Prestwick STEM Academy
Prestwick Profile - Community Vol. 16
Important Upcoming Dates This Week
Monday, Nov 28th
- College Swag Monday
Tuesday, Nov 29th
- 2/3 Music performance @ 6:00 pm
- Spirit Night at Jersey Mike’s 4-9 pm
Wednesday, Nov 30th
- Boys/Girls Cross Country District Meet
Thursday, Dec 1st
- 4/5 Music Performance, Music Appreciation, Elementary Choir, Exploration Choir Concert (6th-8th) @ 6:00 pm
Friday, Dec 2nd
- Field Trip/Elementary and Exploration Choir/tour to community (during school hours)
- LEHS Choir Winter Wonderland
- 9:00am - 3:00pm @ LEHS
Please note there has been a change of date for Band Winter Concert due to early arrival of Mrs. Hernandez son Ian Hernandez. Mom and Ian are doing well.
- New Date Tuesday, Dec. 6th - Prestwick Winter Band Concert (6th - 8th) @ 6:30 pm in Prestwick Cafe
Outstanding Band Student
Previous to the Thanksgiving Holiday, Prestwick concert band students volunteered to participate in an individual performance competition called UIL All-region.
One of our percussion students, Caleb Katinga advanced to phase 2 of this competition after ranking in the top 50 out of 200 students. Caleb pressed on to compete for a spot in the all-region band and we wish him the best!
Mrs. Hernandez is very proud of all her band students who participated in all-region and worked hard to learn complex music on top of their weekly band assignments. She hopes this is the start of continued growth and success for the Prestwick STEM Academy Band Program!
Spotlight on LEarning
Talk about "gobbling up" the learning this week! There are so many great learning experiences this week, it's hard to focus on just one!
- On any given day students were working together to solve patterns using cubes in 2nd grade math with Mrs. Franks. One students stated, "They liked math because they solve problems." (Note: While answering never looking off their work because they were so focused!)
- Oncor and Coserv were two different groups along with other grade levels that learned about different types of energies from Mrs. Malcom's 4th graders.
- Pepsico team members came out and shared different types of STEM careers and current innovations with 8th grade students. Many doors to creativity can be opened with exposure to how one company has so many areas for different types of learners.
- Third graders in Mrs. Jones-Purvis' social studies class have been working hard combining a value such as truthfulness, respect, participation in government, responsibility, equality and justice with a person in U. S. history or a historical site. Finding a common connection between the two was key. What shined so bright was the team work displayed during presentations and mostly from memory. This group really set the bar high for public speaking and presenting! Kudos to 3rd grade for achieving what is hard for most adults!
Staff Spotlight- Mr. Nicholas Rodriguez
Greetings Lobos! This weeks staff spotlight is 5th grade ELAR teacher, Nicholas Rodriguez. Mr. Rodriguez graduated from Texas State University with a Bachelor's in Anthropology. After graduating from college, Mr. Rodriguez moved to South Korea where he spent five years teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to elementary students in a town just outside of Seoul. After five years in South Korea, Mr. Rodriguez’s decided to return to home and has been teaching at PSA for the last two years. In his very first year at PSA, Mr. Rodriguez was awarded PSA Elementary Teacher of the Year. Go Mr. Rodriguez.
Mr. Rodriguez exhibits a passion for reading and writing and enjoys introducing new reading genres to students. “I don’t believe that anyone hates reading; it’s just that they haven’t found the right genre yet.” In addition, one of Mr. Rodriguez’s goal for the year is to implement more technology into his reading and writing lessons. MyOn, the district’s new award-winning literacy program has been an excellent new resource that has enabled Mr. Rodriguez to incorporating more technology into his classroom.
Learning Beyond Our School
4th grade learners at Prestwick STEM Academy experienced Texas history at the Texas Rangers Museum in Waco, The Bullock Texas State History Museum, and The State Capitol in Austin. Highlights of the day included seeing The La Belle ship, viewing the monumental painting, "The Surrender of Santa Anna", and the six sovereign nations that have governed Texas on the floor of the Rotunda at the Capitol.