Fly Tying, Student Teaches the Class
In December, Erin’s biology class learned how to tie several fishing flies from Chrysalis student, Peter Anderson. Before tying a fly, fly fishers must know about fish feeding and territory behaviors as well as insect life cycles. Peter taught the class how to tie a midge dry fly called the Griffith’s Gnat and the ever popular Woolly Bugger, which is a wet fly or streamer. The class completed this project in two class periods.
Peter enjoys spending time in many outdoor activities. Fly fishing is one of his favorites. He recently built his own fly rods. Thanks for teaching us Peter!
Our Model
There are many things we do in our program to prepare our students for college. Instead of filling their day with the traditional, typical, intense instruction and homework, we model our program after colleges.
1. First, like most colleges, our classes do not meet every day. There is time between classes to do research and complete assignments independently rather than sit in class with other students and the teacher.
2. The time between classes is important for processing information, forming opinions about the concepts, and considering the relationships of new information and prior knowledge. It doesn’t look like much is happening at this stage but it is critical for long-term memory, understanding the subject in depth and the ability to thinking critically about the subject.
3. Students have a choice of the classes they want to take, the teacher, the time of day, and how they will cover the required material. They can choose textbooks, movies, games, computer simulations, field trips or field experiences to complete their coursework.
4. They learn to be independent and prioritize their workload. Once in college, students have to know how long it takes them to do an assignment, how well they can do on a given style of assignment, and manage their time and resources accordingly. Our students have a lot of practice with this type of work.
5. College students need to see their teachers as partners. Our students are used to that relationship because of our one-on-one instruction. This allows our students to feel comfortable seeking out college instructors during their office hours for critical assistance, giving them another advantage over students who see teachers as adversaries.
6. What college student doesn’t drop courses when their progress is suffering? As Kenny Rogers sang, “Know when to hold them and know when to fold them.” Our students learn to evaluate a teacher’s style and know if it is a strong style for them or weak style for them. You may have to drop that one impossible class in college to make the others work well. We encourage students to evaluate why a course is or is not working for them.
7. A rigorous curriculum is one that allows the learner to study a concept in depth and at a complex level. It doesn’t mean more homework.
Lyal’s Very Accurate View of his Kindergarten Day at Chrysalis
Chrysalis, The School
Once upon a time, there was a school called Chrysalis. Everybody at school was super fun and really nice. And, everybody at the school cared about everybody that was there.
When you come in, you check in. Then, you order lunch. Then, you go into class. Then, you have PE.
Then, you have study hall. In study hall you study math, reading, or whatever you need to do. You can get a snack if you want to! Snacks are good!
Then, you have lunch. And, after lunch you have recess. And, after recess you have drama or science. In those classes you do a lot of work but it’s fun. And, then you have PE again. Then you have study hall. You can get more snacks if you want, but first you have to check your lunch to see if your mom packed you some.
Then, when study hall is done, you check out. Then, you get picked up and you get ready to come back tomorrow.
THE END
*Transcribed by Sarah Viers
In Memory of Kyle Meyer
Chrysalis student Kyle Meyer passed away Thursday, October 31, 2013. We will miss him greatly and send our heartfelt sympathy to his family and friends.
A Memorial Service to celebrate the life of Kyle Meyer is scheduled for Thursday November 7 at 1:00PM.
Chrysalis High School
15900 Woodinville-Redmond Rd, Woodinville, WA 98072
Kyle loved Chrysalis because of the wonderful teachers and friends he made. He enjoyed all the latest technology gadgets, used for videotaping, playing music and computer games, and connecting with his friends and family on Facebook. His favorite hobby was Magic The Gathering.
Kyle’s inquisitive mind and witty nature will be missed by us all. He always had a kind or joking word for everyone he met.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Kyle Meyer Scholarship Fund, send to:
Chrysalis School
ATTN: Kyle Meyer Scholarship Fund
14241 NE Woodinville Duvall Rd #243
Woodinville, Washington 98072
or online:
SC Field Trip to Wing Luke Museum
The Friday Field Trip class went to the Wing Luke Museum in the Seattle’s Chinatown-International District today. On our visit we had a chance to travel back in time to the year 1910. We learned about what is it must have felt like for all the Asian Pacific immigrants who settled here so many years ago. We then toured the Yick Fung Company Mercantile and the historic Chinatown hotel. While inside the Mercantile, we were transported back in time, as the store was preserved to it’s authentic state. As we toured the 100 year hotel, we learned that the 103 room hotel would house up to 20,000 guests a night. Talk about tight quarters. It was amazing to see where so people from Japan, China, and the Philippines first lived when they immigrated to the United States. After the conclusion of our tour, we walked to Uwajimaya Asian Grocery store and ate lunch in their food court. Students tried various Asian cuisine, including udon noodles, tempura, yakisoba and sushi. This was a highly enjoyable field trip for us all.
Ecosystems
Currently the Honors Biology class is studying ecology, which is the study of organisms and the environment. This is such a big topic that it is often difficult to do labs in class. For example, we can’t got visit an African savanna. Our solution was to bring the outdoors in by creating model ecosystems. Each student or pair created two ecosystems which were identical, except one contained a common pollutant and the other didn’t. Students got to build their models from scratch and choose what went in them. We’ll observe them over the coming weeks and study how the presence of modern pollutants can affect an entire ecosystem.
Pete Carroll OR Karen Fogle?
Pete Carroll or Karen Fogle?
ESPN Magazine recently published an article on the Seahawks that really resonated with us at Chrysalis. Pete Carroll, Seahawks Head Coach, takes a fundamentally different approach to managing his players than others in the NFL, focusing on individual well-being, mental health, mentorship, and optimism as key components to his team’s successes. He’s developed a reputation as a “buddy coach,” encouraging players to grow personally and physically to attain their optimal performance. He states, “I wanted to find out if we went to the NFL and really took care of guys, really cared about each and every individual, what would happen?” In his fourth season with the Seahawks now, players are responding enthusiastically to Carroll’s methods and the team is favored to go to the Superbowl this year!
If this sounds familiar, it might be because Carroll’s strategy parallels the Chrysalis philosophy. At Chrysalis we know that individual well-being is first and foremost to achievement, and that positivity and the development of confidence are central to rendering results. This is why we work so hard to ensure our students attain balance in their lives, develop positive relationships with their teachers and peers, and encourage engagement in their studies. It turns out that happy students make better students! Carroll notes, “we do stuff differently here!” We’re proud to do the same in the realm of education! See the full article here.
Seattle Aquarium, Last Field Trip Of The Year For The SC!
The South Campus went to the Seattle Aquarium today for their final field trip of the school year.
It was a great success. They started the day in the classroom with one of the Seattle Aquarium’s Biologist for the Hand-on Tidepool Wonders class. In the class they learned all about marine invertebrates (animals without backbones) and then had a chance to study and touch these amazing living creatures. The kids had a great time sticking their hands in the icy cold water and touching many cool creature including starfish, sea cucumbers, crabs, and mollusks. Once the class ended, the kids had a chance to explore the rest rest of the aquarium. We even were able to see the harbor seals eat their lunch: they were definitely a bit hit with everyone.
Before heading back to the bus, many of the students took a ride on the Seattle Great Wheel, located next door to the aquarium. It was a memorable day. A perfect way to end a great year of South Campus field trips!
Just Don’t Fall – Book Review
This is an outstanding book review by one of our 8th graders, Maya. Get her take on the book and see if it inspires you to read Just Don’t Fall.
Just Don’t Fall is Josh Sundquist’s memoir of how he lost his leg to childhood cancer at age nine. Despite his disability he set his sights on to becoming paralympic skier, and in later life a motivational speaker. He also speaks about how he overcame the social, emotional, and physical challenges of having only one leg while growing up.
Josh writes the book in first-person, telling us what is happening rather than what did happen. I like the way the reader experiences a sense of immediacy about his situation while experiencing the story. As you read, you feel as though you are right there with him during every part of his journey. For example, when Josh is sitting in his parents van in his driveway, they explain to him that he will have to get his leg amputated. He cries, and although he is surrounded with the comfort of his family, he is devastated. (Keep in mind, he is only nine when this occurs.) Leading up to the amputation, Josh has a difficult time accepting the reality that he will lose a leg even at his young age, he deals with the setback with a determined and courageous attitude.
Sundquist, did a wonderful job of depicting his very inspirational memoir on how he elegantly and triumphantly overcame adversity. Josh was able to make the story enjoyable and funny, along with some lighthearted meaningful anecdotes. On the other hand, unfortunately, some of the retellings of events were bit over the top and exaggerated and some events I felt were unnecessary to the story. Sadly, because of this, the ending portion of the book didn’t manage to hold my attention. I deeply enjoyed the beginning of the memoir; his journey through cancer and his discovery for his love of skiing was intriguing and memorable.
I got my hopes up after reading the first part of the book, and was let down at the ending. Despite this imperfection, if anyone is looking for something inspiring and an easy read I would recommend this book to them. Just as a warning, this book would be considered a teen\young adult book.