Mr. Coursey's Garden...How it Grows!

   

Mr. Charles Coursey

     Charles Coursey came to teach at Pershing in 1999 as a History teacher. He had retired from Florida and decided retirement was not for him yet and thus came to teach at Pershing. I remember meeting him and we became good tea-drinking buddies; I could always count on him to provide me with some of his specialty brands of tea, and I did likewise.

     We also shared a love of orchids. Although I still grow a few species at home, Mr. Coursey grew most of his in Florida. Drinking tea and sharing orchid culture was how I remember first talking to him about his fondness of growing vegetables in his garden. One year, I bought him some organic Old German tomato seeds which yielded the best tasting, meaty tomatoes the size of grapefruits!

 
 Nine years ago, a former principal asked the faculty to come up with classes to enrich our students' lives. Mr. Coursey didn't think twice about what class he wanted: it was the Garden Club. As years went by, his club became more popular and through his determination, it became an official class and has been one for three years.

     In his class Mr. Coursey introduces basic concepts about soil, how vegetables grow, and their nutrients. He also cooks some of the produce for the students to taste and eat. One such student said to him recently, "Mr. Coursey, you are making us like vegetables!"
     The vegetables are eaten raw, boiled or steam. Every now and then, when time allows, he will let some of the teachers taste his delightful produce.


     The garden has now over 28 varieties of vegetables. Since the garden is not funded by the school, Mr. Coursey sells his produce to the faculty and staff. He also has a Farmer's Market for the public, in the school's parking lot, where he and some of his students sell the produce on Saturdays.

     Recently, in an October blog entry, I suggested simple things we all could do to reduce our carbon footprint and help the earth. I also suggested to eat more plant based foods. As I mentioned in that entry, less consumption of meat and dairy products may lead to less of it being produced since about 18% of emissions come from the raising of livestock for food. Eating one plant based (or meatless) meal a day can be a start. Not only are they delicious, but they provide more nutrients than processed foods.

   
      Eating more vegetables helps us in more ways than one. Let's continue to support local gardeners and farmers by buying local fresh produce. And perhaps one day, you will also grow your own vegetables like Mr. Coursey.




R. Aguilar

Giving Thanks

    What we know today as Thanksgiving Day originated when the colonists had an abundant harvest thanks in part to the Native American Wampanoag tribe. In a religious ceremony that lasted a couple of days in 1621, the pilgrims shared a feast of thanksgiving with their new Native American friends.

    Today, Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated on the 4^th Thursday in November.

    Thanksgiving is a day of feast, which is celebrated with friends and family, to give thanks for our “abundance” or blessings of those things and people important to us.

    Traditional foods such as turkey, cranberries, green bean casseroles, vegetables, and an assortment of baked goods will make their way to our homes.

     It is also a day of watching parades, and football games; things to do with loved ones, while enjoying time away from school and work.

     How ever way it is celebrated, it is a great day to enjoy good company and great food!
   
  

Raquel Aguilar

Hello from Jerez de los Caballeros!

     Hi!

    We are children from Spain. We live in Jerez de los Caballeros. We are going to send e-mails the next week with our teachers.

     On November, the first in Spain, we celebrate All Saints' Day. People go to the countryside on this day and eat nuts. We play in the countryside. The next day we celebrate Day of the Dead, which is a day when Spanish people visit the cementery and put flowers on our loved ones' graves.
     There is almost always good weather here, so we really like playing in the street.

     Talk to you soon!

New Pershing Pen Pals

     This year, we are adding a class of sixth graders from Pershing that will be exchanging correspondences with students in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain.

    The sixth grade spanish bridge class is offered to transition children from a dual language program to a native speaker program and is taught by Mrs. Parsons-Lopez.  They focus on improving fluency in reading, writing, listening and speaking

Mia Li an 8th grade student and already a penpal, will be guiding the new students:

L-R, Girls (sitting): Mia, Diana, Odile, Ally and Lizbeth
Boys (standing): Jason, Bilal, Tajh and Nicholas

     These students are excited to begin writing and will exchange letters with students from Sra. Manoli Masero's students in Colegio Sotomayor y Terrazas.



Raquel Aguilar

Climate change?

     Recently in New York, the UN along with some other dignitaries and heads of state, met to begin discussions on a global deal to be completed in 2015, in Paris. The meeting created an onslaught of people marching for climate change initiatives to help the earth, but there were also those going against the meeting.

     According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change who will meet again in
Copenhagen, Denmark next week, there are several key predictions that will occur in years to come, towards the end of the century.
     They predict with almost "100 percent probability" that there will be 1.) "Warmer and/or fewer cold days and nights over most land masses."and 2.)" Warmer and/or more frequent hot days and nights over most land masses."
     They also predict, in "90-100 percent very likely" 1.) "Warm spells/heat waves-frequency and/or duration increase over land masses, 2."Heavy Precipitation events..." and 3.) "Increased incidence and/or magnitude of extreme high sea level."

     Living an hour away from the coast, climate change to us in Houston means that the rise in sea-levels will progress faster than it is happening now. We will also have longer heat spells and more, heavy rain spells.

     However, the longer hot days also bring with it the high possibility of drought and dry spells in our state, as well as other areas of the country and the world.
 
     I can only surmise that this type of weather will also occur in Extremadura, without fear of sea-level rise. That is not to say it won't adversely affect them in one way or another.

     
Whatever side of the debate of climate change you are in,  here are some facts that are known to be true:
   1. Humans are putting way too much carbon emissions that pollute the clean air for healthy living.
   2. We are also producing too much waste that landfills can not support it.

 Even with all the government intervention and laws, it is up to all of us to do our part to

regulate greenhouse gases by limiting harmful pollutants in the air.

So what can we do, besides staying informed to reduce our carbon footprint?

Aside from being energy efficient, we can begin to help the environment with doing a few simple things.

1. Produce less garbage: Did you know that all the garbage in landfills produce methane, which is a very harmful greenhouse gas? Let's keep items such as paper, plastic, metal and glass in recycling centers and out of landfills. Carry your families groceries in your own bags to limit the use of plastic ones.
Compost more of your meals to keep out of landfills or take your organic waste to someone who has a garden or our school's garden.

2.  Eat more plant based foods: About 18% of emissions come from diary and meat production."Meatless Monday": All of us could have one day to eat meatless meals to stop less emissions being produced. Alternatively, eat one meatless meal a day.  Grow your own or buy locally. Eat more organic meals and less processed foods.

     And speaking of plants, start a garden or help someone start a garden. Continue to plant more trees.

If we live simply, we create less things that we need to throw away. We will be taking care of ourselves and taking care of the earth at the same time.

Raquel Aguilar

Pen Pals In the News....

    

     Clara a Spanish student and new penpal, recently wrote an article about our project that was published in two local newspapers. Clara is also a student in Pershing's journalism class.

     Below is the article that appeared on page twelve on The Village News and The Southwest News.
Ms. Aguilar

INTERNATIONAL PEN PAL PROGRAM

THRIVING at PERSHING

by Clara Brotzen-Smith

   "Pershing foreign language students are making friends in other countries around the world. A pen pal program that has been in existence for the last two years allows students from Pershing Middle School and students in Spain to make a connection through the written word. This program is headed by Ms. Aguilar. Pershing students have been given the opportunity to not only exchange letters in Spanish, but also French. This is because the students in Spain are learning French along with English.

   A number of students have been writing to pen-pals in towns throughout rural Spain for a year now, and have formed strong bonds with the Spanish students they have been corresponding with. Kirsty Leech says, “It has definitely improved my Spanish skills, and it’s great to know there is someone else looking out for me that isn’t just a face I see every day.”

  “The project benefits lots of students. Not just my students, but students in French and native speaker classes too.”  Says Ms. Aguilar “It has benefitted in the fact that I have seen students using more advanced vocabulary.”

  In a time that we see such unrest among the different countries in the world this program seems to bridge relationships with students from both the United States and Spain."

Clara's efriend is Fatima from Burguillos.

R. Aguilar

The Sport of Lacrosse in the U.S.

Lacrosse and Soccer: How are they alike?

Close your eyes. Imagine yourself being the best soccer or hockey player in the world. Open your eyes. Now combine the sports. It’s called Lacrosse. It has the positions of hockey and the field of soccer with different sized goals and completely different sticks.

First, there are 10 players on the field at one time. 1 Goalie, 3 Defenders (While Soccer usually has 4 defenders on the field), 3 Midfield, and 3 Attack-men (Strikers). Substitutions are during the game, which means no timeout, or when the ball is out or even after a goal, so you have to manage it right. The ball is in continuous play until a penalty, a timeout, when the ball goes out, or when a goal is scored. Next is the time spent playing lacrosse. The game has 4 quarters that are 15 minutes long. If the score is tied at the end of the game, unlike soccer, which has extra time, there is an overtime period and the first to score a goal wins.

While Soccer has the cleats and the ball, Lacrosse has a stick with a metal shaft (The shafts are two different lengths, about 3 feet for offense and about 6 feet for defense) and an oval hard plastic head with nylon string through it. With the stick, we throw and catch the ball while running and shooting so your stick can mean a lot to you. The ball we use in Lacrosse is a completely rubber ball weighing about 5 ounces and being 2.5 inches in diameter. There is also a helmet, shoulder pads, gloves, and elbow pads.

For me, Lacrosse is the best sport I’ve ever played. It’s my passion. When you go down the field and score, it is the best feeling ever when the crowd is screaming and you’re getting high fives from your teammates. You want to play forever. There are lots of different components to prepare for the games. Stringing your stick: I like to string my own sticks, which are fun and also give me a connection to it. Practice: Practice is the most important part of the game; this is where you improve your skills and work on becoming the best. Wallball: I like to do this to help with my passing. What I do is go to a brick wall and just throw the ball against it to practice.

Smithsonian Image

In addition, Lacrosse was believed to be created as a sport. The Native Americans played it as a pastime while not working and it evolved into what it is today. There were different kinds of sticks that the Natives used but the stick from the Iroquois nation was the most advanced and it evolved to what it is today. There are still Native American tribes today that still play. In fact, The Iroquois nation has a professional team composed of only Native American Players. Also, I got the opportunity to see the Iroquois Nation play in the World Cup of Lacrosse.

Alex Ignatiev

#21 Pershing Boys Lacrosse Team

8^th Grade/Pershing Middle School/ Ms. Aguilar

My efriend/pen-pal is Alejandro Santiago from Zafra.

Note: Alex is sharing part of our culture with students from Spain. Here in the U.S., Lacrosse is a very popular sport and part of our heritage. Incidentally, Pershing's boys lacrosse has a very good team! R. Aguilar

Our letters have been received!

News and pictures that our letters to Burguillos del Cerro and Zafra have been received!
All our students were so elated and excited to see our friends' happy faces. It was a memorable time for all!


Zafra

                        

 



Burguillos

 





R. Aguilar

The Virgin of Bethlehem in Zafra

Marissa T.'s efriend Diego, writes about this celebration in Zafra:


"In the country , there is a little church and the people celebrate a party in honor of the virgin of Belen. The people have a picnic." Diego M.

The celebrations in Zafra of Our Lady of Bethlehem is a "romería" or pilgrimage, to the Virgin of Bethlehem and is celebrated on Quasimodo Sunday which is the Sunday following Easter Sunday.

The origins of the pilgrimage, which began several hundred years ago, have been lost through time. However, the observance is related to prayers to the Virgin Mary requesting that the torrential rains that once plagued the town and destroyed their crops, not return.

The festivities combine the religious with a fun and playful side, for all to enjoy.

Thanks to Diego for sharing the pictures and showing us part of the culture in Zafra!

Earth Day 2014

Earth Day is on April 22, 2014. This year the theme is greencities and what we can do to improve our community through our help in the environment with energy conservation.

This is a great day to start using less energy, use other energy alternatives, begin a recycling project, or educate others about the importance of maintaining a clean, sustainable environment.

Things you can do throughout the year to help our Earth:
* Use energy efficient light bulbs at home.
* Turn off lights, appliances, computers or televisions sets when not in use to conserve and save energy.
* Begin a recycling project at home, or get your neighbors involved in a recycling project.
* Make better choices by limiting waste: Filter your own water and save the environment from
plastic bottles. Use a cloth bag or reuse a paper bag when grocery shopping or any type of shopping. (It also saves energy by not producing more bottles and plastic bags.)
* Plant a tree and maintain it.
* Start a garden with organic food produce.
* Begin to use compost to enrich the soil if you already have a garden.
(Did you know that our school has a compost bin? Bring your organic waste such as cabbage, carrot leaves or remnants, or fruit cores and peels to Mr. Coursey so we can use it for our school's organic garden.)

What will you do throughout the year to help our cities have better air quality and greener, healthier solutions?

You can learn more about Earth Day all over the world by clicking here.


Give Earth a chance, by getting involved.

R. Aguilar

Letters from Zafra!

Last week, we received letters from Zafra's Germán CID school and their students.
The look on everyone's faces was one of excitement and happiness. We began to write and will be sending our letters and goodies to them very soon!

These are some of the students and their letters and gifts:

Jade, Gregory, Lily, Amanda and Jack with our box of letters!

Rein and her friends counting the coins she received from her pal.

Charlottte and her letter

Lauren E, Max, and Noah with their letters.

Mia and her letter. She also received a bracelet.

Camryn and her letter.

Wesley and Sam with their letters and gifts.

Ms. Aguilar

Joaquin Araujo

The great Joaquin Araujo has written and will be supporting us in our service project in Burguillos!

Mr. Aruajo, a naturalist and environmentalist, is a lecturer and author of several books on the environment and sustainability in Spain and Rural Extremadura. He also hosts his own radio show, has planted hundreds of trees over Spain and has won numerous accolades and awards including recognition from The United Nations.

We hope he will honor us with his presence while we are in Extremadura!

In the meantime, please follow him and his endeavors on Twitter at https://twitter.com/joaquinaraujo

Ms. Aguilar