Gym Update #4

Well...we're almost there. The gym is almost complete. Today I had the privilege of taking pictures of the gym from a place other than the sidewalk in front of TMA and let me tell you, it looks AWESOME.

I am happy to report that all of the world...including the northeast wall of our gym...is a stage.














I was awed by the yet-to-be-fully-completed basketball court. It still needs striping, it still needs two more coats of varnish, it still looks amazing. Check out the natural light, pretty cool.














Seeing the new facility from the inside was yet another proud moment for me here at TMA. Look forward to our final gym update which will include a photo essay giving a full tour.

Until then...be well.

Green Club on NPR

Yesterday's Kojo Nnamdi Show on NPR featured "Getting Healthy Food into School Lunches." To listen to the show, click here.  At about the 26:45 mark of the show, Brittany McGhee (pictured above) calls in with a question about getting the school garden into the school lunch.

The whole segment is worth a listen, but the exchange with Brittany is absolutely phenomenal. I've been playing it on repeat all day, and everybody who walks by has listened, too. And I'm going to e-mail Kojo and see if he really wants to spend time in our garden. Need more Green Club? See the pictures below. And while you do, consider the significance of what these students have done.

Are they directly fighting global warming? Yes. Have they worked all summer during their free time to keep the garden healthy and happy? Without even considering it work. But the significance is that Brittany and the Green Club are taking to the airwaves to participate in public discourse about school lunch. They are actively engaging in our democracy by pursuing a more healthy, more ecologically sustainable lunch. When more schools have gardens and more students are eating fresh produce at school it will be because Brittany is willing to call Kojo Nnamdi. It will be because the Green Club is not content to stop at a single school garden.

Superior Court internships completed

This month marks the end of the DC Superior Court Internship, in which TMA students worked one-on-0ne with judges in the DC Superior Court. The students (as always) rocked it. For a glimpse into their thoughts about the experience, check out their classroom blog.

Good afternoon and good luck.

Taxation without representation...

A month ago we (the royal we) posted on our students' experience with the Close Up program. Wouldn't you know it? That post left out the best part...a meeting with Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton. As the students roamed the halls of the congressional office building it became apparent that this was an environment that was foreign to most of the students. If you have ever been in one of those office buildings, you are familiar with the din of large, pointy, high heels and hard, heavy, clunky wooden soled shoes moving way too fast. Pair this with the fact that, at any given time, you can hear 38 people talking on a blackberry and you have a fairly intimidating environment.

The students waited anxiously outside Rep. Norton's office and even tried a Tango to take off the edge. After a few minutes, we were invited inside by Rep. Norton herself. She took a good amount of time out of her day to answer questions from the students. She spoke very passionately on DC voting rights and the importance of education to the youth in the district.

This was 11th grader Markus Batchelor's take:

"I think what most surprised me is that her speaking... it wasn’t like a stump speech. It was passionate and she gave her personal opinion"

When asked about what he took away from Rep. Norton's discussion of DC voting rights he had this to say:

"[The lack of DC voting rights] makes me think of the disenfranchisement before the revolutionary war because the maxim of the DC voting rights [movement] is, ‘taxation without representation’ and that was the maxim that the oppressed colonist used to build this country and incite the revolution that made this country. It kind of seems hypocritical to me that the government that was founded on equal representation to all people and giving everybody the same rights as each other...well... it just kind of seems hypocritical, that despite what the Constitution may loosely say, the US is depriving its people of equal rights."

Lastly, Markus wanted to extend his thanks to Rep. Norton:

"First, I want to thank her for meeting with us and then also thank her for giving us her personal opinion and her personal insight on everything that she does in congress and the things that affect her and us because it wasn’t rehearsed and it gave everybody a better insight and deeper understanding of what its like to be in congress"

The Close Up program gave students like Markus an opportunity to learn about the government, but the real "Ah-Ha" moment came when they got to talk to their representative about issues that directly affect them. This experience helped our students see the importance of government and, more importantly, may inspire them to become active participants in our democratic society.

Until we meet again...

Gym Update #3

It has been amazing to watch this building come together. With only weeks before the school year begins, it's exciting to know that we will have this phenomenal facility opening on schedule. Looking back is interesting (Update #2 and Update #1) but it's the future (Update 4!) that we're focused on. Our next update will include a variety of pictures, inside and out.

Get Involved: Tutor in the library.

Every day when school ends, we open up our library for Homework Help. For almost three hours, our students (sometimes as many as 60 of them) pore over the math, science, and English that they were taught during the day. We are recruiting a group of tutors to serve in one-on-one relationships with students who have asked for a little extra help.

Are you free one weekday afternoon? Are you ready to be a hero? If so, please join us this fall as a tutor. E-mail Scott for more information.

Gym Update #2

We have windows! And although this picture doesn't show them, there are real-live goals hanging from the ceiling, waiting for dunks.

There has been an amazing amount of work done this summer. Just look at our first update from just one month ago.

Get Involved: Mentor one of our sophomores.

It is personal and rich. It is easy to get involved and truly impacts the life of every participant. The TMA Mentor Program is set to begin its eighth year, and now is your chance join. Over the course of the year, we will ice-skate, we will perform community service, we will visit colleges and laugh and learn and all grow up a bit. If you are a TMA sophomore, please sign up! If you are a DC area professional, we'd love to have you mentor one of our students. Mentor applications are available here.

For more information email Scott: sguggenheimer@tmapchs.org

Exclusive Video - Worm Poop

All the videos in the world would not do justice to the summer efforts of a few dedicated TMA students. Every day they come to the school garden. They water and weed. They harvest and cook. They deliver treats to staff. Ask Jessica Sher! They brought her whole wheat pasta flavored with pesto sauce made from the garlic, basil, and onion that they had harvested that morning. And, as you just saw, they keep a worm bin to compost food waste.

Last week they sold eggplant, garlic, and bags of their compost at the Mt. Pleasant Farmer's Market. Above, you saw Green Club co-advisor Sam Ullery, and below you will hear his teammate Sarah Johnson. But the story here is the students: Brittany McGhee, Moo Johnson, Keith Jenkins, Aaron Toomer, Akasha Rodgers, Brian Crawford, and Isaiah May. As Ms. Johnson said last week, "At first, I think I may have motivated them, even inspired a few. Now, though? They inspire me."

Check out the videos. And when you're done, make plans to visit us at the farmer's market.

Gym Update #1

The TMA community is eagerly awaiting the completion of our new gym to be shared with our gracious neighbors, A. Kiger Savoy Middle School. Construction, which began in the summer of 2007, is set to be completed by the start of the 09-10 school year! The picture above shows progress as of July 10th.

When everything is said and done, the gym should look like this:

















and that's all the news that's fit to print.

A thumb up for Close Up

Two weeks ago eight TMA students had the privilege of attending a summer program offered by the Close Up Foundation. Close Up brings students from around the country to our nation's Capital for an opportunity to learn about our democracy in an immersive learning environment. Our students spent the entire week with 80 other students from Texas, California, The Marianas Islands, Guam, and Montana. Together they visited the monuments, met with Senators and Representatives on Capitol Hill, had nights out on the town, and even passed legislation as a mock congress.

It was a great experience for our students because they got to "rediscover" their home town. You know, sort of like when Mom visits and you take her out to do all the touristy stuff and then realize that you forgot how awesome your city is. Digressions aside, the highlight of the trip occurred on "Capitol Hill Day" when the kids met Sen. Herb Kohl and had breakfast in his office and then were invited to a private meeting with Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton. The experience was amazing, but, that's for another post.

Until next time....Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-That's all folks!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle... into a work of art

Last week, amidst the arrival of incoming 9th graders for Summer Prep and the return of TMA students for summer school, the TMA community welcomed an amazing addition to our building. This addition, created by TMA students, came in the form of a 6' x 6' mixed media piece of artwork.

Students were commissioned by the Earth Day Network to create a piece of art that demonstrates TMA's commitment to environmental activism on the occassion of the first annual TMA Earth Fair. Each of the 12 border panels was created by students and addresses a different environmental theme: public transportation, solar power, wind power, growing local food, river clean up, pollution reduction and recycling to name a few.

The level of detail in this work is simply impossible to capture on film (on memory card?). Click on any of the pictures below to see them in their detail filled, full-sized glory.

The recycling panel uses actual pieces of newspaper and plastic cups in the recycling bins.

The TMA "wonder student" is capping factory pollution with real wine corks.

The lower right panel shows a TMA student growing local food and uses real dirt from our Green Club's organic garden.

Art teacher Byron Johnson then tied these themes to our school building in the centerpiece of the work.

I am so proud to work in a school alongside students and faculty who have the talent and vision to create such a special addition to our school. Thank You!!!

Student Shuffle!

The Student Shuffle is an opportunity for TMA students to share with the world what they are listening to. The process is simple: we will ask a student to bring his or her MP3 player into the office and set the machine to shuffle. The student will give a review of the first five tracks. No skips, no edits, no excuses.

Joining us in the office today is rising 11th grader Akasha-Regine Rodgers. Here, then, is her Student Shuffle:

Track 1: Coldplay, "Trouble"

Coldplay. My ex-boyfriend's sister got me into Coldplay. Her favorite song was "Clocks". I just went to itunes and searched a whole bunch of Coldplay songs and I was actually quite interested in it. So, I got a couple more songs by them. This one I don't really listen to in excess, but it's a good song.

Track 2: Jessica Simpson, "I Belong to Me"
Ugh, Jessica Simpson. Why do I have her on here actually? (laughs) Um, I think...(more laughing) no, my mom..I remember! This album, A Public Affair, my mom got it and, so, I was just in one of those phases where I was just trying to get as much music on my ipod as possible, so I just put the CD in and you know how as soon one song uploads it will play automatically? The first song is like, (sings) "All the girls steppin' out for a public affair..." So I was just bopping to that for a couple of minutes and then I thought about it. It was like: this is Jessica Simpson. So. Let's just skip this song.

Track 3: Nina Simone, "To Love Somebody"
Aww, Nina Simone. Yes. Me and my mom sing out loud to her music, actually. I'm into a lot of old school, especially like Blackstreet, As Yet, Sugarhill Gang. So, whenever me and my mom are cleaning the house or something we'll blast old school. It's fun. It's extremely fun. Nina Simone is great.

Track 4: Living Language - Learn Japanese, "Lesson 24: Conversation"
That's my Japanese track. That's not music; I'm learning Japanese. Ok, so, I'm obessed with Japan, I guess. I love manga, I love anime, I love everything about it, and so for Christmas my mom got me this 40-lesson learning Japanese thing. So, once I get my culinary arts degree and move to Japan I can open up my restaurant there. That's my plan. I've kinda taken a back seat on it, so I can get my schoolwork together. I listen to that and I read the book and I practice the characters and whatnot. I'm pretty good with the accent, actually. (Speaks a bit of Japanese that sounds very authentic) That means something about friendship. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto. (Laughs).

Track 5: Pitbull, "Oye Loca"
Pitbull is the most provactive artist on the face of the planet. He's like a Cuban Ludacris. I love his music and I've always been into reggaeton. It makes me dance. It makes me jump up and down. I love Pitbull with a passion. If I ever meet him...I'm not into the "OH MY GOD I LOVE YOU" type thing, I have always hated that because they're people just like us...but I definitely think if I met Pitbull I just might faint.

When programs connect...

This is a picture of Erin and Symone Smith from our November Mentor Day excursion to Sharp's Farm in Maryland. Erin and Symone participated in the 2008-2009 Mentor Program, traveling to various Mentor Day events throughout the year and forming a relationship while spending time together on their own.

At right is a picture of Symone and Senator Byron Dorgan taken during the TMA Job Shadow Day program. Symone's mentor Erin works for the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs headed by Sen. Dorgan. Erin arranged for Symone to spend the day working in Sen. Dorgan's office as part of our Job Shadow program.

This is a great example of what can happen our students form relationships with community members: our programs ultimately become better and more fulfilling for everyone involved.

Erin and Symone, you rock.

superior heart, superior mind, Superior Court.

Oridinarily, clerking for a judge is an opportunity reserved for second-year law students. Thurgood Marshall Academy has never considered what is ordinary when designing our programs.

Starting this week, nine TMA students will intern for judges appointed to various courts in the DC Superior Court system; these courts include but are not limited to family, criminal, civil and probate court. Over the summer, our students will witness, participate in, and examine complex court cases, develop their skills as advocates, and observe judges hearing the most pressing cases of our day.