MEA Tuesday Message

Tuesday, Jan. 7

• 8-8:45- Choir - B15
  
• 8:50- 9:35- Strings - B15
• 9:40-10:25- Band - B15

• 12:30-2:30 PALS - Rm 6
• 12:30-1:15 Elementary PE
• 1:50-2:40 Secondary PE

• 9:30-11:30 PALS - Auditorium
• 11:00-11:45 Coop Group - Chicken Coop
• 12:00-12:30 Elementary Book Club

• 9:00-11:30 PALS - Auditorium
• 12:30-2:30 D&D Quest Club - Auditorium

• February 6 - Move-A-Thon
• February 11 - Secondary Awards Ceremony
• March 14 - Talent Show
• March 14 - MEA Silent Auction

Check out the week's club calendar below. For more information about clubs, check out the MEA Campus Life.

Happy New Year to everyone and I hope you all had a wonderful winter break! We enjoyed many family dinners over the holidays and my husband and I also traveled to Mexico for a week of surfing in warm water with 3 of our children. We'd surf a sunrise session for a few hours and then spend much of the day lounging in hammocks with a book. A true vacation!

As we start a new semester, I believe it is important to reflect on all of our accomplishments. Students engaged in many learning activities both inside and outside the classroom. New friends were made and field trips, community events, and student clubs were more popular then ever. We hope you all are seeing our goal of "elevating" the student experience come to fruition. It has been a joy to see students modeling the 7 Habits, enjoying our new pickleball courts, and challenging one another through discussion and inquiry during lessons. At a small school, it truly takes the efforts of everyone - staff, parents, and students - and we thank you all for partnering with us and utilizing your skills for the benefit of all.

Although we are in the midst of economic struggles at the district level, I am confident that we can continue to provide our students with a high level and unique educational experience. I encourage everyone to complete the Needs Assessment Survey as responses will be used to determine priorities for the next school year. Please reach out to me with questions or suggestions as we are always striving to improve.

Warm Regards,

Courtney Browne, Principal

Pickleball courts on the main playground will be closed on Wednesday, January 8, 15, 22, February 5, 12, and 19 to accommodate PE classes from 12:30-2:50 PM. Please use the Elementary Pickleball court if you would like to play during this time.

Plein Air Painting Club will be meeting on campus this upcoming Friday between 10:00 and 11:30! All art supplies will be provided, although feel free to bring your own. No artistic skills are required. Just come out for a good time with other MEA teens. We will also be discussing the feasibility of taking the club fully off campus and other aspects of its future.

For questions or interest, please contact Henry Holcomb.

This fall, our local Sprouts store invited their team members to nominate organizations that are “sprouting seeds of health and wellness” in their communities for a “Seeds of Health” donation. Mt. Everest Academy was nominated and won $2,000 to be used to support school gardening, children’s nutrition education, and healthy living. We believe we were nominated by Sprouts employees because of the strong collaborative relationship Ms. Shannon has cultivated with them for her many projects and activities. Principal Browne and Ms. Shannon will be accepting the award at a presentation at the store on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 9am. Yay!

The second semester has begun! Do you have new fitness goals for 2025? If you don't already participate in one of our PE classes, take the time and sign up now! We will begin our first unit with Pickleball.
NO NEED TO SIGN UP IF YOU ARE ALREADY ENROLLED
Elementary: Wednesdays from 12:30-1:15 https://forms.gle/BCAP3hhz92WtBfxW8
Secondary: Wednesdays from 1:50-2:40 https://forms.gle/yyxuUbXgJgiftAoA8
(No classes during turn-in week)

Come join the MEA community on the San Diego Bay aboard the Legacy Whale Watching Boat! The Legacy crew and NAT Whaler volunteers will provide detailed information about whales, dolphins, sea lions, and more. During the winter, we will see migrating gray whales.

"Legacy’s 80-foot vessel offers two decks with indoor and outdoor seating, snacks and beverages for purchase, and three full-sized restrooms. The boat can host 115 passengers, providing an intimate experience and up-close views of ocean wildlife. Legacy is docked at Seaforth Landing in Mission Bay, which has ample free parking for passengers."

Friday, February 28 at 10:00 AM
Cost is $32 per person (this is half off the regular price) Use the link to reserve your spot!

https://seaforth.fishingreservations.net/sdwvouchers/user.php?trip_id=952345

Students in Grades 6-12 are invited to enter their art in our yearbook cover contest. The winner will receive a free yearbook and their artwork will be displayed on the front cover! Even if your entry is not used on the cover, it may still be used in other places throughout the book.

You may submit a design that is for the front cover only or a wrap-around spread for both the front and back. Keep in mind that there is a spine roughly half an inch wide that will cut through the middle of a wrap-around design. All entries must be in digital format.

Yearbook Theme:

• This year’s book doesn’t have a specific “tag line,” but the cover art should reflect the uniqueness of this school, which is unlike any other.

Tips for a Good Entry:

• All entries must include Mt. Everest Academy and the school year 2024-25.

• Use lots of color, including the background. Don’t leave much white space.

• Do not add text too close to the edges of the page. Leave 1 inch of space around the outside edges with no text, just color/design. This will avoid print issues when the art is applied to the cover.

Submit Your Digital Art:

• See this link for the specific dimensions for creating your artwork in programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator or others: size, dimensions and resolutions

• Use the specs and templates for an 8 ½ x 11 Hardcover book with 92 pages (Photoshop and inDesign templates available)

• Email your file to rfinney@sandi.net

All Entries Due By: January 31, 2025 (end of Month 6)

Habit 5 focuses on acting within your Circle of Influence — understanding the other person and expressing yourself. Those actions, in turn, can help you effectively influence other people, which can influence situations that impact you, which expands your Circle of Influence.

Communication is a critical aspect of productive interpersonal relationships. When truly effective interdependent people communicate, they first try to understand the other person’s perspective before expressing their own. On a larger scale, this principle holds true in many professions.

We discussed in Habit 4 that an essential step in reaching a Win/Win solution is to try to understand the other person’s perspective and concerns. The key to truly understanding people is empathic listening, which is listening with the intent to see their perspective. Empathetic listening is necessary to work on habit 5: seek first to understand, then to be understood.

Click here for some Family Activities for the 7 Habits.

It is time for students in grades 5-11 to plan their classes for the next school year!

Current 8th-11th Graders (Class of 2026-2029)

• All current 8th -11th graders must either make an appointment (in person or online) to meet with Mr. Rubin or email course requests (arubin@sandi.net). Please reserve a conference time at this link to discuss courses for next year, graduation and college entrance requirements, and community college courses.

• During their articulation meeting, incoming 9th graders and their parents can meet with Mr. Rubin to discuss a four-year plan.

• Parents are encouraged to attend along with their student(s). Parents who cannot attend should review the course options with their student at home.

• Students do not need to return an articulation sheet but should be prepared to share their course requests with Mr. Rubin during their appointment or by email.

• If you would prefer to work with Mr. Rubin over email to select classes, please email him your requests.

Articulation Sheets:

Incoming 9th graders, Class of 2029

Incoming 10th graders, Class of 2028

Incoming 11th graders, Class of 2027

Incoming 12th graders, Class of 2026

Find all courses being offered next year and a tentative class schedule at the links below:

Class Schedule 2025-2026

Sign up for an articulation meeting with Mr. Rubin (for next year's 9th-12th only).

Current 5th-7th Graders (Class of 2030-2032)

You will select your classes for the following school year through a Google Form. Mr. Rubin presented the form in Ms. Patterson's and Mr. Cate’s class. The form will be available to complete in Ms. Patterson's or Mr. Cate’s Google Classrooms and linked here.

To review the course options available to middle school students, please see the following articulation sheets:

Incoming 6th graders, Class of 2032

Incoming 7th graders, Class of 2031

Incoming 8th graders, Class of 2030

Please email Mr. Rubin if you have questions regarding scheduling.

We are SO excited for Elementary Art to start up again for Semester 2 at MEA on Tuesday afternoons. This is a class designed for K - 5th grade that focuses on the Elements of Art and Principles of Design. We create multiple pieces of art with a focus on FUN and CREATIVITY.

Due to the nature of the class, it is limited to 24 students. Rather than using the "first come, first serve" model, we will have a sign-up open until 1/9/25. If more than 24 students are signed up, we will use a random generator to create the roster. Families will be notified on 1/10 regarding the finalized class roster.

Important Dates:

• 1/9/25 - At 11:59pm on Thursday, the sign-up form will close
• 1/10/25 - We will run the Random Generator to create the roster of 24 students and families will be notified
• 1/14/25 - First day of ART class in MakersSpace at 12:30 - 1:15pm!

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. Here is the link! Google Form Link S2 Elementary Art

We are super excited for this next semester of Tech Exploration. Tech Exploration will meet Thursdays, from 12:30-1:30, in Room1, starting on January 16th. This semester the class will be diving into the exciting world of LEGO Robotics! This course is designed to spark your curiosity and creativity by combining the power of LEGO construction with the innovation of robotics. In this course students will be learning how to design, build, and program robots using LEGO kits, using collaboration and teamwork to brainstorm and refine their ideas.

Tech Exploration is open to students in grades 3-5. You may sign up using the following link: https://forms.gle/Sbvep6BU8LU2X1ao8

There will be no class on February 6th.

Calling all Elementary Families! We now have our own digital bulletin board for sharing our Meet-Ups each month! Click on the link to see the places we plan to visit! You are welcome to plan your own meet-up, large or small, or join one that has already been organized. Be sure to give your contact information in the comment section so the organizers can reach those families who are interested in attending.
https://padlet.com/bkielty/mea-elementary-meet-ups-bm0xc8x7lp3pdjn

Community Events are not sponsored by Mt. Everest Academy

(available from December 1, 2024 - January 15, 2025.)
LINK: https://www.powayonstage.org/scbnut24/
Password: Tutuz2

DETAILS:
The full program will take about two hours to complete. The detailed breakdown below includes approximate times of each component of the virtual program, in the order that they are presented. It is very flexible – synchronous or asynchronous; completed in a single day or over several days – it is up to you!

Pre-Show Activities
· The Nutcracker Time Machine (8 minutes)
**Please note: We are aware of a technical issue with “Nutcracker Time Machine.” We are working hard to resolve the matter as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.
· The Nutcracker Story Book (5 minutes)
· Let’s Put on A Show (5 minutes)

“The Nutcracker” Show
· Act I (18 minutes)
· Act II (18 minutes)

If you are seeking opportunities to connect, engage, and with other families in the MEA Community, we invite you to explore the private electronic bulletin board. We encourage you to share any local activities or events that you and fellow MEA students and families may enjoy together. Please note that these activities are not sponsored by Mt. Everest Academy.

Please send any information for the Monday Message using the Google form by end of day Thursday for upcoming message. If you have any question please contact Mrs. Keck at mkeck@sandi.net.