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As a fundraiser to reduce the cost of the Junior prom and to help send SLA students to Liverpool England we will be selling lunches.The cost  will be $6  a day or if you pre pay for the 3 days it will be $15.  Lunch includes a sandwich, snack and drink. Please send in cash with students on the 1st day of the institute.  You can click the following link http://tinyurl.com/slalunch to preorder and lunches will be sent to your student's advisor.

contact: Mr. Bey - mbey@scienceleadership.org

Inquiry 

I talked to Ms. Dunda about my element in order to learn more about it. I hadn't even known about germanium until this project. She explained to me some of the scientific aspects.

Research

I researched the origins of germanium using multiple resources. I knew nothing about it until I was assigned the element and went on my own to research.

Collaboration 

I collaborated with Ms. Hull because my design was slightly complicated. She explained to me a way for me to easily determine the difference between negative and positive space.

Presentation 

I made 3 prints with my stamp and matted 2 of them. I used the colors silver and red which usually appear in the actual crest of Germany.

Reflection
I enjoyed this project immensely. I'd never done linoleum prints before and really enjoyed learning about them.

[Post Written by SLA Parent Sarah Stuart]

The SLA kids were awesome yesterday.  Leo Levy, Jordan McLaughlin, Mia Weathers-Fowler, Amy Chen, Goldie Robins and Taylor Thomas were articulate, powerful and magnificent.  They worked so hard and did SLA proud.

SLA parents were also amazing.  Anne Bigler, Arden Kass, Liz Hersh, Laura Schwingel, and Denise Larabee came through in each and every way.  Anne and Arden especially did a heavy lift in pulling together the letters excerpts, designing the posters and producing the "program" of our press event.  The event would NOT have happened without them.

It's an honor to be associated with such dedicated students and parents!  

Thank you to everyone at SLA who made yesterday possible!

Media Footage: Metro Philly

KYW News

Philly Magazine

CBS 3

Patriot News (Mia Weathers is quoted towards the end of this story)

Inquirer

Politic365

NBC10

One of SLA’s core values are to be able to reflect on the work you have done. This year I done this have more than your fingers and toes can count, projects that I am proud to call mine. But as a struggling student there are also work  which is not good, but it  have helped me get to the good ones. I have jumped from poetry to sweatshops nearly everything in the past months of working with Mr.Block. The best part of it I didn’t write for a grade I wrote to express what I was feeling.

One day I wrote a journal entry answering a question that was always going threw my head. On the board of our english journal read “​Why do humans so often treat each others badly? And ....  What different thing change this cycle of negative behavior towards others.”  As a child growing up in the 90’s generation I have to deal with those who judge others a lot. I always wonder why something that someone else is doing affects someone else. The kids I have to grow up with leaves me with questions I do not even know if there is an answer to. Something I was raised around is “Sticks and stones may break your bone, but words will never hurt.”  I had a mouth full of things to write down for this journal! One of the ones I loved. (To read everything I wrote you can click here (English Journal 6 ) )

Thew out this year I have learned a general understanding that can make my life easier. The grades you receive never reflect your intelligence, It reflects your work ethic. To me this means that I have way more understanding on something I just don’t express it. I maybe one of the nerves writes I know. I have that general understanding on a topic, but sometimes I don’t always know how to express it. As I grow and I reach my college education level I now know I need to express myself a little more. For my younger cousins and or any other younger person I would love to them to know

I would never imagining learning so much from a teacher who teaching me two different subjects. Mr. Block is my wonderful history and english teacher.  Mr.Block has help me open my eyes in the world in such ways you wouldn't believe it. This has left me with not only understandings on the world but on my own work. As a student who has had a tough time in english and history I would never expect there is not only a fun way to learn but also an understanding way. I knew about the wonderful work Mr.Block has done because of one of his former students, but boy she didn’t inform me about this.

Here is some links to my work https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/document/d/1Vb-

https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/document/d/1c7s1rJmnZNQzDfwLSu0b_4R33WxZO6tGiBiTmdaEzlo/editMPiK2Q4eMqxk9HRoYKfzCUEmoL-Q-GN1P1pp2yrE/edit

​1. Inquiry: I researched my element and it was kind of challenging because my element was a noble gas that didn't do much. After researching for a while I came up with a creative idea for my print. 

2. Research: Like I said before my research was kind of a challenge but after searching for a while I thought about it. I think that my idea was original and creative for such a boring element. 

3. Collaboration: Mrs. Hull helped me a lot because she helped me pick my best idea. She also helped me edit it, after the changes my idea was a lot better. I also helped out some of my classmates if they got confused. 

4. Presentation: My presentation could have been better. If i had switched where the negative space was in my print it would have looked a lot better. In my opinion my colors are not dark enough and it would have been better opposite. 

5. Reflection: When I reflect on my prints I wish that I could re-do them because I think they could have come out a lot better. I think that they were pretty good for my first try though and even though I don't like them, I am proud of them. 

Originally, I was supposed to do the project involving negative space, using elements as the topic. The process of the entire thing was pretty good. It mainly involved constant sketching, getting feedback from Ms. Hull, and returning to my sketchbook in order to revise whatever seemed to be out of place in the drawing. This went on for a while. Once it was brought to my attention exactly how the sketches would be used, I panicked, practically dreading art class from that moment on. 

We were all warned that linoleum cutters were these sharp, almost dangerous if used incorrectly tools. Now, had this been before, I would've jumped at the chance at attempting to use something with such risk added onto it. However, as soon as the warning stretched onto the fact that if you were to accidentally lose control of the blade, and it happened to puncture the skin, the results seemed fatal. Avoiding giving off some entire life story over a blog post, I considered the tool to be a personal danger. After an email session with Hull, followed by a pretty long conversation, I was in the clear to do something less, sharp, if you will, and was allowed to do a few simple sketches. I decided to draw a few pictures in the style of manga. In a way, they actually correlate to the essential questions and core values.

Inquiry: 
Before being able to do this mini-project, a few questions had to be asked. 'Why do you feel as though you aren't able to complete the element project?' 'What would be most helpful to you, as a student?' And, 'What would make you feel more comfortable,' were just a few pieces to this value. 

Research: 
I poured a lot of research into this, beforehand. Learning how to draw different hairstyles, eyes, expressions, and facial features were some of the basics, before I moved into a few more advanced topics, such as keeping everything aligned, and giving the characters a more animated look. 

Collaboration: 
Throughout the project, I collaborated with both my teachers, and my peers. The various critiques I'd ask from people probably had to be my biggest source of this value. 

Presentation: 
Each drawing has been, 'presented,' to someone at least once. By posting them online, one could also consider that a form of presentation.

Reflection: 
This very blog post! Thinking of what exactly were my highest and weakest points within the project also helped greatly within the creation of the reflection. 

In this project we had to incorperate the five values. I believe that research is incorperated in this project, because we had to do research on our elements to be able to know what type of design to make. Collaboration was included in this project, because we had to paint the tiles and this took collaboration, because we all had to work together. Presentation: we didn't stand up and present, but we did present by uploading our element print pictures. This is a reflection, what I'm writing is me reflecting on everything I've done over the process of this project. Inquiry is something we needed for this project. 

Inquiry: There were many questions that I had about the project but didn’t ask. These questions weren’t asked because they were eventually answered during the process. 

Research: Because I had questions the best way to answer them was with research. Through research I was able to answer all of my questions. 

Collaboration: During this project I had to collaborate with others for help and to help. Helping them with painting and them helping me with carving. 

Presentation: This print will be on the school walls and on this blog below the reflection. The print was made with effort and creativity. 

Reflection: Even though I find my design interesting if I did this project again it would be different. I would think of something else that has to do with fluorine. 

My element was Cerium​ and I did a print about neon signs because Cerium is in neon signs. 
Inquiry- I was questioning about my element and trying to find what my element did. 
Research- I researched everything about my element and found what my element did. 
Collaboration- I collaborated with my peers about what type of design I should use. 
Presentation- I presented the matted print to Ms. Hull.
Reflection- I reflected as I printed more prints because the paint would stick in the lines of the block and so I thought that if I would do it again, I would make sure that the lines I carved are deep enough.

Inquiry
I asked myself, "what does the element krypton make up?" I also asked if there is anything unique about my element and how to design it.

Research
I looked up what krypton makes, such as neon lights and camera flashes. I researched what the history behind krypton and how it was discovered. 

Collaboration
I asked my friends what they thought of my design. I collaborated with them on what design to carve and I helped them choose

Presentation
I presented my final pieces, one matted and one not. I matted a few, and chose the best one to give to Mrs. Hull.

Reflection
Looking back at what I did I am proud. I loved how my prints turned out and my carving turned out nice. 

I

Embarrassed, I am. This year was a flunk. Do I regret anything? Of course I do, but I'm not going to sit here and sob about it the last week of school. A repeated action of lying, bickering, and for what? To be sitting here in my loneliness of bad grades and avoided relationships. I haven't been a good sport, but I am only human.

One of my favorite quotes is, "Grades don't reflect intelligence, they reflect work ethic." A quote bringing a high self-esteem to a person who feels as though he doesn't have a meaning. A purpose. The honest truth is that I don't feel intelligent. I know I don't have a great work ethic, and my grades show that, but even if recognition for a completed assignment is given, it's not enough. There are still pieces of the puzzle missing.

Walking into Sophomore year was simple. Put a smile on, pay attention, do the work, get good grades. Simple.  Just like everything else. But, soon after I discovered how lenient I "thought" my teachers were, the slacking began. It's true when the students say, "You can't spell Slacker without SLA!" I was a slacker. Still am, at times. Considering the fact that I was so dedicated to passing and making an impression, it baffled me that my grades started to slip, and it confused me even more when I didn't care.

I generated creative ideas for each assignment that was given to me, I just never followed through. Week-after-week, month-after-month, it was nothing but disappointments. Ones from my teachers, ones from my parents, ones from myself. Tackling something that is outside of your box is more than changeling. It's mind-juggling. Every idea was extraordinary. Something that would give me a 20/20. I was excited. Filled with joy when that final thought was created. But, procrastination took over and molded me into something that I wasn't. I would say that Social Media is to blame, but actually, I am to blame. Everything is/was my decision. I decided to not turn in work; I decided to leave class for 30 minutes. No one is going to force me to do anything. It's my responsibility to make sure I am doing the best I can, and none of my capability and potential was shown through the half-ass effort.

This past school year has been an adventure. It wasn't a pleasant one, but I can't change the past and most certainly will not dwell in it. My journey has taught me the value things may have.  I envied people who were better at things than I was. I'm not skilled in math. I'm not skilled in Spanish, but that's okay. Piers of mine who received A's in classes, that I got a C in, were just trying to the best of their ability. I'm strong in many things that straight A students aren't, and thats valuable. I have to know that I'm not going to be Superman at everything, so I can't beat myself up over something that can't be altered. I may have messed up a few times, but I know how to fix the mistakes. Writing this short essay, made me realize the importance and significance of my talents and where they can lead me. I am an individual who sees things metaphorically and artistically. I can't compute variables in an equation and I can't translate a sentence only using a Spanish dictionary. From now on, I know to try my best and be the person I truly am, because it's the only thing that will be my aid in the following journeys.

10th grade students studied Paine's Park and the associated erosion and runoff. Check out the video that describes the problem and possible solutions.