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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!