Literary Love Poetry Competition

The Literary Love Poetry Competition is one of the highlights of the year for Higher Achievement Scholars.  Each year 10-12 scholar poets are selected to read their poems to the Ward 6 Community at the Center level competition.  Two winning poets are selected from the participants to represent Ward 6 at the regional competition.  This year’s Literary Love Poetry Competition will occur on Tuesday February 11^th in the Cafeteria.  Currently we are in the final week of submissions for the scholars.  If you want to challenge your scholar to take advantage of this awesome opportunity please work with them to ensure they submit their poem by this Thursday, January 30^th.  We hope to see a lot more families out to support this event; you don’t need to bring anything, except your spirit!  Hope to see you there.

Thje Food Competition

Thank you to all of our Ward 6 families for supporting this event by ensuring that scholars were prepared for the food challenge.  This was the 1^st time we have attempted to incorporate this event into our After School Academy, and it was a tremendous hit; you should be able to see pictures from the event on the sidebar.  You can see a list of the winners for each of the categories below.

AND THE WINNERS ARE….

Best Overall: Talapia BLT, fruit salad and pasta salad

Mentors: Mr. Brady and Ms. Carolyn

Scholars: Akayla, Amiya Tucker, Destiny, Shanmesha, Zoe m., Steven, Cayla, Malik, D’Mario, Amiya Turner

Tastiest dish: Trifle

Mentors: Mr. Logan and Ms. Renee

Scholars: Diara, Nour, Emeril, Kennedi, Aaliyah

Most creative: Macaroni and Cheese (made with potatoes)

Mentor/special guest: Amelia

Scholars: Zoe, Keith, Noah

Healthiest Alternative: Fruit pizza

Mentors: Ms. Lindsay and Mr. Brent

Scholars: Colin, Darius, Phillip

Geography Challenge

The Ward 6 Geography Challenge will be held on Thursday November 21^st, please come out and support the participating scholars.  It is expected that all scholars attend center that day; additionally, I am encouraging parents and guardians to come show their support for the scholars who have chosen to take advantage of the academic opportunity. Following the geography challenge we will have desserts. Please contact Ms. Jess at jwolf@higherachievement.org if you would like to contribute a dessert for the event.  I hope to see you all in attendance in support of our scholars.

End of the term Celebration

On Thursday, December 19^th  the Ward 6 Center will be hosting  our first-ever Afterschool Academy Food Challenge .  Our scholars and their mentors will be working together to create tasty holiday dishes.  We will continue the tradition of recognizing scholars for their efforts over the fall semester, however, much of this night will be consumed by the Food Challenge in which the scholars will be participating.  Your scholars will likely be asking you for ingredients as we get closer to the End of the Term Celebration; if you can, please ensure they have the ingredients necessary to support their group. This should be an amazingly fun event, please let me know if you would like to participate and/or judge this event.

Family Night Seminars

Parent Night (for 5th & 6th Grade Families)
In an effort to more deeply support all of our families, I will be facilitating a grade-specific parent/guardian night on December 10th to more deeply support families in strategically identified areas of need. Below is a brief description of the fall meeting. More details to come as we get closer to the December 10th date.

5th & 6th grade families: the 5th & 6th grade families will be provided with several tools to help support scholars’ learning at home, while bolstering scholar achievement. Many of these resources are free, online, and are engaging to scholars. We will conclude the session with some tips on how to get more outcome-based information from your scholar’s teachers. Many families only get behavior-based reports, and while these are helpful, conversations about scholar achievement and learning are far more impactful; this session will focus on how to foster these type of conversations in a collaborative and solution-oriented manner.

7th grade families: The 7th grade families will work together to create a vision board for their scholars. As part of the vision board, we will identify areas of strength, and areas where more support will be necessary throughout the High School Placement process. This night is designed to begin the process of creating a unified vision for our scholars, and bolstering the familiarity of the process for our families.

High School fair

As a reminder to all 7th & 8th grade families, our Annual High School Fair is this Saturday, October 26th from 11am to 1pm. The High School Fair is mandatory for all 8th graders and I encourage all 7th graders to attend as well. Scholars in 5th and 6th grade are also welcome to attend if they want to get a head start on the process.

College Fair at Center

Each year, we have a College Fair at Center; this year, our College Fair is scheduled to be on Tuesday, October 29th. Scholars will spend the evening visiting presenters from various universities and engaging in conversations about college choices and experiences. Mentors, parents, and staff are all working together to ensure this is a great experience. Feel free to join us if you are interested in being a part of the discussion.

Fall-O-Ween Celebration

On Thursday, October 31st we want to celebrate with a “Fall-O-Ween” Celebration at Center. We recognize that it is Halloween (and Mr. Sam’s Birthday) and want to change the night up a bit for the scholars. Most of the night is normal up until 6pm at which time we have proposed an adjusted schedule. We are definitely in need of candy donations for this event; please contact Mr. Sam if you can help out. Here are the proposed adjustments: 5:45-6:20-Crossword puzzle and trivia (candy being handed out) 6:20-7:30- Mentoring (candy being handed out) 7:30-7:45-Costume Competition 7:45 Dismissal and final candy dissemination (Note: Please let me know if your scholars will not be attending Center on Thursday; our mentors are coming prepared to work with scholars and we would like to give them a proper heads up if a scholar will not be in attendance.)

Danciong Classrooms Performance

On Wednesday, July 31^st, our Dancing Classrooms elective is having a culminating event for all of the 5^th grade scholars.  The event will take place from 5-6pm, and is designed to showcase the dance routines our scholars have learned this summer.  Parents, please facilitate your scholars’ participation, and join us for a wonderful evening of dance.  I look forward to seeing you all there. If you have any questions about this event, please call Ms. Jess at 202-255-0245.

Science Fair Request

This week our 5^th grade scholars will be working on, and creating, their Science Fair projects. We are in need of several items to make this process a success for all of the scholars.  Below you will find a list of the items we need. Please send them with your scholars if you are willing to donate any of these items.  Additionally, please know that Thursday is our experiment day; each day prior to then we will be building our display boards.

-8 tri-fold boards

-Molding clay

-2 1 liter bottles

-a small bottle of Glitter

-Old newspapers

Ambassador Competition

Each year, we elect a new Ward 6 Ambassador to represent our Center. This year, we have four strong finalists; Clarence, Deonte, Davine and Gerlethia who will compete in our Ambassador Competition. If you would like to support the scholars and/or attend the scheduled events, see the details below.


Event#1: Campaign Day
What: This is the campaign Kick-off event for our Candidates; come see them present their platforms and interact with the scholars.
When: Monday, April 22nd
Time: 5:45-6:30

Event#2: Ambassador Competition
What: This event will provide each of the candidates with an opportunity to read their speeches and answer questions from their fellow scholars and mentors. At the conclusion of the event, our community will vote for this year’s scholar ambassador.
When: Tuesday, April 23rd
Time: 6-8pm

End of the Year Celebration

Please join us for this year’s “End of the Year Celebration” on Thursday, May 2nd. This year, we will end our Higher Achievement year with a Party/Potluck. While in previous years, the tone was much more serious, this year we are looking to have a fun and spirited event that will allow us all to enjoy our final day of Center in a more relaxed atmosphere. Please RSVP for the end of the year Party with Mr. Sam at sdodson@higherachievement.org.

We will need help with food and drinks for the evening, and are asking families and community members to assist by donating items for the event. Please see the chart below for specified items for your grade level.

8th Grade: Drinks and paper products
7th Grade: Entrees (Chicken, Pizza, Chili, Casseroles, etc…)
6th Grade: Side Dishes (Salads, Mac and Cheese, bread, etc…)
5th Grade: Snacks/ Desserts (Chips, Dips, Cookies, etc…)

Pi (∏) Day

On March 14th our Ward 6 Center will be celebrating Pi (∏) Day. As part of this awesome mathematical day we will be constructing Rube Goldberg machines during the course of the night. At the end of the night we will celebrate the winning contraptions. Beginning this Thursday, March 7th, scholars may ask you for random things to use during Pi Day; if you would like to contribute to our materials please see the list below and feel free to contribute. As a final part of our celebration we will be eating “Pie,” it is Pi Day after all. If you bake or can provide a pie, that would be AWESOME!


List:
Masking tape
Dominos
Cards
Plastic tubing
Golf balls
Plastic race track
Small plastic/paper cups

PIE!

Come Join us for an evening of education and Fun!

Upcoming 8th Grade Events

Fashion Show

The 8th grade girls are sponsoring a Fashion Show on Tuesday February 26th.  The Fashion Show is a smaller event at Center, and will not impact mentoring for that evening.  This event will take place in the cafeteria between 5:30 and 6:30 pm. If you can attend, I am sure the scholars would greatly appreciate your support.  As the 8^th graders finalize the list of performers, I will share it with everyone so you are aware of whether your scholar is performing.

Talent Show

The 8^th grade scholars are facilitating a talent show at center on Thursday February 28^th.  The talent Show is a smaller event at Center, and will not impact mentoring for that evening.  This event will take place in the cafeteria between 5:30 and 6:30 pm.  If you can attend, I am sure the scholars would greatly appreciate your support.  As the 8^th graders finalize the list of performers, I will share it with everyone so you are aware of whether your scholar is performing.

End of the Year Celebration/Potluck

Ward 6 will have its traditional "End of the Year Celebration" on Friday, December 14^th.  Look out for an official invite in the coming days with more details about the festivities.  All families are encouraged to attend, and bring a dish.  I will assign each grade specific items and provide that information on the invite.   I look forward to seeing you all there, and to having the opportunity to connect with all of our families.

8th Grade Incentive Outing

8^th Grade Incentive- The 8^th graders still have time to meet their “ 65 SPARC chip challenge” to earn Laser Tag.  As we approach this day, we are likely going to need two parents who would also be able to transport scholars by vehicle.  If you’re available on Dec 1^st and can assist us in transporting scholars, please contact Mr. Sam.

College Fair

On Tuesday November 6^th, Ward 6 will be hosting our annual College Fair.  This event will expose scholars to a variety of new options, and will provide scholars with a great opportunity to think more deeply about their college choices.  If you are interested in coming to Center to attend the presentations with your scholars, please feel free to join us. The college Fair will take place from 6:00-7:30 PM.  Please come join us for an evening of College education and exposure.

Geography Challenge

On Thursday November 8^th, Ward 6 will have our 1^st big event of this Afterschool Academy; Our Annual Geography Challenge. I want to encourage all parents/families to come out and support our scholars as 25 of them take this Academic opportunity to challenge themselves.  If you plan on attending please arrive by 5:45 to ensure a prompt beginning to this event. Please come out to Center and show your support for our scholars!

Howard Business Trip

Howard Business Trip- On Friday November 9th Higher Achievement is privileged to be invited to participate in an event facilitated by Howard University. Each year 4-5 scholars from each Center are invited to participate in the Howard School of Business field trip. On the trip, scholars will work alongside Howard University student s to construct and present their very own business plans. This is a great opportunity for any scholar, but because space is limited, it is important that you RSVP if you are interested. Please RSVP with Matt Thornton at mthornton@HigherAchievement.org

When: Friday Nov. 9th from 5-8pm
Where: Howard University School of Business, 2600 Sixth St., NW
Dress: Business Casual Attire
How do I sign-up? RSVP with Mr. Matt and turn in your permission slip

It is important to note that transportation is not provided for this trip!

Culture Day/Bake Sale

On October23rd the Ward 6 Achievement Center will celebrate its 1st Culture Day.  As part of the Culture Day activities, we will be conducting a Bake Sale. If you would like to contribute, please let Mr. Sam know by completing one of the Bake sale forms.  Thank you.