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I am so proud of this video! When presented with the option of a video project, 7th and 8th graders chose to make a music video using Paramore's "Now" as a guide.  In the video, a young woman walks through a battlefield, only to hug her nemesis at the end and bring a close to the conflict with peace.  We decided the battlefield was a metaphor so we set our video at school with the main protagonist walking through the school grounds witnessing the "battles" an average teen might encounter on a daily basis. Themes include: fighting, weapons/bag checks, drugs, gossip, theft, pregnancy, and bullying. 
We presented our video to 6th grade scholars who are currently studying bullying.  Students led a seminar for the 6th graders which included: an introduction, a discussion of the battlefield metaphor, a brainstorming session of challenges teens face, and a scenario problem/solution protocol.  The 6th graders loved having the chance to act and work with the older students (who were great role models for them)! Check out the original Paramore video and then our remake in order to fully understand our concept.


 
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What a beautiful day! While the Earth Day Garden Build event was scheduled from 10am to 1pm, some of us labored from 8am to 3:30pm! Over 35 volunteers worked on transforming a space on Paul's campus overrun by crabgrass and weeds into an aesthetically pleasing pollinator garden.  Paul PCS' 6-9th graders, teachers, community and family members moved over 5000 lbs of soil, 2500 lbs of mulch, 2400 lbs of sand, 4,000 lbs of stone, and 50 plants into the space.  We were very lucky to receive generous snack donations from Revolution Foods and a lunch donation from Chipotle.  This build was made possible by City Blossoms who gave us a $2500 grant for this project.  Special thanks to Fabricio, Jayson, Maati, Ner, Steve, Cristian, Soukeina, Yami, Roxana, and Rosalie who also helped measure the space and create the build plan.  We will be continuing our work and adding some last touches to our garden spaces in the weeks that come.  Thanks for coming out everyone!


 
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Thanks to 11th and 12th grade environmental 
science students at Capital City for taking the time out of their day to give us a tour of their garden.  They were very well spoken and excited about the contribution they made to their school community through the funds provided by the City Blossoms program.  We are looking forward to our own garden build on April 20th!

 
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I couldn't be more proud of my 6th-9th grade students today as we braved the 93 degree heat to deliver hand written letters detailing our immigration stories to the "Gang of 8" senators working on the immigration reform.  We had the chance to speak with some of the senators' offices to share our stories orally as well.  This will not be the last time they are hearing from us! We have plans to create a video recording our stories, share a video we made earlier in the year with our own original photos and poetry detailing where we are from, and scheduling more meetings with the senators.
After our trip to the Capitol we participated in the Time is Now march on the National Mall.  It was inspiring to see so many people from around the country facing the heat in order to show their support for immigration reform.  We marched proudly, waving our brightly colored signs with slogans like, "Citizenship for 11 million," "Si, se puede," and "All in for citizenship." Estamos truly unidos!
Marching with us was Mexican artist Gloria Hidrogo who spoke with my students the day before the rally and led them in a tortilla art workshop.  Students painted images of a girl who had been separated from her family.  All of my students can relate to what it feels like to be torn apart from their culture, language, and families yet they make the best of their situation, work hard, and follow their dreams.  Hidrogo's status attracted two camera crews to our classroom and my students had another chance to tell their stories to local and national media and inspire a wider audience as they inspire me daily.

Check us out on TV:
Primer impacto

http://noticias.univision.com/primer-impacto/reportajes-de-impacto/video/2013-04-09/inmigracion-immigration-cambio-change-marcha-march-reforma-migratoria-immigration-reform?ftloc=channel1513:wcmWidgetUimStage&ftpos=channel1513:wcmWidgetUimStage:3
Univision Washington, DC

http://www.tvwfdc.com/2013/04/09/crearon-obras-de-arte-para-demostrar-su-apoyo-a-la-reforma/

 
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Spring is definitely in the air, and it has been wonderful having a chance to work with Mark from Green Schools and Nekia from City Blossoms to get our outdoor learning center ready for spring! We have started a variety of plants for our pollinator and vegetable and herb gardens in the greenhouse, have planted our beds, have put out mason bee nests, and have mixed our compost! Looking forward to our April 20th build day for constructing our literature garden!

 
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Students should be SO INCREDIBLY PROUD of their Romeo and Juliet performance at the Folger Shakespeare Festival on March 19th.  Of the 8 schools participating, we were one of only two middle schools representing in the high school crowd.  Most schools were from Virginia and all schools had strong theater programs and backgrounds.  Despite the fact our Paul scholars were the only class of English Language Learners presenting, we definitely had the most interactive screenplay that had the audience laughing and grooving along on many occasions.  Highlights included our use of the vampire/Capulets and werewolf/Montague theme which added some very fun bits for howling, licking blood off swords, and grooving to "Off with your head" by the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs.  I couldn't really help but let a few tears slip past as Romeo and Juliet laid dead, their families surrounding them, as Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years" played.  
Congratulations to Eleni Hailu for winning the "Owning it" award, John Helton Sanchez for the "Double character" award, Emmanuel Arno Cuevas for the "Stage presence" award and Daisy Gonzalez, Asenat Bokretzion, Cristian Carballo, Eleni Hailu, and Pedro Ramirez for the "Stage combat fight sequence" award.  Special thanks goes out to Vanessa Akah and Karen Martinez for interpreting their roles as Lady Caplet and Nurse and Inmar Cruz and Nancy Reyes for staring as Romeo and Juliet and delivering a fantastic performance.

 
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We are so happy to have amazing costumes for our werewolf and vampire rendition of Romeo and Juliet! We perform March 19 at the festival and we are so excited! It's going to be a great time! =)

 
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Thanks so much to Ms. Gonzalez who led 3 seminars for us this week! We learned a lot about our bodies and how to make healthy decisions in the future.  There was a lot of information presented and we learned it through engaging activities and simulations.  Thanks Ms. Gonzalez!

 
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Although for many of us this was our first or second time ice skating, we tackled the ice with much success.  Some of us had no fear while others had a deathlike grip on the railing, only to gradually let go as confidence grew.  Everyone who gave it a try with their whole heart should feel very proud of themselves! I sure do! To top off our ice skating adventure a trip to Starbucks was much enjoyed by all!

 
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We had a great time at the Gala Theatre seeing Isabell Allende's The House of the Spirits.  It was a powerful performance, and we had the fortunate opportunity to talk to four of the actors afterwards and learn about their own background and how they prepared for this show.  I am looking forward to analyzing the play with everyone, interpreting the different types of love between the characters, relating it to Machuca, and comparing and contrasting scenes from the play and novel.  The Gala Theatre is a cultural gem in the heart of Columbia Heights, and I am so glad we were able to have such a wonderful experience.