Gabe Fleisher: Political Pundit

During the past two years Gabe Fleisher has consistently produced a political newsletter every morning, been interviewed numerous times by the public media, and written and published a book on the history of Flynn Park Elementary School. Did I mention Gabe is a sixth grader at Brittany Woods Middle School?

Gabe is being recognized in the news once again for his stellar accomplishments. You can listen to the NPR story or read it at St. Louis Public Radio.  To subscribe to his blog, send an email to: wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com

Gabe Fleisher

Here is an excerpt from Alex Heuer's report to get you started:

A lot has happened to 12-year-old Gabe Fleisher in the last year and a half. He’s garnered local and national press attention and recently got to meet one of his favorite historians, Doris Kearns Goodwin.

His teeth now sport a set of braces with red, white and blue anchors.

It's all part of a day in the life of Gabe Fleisher, political junkie.

In 2012, he was a regular blogger on the Beyond November website, a cooperative effort by St. Louis Public Radio, the St. Louis Beacon and the Nine Network of Public Media to cover the elections.

Gabe’s moniker: “the pint-size pundit.”

He’s now ditched that nickname, as his side job as a publisher has taken off.

Thanks to encouragement from his mother, Gabe is the editor-in-chief – and sole staff member – of a daily emailed newsletter, “Wake Up to Politics.”

He currently has a circulation that’s closing in on 600. Subscribers include the White House.

Jamie Jordan, the principal at Brittany Woods Middle School in University City, helped arrange Gabe’s 6th grade class schedule so that his first period is in the library. That gives him a chance to finish assembling his publication and send it out before he has to lock up his laptop in the library office and head off to his first academic class: Spanish.

Update: Gabe was featured in the January 8th, 2014, edition of Town and Style Magazine.

Meshuggah Art Show

We started this blog to spread the word about all the great things that happen in U. City Schools every day. While we like to think we're connected, there is so much great stuff happening that we are continually learning about happenings ourselves.

Sometimes we see it on the Facebook page of parents or the School District Facebook page. Such was the case today. (You might just want to hop on over and like the district FB page to keep yourself in the know.)

Meshuggah, my favorite coffee shop in the Loop, hosted an Art Show of Brittany Woods Middle School advanced art students. The FB post led me to the art class blog where I found some nice work. I'll post a few here, but you may want to visit the site to see the talent being developed by art teacher Kathrine Avant.

Connecting the Classroom to the Home

The School District of University City launched the Parent Portal a few years ago. If you're not familiar with it, the portal is a password protected site where parents can track their child's homework, grades, attendance, discipline - even the status of their lunch account. If a family has multiple children in the district, the portal provides information for all of the children from a single sign-on. It's a great way to stay on top of any homework that a child didn't complete, which is often the culprit when grades begin to slip.

Students also have a log-in to a student view. Although I'll admit, my children aren't nearly as diligent about checking their grades as I am.

The Parent Portal is a handy tool, but today I received an email from a teacher that really got me excited. Ms. Eberle, a sixth grader science teacher at Brittany Woods Middle School, was letting parents know it was time for a science unit test. She directed us to her classroom website where the study guide was posted.

Handy for when your child manages to lose the hard copy of the the study guide between class and arriving home. But the exciting news was that Ms. Eberle had posted videos of the content reviews she had conducted with the classroom. What a great way for students to study for tests! It's also useful for parents who want understand the content their child is covering in class - giving them the ability to assist their children with the concepts at home.

The school district has installed Smart Boards in almost every classroom in every school. The exception is some physical education classrooms. I've no idea what all the capabilities of a Smart Board are, but being able to record a teacher's presentation, verbal instruction, and handwritten notes "on the board" sure beats the chalkboard and overhead presentations my teachers used in school.

Kudos to Ms. Eberle for using the the provided technology to its fullest potential - connecting the classroom with the home. Let's hope this becomes a standard in U. City.

Food and Family at Pershing Elementary

Pershing Elementary recently hosted a Family Dinner Night to honor the families who participate in the Home Works! program.  Home Works! is a teacher home-visit program that partners teachers and families with the goal of improving academic and social success, as well as increased parental involvement.

Families were treated to a delicious spaghetti dinner and participated in activities related to the event's theme, We are Family.  Each family was asked to write down what family means to them, and kids were able to present their different definitions of family to the entire audience.

At the end of the evening the was a raffle in which families could win gift bags and gift cards.  Says Pershing parent Kristine Hendrix, "Good times!!"

Photos courtesy of Kristine Hendrix

The Golden Explosion Visits Atlanta

Research has shown that, regardless of socioeconomic background, students involved in music perform better on standardized tests than students not involved in music.*

1. For math, music instruction helps develop spatial-temporal reasoning which is important to developing critical math skills.**
2. Overall reading and writing skills improve with music education.***
3. Students in the arts tend to be more cooperative with teachers and peers, more self-motivated, and have a better sense of self-esteem.****

As a band mom, I can attest to the benefits my child has received from music education. I can't tell you how music has benefited him academically, but I can tell you how it has given him a purpose, a social network and leadership skills. Plus, marching band is just plain fun!

The 2011 Lincoln University homecoming parade.

Every year, the University City High School "The Golden Explosion" participates in a number of parades throughout the region. The band even takes their show on the road. This year Indiana, Jefferson City and Atlanta were on the itinerary. The band holds a car wash in the fall to help pay for the trips. 100% of every ticket a student sells goes directly to their trip expenses. Some students pay for 100% of their costs selling car wash tickets.

Band director Daniel Shavers selects a different out-of-state university to visit each year. This strategy allows students to experience band programs at a variety of schools during their four years at UCHS.

Mr. Shavers leads the band in warm up exercises.

For many students, especially freshmen, this is their first big trip away from home. And for some, their first trip out of state.

Visiting Clark Atlanta University (CAU) this year had special meaning. Not only was the Disney movie "Drum Line," filmed at Clark Atlanta, a UCHS alum starred in the movie. On top of that, two of the bass drums used in the making of the movie are part of the UCHS drum line.

To make the long drive to Atlanta, band members arrived at UCHS at 4 a.m. on Friday morning. You read that right - 4 a.m. After loading up the bus with the uniforms, instruments and luggage, most everyone went back to sleep for a few hours.

Twelve hours later and we were in downtown Atlanta, took over a pizza buffet, and headed over to the CAU football field to watch the CAU band practice its homecoming halftime show. It was a little chilly, but the students were rewarded with an invitation into the CAU band room for a little bonding. Of all the high school bands participating in the parade the following day, only UCHS had the opportunity to be present at the CAU band practice.

Watching the the college band conduct business.

It was 10:30 p.m. by the time we made it back to the hotel and curfew was 11:30 p.m. (but that doesn't mean the kiddos went to sleep). Six a.m. came early for some folks (myself included after being an overnight hall monitor), and at 7:00 a.m. we were back on the bus headed for the parade route. By parade time the temps were in the low 60s, beautiful weather for marching.

With the campuses being in close proximity, the CAU homecoming parade is held jointly with Morehouse and Spelman Colleges. The parade route winds through all three campuses in addition to the campus of Morris-Brown.

It's always a treat to march with the UCHS band. You can't help but be proud of the tremendous reaction their performance receives from the people crowded along the street to watch the parade. People are cheering, dancing and so impressed the band came down from St. Louis.

After the parade it was a visit to the infamous Varsity Drive-In for a burger and orange whip then back to CAU for the homecoming football game.

Leaders of the band L to R: Nancy Burstein, UCHS staff and former
band parent; Phil Forrester, assistant band director; Jay Burstein;
Daniel Shavers, band director.

CAU lost the game, but that's when it got exciting for the band geeks. It was now the "fifth quarter" - time for CAU to face off with the visiting team's band. We were seated next to the CAU band and the UCHS students were loving every minute. The show kept going until the visiting team finally marched out of the stadium to their waiting buses. Once again, UCHS was the only band at the game allowing the band members to absorb the college band atmosphere.

Mr. Shavers always plans a surprise activity after the game. Back on the bus we headed to Stone Mountain for dinner and a laser light and fireworks show. By the time we arrived back at the hotel it was 10:30 p.m. again - a long day for the adults, but not so much for the band. Most of them stayed up in their rooms most of the night. Let's just say it made for a really quiet ride home the next day.

Next year will be my last as a band mom. I'm already sad as I've grown to love these trips with the band. Truth be told, my first year I had my reservations about traveling with a bunch of teenagers. I'd conjured up the image of rowdy, obnoxious teenagers and me enduring rap music for the duration of the trip. Truth be told, it was quite the opposite. Imagine my surprise when they popped in the first movie and the bus started singing along to "The Lion King."

Then there was the year we went roller skating in Little Rock. The local kids were having so much fun with the band they didn't want our kids to leave. And it goes without saving, the hotel staff always go out of their way to tell us how impressed they are with the band's behavior. As the band members are told before the bus rolls away from the high school, "remember you are representing your family and your school" - and every year the band represents U. City well.

*, **, ***, **** http://musicempowersfoundation.com/the-importance-of-music.html

Jackson Park Girls on the Run

More than twenty awesome girls from Jackson Park Elementary, along with parents and teachers, participated in the November 16th, 2013 Girls on the Run 5K in downtown St. Louis.  Way to go girls!

Thanks to JP parent Nikki Scheele for the photos!

Eagle Scout Project Benefits School District FLL Program

What do Neil Armstrong, Gerald Ford and Steven Spielberg have in common? As teenagers, all three men earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).

Only 1 in every 100 boys that join scouts makes it to Eagle.

Requirements to earn the Eagle rank include earning at least 21 merit badges and demonstrating Scout Spirit through the Boy Scout Oath and Law, service, and leadership. This includes an extensive service project that the Scout plans, organizes, leads, and manages.

Left to right: Jerry Finkenkeller, Troop 493 scout leader; Michael McMahon,
Rod Jennings, school board director; Occupational Therapist Christina Stephens;
Joylynn Pruitt, Superintendent of Schools;
Nicole Adewale, U. City parent and FLL volunteer extraordinaire. 

The highest academic honor at Brittany Woods Middle School is the "Soaring Eagle." It took on a whole new meaning during the recent First Lego League (FLL) regional qualifying competition at Brittany Woods when the School District of University City dedicated eight FLL competition tables. These tables were made by UCHS junior and Boy Scout Michael McMahon as part of his Eagle Scout project.

The tables were constructed for the school district and will now be used by FLL teams within the district for future FLL competitions and other FLL scrambles hosted by the district.

After receiving approval for his project from the BSA Board of Review, Michael first launched a campaign to raise the $400 required to purchase the supplies. His first fundraising attempt was at the St. Louis Regional FRC competition in April of this year.

Michael visited teams in their “pits” and distributed flyers promoting his project and soliciting donations. Michael was pleasantly surprised when people just handed him money after learning about his project. He was even more surprised when he started receiving checks from strangers in the mail - evidence of the power of the USFirst robotics program.

Michael also solicited FLL teams and coaches within University City and found them to be equally as generous.

With the funds raised, Michael set about purchasing the supplies and garnering the support of his fellow scouts. Over four work days Michael completed the eight tables just in time for the November competition.

And, in true scout spirit, in addition to building the tables, Michael also volunteered both days of the competition from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There are still a few more requirements to complete, but when Michael earns his Eagle rank, he will join the long list Eagle Scouts that hail from Troop 493.