Reprinted with permission from the City Springs Newsroom:

http://www.baltimorecityschools.org/domain/8945

Left: Ms. Gagnier and Mrs. Livers' students pose for a shot in the skeletal mouth of a giant vertebrate called a megalodon, an extinct shark that lived millions of years ago. Right: Terrell reaches out and touches an aquatic invertebrate, a moon jellyfish, at the Aquarium's interactive exhibit "Living Seashore."

At City Springs Elementary/Middle School, Ms. Gagnier and Mrs. Livers' class has been studying different animal groups in their Core Knowledge lessons.

They learned about several different ways that animals can be "classified," or separated into groups according to their characteristics.

For example, all animals can be classified into two large groups: vertebrates (animals with a backbone) and invertebrates (animals without a backbone).

Vertebrates include many animals that you might see at the zoo, like lions, snakes, and fish; while invertebrates are animals that don't have a backbone in their skeleton, like insects, spiders, and crabs. Students also learned that all vertebrates fall into one of the following groups: mammals, fish, birds, amphibians, and reptiles.

 

During the month of December, Ms. Gagnier and Mrs. Livers' students had the opportunity to see many of the animals they have been studying at the National Aquarium in downtown Baltimore. 

In addition to checking out the scary sharks and getting up close and personal with some jellyfish, they also identified characteristics of all the animals they saw.

"I see a vertebrate!" "I see a mammal!" "I see a flightless bird!" Our students loved applying their knowledge and putting what they learned into action.

To learn more about Core Knowledge, visit the Core Knowledge Foundation website at:  http://www.coreknowledge.org

The trip was the first of several service-learning projects the students will participate in as part of the 21st Century Community Learning Center after-school program, which is made possible by a generous grant from the Maryland State Department of Education.

"The students were very excited about the field trip," said 21st CCLC Program Director Sarah Ceponis.

"This special trip set the trend for more service-learning to come, with students involved in a few weeks of learning and preparation leading up to the briefing in Annapolis. The classroom discussions were lively, and students carefully thought about what they wanted to share with legislators about their school."

The school construction briefing was particularly relevant for the students because Govans Elementary is in year two of Baltimore City Schools' 21st Century School Buildings Plan.

K.C. Kelleher, an AmeriCorps VISTA Youth Programs Coordinator from Loyola University Maryland's York Road Initiative, worked with students throughout the service-learning project, as did Frank Patinella and Jana Lee of the ACLU Education Reform Project.

Throughout January, Ms. Kelleher and Ms. Lee facilitated student discussions in Peter Modlin's after-school Civics Club, compromised of third, fourth and fifth graders in the after-school program. Students learned all about the 21st Century School Buildings Plan and the legislative process, and wrote letters to Delegate McIntosh about plans for a new school building.

"Two of our students were able to prepare testimony for the Appropriations Committee," said Ms. Kelleher.

"Delegate McIntosh helped one of the students deliver his testimony to the Committee. When we bumped into a group of legislators outside the committee room, they took the time to listen to the testimony from both students. Our student voices were heard!"

The ACLU Education Reform Project has been the lead partner for this service-learning opportunity and organized the field trip. The Baltimore Education Coalition paid for bus transportation and lunch.

We would like to thank Sarah Ceponis, Frank Patinella, Jana Lee, Peter Modlin, K.C. Kelleher, MSDE, the ACLU and BEC for making this service-learning project possible.

Govans Elementary and BCP would like to thank Brothers in Action for clearing the pathway to Govans Elementary and for helping to clear city streets along York Road after snowstorm Jonas.

Brothers in Action is a mentoring program focused on developing character skills for young inner city males ages 12-18. For more information visit: http://brothersinactioninc.org/

Thanks to the work of Hampstead Hill Academy's talented staff, especially Director of Enrichment Laura Guitian and STEM Tutor Zoe Fortier, HHA has qualified for the 2015 Maryland Excellence in Gifted and Talented Education (EGATE) school award.

The EGATE application process required school teams to reflect upon and document the ways in which the school's gifted and talented education program is aligned with the Maryland Criteria for Excellence: Gifted and Talented Education Program Guidelines.

This year, the Maryland State Advisory Council on Gifted and Talented Education reviewed EGATE applications from across the state and identified six schools which qualified as EGATE schools.  

 

Schools that earn the EGATE designation will:

• receive a Governor's citation and a citation from the Maryland State Department of Education;
• be recognized at a statewide reception on February 24, 2016; 
• display the Excellence in Gifted and Talented Education (EGATE) school banner; 
• appear on the MSDE website as an Excellence in Gifted and Talented Education (EGATE) school;
• host celebratory EGATE visits from members of the Maryland State Department of Education and the State Advisory Council for Gifted and Talented Education;
• serve as a model and resource to other schools planning to achieve the EGATE status.

For additional information, please visit these links.