I spent a few days with some of the greatest creative minds in education.  The 2013 Advanc-Ed Summit was held in Washington DC and the focus was Successful Learning in the Digital Age.  While I was really looking forward to the inspirational architecture, history and messaging intertwined throughout the sites of our nation’s capital, I was surprised to find just as much stimulating insight through the events and speakers at the Summit.

I was honored to meet Sir Ken Robinson, author, inspirational TedTalk speaker, advocate for education revolution, and the keynote speaker for the event.  He spoke about the immense opportunities to lead the changes for education out of the industrial age and into the digital age. Sir Ken’s School Kills Creativity is a favorite TedTalk of mine and his books – The Element, and Out of Our Minds – inspire us to demand creativity as the forefront of our education.

Next, I visited with Dr Steve Perry (on Oprah in July) who is an MLK style visionary implementing change as the principal of Capital Preparatory Magnet School in addition to authoring, Push Has Come To Shove: Getting Our Kids The Education They Deserve – Even If It Means Picking A Fight.

I also heard from members of the teaching community of U Penn and Washington U, and had breakfast with Roberto Rodriguez, Special Assistant to the President of Education.

Although many of the break out sessions still asked questions based on the old paradigm of education and one that still stems from an industrial age, many private and public schools are implementing dynamic changes, much like ATA College Prep.  However, it is clear to me that we are definitely on the cutting edge of where true education is headed.  All of the buzz phrases and ideas – blended learning, credit awarded for off-campus activities, rewarding performance instead of seat time, self-pacing, hiring experts over certified teachers – which were being thrown around in presentations and topical discussions are all things that we have been doing for years at CP, and even more years ago through small, focused, leadership and home education models.  You see, the goal of a broad liberal arts education strives to liberate the mind and free its creative nature, rather than fill it with a common list of skills deemed necessary to fit into the assembly line of workers.

The highlight of the Summit, the closing ceremony featured 3 students who are practicing owning the responsibility of education.  They have each created and developed their own start-ups, campaigns, or designed part of their course loads during the latter part of high school.  They shared personal stories of why schools have failed them, how they have been supported, and what can be done to improve education, as well as the impact of mentor relationships.  One young man is creating a template for high school students to defend their knowledge acquisition through unique and performance-based expert presentation options rather than standardized tests.

Out of the mouths (and minds) of babes come a great deal of wisdom… and we should listen!

At ATA CP, I am proud that we create mentoring relationships, stretch the mind, afford opportunity to grow in many directions… and that we strive to do it in creative and entertaining ways.  After all, isn’t that what learning is?  Loving to learn about who we are and who we are becoming in an ever-changing world of beauty.

Looking forward!  ~Carol

CP Instructors continually strive to inspire and create hands-on projects and unique activities to stimulate the developments of CP students.

Taylor Mali reminds you that Teachers Make a Difference

The universe operates through dynamic exchange – giving and receiving are different aspects of the flow of energy throughout the universe.  Through our willingness to give what we wish to receive, we keep abundance circulating in our lives.

Put this to work in your life:

1) Bring a gift to whoever you encounter today – a compliment, a prayer, and kind thought, a flower.

2) Gratefully receive all that life has to offer you today. Notice the gifts in nature and in the people and lessons around you.

3) Recognize the most important gifts of caring, affection, appreciation. love.  Gift these to everyone you see today.

At CP, we have been discussing the Law of Giving and Receiving and ways we can commit to give and receive willingly and consciously.  As we silently viewed this inspirational VIDEO, we noted that true giving transcends the barriers of language and distance.

ATA CP Alumnus Blake Davis is amid his senior season as a Florida State Seminole. Now in a leadership role on the team, Blake calls upon his lengthy tennis resume, but also his experience of fighting through numerous injuries throughout his career to guide him through whatever challenge is in his, or his teams, way.

With the meat of his senior season looming and a job on the horizon upon its completion, Blake and his Seminoles are dialed in and have high hopes for the coming year.

Below, Blake is featured in a short video courtesy of Seminole Productions, titled Blake Davis: Mind over Matter. Enjoy a closer look into Blake’s Seminole experience.

Recently, we were discussing the definition of ‘bucket list’… one student said, “it’s the things you want to do before you die.”  True.  But It is also the list of things I want to accomplish while I am living.  For me, being a few years older, there is a subtle, but ominous, difference.

I spent a few days in Washington DC at the Advanc-Ed National Summit.  It is the organization that accredits ATA CP.  During that time, I crossed off a few bucket list items.  In awe, I visited every national monument in DC; I stood before our great documents in the National Archives; I sat in wonder as I contemplated great thinkers and the Great Architects that founded this country, and built beautiful structures as tributes.  “Amazing places in DC”, check.  Another bucket list item was meeting education icon, Sir Ken Robinson.  I have been a fan for about 5 years.  I have read his books and viewed his TedTalks.  He is an inspiration to the shift in the education paradigm.  If you have ever been trapped in a conversation about education with me, you have probably heard a few Sir Ken quotes (paraphrased of course).  He, too, speaks of inspiring children instead of training them.  And individualizing creative programming instead of continuing the assembly line mentality.   “Sir Ken”, check.

After being inspired by Sir Ken, I found it quite interesting that everyone’s discussions during the summit meetings claimed to aspire to the same goals: 1) we must prepare students to perform in the new landscape, both academically and socially; 2) we must raise standards (well, of course, that IS better than lowering them); 3) we must give our children a sense of purpose; and 4) we must give them the necessary tools to survive in the work world.

Yet, the questions asked are for a future that is yet unknown.  So how does our current education system provide this through a systematic approach?  It doesn’t.  It is a system that was based on antiquity and the industrial age.  It does not aspire to the attributes of the future.  So what does inspire the learners of today for the future?  “Finding the question”, check.

We must begin to realize that our children are the ones with the answers to the future and the ones who will be implementing them.  The best possible thing that we – as parents, teacher, mentors, or coaches – can do is to give our children the opportunities and the support needed to raise them higher than they could go if they were alone or without the means.  We must also inspire them to learn as much as possible every day through our own modeling and by encouraging and honoring their ideas.  “Revealing an answer”, check.

It is really an awesome privilege to raise a child, to be part of the future through the legacy of thought we leave with them.  It is also an awesome responsibility to practice wisdom, patience, awareness, and faith that the acts of supporting, loving and honoring are the most important gifts we can give… to our children and to ourselves.

The top item on my bucket list?   As a small drop in the bucket, I aspire to inspire the greatness of those that have come close to me to live and learn.   Check.

What tops your bucket list?

~Carol

from Josh Hagar, ATA CP 2012, ND 2016

Hello from South Bend, Indiana! Life here at Notre Dame has been amazing. I am so happy to be on fall break to have the time to relax, recuperate a bit, and give you all an update on how these last couple months have been. I learned very quickly that life at ND is very busy, and free time as an athlete is rare, or non-existent all together. My schedule consists of classes from 8:30 or 9 (depending on the day) to noon, practice and fitness in the afternoon from about 3 to 7, and studying until I cannot stay awake any longer. One thing you learn quickly here as a student is that going to class and completing homework is simply not enough. Students are expected to spend time outside the classroom during the week learning on their own about concepts of the subjects. As a non-student-athlete, this is a viable expectation, but when 4 hours of my day are cut out because of athletic obligations, it makes things seem nearly impossible. Luckily, Notre Dame has one of (if not, the best) student-athlete support systems in the country. Tutors are offered to student-athletes for nearly every class, contrary to the their common notion, as a time saver, not as a helper in comprehension. While tutors are very helpful in understanding certain materials more deeply, they make things easier and less time consuming in a busy schedule. I was a bit hesitant to get tutors at first, but after consistently staying up to the early hours of the morning studying, I thought it necessary to give them a try. The independent college life, I have found, has been all about decisions, and that is one decision I am glad I have made. I tend to think of school, social life, sports, and sleep as the four S’s of college, and tutors really help out putting some of the school hours into sleeping.

Aside from the day-to-day grind of class, homework, practice, homework, I have been able to enjoy the football weekends, charity events, and tournaments in which the team has participated.

Football weekends are crazy. Notre Dame is a pretty small campus (our total student population is no more than 12,000, graduate and undergraduate students), but our stadium holds over 80,000. So, you do the math, the stadium has capacity for a lot more people than just the students and faculty. By Thursday and Friday of home game weekends, people are already tailgating off campus, and you can tell that the size of the average campus tour increases tenfold. The place comes alive, and becomes more like a circus compared to the normal quiet, serene setting on which the University prides itself. Coming from Austin though and growing up going to UT games, I love the football weekends here. They make me feel right at home.

A cool parallel between ATA and ND is that of service. The Notre Dame community offers a large service component to its students. It is customary for each sports team to have a certain cause for which they raise funds and awareness. For the men’s tennis team, our cause is multiple sclerosis. A few weekends into the semester, we hosted two clinics benefitting MS at our home courts, one of which was for the South Bend community, the other for the Notre Dame community, which included the softball and men’s basketball teams. It was a really fun event and a good way to gain some fans, and get to know some of the other student-athletes on campus. For more information on that particular event, you can check out this link to the full story: http://www.und.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/090913aaa.html.

As for the competitive aspect of the tennis side of my life here at ND, I could not be happier. The fall is a time where teams really try and build off of their previous spring season, and our guys have been working towards that. The guys on the team are awesome, and I have been very impressed with the culture of the team: supportive, diligent, and committed just to name a few attributes.

We’ve had a fun fall tournament schedule so far, including trips to Chicago and Ohio State with ebbs and flows of results. My first opportunity representing the Irish was at the Olympia Fields Country Club Invitational hosted by University of Illinois. This tournament was on clay, a rarity for any college event. While I will admit I was a bit nervous for that tournament, I posted my first few collegiate wins against solid players from Memphis and Illinois, and learned some valuable lessons moving on to the next event a few weeks later, which we were hosting. Other teams that competed in Olympia Fields were Texas, Virginia, Memphis, and Kentucky.

I have come to realize the perks of home court advantage in college tennis. For our tournament, the Bobby Bayliss Invitational, there were players from Louisville, Cleveland State, Michigan State, and Western Michigan. As a hosting player, however, your schedule is almost the same. For example, you sleep in you own dorm room on campus, you eat the same meals in the dining halls, and you can go to your locker in between matches. Everything in the tournament is just the same as it is during the week when we practice, which makes me much more relaxed. I had a great weekend, posting a 3-1 singles record, 2-1 doubles record, and being recognized as the most outstanding player! If you care to look, the whole article is here: http://www.und.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/100713aab.html.

As I am writing this, I have just returned from Ohio State where we competed in the Regional Championships. I played fairly well, reaching the round of 16 in singles before falling to the current number 3 player in the country (who ended up beating our number 1 guy 7-6 in the third in the finals today…heartbreaking), and the quarterfinals of doubles, losing to the same guy (who also beat our number 1 doubles team 8-7 in the finals, another heartbreaker). While I played good matches throughout the tournament, I was psyched at getting the opportunity to compete at the highest level of college tennis. That’s what any freshman can ask for, right? College tennis is too fun.

Next up on the docket before classes start again on Monday is a trip to Austin! Part of the Notre Dame men’s tennis team is coming down to Austin this Wednesday to compete in the UT Invitational over the weekend. For those who are in town, we would really love for you to come out to watch some great college tennis… and maybe leave your UT gear at home and show your support for the Irish 😉

I really miss everybody at ATA, and am thankful each day for the invaluable lessons I learned in my time as an academy player there. I am doing my best to represent y’all up here in the Midwest!

I could go on and on talking about the past couple months in my time here, but that being said, I am leaving an open invitation for anyone who is in the area and would like to see a behind-the-scenes tour of campus as a student-athlete. The campus is beautiful, and if anyone is ever in the Chicago area and wants to make a day trip down to see good ol’ God country, hit me up! It is only an hour and a half (if that) from the Chicago area.

Until this weekend and Christmas break, Go Irish!

Josh

This summer, students are keeping fit with periodic Train Your Brain sessions.  From SAT prep to math refreshers to read and discuss workshops, these short programs focus on engaging topics that strengthen stamina for thought processes.

For those of you who participated in Session 1 SAT Prep… read on!  For those of you who did not, don’t worry, there might be a few tidbits for you too.  And you can always join us during the next session July 29 – Aug 2.

___________

Greetings, ATA players and families! I hope you had a good time Training Your Brain and preparing for the PSAT/SAT last week. As the summer continues, we have some recommendations for ways that you can continue to build your skills and stay sharp.

Rec 1   Read

The best single thing you can do this summer (or in life, generally) to become smarter is to read books, and then talk about what you’ve read with other people. So, our main recommendation is to choose a good book that you’re interested in and read a little of it each day, and then make some time to talk about it with someone; you could discuss it with your parents, your siblings, your friends (maybe they could read the same book?), or anyone else who has the time. At ATACP one of our goals is to build life-long readers, and there’s no time to start like the present!

Rec 2   Speak Volumes

Another good idea is to keep up the vocabulary work that you started last week. Keep making and using flash cards, app entries, or whatever tool you’re using to strengthen your vocab. Take a little time each day to study new words, and then look for them in the world— you’ll probably start seeing them in the news, reading them in books, and hearing them on the radio. Try using them in your own conversation! Find just the right word to express what you’re thinking.

Rec 3   Review College Board

Finally, hold onto the materials you used in this class— the white binder and the blue practice test book. Begin looking on the College Board website  for an SAT test date that will work for your family, and get signed up. Those of you who are taking the official PSAT this year, check with your school to make sure that you are registered to take it.

Rec 4  Test Your Best

About a month before you take either test, start looking through these materials again. Read through the notes in the binder (there’s more info in there that we didn’t get to this time) and take practice sections or even full tests in the blue book, focusing on whichever topic(s) you know you need the most work on. A week or two before your official test, try to make some time on a weekend to take a complete practice test— do it all in one sitting, and time yourself (it takes about three and a half hours). Give yourself the experience of taking a test of that length all at once, and make sure you prepare for it by eating right, getting plenty of sleep, and staying hydrated. Then, take your official test and blow it away!

For now, have a great summer! We’re looking forward to seeing you again!

Contact hannahhagarcp@gmail.com to register for the next Train Your Brain session July 29-Aug 2.

As most of you know, CP begins the day with a reflective reading or a moment of silence.  And Academy practices begins with ALPHA – a silent moment of visualization and focus.  Why do we do this?  Because this meditative technique engages the mind-body and precedes true learning.

This youtube video on Mind Science by Dan Rather describes the effects of meditation on the mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=FkXtz72hjDI&feature=player_embedded#

Silence is Key for Learning

Meditation is an age-old tradition practiced by Tibetan monks
(among many others) that affords us the ability to relax and enter a state of
conscious awareness and being.  This practice can be used to calm, alter, and
redirect certain behaviors. Mediation also increases the function of the brain,
which determines the mind’s ability to process.  Alternatively, stress and fatigue move the brain into a
primitive mode of functioning, which adversely affects its ability for higher
order thinking.

Brain plasticity in the field of neuroscience has proven that the brain is malleable and has the ability to constantly evolve.  Recent studies show that meditation has a direct and positive effect on our brain’s plasticity levels by raising brain fitness and wave production.  Meditation increases the thickness
in parts of the brain that deal with increased attention and processing sensory
input, as well as reversing the effects of aging.  Obviously, one can extrapolate the value this practice can have on the
learning process.

So, this means that we were not born smart or average or dumb.  It means WE have the ability to increase our brain’s ability to learn.  That is powerful!

Train Your Brain

So let’s try an experiment to increase our brain’s cognitive
and plasticity levels. This is an exercise that can be altered to fit any
circumstance, but as with any other training, daily practice is key.

Introduce yourself to a meditation practice by
setting aside 10 minutes, twice daily (first thing in the morning, and just
before bed are ideal times)– it provides the parentheses of the day.  Although there are many ways to do
this, the most common is to sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor with
your back straight.  Set a timer. Close
your eyes and repeat a favorite inspirational verse, phrase or word silently in
your mind to develop the positive track that your mind can settle into. Relax.
Breathe normally and comfortably.
Allow the ‘jumping monkeys’ in your mind to stop.  Redirect wandering thoughts by gently
repeating your word or phrase.

Practice this effort for 30 days, gradually
increasing your meditation time to 20 minutes at each sitting.  Know that your brain can grow and experience the results.

Applications

A short silent period at the beginning of class, or at the beginning of a lesson, or at the beginning of doing homework can work to set the brain’s intent by visualizing the goal.  Ending your lesson time with another period of silence can emphasizes what was learned.  This creates positive tracking or wiring in the brain.  This technique can also be used for ‘resetting’ when necessary.

The purpose of the silent focus is to allow
the brain to rewire or track the malleable parts that you have been working
with.  For those of you who
ever made bread from scratch… it’s like letting the bread ‘rest’
after kneading it – a key to a successful process.

Onward to Alpha,

~Carol

To the community, from ATA CP Parent, Rachel O’Malley

Dear Carol:

Recently, I was given the advice to approach life with “independent curiosity” by observing, being present without always engaging, being patient about drawing conclusions and refraining from immediate action. Using these skills has been rather enlightening for me. They have enabled me to question previous assumptions and analyze situations using a more compassionate awareness, with the end result being a difference in how Mike and I parent our girls.

With Meghan at ATA CP, Lauren sophomore at Vandegrift and Sarah preparing for middle school next year, I have attended numerous parent meetings, participated in informational parent discussion groups, teacher conferences, etc. These experiences have given me many opportunities to practice this “independent curiosity” in the context of helping our girls live their values, establish goals for themselves, and, most importantly, be happy. Below are my rather haphazard observations on my girls, their learning environments and how it has helped us become better parents.

Meghan: I think back to when Meghan started school at ATA CP as a seventh grader and how she has grown over the course of the past few years. Starting ATA CP (or Hybrid as we called it then), she was largely motivated by fear…afraid to get bad grades, afraid to draw attention to herself, afraid to form conclusions in the event someone might disagree, afraid of not pleasing. Her definition of success was to achieve good grades and blend in (notice no mention of actually learning the topics being taught, finding enjoyment from learning, exploring new ideas or creativity). Admittedly,
Meghan got her definition of success from us as parents and from the school environment where she spent her first seven years of her academic career. Fast forward to today, after spending years at ATA CP  – Meghan still has a very strong sense of achievement, grades and tennis results are still very important, but only one piece of the equation (additionally:)

*         She has made INCREDIBLE strides in her confidence at expressing
herself.

*         She finds ways to learn in nearly every situation. I have seen
this in so many situations; however, a few that have stood out include using
the wind a competitive tool during a tennis match, working with Mr.
Rutherford to make sure she is taking effective Chemistry notes, gleaning
life lessons from Coach Newman as she’s helping him in the morning to
wondering how a display was built in Whole Foods on an errand with you.

*         She is accountable for her actions and is not afraid to take
responsibility when she makes mistakes.

*         She has become one of the most organized people I know, thanks to
all of the hands-on instruction and guidance.

*         She is no longer as afraid of failure and uses it as a way to
improve herself. I remember when she did poorly on her first Biology test
and declared a career in medicine hopeless. You sat with her and taught her
a way to analyze her performance so that she could make changes to her
current study patterns / test taking strategies. She, along with all of the
ATA kids, do this monthly when they analyze their tournament results (see
below)

It might be worth saying that we take for granted that ATA kids analyze their tournament results and make a plan for improving and how this transcends into life. I have watched Meghan live a life of perseverance and resiliency. How many teenagers are accountable to adults for their performance? Yet, I have watched Meghan put thought and effort into her achievements and shortcomings, communicate these to her coaches (all the while opening herself to hearing constructive criticism and advice) then
make a plan for improving. These skills, not common in the general population of teenagers, will serve Meg well when she is an adult.

Lauren: Being a student at a very competitive high school is a bit like swimming with sharks. It’s all about numbers – the number of AP classes she takes, her GPA, her class rank, how many annotations did she put in her literary book, what did she score on the last test, how many absences she has for dance related activities (marked as unexcused) what was the highest score on the last test, will there be a curve….and the list goes on. While there are many, MANY dedicated teachers, and while Lauren is having a positive high school experience, the focus appears to be more on the external achievement than on learning and building character. Lauren made all A’s (and one B) last year, while working at her personal best, saw that as a failure because she wasn’t in the top 10{37ef6ac642fae6f93f343032eb62785d28fa7a25a4a4f0267a12512c541c53a9}. As mentioned, despite the many dedicated, wonderful educators, there was no one she felt comfortable with enough to share her insecurities or give her life lessons. This is not a criticism of the teachers but my sadness in the process. There are simply too many students for many one-on-one connections. Lauren’s saving grace in this system is her intrinsic charm, her persistence, and the support she
receives at home.

She also has the ATA community as a resource. An example of this was how ATA CP and Estevam helped her with her AP Science project. Lauren chose to test the impact of caffeine on the human heart rate, not an easy experiment to conduct. Coach Doug, you, Coach Estevam, and all of the ATA CP students participated. The coaching staff chose this as an opportunity to talk about nutrition, how to achieve peak performance and the pitfalls of using stimulants. While Lauren’s experiment failed in terms of finding concrete results, it was a tremendous learning opportunity to be able to sit one-on-one with Estevam to learn about the effects  of caffeine on the human body (from a true expert), why her experiment failed, what she could have done differently. Later, she learned that many students “faked” their experiments and spent far less time on the activity only to achieve the same grade. While her first reaction was anger and even outrage, she settled at peace, having gratitude that there were people willing to go so far to help her and satisfaction / pride in her hard work. She viewed this experience as
one of the best learning experiences of her 9th grade year Biology class.

Sarah: 5th grade is a rather difficult year at Sarah’s school. In an attempt to prepare students for the rigors of middle school, students are given a lot more responsibility, a lot more homework, and a lot more tough love. While all of this seems positive, it is a brutal process for a child that is an alternative learner. Sarah struggles with auditory learning and I have spent much of this year trying to “teach the teachers” how to “teach” my child. The focus keeps coming back to test scores and grades and defending their processes / grading policies and preparing for the standardized tests.
While I understand the importance of that, I am saddened that we seem to have lost touch that there is a little girl who WANTS to succeed and we, as the adults, need to find a way to help her feel confident and successful while promoting the joy that learning can bring.

The ATA Learning Environment: I know I don’t fully understand what goes on behind the scenes to make ATA and ATA CP a success. I do know that it’s no coincidence that every coach and teacher seem to be in sync with my girls’ strengths and weaknesses, goals, success stories and setbacks. Just looking at any ATA player’s technical tennis game, I see evidence that our coaches are the best at teaching the game of tennis, but their reach goes far beyond the tennis court. This mindset and dedication is also true for the ATA CP classrooms. I can recall Mike’s comment after a meeting with you that there is such a sense of peace when your children are being taught by people who love and look out for them as human beings. Some examples:

*         Kendall probably knows Meghan better than Meghan knows herself.
Some of the sweetest things I remember are: cleaning out Meghan’s tennis bag and finding a note from Kendall telling her she believed in her, seeing a text message to Meg on her first day of middle school, calling on Kendall to help Meg navigate the “girl drama and politics.” There are so many examples of this.

*         Kendall has helped Sarah from thinking she was “hopeless” at tennis to now identifying herself as a tennis player and pouring her whole heart into her competitive matches and improving her game.

*         Doug sends Meghan texts asking if she’d praised God and done her mental training for the day as well as sending me a request to pray for Meghan’s confidence in competition.

*         The ATA CP teachers putting fun and value into learning. Meghan has had science class in her bathing suit at the creek, history class at the Alamo, pottery classes across central Texas, career day at SeaWorld, philosophy discussions at Panera Bread, and the list goes on and on.

How We’ve Grown As Parents: Sitting in David Benzel’s presentation, I recalled in the not-so-distant past when my parental actions included a fair share of helicopter mom and tiger mom behaviors. Gradually, I have shifted based on a myriad of situations and influences (ATA being a strong one). Meghan came home and told me that her Psychology Class would be reading Jim Loehr’s book, The Only Way to Win. Having read some his prior books, I started reading this one. Not surprisingly, it is full of valuable guidance on how to win at the game of life. He states that sports is like a laboratory of life and doing something for only extrinsic rewards leads to emptiness. He argues our joy doesn’t always come with the end result that defines us but it is what we become as a result of the chase. The life lessons my children are learning in their chase are invaluable, and many times immeasurable. I try to remember this when I’m sitting in the meetings I referenced above. It’s about the journey, not the numbers. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that low grades, poor tournament results, and lower than expected report cards didn’t still worry me. They still do, maybe more than they should. However, as I look at USTA rankings, GPA’s, class rankings, test grades and the like, my children’s success can be measured in far greater terms than the “numbers.”

You live that, you’ve helped me to embrace that, and I will always be grateful for how you’re helping shape our girls.

Thank you, Rachel

Saturday night marked the end of one journey and the beginning of another for Jonah, Morgan, Justin and AJ as we celebrated the Class of 2013.

Keynote Speaker, John Ondrasik (FiveforFighting), sings “100 Years”.

When I was in 7th grade, my classmate was caught smoking cigarettes by her father.  He did not yell or scream; he did not tell her she was ruining her life; he did not lecture her on the dangers of smoking.  Instead he sat her down in the living room and had her smoke a cigarette in front of him… one after another… and then another.  She basically had to smoke until she threw up.  As she related this story to me the next day (embarrassed and a bit green), I was horrified.  What kind of father would do this to his child?   However, the result was… she never smoked again ( at least not through middle and high school).  Dad was a genius.  He imprinted upon her the taste of smoking until you puke.

On a similar note:

As a culminating event to our year long study and education of healthy nutrition for the elite athlete, today began the Belly Brain Experiment at CP.  There have been some very interesting observations in both behavior, attitude and performance.

Please read on.

As you know, a goal of CP is to develop the best possible version of each individual.  And because the things we ingest through the senses transforms us, CP takes great care in providing daily nutrition (intellectually, spiritually, physically) that serves the thinking, compassionate athlete.

Today, we offered something very different – a free reign of ‘food’ choices that are the antithesis of healthy.  (I use the term ‘food’ loosely here.)  Donuts, gummy bears, soda, starburst, Capri Sun, chocolate milk, Chips ahoy, (quite honestly there were things I did not recognize… but some of the students did!) served as post workout choices.  This is compared to the usual CP post workout foods: bagels, cream cheese, peanut butter, nuts, fruit, boiled eggs, smoothies, tacos. Lunch today was fried chicken strips and Kraft mac&cheese, compared to regular CP lunches of fresh meats and vegetables.

Some of the students dug in, some grazed, some refused. Healthy choices were also available all day.

The changes in behavior were astonishing – giddy, giggling, angry, foul-mouthed, sleepy, lethargic, vomited, could not add 3+4 (literally), begged for ‘real food’ (which was available all day), complained of not feeling well.  Academy practice was a disaster for these kids, too.

So what is the lesson?  Hopefully this will serve as a visceral experience that will imprint on them that the choices they make impact personal performance, attitude, and happiness.  Garbage in, garbage out… awesome in , awesome out.

Why are we doing this?  To EMPOWER your children.  Hopefully, they will begin to understand the POWER they have over who they are and how they behave, by these simple choices.

Below is a great article on gut health.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/5-steps-to-kill-hidden-ba_b_739213.html

~Carol

Led by Dio Miranda, and with the support of coaches, parents, and teachers alike, next week the students of ATA CP will embark on the “Belly/Brain Experiment”.  This will be a five-day lesson exploring the effect of different types of foods on the mental, physical and emotional state of the athlete’s body.

We will begin Tuesday with the more unfavorable meal choices – donuts, fried chicken, soda, various candies – move into Wednesday as a normal meal day at CP; on Thursday we will provide a plethora of healthier options – fresh fruit and vegetables, juices, roast chicken and beef and mixed nuts (basically, a normal day at CP). Friday, Dio will spend an hour discussing the benefits and detriments of sugars, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and how the students felt – physically, mentally and emotionally – Monday through Friday.

This experiment is by no means mandatory; no one will be forced to consume anything they do not wish to consume. The goal is to encourage our student athletes to be mindful and aware of how certain types of foods shape their attitude and behavior both in academics and on the court.

We will announce the “Belly Brain Experiment” to the students this Friday.

from Coach Newman

I recently posted to my Facebook page that one of the best parts of my job is participating in the community building events that surround the Austin Tennis Academy.  A week ago Sunday it was participating in Esmeralda’s run.  Tonight is was being the Master of Ceremonies for three ATA Seniors signing their national  letters of intent to play college tennis.  Allie Carlisle: UT Tyler, Austin Priess: Abilene Christian University and Austin Mayo, Northern Colorado University all went through their ceremony this evening.

These events are rituals.  We have a formula, we follow the formula, it is comfortable and it is familiar.  The event starts with me welcoming everyone.  We alternate having these signings on Mon/Wed or Tue/Thur so that both Junior Development and Junior Academy players get to be a part of these inspiring moments.  All ATA Academy players and coaches are present.  Coaches talk about the grads, grads give speeches and then they sign their papers.  Some of the things that make this ceremony a ritual…Each player has a cake a balloons.  The cake always has the logo of their chosen school and the balloons are the colors of the school.  Each player signs their NLI and they sign an ATA pledge.  Players and parents sign the documents with the same pen that every player who has signed papers in the past 10 years has used to sign THEIR papers.  Each player gives a speech.  Many of those speeches are full of emotion, many tears are shed.  Everyone takes pictures and eats cake after each player’s ceremony is complete.

These are certainly special moments for the grads and their families who have spent years, if not a decade in pursuit of the goal of playing college tennis.  However, they are special for everyone else too.  For the younger high school students, they can begin to see themselves up there, giving a speech at their ceremony.  For our JD and JA students, they can begin to picture themselves playing as long as these grads and playing college tennis like these kids are going to do.  It can be inspiring for the younger ones.

It gives us all a chance to celebrate the passion, work, enthusiasm, joy and gratefulness that these young people have set a goal, worked long and hard to achieve it, and are now on their way to setting a new set of goals.  As I said, it is a ritual.

As we were walking out this evening, Coach Doug Davis commented:  “I can’t imagine another tennis program doing these signing ceremonies better”  “We are doing something very special with these events”.  I agree with Coach Davis.  If you made it this evening, thanks for coming.  If you did not, engage your ATA player tonight on what they learned at the signing!  And, we hope to see you at next year’s signings.

| Financial Forces | Belly Brain | Art Attack | Big Decisions

Amazing qualities of the people that make up the ATA community are apparent, not only through the breadth of knowledge, but also through the generosity of giving and sharing.  This semester CP students are gaining valuable information from guest instructors, John Spencer, Dio Miranda, Linda Racino, and Susan Steffes.

Financial Forces

ATA patron, John Spencer, offers his expertise and passion by teaching an upper level course on Finance and Economics.  Students are learning 1) practical tools to manage personal finances and 2) basic concepts of corporate financing and accounting principles.  Covering topics as differentiating between wants and needs, ways to acquire and finance each; appreciation and depreciation; assets and liabilities; risk, interest, and present value; annuities, bonds, leverage buyouts and venture capital, and IPO’s.

Lookout world… ATA CP is producing business leaders with knowledge AND compassion.

Belly Brain

Striving to get the most out of the student-athlete by teaching them the best practices to feed the body, Dio Miranda, CHEK certified trainer and nutritionist, shares his expertise and passion by teaching self-awareness through the belly-brain connection.  Students’ food choices affect performance in all aspects of daily life:  1) the body through athletic fortitude and stamina; 2) the mind through electrical stimulation and hydration; and 3) the spirit through attitude and compassion.  Using the results of a self-test questionnaire, students now know their metabolic type, along with instructions of how to best support it with suggested foods and quantities for eeach meal.

Art Attack

As a reinforcement, students hand painted plates designating the percentages of their metabolic type.  Linda Racino, from Art Attack in the Galleria, brought her studio to ATA CP so that students could create their own plates.

Big Decisions

CP parent, instructor, and physical therapist, Susan Steffes, is teaching BIG DECISIONS; a 5 week educational unit covering reproductive anatomy, healthy relationships, se* and its consequences, why abstinence is the best choice for teenagers, prevention of se*ually transmitted infections and pregnancy, and setting and communicating healthy boundaries.  Students in this class are participating in lively activities and discussions to reinforce topics every child (and adult) should be able to discuss respectfully and knowledgably. You may visit the Big Decisions website to learn more about the curriculum.

It takes a village.  ~Carol

PLEASE NOTE: If you are interested in sharing your expertise and working with the students of ATA CP, please contact me.  We are looking for people who are excited about what they know and do and would like to pass that on to the next generation.

“The fish trap exists because of the fish. Once you’ve gotten the fish you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit. Once you’ve gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning. Once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words.”      ~Chuang-tzu

The five-paragraphy essay is a formula.  It does not lend itself to creative thinking.  It asks the writer to contrive thoughts on a given topic into an artificial container.  It has no real purpose after 8th grade.  So what is the purpose of writing?  I recently asked a few students “For whom are you writing that paper?”.  They answer… “Mr or Mrs ___________.”

Well THAT is the problem.  Don’t write it for HIM or for HER… write it for an interested reader!   Write like you know more than the person reading your essay.  Find out something interesting that no one else knows about your topic; become the expert.  Then tell it with excitement!  Your audience is not Mr ______; it is the world.

So… write like you mean it!  ~Carol

Austin Tennis Academy and ATA College Prep are constantly striving to grasp the power of technology to better serve its students. Through interaction via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and the ATA website, or analyzing intricate technique with the latest in video sharing technology, ATA works to be at the forefront of using these tools to offer the best possible product to its community.

Today’s middle school World Geography class was another wonderful example of this ongoing effort.  Jesse Wikso, while in Florida at Spring Nationals, Skyped into class to give a presentation on research he’d completed for our unit on Asia.

He was able to access the assignment online through TeacherEase, our student information and classroom management tool, complete the assignment, and present it to the teacher and the class without ever falling behind due to tournament travel.

Great job, Jesse!

from Travis, student contributor

The past few weeks, the Geometry class and the Advanced Algebra class (both taught by Bryan Rutherford) have been constructing Tennis Ball Cannons. They will be powered by a small force of combustion, building up an enough pressure to send the tennis ball soaring.  The devices are made of numerous different parts including large PVC pipes, couplings, screws and spare grill ignition components. They are secured  to rotating stands; a ball gets rammed down the barrel; and BOOM! Little Wilson is on his way. The class who’s cannon shoots the farthest wins!

Stay tuned for the results…