New students Keith and Angel are hard at work painting pottery.

Paint seems to be the theme this Spring Break as the boys took a field trip out to Glazed Pottery in Clemson yesterday. We hope we’re not giving away any upcoming gift secrets with this post, but the boys had a great time selecting and customizing green ceramic ware. The next step is firing at over 1000 degrees,  which makes the paint come to life and hardens the projects. We love the focus and concentration the boys put into their painted projects.

Ever wonder what goes on back at campus when Spring Break is scheduled? In addition to a lot of meetings and a lot of cleaning, there are some pretty fun things going on for the boys and staff who remain on campus.

Coach Josh took his wife to a “Color Run” last Saturday. Spectators get to lob colored cornstarch balls at the participants as they go past. Needless to say, his tie-dyed sneakers will never be the same. Luckily, the rest came out of his hair!

Coach Josh and Mrs. Coach paint the town red.

The Bears Cross Country team set out on a 5K Trail Run in Demorest, GA March 10th, and left the rest of the crowd wondering who they were and what the heck happened.

Jimmy took First Place in his age group and First overall with a 20:33 time, averaging a 6:38 minute mile. James took First Place in his age division and Third Place overall, finishing just 50 seconds behind Jimmy . Rick took Third in his age group, also right on Jimmy’s heels at 22:45, and Sixth overall. Nick took Third in his age group and 12th overall.

Loucas took 10th, Dain took 11th and Tommy took 15th  in their11-14-year-old age group.

Congratulations to all our boys, and Coach Josh as well, who finished a respectable sixth in his age group too!

Next up is the Chick-Fil-A 5K Road Run on April 21st. Go Bears!

Laser focus from the boys during Regional Mission work.

Our Bears have a winning streak going on, and we’re proud to let you know it!

Not only did they place 11th in the Robot Performance category in last weekend’s State LEGO League competition — their highest finish ever — but our own Coach Nick Linscott brought home Coach of the Year AGAIN! The presentation of this particular award has not been made at the State level since 2005, when Mr. Linscott was also  its recipient. Does it sound like we have someone special leading our boys? We think so!  Tommy remarked, “I couldn’t do this without my coach. He helped the team through everything. To us, it’s obvious why he won Coach of the Year.”

The always humble Nick refocused the accolades back onto the boys during an assembly Monday morning, honoring the team’s accomplishments. “Rick was a rock while driving the robot,” Nick said. “He was focused and laser sharp on accumulating points during the mission. Tommy made an amazing recovery when he attempted to place a tool on the robot and it fell apart in his hands. He reassembled it and got it on the robot quick enough to make some more buzzer-beating points for us.”

“Everyone had a great part in this and I’m proud of their accomplishment,” he added. Michael said the best part of the weekend was really, “when Nick got his award.”

“I feel happy and excited that our teamwork didn’t fail,” Vincent commented.

“I would never done this at a regular public school,” Eddie said. “I would have felt like I would be judged (badly for joining LEGO League) there.”

“Going to Columbia was one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had,” Dain remarked. “I’ve learned so much about technology while working with the robot.” Rick added, “It was a pretty cool experience.”

Only six more months until the 2012 Missions are released. Here on campus, we  can’t wait!

James drains the freethrow for the go-ahead point late in the 4th quarter.

The Bears triumphed over Seneca Two 50-45 last night in a nail-biter final game of the season.  James was perfect at the line with 4 of 4 attempts and also nailed the go-ahead point  in what seemed an unending barrage of fouls and lead changes during the fourth quarter. James also had the team high of 14 points scored, followed closely by Sam and Jimmy, each with 13. Loucas was nearly perfect on freethrows with 2 of 3 attempts made.

“I’m really proud of the way the guys didn’t give up, despite being down the first three quarters. They fought hard and came back to win it,” Coach Shep said.

The Bears now enter Tournament play with a match against Fair-Oak at Oakway Intermediate School Saturday, February 11 at 4:30. Go Bears!!

Diarist Jacob writes as the German Artilleryman "Freidrich"

In Social Studies this week, students got into the character of “Freidrich,” an artillery soldier in the German Army during World War I. His job in the book War Horse is to lead horses who pull heavy cannons and artillery shells to the front lines.

The assignment was to write three journal entries using events, locations and the appropriate language of the time to convey the mood of the story. Below is an excerpt from Jacob’s “Friedrich Diary.”

March 20, 1916

The winter is finally over and we all survived, however, the war is still going on. Now that the black horse has recovered, I can see just how beautiful this majestic creature is. His mane is thick and he has a sleek muscular body, truly beautiful. Of course the other horse is just as amazing but I feel I can understand this one more.  I pray to God that he survives this war and of course that we all do as well. I don’t think I would be able to handle it if he didn’t. I think I might really go mad like the other soldiers already think I am. And of course if the other horse dies, it would be just as much of a tragedy. But no matter which dies, the souls of both the remaining horse and I would be crushed and we might as well all die. Tonight I will ask the Lord to let us survive long enough to figure out a way to escape this unholy, desolate wasteland that the war has made.

May 19, 1916

I swear that if I do one more supply mission with these horses, I’m going to end up shooting someone. I have asked a million times, maybe even more than that, for them to stop giving us such a heavy load to carry. But they never care. They just laugh and keep adding more and more each time! The mud my two horses must pull the supplies through is deep enough to hold a young child in place until they grow to the age of 19 at least! How do they expect me to willingly force my horses through such a horrible thing time after time? But that is not the only problem. The war is getting worse and I fear we may soon have to enter the battlefield soon. I fear that if we do, we will not make it. I hope that if we do and I am shot that at least one of my beautiful horses will be able to escape and live on. This may be my last entry and if it is, to whoever finds this: Find the horses that match the drawings later in this book and let them know that Freidrich always thought of helping them as his greatest accomplishment ever.

The Cherokee Creek Bears upset Walhalla tonight in a 35-42 victory! Congratulations to the team and to Coaches Mike Shepherd and Chris Leamons for their leadership. The boys are completely psyched! Their coaches are very happy and the cheering section, which included a parent and Executive Director David LePere are all very proud. David says, “This was the best team play I’ve seen all season!”

Yeah, Bears!!!

The English class has been abuzz with creative minds writing a “Contrast Poem.” After reading and dissecting the poem “Commandeered” written by Lucy Gertrude Moberley in 1915, the boys then applied the technique to write a poem about Joey, the horse in our literature study War Horse, who is sent off to World War I.

Below are some of their masterpieces:

Joey in Peace and War

Roosters crowing, first comes morning, shining sun,

Though he once walked, grazing hills, peaceful days,

Always Love.

Now along paths, ever walking, painful days and constant working,

Never sun, always rain, bright flashes, loud noises

Always lonely, never ending.

by Cory

Joey in Peace and War

Before the day, that horrid day

The day that he got sold.

Before that day, he was so kind.

He was as wise as is the old.

Bloody, bloody, is the war.

The damn, infernal war.

Bloody, bloody, he is is today.

While he is at death’s door.

by Patrick

Joey

Through the summer and winter together,

Plowing, cutting, and harvesting

Walking and trotting

One way than the other.

The troops joked and laughed

But the moment we docked

The wounded lay everywhere

I can hear gunfire everywhere.

by Michael

Peace/War

People were cheering as we walked

Flowers were on our uniforms

So many smiles, teary eyes

Hundreds of men were happy, yet sad

The sun was setting, everything was bright.

Blood everywhere, dull faces

Dirty uniforms, guns shooting

Injured men are yelling, old pictures

Tons dead, marching forward

Today is the end of all.

by Jimmy

Vincent, Alexander and Dain help deliver the Team LEGO science presentation today before lunch

The LEGO League regional qualifier is tomorrow. This means that the Cherokee Creek LEGO Team has been working tirelessly to prepare for the different aspects of tomorrow’s competition: evaluation of programming, robot runs, expression of LEGO League values…and the science presentation.

The science presentation is a scripted skit the boys perform to illustrate their understanding of research they have conducted related to this year’s LEGO League theme, Food Factor. Our team has focused on hand washing as an aspect of food handling.

A sample of the team’s script has been included below. Check out the team’s instructions on proper hand washing technique (delivered in the style of rap, courtesy of Alexander’s musical writing skills):

Alright check this!
Wet you hands with clean running water
Use soap it don’t matter is it’s warma or colda
Scrub them well, backs too, under nails between your fingers
But be careful! The germs will keep clingin on!
So if you need a timer, twice you sing the Happy Birthday song!
Wash for twenty seconds, you got time to spare,
And after that you can dry your hands with towel or air! Word.

In English class this week, students began reading our “Warrior Quarter” book, The War Horse. The tale is told completely from the point of view of Joey, the horse. After discussing how stories can vary depending on who’s telling it, the boys went to work writing a story from another point of view.

Enjoy “A Walk, To a Dog” by Loucas:

“Walk?”

I heard that great word. The world that inevitably left me jumping in circles with my tail wagging faster than a trucker down the interstate.

“Come on girl, we’re going for a walk, girl!”

When I heard that a second time, I went nuts like a herding dog in a field of disobedient sheep. I knew I was gonna have some crazy fun on this walk.

“Stay girl.”

I followed the command instantly, without hesitation. I felt like letting go of my obedience and acting a fool of myself, but I helped myself … although I did let a few twitches go. He buckled the leash to my choke chain and immediately I let my discipline go and started running circles.

I was finally ready to go. I walked a a slightly faster pace than him so I could assert my dominance over him. I constantly gaped at my surroundings. There were fascinating cars, houses, lawnmowers … It was all so overwhelming.

Without even know it, I ended up back at my home. The outside world slowly closed off to me. My leash was taken off. I laid down on a slightly damp towel that I’ve designated as my bed in a pool of contented exhaustion.