Over the still world, a bird calls

waking solitary among black boughs.

You wanted to be born; I let you be born.

When has my grief ever gotten

in the way of your pleasure?

from "End of Winter" by Louise Glück

New in this week's Dragon's Fire

From Mr. Alex's advanced drawing and painting class:

It's been so long! It's time for us to Come Together (cue Beatles music)! The CSCA is thrilled to host The Center School's Virtual Auction and "Come Together" event. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year benefitting the students at The Center School. It's also our biggest social event of the year! And because we want you all to be there, admission is free! Stay tuned for upcoming details on the pre-func happy hour, student entertainment, and a sneak peak at what's up for auction. But for now, mark your calendars for Sat, Mar 27 at 6 pm.

We’ve all had those nights where we want nothing more than to shut off our brains and fall into a

deep sleep only to be left tossing and turning. Life stress is often the cause of those frustrating

nights, but what if sleeping could also add to that stress? Surveys have shown that teens who

have fewer than 8–9 hours of sleep a night report waking up feeling more stressed due to the lack

of sleep. Teens who also get fewer than 8 hours of sleep report feeling sluggish, irritable, sad, and

depressed. Adequate sleep is an important tool that allows our brains to cleanse themselves each day and allows for improved cognitive function. By allowing yourself to sleep 8-9 hours each night, you can also lower your risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cognitive

decline. But most importantly, by getting your full 8 hours you can lower your stress instead

of adding to it. Maybe early bedtimes aren’t just for children anymore.

If you’re a girl or non-binary student, you’re invited to join an exciting opportunity to hear from women at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as part of the IGNITE (Inspiring Girls Now in Technology Evolution) program. On Tue, Mar 2 from 3–4 pm, we’ll meet with other high school students from Seattle (and San Francisco!) to hear about careers at this amazing workplace. Girls, and those who identify as non-binary, are encouraged to participate. We will meet via Zoom (Ms. Wynn will send you the link). You don’t have to turn on your camera, or speak, but there will be opportunities to ask questions.

If you believe all lives have equal value, appreciate the empowerment of underserved populations, the eradication of hunger, poverty and infectious diseases, and the energization of all people, then you will enjoy hearing about the work of the Gates Foundation. (Their building is across the street from Seattle Center, on 5th Avenue. They’re our friends and neighbors, but this event is online, conveniently in your home. Bonus, it’s at the end of the day in asynchronous time. Ask your 6th period teacher for extra credit to do this activity.)

Please register online by Mon, Mar 1 You can also email Ms. Wyn at wypottingerlev@seattleschools.org.

Each year the TCS staff surveys students to see what classes they might want to take next year. We then use this information as we create our school’s budget. Students, please fill out the survey by Tue, Mar 2. Your teachers will also be reviewing this in classes. Parents, if your students have any questions, have them bring those to their teachers next week. Note: Students are not committing to classes right now. This is an interest survey that will inform our planning.

Mr. Alex here happy to announce that we will have clay kits ready for pick up starting this coming Mon, Mar 1 until Mon, March 8. Pottery Northwest is open 10 am to 8 pm every day. Students need these kits in order to participate in class. Unfortunately, I will not be on-site at Pottery Northwest to help distribute clay kits. However, this attachment includes all the information you need. (This document is also posted to Schoology in an update about our partnership with Pottery Northwest for Sculpture class.)

2nd semester Sculpture class will partner remotely with a Pottery Northwest teaching-artist starting on Tue, Mar 9 thru Tue, Apr 20 (with spring break Apr 12–16). During this time, we will use the same Teams meeting link as we do now, and I will be supporting both the teaching artist and students to help everyone be successful. I will be talking about this more in class soon!

Students and parents, please complete the survey linked here about picking up clay kits and dropping off and picking up clay sculptures. The same survey is linked in the attached doc. You only need to complete this survey once.

10th and 11th graders, if you are interested in Running Start for the 2021–2022 school year, please attend the Running Start Information Meeting via Teams on Wed, Mar 10 at 12:30 pm to learn about the program and the application process. Parents are welcome to attend.

The service-learning graduation requirement for the Class of 2021 has been waived by the school board. If you have not accumulated 60 hours of volunteer service work by the graduation deadline, you will still be able to graduate.

If you are a senior and you are currently volunteering in a safe place, please continue your volunteer service. Volunteering not only benefits the community, but it also give the volunteer a boost of self-confidence and feeling of accomplishment. Community service may also open the doors to career connections as well as provide valuable work experience.

If you are a 9th–11th grade student, please continue to find safe ways to volunteer. One way to get involved and accrue service hours is by attending the Interact Service Club at TCS. The club meets twice a month on Mondays. Our next meeting is Mon, Feb 22 at 12:30 pm. Go to the Interact Teams channel to attend. Email Ms. Hayes (mrhayes@seattleschools.org) for more information.

For more ways to volunteer, check service learning opportunities at the TCS Career Center page.

Do you want to learn advanced, hands-on, practical career skills and have the opportunity to earn industry certification, dual college credit, or participate in an internship or pre-apprenticeship while still attending high school? Apply for a Seattle Skills Center school year course!

Seattle School District high school students can enroll in one half day Skills Center course for up to 3 high school credits per year, while still attending regular school the other half of the school day. You can still participate in sports, activities, and stay connected with friends. Each class requires 3 periods per day (periods 1–3 for am classes, and periods 4–6 for pm classes).Talk with your school counselor to make sure it will work with your schedule. See the webpage for full course descriptions and the easy required online application. Students get a taxi, van, or school bus to and from their Skills Center class, so no worries about long commutes on the Metro or Light Rail. See the map of Skills Center locations here.

Secondary Report Cards will be made available for families to view in the Source two weeks after the end of the first semester. The first semester ended on Wed, Jan 27. Families may request printed copies of report cards if they are unable to access remotely. If a student has earned an “Incomplete” final grade, they should have received an Individual Learning Plan to earn a passing grade for the course. Read more.

AP Exams this year will be online. Payment deadline is Mar 5. The fee is $102 per exam. Parents, visit the Source to pay through SPS SchoolPay (debit/credit only). Students who receive free or reduced price lunch do not need to pay the exam fee. After completing payment, contact TCS Registrar, Tracey Lott, to notify her that you have paid the fee. If you do pay for the exam but decide later to cancel, you will receive a full refund. Refunds might take as long as summer to process.

Due to health and public safety concerns, the Mar 2021 school day SAT has been canceled. The plan is to provide the school SAT to all seniors in fall 2021. Students are still able to register and take the PSAT and SAT but will need to register on their own through the College Board.

Next school year, Seattle Public Schools will have a $69.8M budget shortfall due to several factors, including limits on how much money SPS can collect through our educational levies and state formulas that determine the amount of funding Seattle receives for transportation and other critical programs. Our expenses are outpacing revenue. SPS has been preparing for this coming year’s shortfall and has a plan to resolve the deficit. The School Board has been hosting a series of meetings to determine SPS budget priorities and how to address the gap. The Board will vote on the final budget for 2021–22 on Jul 7. While next year’s budget reductions will be challenging, more significant shortfalls are projected beginning in 2022–23. Learn more about projected budget shortfalls and the proposed 2021–22 reductions, including Option School transportation.

New this week in bold. Check the Career Center Announcements webpage for details and links.

Check the Career Center page for more information. Questions? Contact Mr. Rho at ewrho@seattleschools.org.

Partnerships across Pierce and King County have come together to host a week long (1–2 hours a day) virtual healthcare career exploration event Apr 26–30. Events will all be in the afternoon and the agenda, while still in development, looks roughly like this:

Interested? Email Ms. Wynn for more information at wypottingerlev@seattleschools.org.

YouthForce has weekly lectures/workshops online, Wednesdays 4–5 pm. Visit the website to view themes (job searches, banking/savings, resumes, health care careers, retail jobs, and more).

The Seattle Public Library Foundation is pleased to host the Stimson Bullitt Civic Courage Scholarship competition. High school seniors and undergraduate students who live, work, or attend school in Seattle are invited to participate.The competition asks students to write an essay about an individual or group of individuals from WA state who have demonstrated civic courage on an issue of importance to the community at great personal, political, or professional risk. Apply now for the 2021 competition! The deadline for submissions is Mar 15.

A Scholarship Opportunity for African American Students Interested in Journalism with awards of $500–$2,500. Open to graduating high school seniors and undergraduate students of the African American Diaspora studying in WA. Award recipients will be matched with a mentor from the Seattle Association of Black Journalists. This is a great launching point for a career in journalism, photography, broadcasting, documentary film/audio production. Application deadline is Mar 31. Apply now.

See more scholarship opportunities in the SPS February scholarship bulletin.

Join SPS careers teachers are planning a virtual, district-wide career fair. We are looking for 3–5 students per high school to help with the planning, marketing, and even the selection of career topics. This is an opportunity for students to earn service hours from home. Meetings will be Wednesdays from 2–3 pm (but that could change depending on the students’ input) and will be held virtually with a core group of SPS teachers and local Seattle business people who will provide mentorship and guidance. Apply here.

The AIGA’s LINK program brings professional artists into the studio (and into your home for remote events) to work with teens one Saturday a month. There have been illustrators, sculptors, sneaker designers, florists—tons of creativity! Coming up: watercolor and design-thinking workshops. Students should plan to attend all Saturdays through May. Seniors qualify for wonderful college scholarships from Link! See the application for workshops.

Gage Academy has Friday night remote art studio lessons for teens. Apply here. Check out their virtual teen classes, too!

Join this free virtual biotech hackathon for students in grades 8–12 on Apr 6–7. There are going to be several prizes, including monetary awards of $250 for winning teams! Learn more about the eligibility rules, healthcare challenge, fun workshops, and more details. Register now to get a head start.