News Update

Service day last Friday went very well. Our next opportunity will be in November!

Please check with individual class teachers for due dates, assignments and course expectations. Mid-semester will be upon us before we know it.

FYI I will be out and have a substitute this coming Friday and the following Monday and Tuesday. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Trillium has had a partnership with PSU for the last six years. Workshops on social justice and oppression theory have supported high school and middle school curriculum. Soon, we will have small workshops in middle school advising on various topics. This will blend into our Friday rotation schedule (i.e. testing/assessment, service, advising activities, K-12 experiences etc.).

Thanks to everyone who has been involved this year with driving and chaperoning events. We can't do it without you.

Lastly, if you have not paid the activity fee, please see the front desk for details and payment plan. We need you in that way too!

Kirk

Camping, rotations, and more!

Camping was amazing. The weather!

Any gear can be picked up on Tuesday. I will be working in retreat on Monday and not available to sort through left overs from camping. We had a wonderful time and will debrief in advising about how we can work better with each other, make and keep friendships, and use our core values and trust for each other to support our academic choices back at school.

We are in rotations as well in the second half of advising on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. We are still tinkering with its format. It might be only on Monday and Tuesday this coming week, and that would leave the rest of advising time to work on projects from that "class", PLP choices, read aloud (and essay writing), assessment, and more.

We have another service project planned for the 15th of October. I will keep you posted of where folks are going.

Thanks again to all of the MS families for the campout. I also thank you again for checking with the front desk and turning in activity fees ($150) and all of the paperwork that we have on the website and in hardcopy with Ramona.

More about homework and assignments this week.

Kirk

week 2 homework

Hello. Add/drop period is over. Kids are in their classes now and the work of the semester is truly underway.

Here is what is happening in my classes at the end of week #2:

AD&D/RPGs: Students are to write the back story for the characters we created in class. This is a biographical sketch of their origin, how they gained their skills, beliefs etc. We will review these on TUESDAY, Sept. 28th.

WRITING WORKSHOP: Fiction stories have been started. I will sit with each student one-on-one and discuss the page length, writing goal, editing process, and due date for their final work. Some installment of the story must be presented at this time. DUE Tuesday, Sept. 28th.

ADVISING: We will start a read aloud book in class on Monday. Students will eventually write an analytical essay on the book with guidelines to come. Also, after our trip to Powell's, students will all have their own books to bring to school for SSR as it fits into the week. ROTATIONS begin on Monday.

MATH OF TRAVEL: We move to the next installment of our simulation in class on Monday. Students need to be done with the assignment below. We have worked on it in class all week and it was sent home with folks who were not done.

Simulation Overview: Week 1

You will be traveling in pairs around the world. In each location there will be problems and obstacles that must be solved and overcome.

• You will have a budget of $10,000 (US) as a team. This money must get you around the world. That means you must make some money along the way (most likely) unless you can somehow stretch it the whole way.

• Because this is a “simulation” it will not necessarily be exactly how travel and commerce works. For example there will be an interest rate and taxes that occur on your budget that is artificial, and this will have to be tracked in a log.

• There will be ONE new location per week to “circumnavigate” the globe and everyone starts in Portland. The first destination is London, England.

This week students must:

Book a flight

Find a hotel for 3 nights

Find prices on 3 meals per/day

Report on England’s chief import and export

What is their deficit and what is their GNP?

Purchase the means to travel to the next destination (TBA)

Hypothetically invest or accrue money while in London (to be discussed)

Balance budget at end of week (including all expenses, exchange rates, interest and investments)

NOTE: When the team finishes these tasks their next destination will be announced. A team cannot move forward until they accomplish these goals (which change in each location, as does what the students can do in each location). As the simulation progresses, more choices can be made in the travel arrangements.