Alcatraz Swim

 This past Sunday Mr and Mrs. Levy swam the Alcatraz Touch n Go Challenge.  In this race, we swam to Alcatraz Island, touched a boat  anchored off the shore of the island and then swam back to San Francisco, Aquatic Park.  It was an amazing loooooooong swim.  As the fog lifted I could see Alcatraz and San Francisco from the water.  Here is some video from the event. 


Mr. Levy is #7 and Mrs. Levy is #8.    The first girl to touch is 11 years old :-)

Poem of the Week : Funny Pup

Coastal Clean Up Day- Heal the Bay

On September 15 many of our Chaparral families participated in Heal the Bay's Coastal Clean Up Day.  

On Saturday many of our Chaparral families and teachers met at the Malibu Surf Rider Beach for California Coastal CleanUp Day.  It was a wonderful day in the sun with family and friends, helping clean our coast.

According to Heal the Bay website,  "Braving scorching heat, Southland volunteers collected and removed nearly 20 tons of ocean-bound trash today from Los Angeles County watersheds as part of Heal the Bay’s 23rd annual Coastal Cleanup Day. Working together to protect what they love, 9,323 participants scoured local beaches, inland waterways, regional parks and urban neighborhoods from 9 a.m. to noon. Santa Monica-based environmental group Heal the Bay mobilized 58 sites throughout the county, covering 56 miles of terrain. From Compton to Malibu, local businesses, faith-based organizations, schools and youth sports teams worked in tandem to gather and remove 38,598 pounds of debris. Cigarette butts, plastic bottles and caps, snack-food packaging, plastic bags and Styrofoam fragments are among the most frequently found items at cleanups."

Sophia and Isabella

Emili and Mrs. Levy

Mrs. Lampert and friends

Divers brought up a variety of trash, including a stop sign, plastic bottles, glasses, styrofoam and car keys.

What a perfect way to enjoy our beautiful California beaches.

 What type of trash did you collect?  

What other ways can we help our planet?

Poem of the Week- September

"I liked playing with the playdoh and making spelling words," babbled Dylan.

"I liked art class. We made cats," grinned Ella.

"Reading big books was fantastic," said Emili.

"I liked running around at recess," dictated Nicholas.

Visitors

Today we had two important visitors.  The first was Max's spotted gecko Spot. 

The second was Mrs. McEvoy from Calabasas High School.  She talked to us about her Freshman class who are going to be our pen pals this year. 

Then we got to write our first pen pals letters.

What was your favorite part of the day? 

Jumping into the new school year!

On the weekend,  I swim in the ocean.  I love the swelly, blue-green salt water and the chill in the misty morning air.  It is an amazing way to start the day.  As much as I love it, I am always a little bit nervous right before I jump in. I stand at the waters edge with butterflies in my stomach.  Will the water be really cold?  Will I see any dolphin or seals?  What direction is the current traveling?   Slowly I get my toes wet, then I go in up to my knees and before I know it I am swimming through the first wave, then down the coast.

As I was swimming today I was thinking about how starting the school year is a lot like going out into the ocean.  Most of us, on the first day of school are a little nervous because we don't know what to expect.  But as the first few days pass, we meet our teacher and make new friends, we learn rules and routines and begin to work together as a class. Yesterday was our 15th day of school.  In class we talked about what we can do better today compared to the first day of school.  We have memorized poems, played math games, we are working on our reading stamina, we started working in our math books and writing in our journals.   Next week we will start reading in our literature books, map our community and get our first homework packet. 

Our class has jumped in and we are diving through the surf :-)

What did you do at school today?

What did you do at school today?

The Color Song