Academics
From the Backcountry to Basecamp: How Fieldwork Strengthens Relationships By Carolyn Highland
Written by our very own 4th-Grade Crew Leader Carolyn Highland, this story shares a teacher’s perspective of how spending time together in the wilderness helps students thrive in traditional academic classroom settings.
Middle School Students Study the Balance of Power in Santa Cruz and Monterrey
Led by TEA Middle School Teacher Beth Vallarino, our students visited Monterrey and Santa Cruz to experience the impacts of plastics on our environment, the causes and impacts of homelessness, and the benefits and drawbacks of a vegan/vegetarian diet.
5th-Graders Kick off The Impact of Natural Disasters Learning Expedition
Our 5th-grade students have kicked off their Natural Disasters Learning Expedition. TEA Parent Rick Chapman recently had the pleasure of being a crew leader for a couple of hours this past week, harnessing their energy to create theatrical sinkhole rescues, avalanches, and flash flood scenarios as a part of their study.
2nd-Graders Examine the Magical World of Pollination
For their Spring Learning Expedition, our 2nd-grade students are building their research skills and science knowledge through a study of the secret world of plants and pollinators, with a particular emphasis on the life of bees. The perfect for springtime topic right?
Adventured Filled Kindergarten Trip to the Frog Bog
The Kindergarten x-country skiing trip to the Frog Bog was quite the adventure! It was also quite an opportunity for perseverance!! The kids learned how difficult x-country skiing on icy bumpy trails can be. Lots of falls, tears, frustration, as well as smiling, laughing, success and fun.
Urban Vibes: A TEA Middle School Investigation Into Homelessness on America’s West Coast
Our Middle School students are spending their Spring Intensive diving in and getting real with gritty issues that impact all of us. Students will be doing their May fieldwork in and around Sacramento and the Bay Area, investigating the factors and contributing causes to homelessness. This past week, these students used Reno as a case study for looking at what happens when people who are left behind by economic growth can’t compete with young professionals.
What’s Up in the Sky? A First-Grade Study of the Sun, Moon, and Stars
Our 1st-Grade Chickadee Crew students are building their literacy and science skills as they engage in a study of the sun, moon, and stars.
Heroes of High Fives
For their 6th-grade Learning Expedition, our students were involved in a deep study of mythology, its purposes, and elements. Students studied the archetypal storyline of the hero’s journey which has been repeated in literature throughout the centuries. Our students were then connected with several High Fives athletes to interview, record and narrate each of their hero’s journeys to create their final product book “The Heroes of High Fives.”
January 2019 Celebration of Learning Photo Gallery
The Celebration of Learning (COL) is one of the many wonderful Elementary School traditions at TEA. The bi-annual event is an opportunity for our students to share what they’ve learned with an authentic audience comprised of our older students, teachers, parents, grandparents, friends and special guests. If you’ve never attended a COL, hopefully, this photo gallery will give you a taste of the experience. Well, maybe not the chocolate covered grasshoppers part.
War. What is it Good For?
This past spring, the class of 2021 traveled to Washington DC to study war and its effect on society with their own eyes. They interviewed several experts including professors and veterans to formulate their own opinion on this controversial topic. Watch their video recap!
Understanding Systems of the Body in Order to Make Positive Choices for Your Health
Throughout this semester-long Intensive, our high school students have studied multiple body systems to understand how the environment, plus what you put in your body, can affect it.