SCHOOL NEWS fairmont mable team wins regional toshiba exploravision award

Four fifth graders from Fairmont's Mable Campus demonstrated their talent for scientific innovation in Toshiba’s national ExploraVision Competition. The team, led by science teacher Kathryn Baham, was named one of 24 regional winners in the country and will now take their project “Hearing the World’s Silent Side” to the national round of the competition. The team members include Chloe S. of Fullerton, Taylor T. of Orange, Riya B. of Buena Park and Raj S. of Anaheim. 

The ExploraVision competition challenges fourth through sixth graders to propose how a current technology might be used 20 years in the future. Fairmont’s team of students studied the cochlear implant (hearing aid) and was shocked to discover that with today's technology doctors are still unable to help patients with deafness caused by auditory nerve damage. To find a solution, the students looked to the technology that is currently being tested for spinal cord injuries and wondered if that technology could be re-purposed in deaf patients. The answer, it turned out, was yes.

Applying this creative thinking, the students came up with their product: “Hearing the World’s Silent Side” [HWSS]. HWSS is a mixture of two components: nanofibers used in Spinal Cord technology and a 2012 Cochlear Implant. In HWSS the nanofibers are used to coat the auditory nerve. When sound waves enter the ear they are able to bypass the nerve damage. Combining this nanofiber technology with the regular cochlear implant results in a perfect solution for any type of hearing loss. 

"I am so proud to be coaching this team of students. They are innovative thinkers who explore new ideas with enthusiasm. Cochlear implants and spinal cord procedures are complicated technologies to understand, but these students did their research and became experts on the topic, because they had a passion for helping the deaf to hear," said Kathryn Baham, Fairmont Mable Campus Science Teacher and ExploraVision Coach. 

Each of the regional winning teams receives a Toshiba laptop for the school and each member of the regional winning teams will receive a Toshiba HD Camcorder. Toshiba will visit the Mable Campus to recognize the students in an awards ceremony on Thursday, March 22 at 2:00pm. 

Each of the regional winners will now move on to the national phase of the competition, where they will compete to be named among the eight national winner teams, including four first-place and four second-place winners. Students on the four first-place ExploraVision national winner teams will each receive a $10,000 US Series EE Savings Bond valued at maturity. Students on second-place teams will each receive a $5,000 Savings Bond valued at maturity.The eight teams will also receive an expenses-paid trip with their families, mentor, and coach to Washington, DC for a gala awards weekend in June 2012. Activities will include a visit to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress, a Science Showcase during which the students will display and demonstrate their winning ideas, and sightseeing around the nation’s capital.

This is the third consecutive year Fairmont Private Schools has placed in the annual Toshiba ExploraVision competition. Past awards include: 

• 2010: 2nd Place Nationally for Automatic Correcting Eyeglasses by  John W. and Valerie N.
• 2009: Regional Winner for The Smart Cane by Tera G., Justine G. and Victoria N.

Read the story in the OC Register and Parenting OC. 

Contributed by Alyssa, Fairmont Private Schools 

THE FAIRMONT FIVE celebrate pi day

For all you math whizzes out there, today is a very special day--it's Pi Day! 3.14 Pi, Greek letter (), is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th, seeing as Pi = 3.1415926535…


Even for those of us whose fortes are more...right-brained, math is always going to be an integral part of daily life (no pun intended). So why not spend Pi Day getting your calculate on?! Here are a few ideas: 

• Test the Domino Effect. Watch the video above and learn how to use pi to calculate the number of dominos used in a domino spiral. Then create your own (slighly smaller) version and test out what you learned. 
• Make (and eat) a Pie. Use your fraction skills and whip up one of these great pie recipes from NPR's Doreen McCallister. It'll make a very festive Pi Day dessert! 
• Count Your Letters. Being a writer, I loved this idea that a teacher contributed to the official Pi Day website: "In class we are using the first 20 digits in Pi and writing a story using the numbers. For example, with 3.14 you would use a 3-letter word, then a 1-letter word, then a 4-letter word and so on." 
• Meet Sir Cumference. Circumference, radius, diameter...if all this circle speak is a little over your little one's head, try explaining the concepts with the help of Sir Cumference! He stars in the books Sir Cumference and the First Round Table and Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi, and he helps turn math into an adventure. 
• Channel Your Inner Einstein. Albert Einstein, the math genius himself, was born on Pi Day--March 14, 1879. The city of Princeton puts on a four-day celebration in honor of Einstein and Pi Day. Check out their activities and re-create some in your own home or school. 

Contributed by Alyssa, Fairmont Private Schools 

EVENTFUL spring family events in orange county

Take advantage of these extra hours of daylight and spend the upcoming weekends out and about at some of Orange County's biggest family events! Be sure to stop by the Fairmont booth and say hi to our Admissions and Summer Programs representatives while you're there! 

The Family Fun & Wellness Fair is in its third year at Pretend City Children's Museum in Irvine. Hosted by Good to From Head to Toe, this event is dedicated to family wellness and offers complimentary health screenings for children. Every child that participates in three screenings will receive a ticket to Pretend City! There will also be live performances (including Irish dancers), food trucks, face painting and giveaways. 

When 

Saturday, March 17: 9am-2pm 

Where

Pretend City Children's Museum

29 Hubble

Irvine, CA 92618

The Parenting OC Jamboree is an annual event that showcases summer activities for families, gourmet food and local youth talent. This year's Jamboree will feature 75 exhibitors in the areas of summer camps, classes and activities, family travel, products and services for health and safety, birthday parties, sports and more. Also be sure to show your support for our Fairmont students who are competing in the Spelling Bee competition! 

When 

Saturday, March 17: 10am-3pm 

Where

OC Great Park 

6950 Marine way

Irvine, CA 92618

The Summer Camp & Activities Fair is sponsored by OC Family magazine and is held in the heart of the Irvine Spectrum shopping center. This event is the perfect place for families to preview summer school and camp options in Orange County while enjoying live entertainment, balloon artists, face painters and more. 

When 

Saturday, March 24: 11am-4pm 

Where

Irvine Spectrum Center 

Irvine, CA 92618

Contributed by Alyssa, Fairmont Private Schools 

ARTS & CRAFTS lucky shamrocks

Spring starts this month, and that means facing the annual obligation of spring cleaning and organizing.  So, if you're like me and looking for a great way to procrastinate these chores and keep your kids busy, here's a crafty idea.  It's fun, it's "green" and it might bring your family a little extra luck (even better than clean baseboards)!  Get directions for these toilet roll shamrocks from the creative folks at Childmade, An Idea Place.

Photo from Childmade

Contributed by Danyelle, Fairmont Private Schools

FRIDAY FOLDER march 9

Highlights From This Week

Upcoming Events 
Character Counts Workshop: Bullying  
Tuesday, March 13, 7pm-8:30pm
Fairmont Edgewood Campus 

Fairmont's Edgewood Campus is pleased to invite all Fairmont parents to a special Character Counts workshop on the topic of bullying. Fairmont believes in teaching students good character skills that will help them be positive contributors to our global society. We want to help our students learn how to interact in appropriate ways and to maintain our respectful campus environment.  

As part of this Character Counts program, we've invited Mr. Mike Dreiblatt, author of  How to Stop Bullying and Social Aggression and national speaker, to speak with our parents about bullying and show us how to address potential challenges. You'll leave with a better understanding of what bullying really is and some great tips for promoting good character in your home. Click here to RSVP. 

Chalk Talk: How to Parent Your Kids (Without Losing Your Mind)
Tuesday April 3, 2012, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Fairmont Edgewood Campus

If you've ever dreamed of being a better parent or educator, this is the event for you! Learn how to make the most of your parent/child/school relationship from acclaimed speaker, Scott Peebles, M.A., MFCC, H.B. Scott was one of the youngest licensed Marriage, Family & Child Counselors in California, and he has been deemed one of the most exciting and entertaining parenting speakers in the country. Scott calls his method "Slightly Off the Wall Parenting." We think you'll call it amazing! All Fairmont parents, faculty and friends are welcome! 
Click here to RSVP

Fairmont Parent Survey 
Look out this coming week for an email with the annual Fairmont Parent Survey. Your feedback is valuable and we appreciate you taking the time to provide it to us. When you take the survey, you will be eligible to win $1,000.00 off tuition discount good for the 2012-2013 school year. One winner will be drawn from each campus and all survey participants will be eligible. 

Open House Season 
Open House season is well underway at Fairmont. Our Anaheim Hills and Edgewood campus events were huge successes, and we are looking forward to Mable and Citron's Open Houses this month. Please be sure to join us at the Mable Campus on Friday, March 9th from 6pm-8pm and at the Citron Campus on Friday, March 16th from 6pm-8pm. For tips on how to make the most of Open House, check out this blog post. 

Weekly E-Newsletters 

Anaheim Hills Campus 

Citron Campus 

Edgewood Campus 

Mable Campus 

March Lunch Menus 

AH Preschool-1st Grade

AH 2nd-8th Grade

Citron

Edgewood Preschool-Kindergarten

Edgewood 1st-8th Grade 

Mable 

Contributed by Alyssa, Fairmont Private Schools 

ARTS & CRAFTS baby bird nest

Baby Bird Nest

This nest of baby birds is a cute and simple way to celebrate springtime.  Here are the how-tos compliments of Parents magazine.

Make it: Cut a paper plate in half and staple the rims together (leaving the top of the "nest" open). After your kids paint it brown, help them glue shredded brown paper onto the front to add texture. Create the birds by gluing three blue pom-poms to the ends of Popsicle sticks. Add googly eyes and orange paper beaks for a little personality. Have your kids slide the ends of the Popsicle sticks between the plates so the baby birds can rest inside their new nest -- and even pop up when they get hungry!

Photo from Parents

Contributed by Danyelle, Fairmont Private Schools

FAIRMONT FIVE raising readers

Reading is a skill that many of us take for granted.  It's easy to forget how important it is to cultivate a "reading lifestyle" at home that supports classroom learning and fosters academic achievement.  Statistics show that parents who provide reading materials in the home--books, newspapers, magazines--and who read daily to their children can greatly enhance their children's reading skills and overall academic success.  Here are a few simple tips to make sure reading becomes a healthy habit in your home:

1. Read with your child daily.  Just 15 minutes a day of independent reading can expose children to more than a million words of text in a year. All of those words add up to greater reading comprehension, improved fluency and a stronger vocabulary. 
2. Become “regulars” at your local library. For kids today, visiting the local library is something of a novelty.  You might be surprised by just how much fun they can have browsing the shelves for books, perusing the kids' magazines and wielding their own library cards.
3. Turn off the TV, computer, gaming device, etc. There's nothing wrong with screentime in moderation, but most kids get too much of the aforementioned electronic media.  Consider setting aside one day a week when you "unplug" and encourage your kids to play a board game, work on a craft project or read.
4. Engage in activities and experiences that require reading. This recommendation comes direct from Fairmont's Director of Education Sandy Cosgrove.  When she cooks with her first grade granddaughter, she encourages her to read the recipe.  If questions come up in discussions with her grandchildren, she employs the classic teacher answer, "Look it up!"
5. Model it! Here's another tip from Sandy. Parents, don't forget that you are your child's first and constant teacher. When you read the morning paper, pick up a magazine or join a book club, you are modeling behavior that says reading is a fun, informative and vital part of your life.

Photo from Microsoft Office photo gallery

Contributed by Danyelle and Sandy, Fairmont Private Schools