February 2016 Board Highlights
Oblock Junior High
Equations Tournament
On Thursday February 4, Mrs. Barker, AEO math teacher and fourteen members of the Oblock GATE program traveled to Woodland Hills for the 32st annual Equations Tournament. According to Mrs. Barker, “Equations is a game played with 24 cubes containing numbers and operators. The cubes are shuffled to reveal the resources for that round. A number goal is set and students take turns placing the cubes into 3 categories: forbidden, permitted, or required. Students are challenged to find complex solutions to average goals. The game takes a lot of forward thinking, logic, and reasoning skills.” Congratulations to Oblock team Alex Vidas, Michael Schorr, Erica Taylor, Nico Ricciardi, and Allison Klinsky for finishing in 3rd place overall.
Dental Presentation
Dr. Stepnick, school dentist, came to speak with the Oblock Junior High students on February 9. He gave a very informative presentation on the consequences of students not properly taking care of their teeth. The students were amazed at the pictures and seemed to walk away with much knowledge from the assembly.
ESSPA Chess Tournament
On Thursday, February 18, 2016, Oblock Jr. High hosted the ESSPA Chess Tournament in the library. There were 10 visiting schools, including 40 students, plus a team from Oblock that consisted Jacob Trusky, Joey Panichella, Clark van Beek, and Robert Flemming.
Reading Hall of Fame
At the end of February, 130 students had achieved Reading Hall of Fame status (v. 127 last year). Another 120 are just points away at the All-Star level. At the Varsity level are 227 students and now we have 110 students who have made the Junior Varsity level. The goal is to have all students at the Junior Varsity level or higher by the end of the year.
Other milestones include 11 students with 500 points (v. 1 last year) and a February record of 30 students with 300 points (breaking last year's record of 27 for February). Great job students!