TCGIS Rückblick - Winter in Review  
Issue: 2          
Months in Review: December - February    
What's a
Rückblick?
 
Rückblick is directly translated as flashback or review. Every couple of months we will release a
Rückblick highlighting various activities, celebrations, or unique opportunities that TCGIS students have taken part in.



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*Click on all pictures to enlarge them
Hour of Code

Frau Neu led our first annual Hour of Code! This was a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify coding and show that anyone can learn programming basics. Participants got to play games and complete puzzles using code. This event was open for all students and allowed for parents to come and learn coding too! It was a big hit.
  
TCGIS Wintermarkt - Entrepreneurs Day
Fifth and sixth graders worked with Frau Fritz, Frau Schmitt, and Herr Liesner for four weeks to prepare a Wintermarkt for Entrepreneurs Day. As a part of their social studies classes, students created and wrote a plan for their own business, bought supplies, produced and priced their products, decorated a stand and advertised their products all over school. There were tons of students, parents, and teachers who came to look and buy! The event was a huge success.
Robotics Competition

Kids taking robotics went to a Robotics Tournament at Highview Middle School in New Brighton this year with Herr Prater. We had four 7th grade teams and two 8th grade teams compete. Congratulations to the Turtlewhales who received a judge's award for their Robot Design portion of the competition. Another congratulations to RoboProps for placing second out of the 16 teams in their division in the Head-to-Head competition. This year's competition was called Trash Trek and had the theme of recycling and reusing. 
Drama Performances Galore!

Shadow Puppet Theater
3rd grade presented famous German fairy tales in the form of Puppet Shadow Theater. It was an interdisciplinary project of German language arts, visual and performing arts. Parents and students could enjoy Rumpelstilzchen, Red Rose and Snow White, the Frog Prince, Little Red Riding Hood, and Hänsel und Gretel. 
 


Cabaret
6th grade presented their Cabaret projects. Students featured many dances, songs and comedy sketches that they created, staged, learned, directed or choreographed.
 
7/8 Graders Multimedia Projects
The mixed group of 7th and 8th graders presented their self-created performing projects that involved different media types. The audience saw a shadow theater, a mask play and plenty of videos. The themes were "The Mystery of Cahokia" and "Crime Stories".
Koo Koo Kangaroo Concert

This year the fantastic musical duo Koo Koo Kangaroo came to our school and put on a rockin' performance! Vielen Dank to Frau Kulhanek who helped get them to our school. Frau Kulhanek made her debut rapping on stage with Koo Koo Kangaroo. The kids (and staff!) loved dancing and singing along.  
 
School Assemblies and Student Participation

One of our main values at TCGIS is social-emotional learning. To do this as a unified school community, every month a different grade has been leading our school assemblies. They have been comical, insightful, and have touched on some really great topics. Fourth grade spoke about sustainability, fifth grade spoke about peace and conflict, sixth grade spoke about fairness and equality, and seventh grade spoke about rights and responsibilities. 
 
Valentine's Day in Kindergarten

This year for Valentine's Day Kindergarten celebrated by making a yummy German treat called Spaghettieis! Spaghettieis is ice cream that looks like spaghetti! Spaghettieis is made to look like spaghetti by putting the ice cream through a ricer. Their seventh grade buddies helped them create this delicious treat.  
History Day Competition

We had a very successful History Day school competition! 97 students participated, totaling 49 projects. 20 of these are going on to the regional History Day event on March 10th. Two student papers are already going to the state competition: Amelia Huebsch and Helen Sinning.  



School contest winners:
  • Individual Website - Jon Van Slyke (7A)
  • Group website - 1st place: Caelan Oxenham, Mitch Gale, and Jackson Koempel (8); 2nd place: Annabelle Hendrickson, Ben Schneider, and Chloe Wick (8); 3rd: Michael Tobias, Lian Yaeger, and Marcus Winkler (6B)
  • Group Performance - 1st place: Cora-Rose Michel, Luca Sektnan, and Ava Hansen (7B); 2nd place: Frannie Crego, Anika Weeding, and Lydia White (7B); 3rd place: Penelope Hansen and Paulina Solakhava (6B); Honorable Mention: Lily Hamacher, Molly Hennelly, and Elsie Swedberg (6A)
  • Group Documentary - 1st place:  Ian Zibble and William Blackwell Kinney (8); 2nd place: Sylvia Metcalfe and Camryn Nagel (6B); 3rd place: Ella Runyan, Aneesah Sands, and Eleni Phillips (6A) ; Honorable Mention: Hans-Peter de Ruiter, Linus Turnquist, and Charlie Ninow (7A)
  • Individual Exhibit - 1st place: Grace Philippon (6B); 2nd place: Izzy Botz (7A); 3rd place: Ellen Westacott (7B); Honorable Mention: Audrey Radford (8)
  • Group Exhibit- 1st place: Noa Winikoff and Heidi Stiles (7B); 2nd place: Sam Cooper and Kelsey Lunzer (7A); 3rd place: Claudia Huxmann, Lydia Spencer, and Izzi Lauer (6B); Honorable Mention: Maya Edmonds and Freya Hauer (7A)
Fun in the Snow - Skating and Skiing at TCGIS

This winter the third and fourth graders got to go ice skating with Herr Dahl for a field trip! They had a wonderful time slipping and sliding on the ice. Thanks Herr Dahl for leading an awesome field trip! 
 
We recently also had a Nordic ski team come together, led by Frau Neu! The team was very excited when it finally snowed and they could get out on their skis. The TCGIS X-country ski team participated in the MYSL/Hoigaard's Relay Race at Theodore Wirth park earlier this winter. This was their second official team race, and many placed! Go team and thanks to Coach Neu, as well as Matt McKinney and all parents for helping! 
Krampus on Campus!

This winter we had quite the cultural experience by getting a visit from Krampus! The story of Krampus comes from Austria and - as tradition has it - Krampus comes around the night before Saint Nicholas Day to find the children who have misbehaved! This Krampus walked the halls of TCGIS ringing his bell to warn everyone that he was there. Afterwards, he talked to some classes about the history of Krampus and his authentic costume. Lots of kids were able to ask questions and it was a great cultural learning experience. 
TCGIS First Ever Basketball Team

New at TCGIS this year was our first ever basketball team! Coach Prater had a great group of kids from grades 7 and 8. They learned a lot about basketball and had a great time playing other teams and showing off their new skills. Thanks to Coach Prater for the great season - we can't wait until next year! 

Thanks for a Wonderful Carnival of Cultures!
How wonderful that after 6 years, the Carnival of Cultures has become an inherent part of TCGIS culture! So many people are involved in this event, and our school can proudly feature many talents, many cultures and its dedication to World Citizenship! We say a huge thank you to all participants, and especially to the TCGIS students who shone on stage as young musicians, dancers and singers! 
 
Special thanks go to our splendid musicians: Herbert Engelmeyer, Elizabeth Tobias, Emily Ruggles Johnson, Scot Stephenson, and Andrew Lehnen (6B). Thanks to our wonderful medieval consort (5th grade): Gretchen Huebsch, Elsa Johnson, Zinnia Steege, Isabella de Ruiter, Greta Runyan, Freya Botz, and Sofia Helling.

Dankeschön to Eden and Sophie (2A) Tsehaye for choreographing a set of Ethiopian dances, to Abdulrahman Ali (2C) for introducing us to a Somali song, and to Nicole Kirschbaum for staging a Garde-Tanz with 6B.

We shouldn't forget that this event wouldn't be possible without many helping hands that worked tirelessly before and during the performance to make it as smooth and enjoyable as possible. Thank you to the entire TCGIS staff
and administration for their collaboration and enduring support!

The school also owes a deep gratitude to all volunteers who signed up to help, and also to many people who helped spontaneously with set-up, coordination, stage management and cleaning-up! Special thanks to: Tina Haarbusch for coordinating the event and taking pictures, Jesse Whitney for bringing the performance to a new level of professionalism through improved light and sound, Andy Nesset & Pat Moreno for taking care of chairs, risers and other heavy materials, Tanja Schmitt & 6th grade for a quick and professional set-up of chairs, Amy Lenburg for the art presentation & Jeana Lidfors for creating the collage of Arabic patterns, Jasmine Freund for this year's logo, Ellen Westacott for her great presentation, and Stephanie Guitard for organizing a café with treats and sweets!

And last, but certainly not least, thank you to Herr Solachau and Herr Dahl for working with the students and performers to create a fun and enjoyable community event.
Middle School Hits Afton Alps

The second annual TCGIS Ski Day at Afton Alps was a fun and unforgettable experience for all participants. While our 6th, 7th and 8th graders already knew what to expect and couldn't wait for the day to come, 5th grade, being new to this event, maybe approached our adventure in the snow with mixed feelings - excitement paired with a little unease wondering what to expect. Once again the Afton personnel demonstrated a professional and efficient way to get the big crowd of students ready, and quickly groups were formed to either learn how to ski or to simply enjoy the downhill sport on skis or snowboards with our dedicated chaperones.  Many parents chose to come along and to lead a group and, together with TCGIS Middle School teachers, helped make this day the success it was. We all had a blast and can't wait for the 3rd TCGIS Middle School Ski Day in 2017!