Hello Blackberry Parenting Adults,
There are so many pictures from this week that I made a Google photos album here! Please let me know if you have any issues accessing it.
We had a very busy week! we began out we by cutting our water bottles with the options of different size saws, box cutters, and exacto knives. Happy to report that there were no injuries. We later went to Berkeley Mini Park to plant around 10 trees. That was the most fun we’ve had. Aly reached out to Ian who works for Berkeley Park and Rec and they came out and worked with us. They took all of the questions we had, were so patient, and overall they really made the experience enjoyable. I told the Blackberrians that when they are all in 8th grade the trees will be 7 and 8 old just like them! I think its a fantastic spot to get a first day of school picture every year.
We finished creating our water filters on Wednesday. It was a messy and rambunctious time. We shattered some bigger rocks with hammers, we put soil, cotton, sand, and smaller pebbles. We had some spill over multiple times but we kept going for it. On Thursday morning we headed over to the creek to filter creek water. We brought ph testing strips and talked about how for the water to be drinkable, it would have to be boiled and reach a ph level of 7. We tried multiple times, filtering and refiltering water. Finally, John was able to filter his water enough to reach ph7 after filtering the same water 5 times. We were so excited that it actually work! We did have 4 big falls in the creek but we talked about the possibility of it happening and how they brought extra clothes, but it was definitely still surprising to hear a splash!
Get ready for Readathon 2025 next week! We are preparing for a week of celebrating books and reading from April 21-25, including Drop Everything and Read sessions (DEAR), a dress-up day, read-alouds with buddies, visits from local authors, and more! You can get an idea from this video.
See the authors that are visiting and order books through this link by 5:30 p.m. on Friday, April 18th and you can get them signed! Books can be ordered after that date through April 28th but they will likely not be signed. Books will also be available to check out and purchase some mornings next week during drop-off.
Dress-up Day is Tuesday! Students are encouraged to dress as their favorite authors or characters. Halloween rules apply (no masks or weapons, no gory stuff).
Also, remember to donate K-8 books for our traditional book swap! We’re collecting until Tuesday, April 23rd! You can donate your gently-used, K-8 appropriate books by handing your donation to the administrator on duty or drop them off in the UAC school office. We’re hoping to collect many, many new titles for our students to enjoy at the book swap! Email Director of Teaching and Learning, Chris Chun at cchun@theberkeleyschool.org if you have any questions.
Please join us for the TBS Block Party on Saturday, April 26 from 5–8pm at the UAC! Come hang out, enjoy some great food from Vatos Tacos, check out the art installation by Julianne, Helia, and K-8 students, and celebrate community with us.
I hope to see you all there!
Best,
Leslie