School News – Page 9 – Clairbourn School News

December 12, 2019January 9, 2020

Enthusiasm for Clairbourn Abounds in Parent Photo Contests

For people who have discovered the warmth, supportive atmosphere, and academic advantages at Clairbourn, enthusiasm runs high. Parents, who enroll for elementary or middle school grades, often remark that they wish they had known about Clairbourn School sooner for preschool and Kindergarten!

So, in order to create more awareness about all that Clairbourn has to offer, and also to teach families how to use the school’s photo-sharing website, a “Clairbourn Around Town” photo contest was held in November and December of 2019. Parents were asked to take and submit off-campus photos that showcase the Clairbourn spirit. The entries were very creative, and both parents and students got in on the action.

Entries to the photo contest included a Big Bear snowman photo, students in Taekwondo class, students eating a cotton candy ice cream treat at MilkCow Cafe, a California coast photo with sea lions, a lakeside photo in Taiwan, and a photo at a local car racing speedway.

Parents took photos at Kidspace, Catalina Island, Dana Point, Huntington Gardens, Big Bear, the LA River, Medieval Times, a Taekwondo academy, a local horse stable, a racing speedway, a violin tutor’s house, lots of local restaurants, and some even packed props in their luggage to take pictures in the Bahamas and Taiwan.

The contest’s first place photo was from a family who sport-fishes in the LA River. They waited for two hours for a carp to be caught so this photo could be taken.

In order to ensure fairness in the judging, a well-respected art teacher from a top private high school in the San Fernando Valley was asked to choose the winning photos. Winners from both contest received coveted new Clairbourn-logo merchandise including insulated water bottles, stadium chairs, plush cougar toys, and the ultimate prize of over-sized and waterproof, outdoor fleece blankets.

The beach photo, above, was taken in the Bahamas over a school break, and the night photo was taken at the LA Arboretum’s Moonlight Forest Lantern Festival.

This was the second photo contest of the school year. The previous contest was held in September and October, and parents were allowed to submit any type of photo of any subject as long as it was taken on campus. Parents sent in charming landscape photos, staged student shots, well-composed abstract photos, and lots of student candids.

The first photo contest of the year asked parents to submit photos taken on campus of any subject.

Overall, the photo contests turned out to be a great community-building activity. It helped more parents know how to use the photo sharing website, and an added bonus was happy family memories and photos were created along the way!

Clairbourn School Provides Private School Education for Preschool, Kindergarten, Elementary School, and Middle School Grades | Serving Families in the Pasadena, California, Area and Surrounding Cities (K-12 Private Schools) Clairbourn is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. Click here to request information.

Creating Scholars and Leaders with Heart

December 12, 2019January 9, 2020

Clairbourn’s Annual Pooh Play

Students from Preschool through Grade 5 attended a warm, and literally fuzzy, Winnie The Pooh play put on by Clairbourn middle school students who signed up for the elective. Drama teacher Paul Barker authored and directed the show, and the concept was inspired by A. A. Milne’s characters from the Winnie the Pooh series. This funny and whimsical play was entitled, “A House is Built on Pooh Corner.” The storyline covers the antics of Pooh, Piglet, and friends working together to build Eeyore a new house—which may have been his old house rebuilt.

Drama teacher Paul Barker (center) wrote and directed this Pooh Play inspired by A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh series.

December 10, 2019January 9, 2020

Fourth and Fifth Grade Service Project: Learning The Power of Giving

C lairbourn School ’s service opportunities for students hold impactful lessons on giving, empathy, selflessness, and kindness. Whether it’s donating food or holding a book drive, such opportunities can improve work ethics in young students and can provide them with a sense of greater purpose. It can also help them become valued, contributing members of society as well as good human beings. Aristotle once wrote, “What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good.”

Grades 4 & 5 Operation Santa Paws
Grade 4 and 5 students at Clairbourn School are seeking donations for Operation Santa Paws to help animals in shelters. Students are asking for a variety of pet supplies including dog and cat food, blankets/towels, and durable animal toys. Bring your donations to Clairbourn’s Reception Office by Thursday, December 19, to support our students’ service-learning effort.

Clairbourn fourth and fifth graders announce their service project with Operation Santa Paws

December 6, 2019January 9, 2020

Student Growth Through Gardening: How Clairbourn’s Garden Expands Education

Only in a garden can one experience the technicolor tartness of biting into a fresh tomato, enjoy the smell of sun-warmed, scented herbs, and delight in the buzzing bees, who offer a pollinator’s promise of good things to come. In today’s technology-centric world, Clairbourn School’s gardens provide students with a way to connect with life’s simple, outdoor pleasures. But more importantly, they offer a way for students to understand humanity’s role in maintaining a healthy, life-sustaining ecosystem.

These bountiful and beautiful gardens, full of vegetables, herbs, and fruit provide a tangible experience that will never be duplicated by an iPad app, a textbook, or a video. In an era where children spend more time indoors, Clairbourn’s garden beckons them into an outdoor environment where they can use all of their senses to see, smell, hear, taste, touch, and learn in a new way. Albert Einstein once said, “Look deep into nature, and you will understand everything better.”

JPK – Grade 5: Fall Harvest
Farmer Loretta from Harvest to Home taught Clairbourn students from JPK through Grade 5 about fall crops, soil health, pollinators and how to make Confetti Salad using edible flowers, herbs, and mixed vegetables.

Watch this 2-minute video of students experiencing fall harvest classes in the Clairbourn garden.

November 21, 2019January 9, 2020

Middle School Harry Potter Unit: A Tool for Self-Discovery and Pop-Cultural Literacy

Opportunity for creative expression, self-discovery, community-building, and increased cultural literacy were the primary benefits experienced by seventh and eighth grade students involved in a two-week, immersive unit on J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone at Clairbourn School. The middle school teachers cleverly designed a custom educational adventure to enrich the lives of students who did not sign up for the school’s Australia student-exchange trip, which occurred during the same time period.

Harry Potter Middle School Experience
Opportunity for creative expression, self-discovery, community-building, and increased cultural literacy were the primary benefits experienced by seventh and eighth grade students involved in a two-week, immersive unit on J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone at Clairbourn School.

This 10-minute video contains highlights from the seven day Harry Potter Unit at Clairbourn School.

November 13, 2019January 9, 2020

Visiting Authors Share their Creative Work and Experience with Clairbourn Students

Author Carter Higgins read Bikes For Sale to preschool students and later signed books in the gymnasium.

Clairbourn’s library strongly supports student literacy through an annual Book Fair event on campus which introduces students to the best books in children’s literature and helps them to learn how books come into existence.

Local and nationally-known visiting authors and illustrators are brought on campus each year as part of the Book Fair. These grade-level appropriate presentations often include book readings and can cover writing skills, storyline development, character development, editing, how to get published and promote books, and how to draw and conceptualize book illustrations.

This year, Clairbourn brought two authors on campus. Preschool to Grade 5 students heard from Carter Higgins, a former school librarian who now writes popular children’s books. For the youngest students, she gave two read-aloud sessions of her book Bikes for Sale, where bike-riding characters Maurice and Lotta have a mishap that leads to a friendship and new adventures thanks to some creative problem-solving.

November 13, 2019January 9, 2020

City of Hope Scientists and Current Clairbourn Parents Provide STEM Lessons to Third-Graders

Third-graders benefit from a hands-on science lesson provided by current Clairbourn parents Dr. Tijana Talisman and Dr. Ian Talisman.

Clairbourn’s community is unique among area schools because of our emphasis on parent involvement in the life of the school. Parent engagement can boost student success both academically and behaviorally, and according to the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL), “When schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more.”

October 8, 2019January 9, 2020

Parachute Plunge – Clairbourn Preschool Teacher Skydives for Student STEM Lesson

Sayra Rubio, the preschool teacher at Clairbourn School, is willing to do whatever it takes to inspire her students! She recently completed her first skydive on Sunday, October 6, 2019, in order to give a first-hand account of the experience to her students and answer their questions about what it was like to descend to earth by parachute.

For over a month, preschoolers at Clairbourn have been involved in a STEM activity called “The Parachute Plunge” designed to teach the scientific principles that make parachutes work. Students learned about surface area, properties of materials, and air resistance/drag effect, all of which combine to work in opposition to gravity.

Parachute Plunge – Clairbourn Preschool Teacher Skydives for Student STEM Lesson
Sayra Rubio, the preschool teacher at Clairbourn School, is willing to do whatever it takes to inspire her students! She recently completed her first skydive on Sunday, October 6, 2019, in order to give a first-hand account of the experience to her students who are studying and building parachutes.

Clairbourn School’s preschool teacher Sayra Rubio took her first skydiving jump to inspire her students building parachutes for their STEM studies.

September 19, 2019January 9, 2020

Comprehensible Input: An Effective New Approach for Clairbourn’s Language Program

This year Clairbourn’s Spanish teacher and French teacher, Mary Drazic and Cara Barker, have both revolutionized their language classrooms with the Comprehensible Input (CI) style of instruction (also known as TPRS®—Teach Proficiency through Reading and Story-telling). Below, Mary Drazic provides insights into how CI is applied in language classrooms, followed by a brief history of the origins of CI (or TPRS®), as well as the research on its effectiveness, by French teacher Cara Barker:

Spanish Teacher Mary Drazic Shares Her Experience:

To prepare for this new style of teaching, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop with the founder of the TPRS® method, Blaine Ray. He instructs in the CI (or TPRS®) style that we have brought to Clairbourn School, and the training was a game-changer! We learned German during the workshop. It was fantastic to not only learn the new instructional style, but also to be a successful product of it. By the end of the training, I could tell a story in German!

I am so happy to share with you my first impressions of this new instructional style as applied in Clairbourn’s language classes. The students’ engagement is through the roof. I have never seen students respond so well to Spanish—they are even laughing at jokes in their new language. When learning a topic, they can emote by acting out what is happening during instruction and they can practice having appropriate responses to situations. For example, they are asked to respond in the target language with expression like, “Oh no!,” “That’s gross,” or “Ridiculous!” Each student’s involvement enriches the overall experience.

September 18, 2019January 9, 2020

Middle School Parents: Your Children Need You Now In Different Ways

As Clairbourn middle school students pack for their three-day trip to the Pali Mountain Institute, parents often experience a range of emotions over their children heading off to a sleepaway camp. A lot of parents feel sad that their children are growing up and may be needing them less. Intellectually, they know that school overnight trips are good for their children because they teach them to overcome challenges, learn problem-solving strategies, develop leadership and collaboration skills, and strengthen relationships with other classmates. Consequently, parents find the strength to override the emotional tug to keep their children close to home and instead allow their children to participate in these key activities designed to “Create Scholars and Leaders with Heart.”

Middle school students head to the bus with their luggage to begin their three-day mountain adventure.

You are not alone! You have a parenting partner in Clairbourn School designed to support the parent’s journey as well as the student’s journey.