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Student Wins Highest Honor in ISO Art Contest
February 2010 - A Sycamore sixth-grader was recently named a Blue Ribbon winner and the Renato Pacini Award winner in the 59th annual Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's Symphony in Color art contest. Two Sycamore 5th graders were also named Finalists. Approximately 23,000 students representing 37 Indiana counties participated in this year's contest. From 540 entrants and 90 schools, a panel of three judges narrowed the choices to 100 Finalists. From the group of Finalists, the judges selected 36 Blue Ribbon Winners, only one of which was named the Renato Pacini winner. The Finalists' pieces will be exhibited in the Indiana State Museum from April 4, 2010, to May 9, 2010. The thirty-five blue ribbon winners the "Pacini" award winner will be exhibited in the Hilbert Circle Theatre from February 22 - March 29, 2010. A reproduction of the Pacini winner's artwork will also be displayed in a special Symphony in Color gallery in Symphony Centre of the ISO.Su

EC2 Vet Clinic
February 2010 - A favorite activity during EC2's "Pet Unit" is engaging students in dramatic play in the Vet Clinic. The children love putting on a white vet jacket, using a stethoscope, giving "shots," etc. to their sick pets. Several students took their jobs very seriously, examining and treating the "sick" stuffed cats visiting the clinic yesterday.

Read-a-thon 2010
February 2010 - On February 3rd students from K-4th grade had special Read-a-thon library periods where they watched animated versions of favorite books such as Officer Buckle and Gloria and Diary of a Worm. They also participated in guessing contests; prizes were awarded to the ten students from each grade with the most accurate answers. All students received a sticker and a reading-themed bookmark.

MathCounts Team Wins Regionals
February 2010 - There were 168 students from across the metropolitan area competing in the Central Indiana Chapter MathCounts regional competition held at Sycamore on Thursday, Feb. 11. Sycamore's team finished in first place and earned a trip to Rose-Hulman to compete at the state level March 13.

Chief Justice Speaks to 8th Grade
February 2010 - Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard spoke to the grade 8 history classes. He spoke about the operation of the Indiana Court system, slavery, the Indiana Voter ID law, and gave students a good overview of the entire judicial system. Students asked several interesting and engaging questions during the presentation. Justice Shepard gave each student a copy of his 2003 publication entitled Slavery Cases in the Indiana Supreme Court: Where Slaves and Former Slaves Found Hope.

Blue & Happy Day for Science Team
February 2010 - Sycamore's Middle School Science Bowl team presented Head of School Diane Borgmann the trophy for their third place finish in the state competition as they celebrated Colt's Blue Spirit Day.

FPK's Elephant Encounter
February 2010 - The Full Day PreK class had an absolutely amazing up close and personal zoo experience. On their "Behind the Scenes" tour of the elephant house the children learned about the characteristics of the African elephant, then were allowed to enter the cage and pet Tommy, the elephant. Even the parents assisting on the trip were in awe! Needless to say, this was definitely a true Sycamore experience!

5/6 KMO Team 1^st in State/Nation
January 2010 - Students from practically every state and several countries, including Germany, Singapore, and Hong Kong, competed in the 42nd 5/6 Knowledge Master Open academic competition on Jan. 20. The teams used computers to answer 100 challenging questions from all curriculum areas. Sycamore's team of 24 students scored an impressive 800 points out of 1000 possible points. This score earned the team a ranking of first place in the state of Indiana and first place nationally for our school size out of 283 teams. Sycamore took second place nationally in all categories, scoring only 6 points less than the first place team, a much larger middle school with a school enrollment of 1297.

Author/Illustrator Nick Bruel Visits Sycamore
January 2010 - Guest author and illustrator Nick Bruel delighted Sycamore Lower School and Middle School students by reading from several of his children's books and holding an entertaining question and answer session with the kids. Mr. Bruel was recently awarded the Young Hoosier Book Award for his book Bad Kitty. Other works of his include Happy Birthday Bad Kitty, Poor Puppy and Who is Melvin Bubble?

Local Poet Shows How It's Done
January 2010 - A widely-published poet from Carmel, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, worked with third grade literature students Tuesday through Friday of the week of January 18. She read a variety of poetry to them, both her own and other poets'. She also discussed the creative process, emphasizing word choice and revision, by writing a group poem and assisting students with their own poems.

Middle School Poets to be Published
January 2010 - Seven student poets from the Middle School's Writers' Café flex have been notified that their poems will be published in the Fall Edition of the poetry anthology, A Celebration of Poets.  Authors ranged from 5^th to 8^th grade, creating poems titled Stuff, Shades of Gray, You Can’t Run, Beach, Getting Sick of Homework, Gordon Fears a Zoo, and Tennis Shoes.

AMC 8 Contest Spurs Interest in Math
January 2010 On November 17, all of Sycamore's eighth and seventh graders, and a few other students participated in the American Mathematics Competition AMC 8. The purpose of this contest is "to spur interest in mathematics and to develop problem solving ability through the excitement of friendly competitions in a timed format." Over 150,000 students worldwide participated in the contest and a Sycamore eighth-grader was one of 163 to receive a perfect score. Twenty one Sycamore students scored high enough on the AMC 8 to participate in the high school contest, AMC 10, on February 24, 2010.

3rd & 4th Learn the Biz of Biztown
January 2010 - In their study of economics, third and fourth-graders prepare for, then immersed themselves in the simulation microcosm of Junior Achievement's BizTown, running various businesses as printers, clerks and fast food workers as well as performing civic duties as the mayor, bankers, policemen, and judges. To prepare for their roles in JA BizTown, students completed a comprehensive curriculum that focuses on basic economic principles and entrepreneurship, and is correlated to Indiana curriculum standards for math, language arts, social studies, civics, and technology.

Alumni Gathering

Box Tops Funds Go to Needy
Dec. 09 - Third grade recently redeemed the box tops that have been collected this school year for the General Mills Box tops 4 Education program and received $480. Rather than using the money for items in their classroom, the third grade chose to donate it to several charities. Each third-grader nominating a recipient organization gave a short speech to describe the cause they wanted to support. Students then voted to decide which organizations would get donations and how much money would go to each one. The box top money earned so far this year was divided between the Wheeler Mission, World Vision, UNICEF, and Water Is Life. The third grade is thankful to the Sycamore community for their support of this project. They will continue to collect box tops for the remainder of the school year.

7/8 Knowledge Masters on Top Fall '09
Dec. 09 - The Sycamore 7/8 Knowledge Master Team finished the fall competition with a score of 1609 out of 2000 possible points, ranking them 1st out of 28 schools in Indiana. The team finished 2nd out of 577 schools internationally, only 13 points behind the first place team from Virginia. Sycamores 7/8 team performance also clinched the National Championship in the Small School Division for this competition.          

Making a Great Impression
Dec. 09 - In their study of the Impressionist Era of the late 19^th century, 7th- graders are assigned the task of interpreting a realistic photo using broken color techniques with an optical mix of oil pastel crayons. Look for their fabulous works adorning the specials hallway soon!

Bake Sale for Clean Water
Nov. 09 - Students from Sycamore's Middle School service club, OHANA, held a bake sale to raise money for Water is Life, a non-profit organization that provides filtered drinking straws to children in Africa. The bake sale raised $144.04 for the organization! Its amazing how a group of 18-20 students can reach their arms and hearts around the world!

FPK "Sees" What its Like
Nov. 09 - A teacher at the Indianapolis School for the Blind and Visually Impaired visited the full-day preK classroom and shared information on how children who are blind or with limited eyesight function in a classroom. She also demonstrated how visually impaired children do everyday tasks like walking, eating, and pouring a drink of water. Each student tried performing different activities wearing a blindfold, including putting shapes in a toy, coloring with triangular crayons on raised guide lines, finding food on their plate, and sorting 3 sizes of bears. The full-day preK class is studying about all parts of the body in their Health and Nutrition Unit. This gave them the chance to be exposed to the limitations individuals experience with limited sight, while hopefully instilling understanding, compassion, and empathy for the vision impaired.

Musicians Selected for Honor Band
Nov. 09 - Three 8th-grade and six 7th-grade Symphonic Band members at Sycamore were selected to perform in the Indiana Bandmasters Association All-Region Honor Band on Nov. 21-22. Students selected joined band members from 20+ area schools on Saturday for a day of rehearsals to prepare for a concert on Sunday at Fishers High School. The 100 band members were selected from 300+ applications by a panel of area directors.

Gardening Club Visits EcoLab
Oct. 09 - On October 13 members of the after-school activity Gardening Club took a field trip to Marian University working on a restoration project at their EcoLab by collecting native plant seeds from one area of the prairie and scattering them in a different location in the prairie. Ecologists of Marian University also took the students on a hike through the prairie and woodland.

Going Zoo-ey
Oct. 09 - Kindergarteners transformed their classroom into a virtual zoo, presenting their independent study projects on animals, while they were dressed in the likeness of their subject.

Off to the Races
Oct. 09 - EC2 students concluded their "Fun with Water" unit with "Lazy River Day," floating boats and ducks down the Outdoor Science Lab's water feature.

Academic Olympics Team Wins 1st Round
Oct. 09 - Sycamore Middle School's Academic Olympics team competed in the first round of the Cathedral Academic Olympics on October 17, defeating last year's champion, St. Luke, by a score of 60-24. The team will compete in the second round of the competition on November 14.

Buzz About Sycamore
Oct. 09 - First-graders learn about how bees work together by performing their assigned roles in their bee hive simulation.

Alumna Entertains at Kick-off Event
Sept. 09 - Around ninety guests filled the Outdoor Learning Lab Pavilion to celebrate the 2009-2010 Annual Giving Campaign kick-off featuring wine and appetizers. The highlight of the evening was a performance by Sycamore alumna, Briana Hansen ('00) who captivated the audience with her reflections of life as a Sycamore student and the profound impact Sycamore made on her personal development as an actress and comedienne. She was energetic, entertaining and inspiring. 

Tennis Teams Triumph in Tourney
Sept. 09 - On Saturday, Sept. 26 Sycamore's Middle School tennis teams participated in the Craig Middle School Invitational. In the four-school tournament, Sycamore's girl's team went undefeated and won the first place trophy. The boy's team finished second with two players winning all their matches as well.

Sycamore Spirit Week
Sept. 09 - This year's all-school Spirit Week took place Sept. 21-24, with special theme days: Pajama Day, Favorite Sports Team Day, Crazy Hat & Socks Day, and Sycamore Spirit Day. A Spirit Assembly was held for students from the youngest Early Childhood class through 8^th Grade, parents, faculty, and staff. The assembly featured: recognition of the new students and new faculty members; five founding staff members and the school's eagle mascot leading the school song; the announcement of the food drive class winners; and the announcement of student Jog-a-thon name contest and logo contest winners. The parent association, SSA, organized the week and provided everyone at the assembly colorful spirit wrist bands.

Students Help Brand Fundraiser
Sept. 09 - Congratulations to Ariana K. (5th grade) for submitting "Steps for Sycamore" as the prize winning Jog-a-thon "Name That Event" entry and to Lillian E. (8th grade) for her soaring eagle and Sycamore leaf Jog-a-thon logo design. Both students were recognized for their outstanding efforts at the Spirit Day Assembly on Thursday, September 24. Their contributions will be used to market the school"s Jog-a-thon fundraising event to be held in the spring.

Food Drive Helps Local Center
Sept. 09 - The annual "Sycamore Spirit of Giving" Food Drive held during Spirit Week was a huge success and ended with some impressive numbers!  Through our school-wide effort, we donated 4,226 items to the Fay Biccard Glick Neighborhood Center at Crooked Creek, an increase of 596 items over last year's successful Food Drive! The Crooked Creek Food Pantry representatives were overwhelmed by the amount donated and our Food Drive donations will once again assist in replenishing their shelves. This year's top three grades were 2^nd Grade (24.71 items/student), Kindergarten (24.66 items/student) and 8^th Grade (19.46 items/student). 

Making a Difference
Sept. 09 - Recently a Sycamore 7^th grader asked the Middle School to help him with a special project he was working on to help the Holocaust Museum in Houston, TX collect handmade butterflies for a special exhibit in 2012 to commemorate each of the 1.5 million Jewish children that died in the Holocaust of WWII. His project proved to be a perfect way to demonstrate the Middle Schools study group topic, "Kids Make a Difference." The goal of the topic was to encourage kids to consider how their talent or passion can be used to help others. During their study groups students made butterflies to contribute to the collection that will be sent to the museum in January.

Ecology in the Wild
September 09 - The Fourth Grade went on a three-day overnight field trip last week to experience Camp Tecumseh's "Earthship Journey" as part of their ecology unit. 4th-graders learned about respecting and protecting nature, as well as, how everything in nature is connected. During free time students enjoyed outdoor activities such as canoeing and archery.

Taking Note of Nature
September 09 - Full-day Pre-K students enjoyed entering their observations of the gardens of the Outdoor Science Lab into their nature journals last Friday. The class is studying their "Trees, Leaves, and Seeds" unit.

Tasty Plant Studies
September 09 - Sycamore second-graders learned about the various parts of plants that people often eat, nibbling on stems (celery), leaves (lettuce), roots (carrots), flowers (broccoli), fruit (apple), and seeds (almonds).

1st Grade Bug Safari
September 09 - Sycamore first-graders went to the Zion Nature Center in Zionsville, IN to experience an interactive slideshow in the Nature Center, and to learn about different kinds of insects and spiders and how they can be helpful and harmful. Students also went on a hunt to collect bugs in their natural habitat. Once the specimens were sufficiently observed, they were released to the wild again.

Award-winning Yearbook
September 09 - Recently, Sycamore received the Walsworth Excellence award for the school's 2008-2009 yearbook. The yearbook will be used as an example of what a quality yearbook should look like. This is the second year in a row Sycamore has won this award,  thanks to the hard work and talent of the middle school students on the yearbook staff and editor-in-chief  and staff member Gina Perron.

Students Help Brand Fundraiser
September 09 - Sycamore School's primary fund-raising event this year will be a Jog-A-Thon. The Development Office chose to tap the creative juices of the school's student body to name the event and design the event's logo. Several second-graders and the Sycamore Eagle Talon Ted greeted the cars at drop-off to encourage them to participate.

Budding Artists
August 09 - EC3 students find the early childhood garden the perfect spot for inspiration.

Back to School
August 09 - 1st-graders got busy with their first day's school work after returning from a long summer break.

Penny War Funds Still at Work
August 09 - Several years ago, four middle school students from the class of 2008, organized an all-school Penny War that raised over $2300. The proceeds donated through the KIVA organization website were re-directed to small business owners in Ukraine, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Viet Nam, Peru, Cambodia, Mexico, and other nations. The donations enabled the small businesses or individuals to start a business or expand one they already had and to become self-sufficient entrepreneurs in some of the poorest areas of the world. The remarkable aspect of the program is that, once the loans have been repaid by the entrepreneur, the money is recycled and donated to others. It was reported that the initial twelve recipients' loans were paid back, allowing the school to re-donate that same money again, and again. So far, the original Penny War has allowed 26 loans to be made, totaling $4775!

Summer'09 Alumni Picnic
August 09 - Fifty-six high school aged alums picnicked in the Outdoor Pavilion on August 6, reuniting with former classmates and faculty members, and recounting Sycamore memories. As new alums, the class of 2009 enjoyed signing one another's brand new yearbooks highlighting their eighth-grade year at Sycamore.

National History Day
June 09 - Four Middle School students were among the Indiana middle and high school students representing our state in the National History Day competition, held at the University of Maryland, College Park from June 14-18. Every sixth-grade student completed a National History Day project as part of their history curriculum. Placing first or second at the state competition last these students were chosen to advance to the national competition. They got to meet other students from across the United States and its territories, present their projects and see many other excellent projects. Highlighting their experience, they met with Indiana Senators Lugar and Bayh and took a tour of the U.S. Capitol.