essays received nationwide, Zach Medley received an honorable mention.  This award comes with a $100 prize and a special hardcover copy of Profiles in Courage. Zach will also be part of the social media campaign to announce the results.

·      The Sophomore class will be holding a spring egg hunt tomorrow, April 2nd during the early release time (3:30-4:30). It will be open to all grades. It will cost $2 to participate, and the top 3 winners will receive gift cards! There will also be an egg with a special prize inside! Come to the Verandah at 3:30 to pay your $2 to participate.  Please come out and hunt! 

·      Make plans to join us this Friday night, 4/6 – there will be a “welcome back to school” celebration for both Mrs. Ashe and Mr. Childers (yes, he will be here that night) sponsored by parents from 5:00 – 6:00 on the Verandah.  Come for food, drink, and to hear from them about where we’ve been and where we’re going.  All students and family members are then invited to bring a book and join us for our spring Reading Night from 6:00 – 8:30 in the Commons and Media Center.  Food, good discussion, and great company!  Bring whatever you’re reading and have some fun!

·      Our STEM Frisbee team is just the Ultimate!  Seriously, our Ultimate team has just earned a spot in the national youth tournament held over the summer in Chicago.  And in new national rankings, they have moved up to #14 in the country!  Way to go!  Look for the link on our FB page to help support the team’s travel costs!

·      Seniors, please mark your calendar for the mandatory TN Promise meeting coming up.  Have you asked off work and/or arranged transportation for your meeting? Your assigned mandatory meeting is 04/05/2018 at the L&N STEM Academy in the STEM space and will begin promptly at 8:00 AM.  Remember, failure to attend this meeting will result in the permanent loss of your TN Promise eligibility. Please note the tnAchieves meeting excuse form policy found here.

·      The Golden Gryphon Credit Union is a school branch of Y-12 Federal Credit Union, run by students, for students. We’re open Wednesdays and Fridays during lunch. If you open an account and make transactions, you’re eligible to win snacks, candy, and all sorts of other treats. Also, if you make a transaction, you’ll be entered to win a 4K, GoPro-style, action camera! Stop by when you have a chance and follow us on Instagram @goldengryphoncu for the chance to win a Bluetooth speaker!

·      Come out and support our TSA and Key Club just by eating breakfast!  Mark your calendars now to join us THIS Saturday, April 7th, 8 to 10 a.m. at Aubrey’s (214 E. Emory Rd. Powell, TN  37849).  Both TSA and Key Club are raising money for trips to Nationals and service projects. Help support them by purchasing Pancake Breakfast tickets for $6 a piece. Bring your family or just make a donation. We'd love your help!  Please mark your calendars--Contact a club member or use this link to purchase tickets online:  https://goo.gl/861LPo


Community  & Guidance Ops:
·      Systers: Women in EECS @ UTK (Systers) is a volunteer student organization at the University of Tennessee –Knoxville – is hosting an outreach event called “Little Systers” on Sat, April 14. This event will inform and inspire high school females about such possibilities for their futures through positive, firsthand experiences. Systers is afforded the opportunity to continue to inspire young women to pursue science, technology, and engineering through Little Systers. This event is limited to 90 student participants, so students should be sure to register soon! This event is free and lunch will be provided.
            Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/174874906452434/

·      Here are some opportunities for students interested in design or architecture: 
o  The Explorer Post sponsored by the local American Institute of Architects offers to all high school students a tour of the newly-designed facility at Beardsley Farm.  Monday April 9, 6:00 - 8:00pm.  Contact Josh Shaffer at designexploring901@gmail.com
o  [Knoxville] By Design - www.knoxbydesign.org  In  April the local architecture community will host fun events for the public. Students will be especially excited about very first LEGO competition Knox Bricks & Blocks. Students will be teamed with designers to create a unique tower in a limited amount of time, all while competing for various "best of" prizes. Check out the link.

·      Summer opportunity: The Young Scholars Program (YSP) is for high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and it's a great opportunity to get some hands-on research in engineering before college. This is a competitive application process, so students will need to submit transcripts and 2 letters of recommendation, as well as a personal statement. That program runs July 2 - 27th, and information can be found here: http://curent.utk.edu/education/pre-college/youngscholars/  The program runs on campus at the University of TN through the CURENT group.  We’ve had students participate in the past and loved it!

·      Want to spend the summer in the Smoky Mountains and get paid for it?  GSMNPark is recruiting for 10 paid high school internships for the summer.  Click here for the application and directions to submit.  You must use your knoxschools.org email address.

·      Are you interested in sports medicine? The field of athletic training?  This workshop is for you!  See below or go here for more info:

·      Author visit coming soon!  Jeff Zentner (http://www.jeffzentnerbooks.com/) is coming to speak to our school on Monday, April 16th during M4. Many thanks to our wonderful PTSA for sponsoring this event! Check out one of his books! We have them in the library. Or better yet, order a copy to have him sign when he visits! (Seriously,you'll want your own copy for him to sign!) Paperback copies of both are under $10 and are linked here at  Amazon.com or speak to Ms. Ellis. Mr. Zentner will offer a Writer's Workshop from 3:35 to 4:30 for interested students. (Mark your calendars--a sign up is coming!)

·      PTSA Scholarships:  All seniors are invited to apply for one or both of the PTSA $1000 scholarships to be awarded to L&N STEM Academy graduating seniors at Awards Night, April 26, 2018. To apply for the scholarships, students must submit an essay (no longer than 300 words) that answers the questions listed for that scholarship. The scholarship information is linked here.  All submissions must be emailed to Mrs. Johnson (lyn.johnson@knoxschools.org) and received no later than 5:00 p.m, Friday, April 6.

Quote of the day from Winston Churchill:

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.


Practice L&N Habits every day: Professionalism, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Innovation, Inquiry, & Design
L&N STEM Academy – TN’s First Apple School of Distinction, 3 time - US News & World Report medalist – Silver 2017, Gold 2016, Bronze 2015, 3 time - Newsweek’s Top 500 American High Schools 2015 – 17, TN Reward School (2014, 2015, 2017)


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