Reminder that Monday, Apr 6 is a school holiday and we’ll return Tuesday Apr 7 #SiSePuede

This year, all LAUSD schools will observe César Chávez Day on Monday, April 6 in celebration of the birthday of César Estrada Chávez and it serves as a tribute to his commitment to social justice and respect for human dignity.

Cesar Chavez was a labor organizer among the agricultural workers of the Southwest. With Delores Huerta he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association which became the United Farm Workers. Throughout the 1960s and early 70s this union engaged in labor actions until it finally won the right of collective bargaining for California agricultural workers in 1975.

The largest of these actions was the Salad Bowl Strike. In competition with both the California growers and the Teamsters Union, the largely Hispanic UFW walked off the job on August 23, 1970 in the largest farm strike in American history. Targeted at the lettuce growers, this action caused the price of lettuce to double almost overnight. The strike did not end until March 26, 1971.

Over the ensuing years a series of agreements was worked out including the right for collective bargaining, though the persistence since that time of the UFW's gains is debatable.

Learn More:
http://chavez.cde.ca.gov/ModelCurriculum/Public/index1.aspx
http://www.colapublib.org/chavez/
http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/cesar-chavez-day

is the week of March 30 - April 3 | Note that school resumes Tuesday, Apr 7-Enjoy yourselves & Be Safe!

Reminder today 3/26 is Annual Open House (6:00p-7:00p) & EREEF sponsored Silent Auction (5:30p-7:00p)

This Thursday, March 26th is Eagle Rock Elementary's Annual Open House from 6:00-7:00pm and EREEF's Silent Auction from 5:30-7:00pm. Take a moment to visit classrooms and let your child tour you around their room. Ask her or him questions, and let them show you what they've been doing. Additionally, please remember to participate in the EREEF's Silent Auction which will take place out on the playground where you'll find terrific items, including: summer camps, sports camps, art camps, gift baskets, Mathnasium membership, classroom art projects, and more! All proceeds from the auction go directly to classroom enrichment supplies!

This Friday, March 20, is the vernal equinox, the first day of spring. For families, it’s a great time to get outdoors. For teachers, it’s a science and math opportunity. Here are some suggestions for both:

• Grow a Garden with Your Kids (for parents)
• Learn to Grow Your Own Food (for kids)
• Build a Kite Like Ben Franklin’s
• DIY: Kites from Recycled Materials (PDF)
• Learn about the annual kite festival in Washington, DC. It's on Saturday, March 28 this year.
• Watch for Meteors
• What's a Solstice?
• Why Does Earth Have Seasons?
• Grades K-4: Kites-Principles of Flight (PDF)
• Middle and High School: Kites

Join us at our next General Mtg this Wednesday 3/18 at 6:30p in the MPR | Elections for 2015-2016

This Wednesday, March 18 is our next General Meeting where elections for a number of Board positions for the coming 2015-2016 school year. Please plan to attend and bring a friend!

3/17 Follow these links & learn more about the history, culture and traditions of Irish-Americans

St. Patrick’s Day may have started as a day to commemorate the death of Ireland’s patron saint, Patrick, who died on March 17, around 492, but St. Patrick’s Day evolved into a day of wearing green, eating Irish food, and parades to celebrate Irish heritage. 

Your students probably hear a lot about St. Patrick's Day, take an opportunity to give them more context and background about the rich history, culture, and traditions of the Irish and Irish-Americans:

• St. Patrick's Day - America's Story
• Irish Immigration - Library of Congress
• A Day in the Life - Growing up in Ireland
• Ireland - World Factbook - History, Geography and More...
• Music: Irish Recordings - National Jukebox
• Activity: Can You Speak Irish?

Have a cup of joe & meet other parents this Friday 3/13 in the MPR after the Spirit Assembly

Join us at #EagleRockElem Math Festival | Learn about math applications | Thu 3/12 (6:30p-8:00p)

What is a Math Festival?

A Math Festival is a special event that demonstrates to students how important Mathematics is, and that it's not something to fear but a subject that EVERYONE can enjoy, marvel at, and be successful. A Math Festival is made up of 12 to 18 "math stations" where students of all abilities and grades, K–8, can actively participate in different hands-on mathematics activities and practice their math skills at the same time. Each Math Festival station is hands-on; there's everything from blocks and beans to laptop computers that students use in solving problems. Each Math Festival station is different, and each touches upon a different key mathematics concept. For example, students make function patterns out of cubes at one station, while at another they solve simultaneous equations with beans in the Algebra Math Festival.

Students working with a partner choose a station to visit and work at that activity as long as they wish, working harder and harder problems. When they are ready, they move to another station and do a completely different activity. Each station has challenging tasks of different levels of difficulty, some very easy for young primary students, and some hard enough to challenge adults!

The students walk away from their time at the Math Festival thinking that math is fun, interesting, AND that they CAN DO IT. Their teachers can build on that enthusiasm by using the Math Festival Curriculum activities with students after the Festival in their own classrooms. A Math Festival does an excellent job of getting students excited about this very important subject, and helps them see the value of mathematics in their lives.

Remember to set your clocks forward 1 Hour! Daylight Saving Time began on Sunday 3/8 at 2:00a! #DST

DST was first adopted to replace artificial lighting so they could save fuel for the war effort in Germany during World War I at 11:00pm (23:00) on April 30, 1916. It was quickly followed by Britain and many countries from both sides, including the United States. Many countries reverted back to standard time post-World War I, and it wasn’t until the next World War that DST would make its return to many countries in order to save vital energy resources for the war.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted year-round DST in the United States, called “War Time” during World War II from February 9, 1942 to September 30, 1945. The law was enforced 40 days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and during this time, time zones were called “Eastern War Time”, “Central War Time”, and “Pacific War Time”. After the surrender of Japan in mid-August 1945, the time zones were relabeled “Peace Time”.

Visit TimeandDate.com to learn more about Daylight Savings Time (DST)

Follow this link for the minutes recorded from the last PTA General Meeting in January