MEA Monday Message

Tuesday, Jan. 14

• 8-8:45- Choir - B15
  
• 8:50- 9:35- Strings - B15
• 9:40-10:25- Band - B15
• 12:30-1:15 Elementary Art - MakerSpace

Wednesday, Jan. 15

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

Thursday, Jan. 16

• 9:30-11:30 PALS - Rm 1
• 11:00-11:45 Coop Group - Chicken Coop
• 12:00-12:30 Elementary Book Club
• 12:30-1:30 Tech Exploration - Rm 1

Friday, Jan. 17

• 9:00-11:30 PALS - Rm 6
• 12:30-2:30 D&D Quest Club - Rm 1 & 2

Upcoming Events:

• January 21 - Cookie Fest
• January 22 - SSC/SGT Meeting
• 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. Please note that some locations and times have been adjusted due to Theatre Rehearsals, all changes are highlighted in red. For more information about clubs, check out the MEA Campus Life.

We are sad to announce that two very important people in the MEA community have been offered and accepted promotions elsewhere. Mihoko Ikeuchi, our fearless office manager, has accepted a promotion within SDUSD. Cristian Molano, our amazing BSS (head custodian) has accepted a position at another school district. They have both been fantastic team members and helped our school tremendously. They will both be missed! Please be sure to say goodbye this week and wish them well in their new roles.

It's the tastiest event of the year!!! The Annual German, Austrian, Swiss, and Spanish "Kekse" (Cookie) Festival will take place on Tuesday January 21st in front of Room 8/Across from the Library. From 12:00 PM to 12:30. Come enjoy some special cookies and learn some German and Spanish! All students, parents, staff are invited!

Please vote on what prom theme you would like to have in this year's prom! If you are a high school student please vote by Wednesday the 22nd.

Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KGKcz4UJk6NjiylN4pekXBoLK3iVrpLwR6rW0PsPrY0/edit

Get ready for the Hero Move-A-Thon event on Thursday, February 6th 1:30 - 3:30 at Mt. Everest Academy. This will be TONs of fun and raise money to make our school even better for you. Joining will also get you some incredible prizes and an ice cream party.

Here is what you need to do to start your fundraising page.

1. Join your class Team for the event. Simply click “Join a Team”. You’ll create your own fundraising profile and select your grade. You can enter your story, upload a photo and tell why you are fundraising. Then share your fundraiser link.
   
   

2. Set yourself a fundraising goal. Even if it’s just to get your first donation.
   
   

3. Share your link with family and friends. It’s as simple as telling them that you are fundraising for your school programs, and if they’d like to donate you’d be very grateful.

Fundraising prizes:

• Every team that collectively reaches their team fundraising goal will be treated to an ice cream party.

Heroes also needed for:

• Volunteers

• Supplies

Get started and join now

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.

Old Town Meet-up: Explore the Past Tour and Blacksmithing Experience on Friday, January 24, 2025 9:30-11:15 AM
Explore the history of San Diego with your students in this guided tour of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. The tour visits a contemporary Kumeyaay ‘ewaa, a hands-on archaeology station in Seeley Yard, the San Diego Union Building, La Casa de Machado y Stewart, and La Casa de Estudillo. Students learn that Old Town has a mix of cultures throughout its history, each leaving their impact on our community today.

Visit the Blackhawk Livery Stable Blacksmith Shop and learn about blacksmiths in the 1800s with our Park Blacksmiths! A private demonstration on how to forge iron and then students get to design their own blacksmithing projects with clay.

Parents and students are $8.00 each deadline to sign-up is Wednesday, January 22 by 3:00 PM.

After logging in at https://www.schoolcashonline.com, the item is available under the student as it is attached to the selected student (K to 6th grade).

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

Civil Discourse Week Two Month Six; Trump's Territorial Ambitions, Bluster or Truth, Nonsense or Clever?

Over the past few weeks, incoming President Donald Trump has made headlines for, among other things, a series of suggestions that the U.S assume governmental control of several foreign territories, possibly through application of economic or military pressure. The questions this leaves most people asking are; is he serious, is it ethical for presidents to suggest policies flippantly if that is the case, and are any of these proposed acquisitions good ideas? We will be meeting in Mr. Greenwood's room from 11:45 to 12:25 this Thursday.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzn48jwz2o
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzn4xx0q2o

A little despondent about the state of the world? Worried about the future of the planet? Looking for some positive news? Join us at Discovery News where we’ll search for and discuss news articles about positive discoveries happening around the world. We’ll focus on biomedical, agricultural, technological, engineering, and historical and archaeological discoveries. We might occasionally look at funny cat videos as well to keep it light. There's also a Google Keeps board you can be added to to share stories on.

Grades 6 to 12, join us on Thursdays from 3:15 to 3:45 in the chairs in front of the library. Contact Henry Holcomb with any questions. 858-298-1677

Plein Air Art Club will be meeting at the Children’s Pool in La Jolla Cove from 9:00 to noon Saturday, January 18. Students in grades 7-12 and their families are welcome. We will walk along the waterfront sidewalk for about an hour and then paint until noon. After our walk, we will decide on a spot to paint and bring materials and chairs there. 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. Bringing portable chairs is highly recommended. We look forward to seeing you there! Please let Henry Holcomb know if you are planning to attend, or just show up. Contact Henry Holcomb at 858-298-1677 with any questions. Please RSVP by Friday evening.

NOTE: Parents are solely responsible for their children. This event will be in an urban environment without dedicated adult supervision. If that makes you or your teen uncomfortable, please plan on attending with your teen. All teens are expected to stay with the group at all times and behave respectfully.

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.