Wow!  Parent-Teacher Night… this community never ceases to amaze me!

If you were a fly on the wall: 1)  you would have witnessed a community of devoted and caring parents sitting side by side, packed like sardines, on the picnic tables in the rec room;  2) you would have heard the passion in our instructors’ voices as they presented course objectives from the simple to the complex; 3) you would have heard WHY we are so passionate about providing our students with healthy and enriching food for their minds, bodies, and spirits and HOW we creatively implement the programs that accomplish it; 4) you would have heard the rooster crow at sundown (literally); 5) you would have viewed the infamous white board walls covered with inspirational, mind-blowing information in Philosophy, Geography and English classes; 6) you would have experienced a piece of the innovation that happens daily behind the red doors at College Prep.

Thank you to everyone for making it a special evening.

~Carol

Today…

Two middle school students sit down in the Library in front of the white board and, by memory, hand draw a map of the world.  Four others are outside wrangling the horses and learning how to manage not only large animals that are bigger and stronger, but how their own energies affect them, conquering fear and feeling compassion.  A gap year student is teaching 6th grade math and designing projects to complete the year since they have completed the required curriculum 8 weeks ahead of schedule.  Latin class is at Starbucks.  A community member is requesting our upper level students to contemplate the meaning of money, responsibility, and what they will establish as their purpose moving forward in life… and then concretize this by defining and writing their plan.  A few others are down at the court working on fine tuning backhands.  In the sunshine room, students are studying independently and preparing for the World History class in which each student must research and co-teach a unit.  A little while later,  the geometry class approached me with a proposal to build a tennis ball launcher – comparing the cost, safety, and efficiency of a combustable vs compression model.  And at lunch, CP students stuffed 300 plastic eggs for the JD Easter Egg Hunt, took an SAT vocabulary quiz, ate Shepherd’s Pie, and a few went to mentor lunches to discuss current projects.  Then off to Chemistry, Calculus, French and Spanish…

…  just a typical day.

“Race to Nowhere” is an education documentary that challenges current thinking about how to best prepare our students for success.  It encourages us to rethink not only WHAT it is we are preparing our children for but HOW we go about doing it… and more importantly… WHY we do it.

I first viewed Race to Nowhere in an auditorium filled with parents and public school teachers and administrators at Austin High School.   I’m not sure there was a dry eye in the house.  And there were several angry educators.  This film endeavors to raise awareness and change public opinion about the educational institution much like “Supersize Me” strived to change the perception of the dangers of our fast food nation.  It temporarily satisfies the hunger, but the damage done over the long term is often irreparable.

It is an interesting study well worth the 85 minutes.  If you are interested in attending a viewing of this film, please contact me.  ~Carol

I have heard Coach Doug call a player’s tennis bag a ‘life line’.  It should contain everything you may need on the island of the competitive tennis court.

My son, Josh, is meticulous about his tennis bag and its contents.   It is organized like a ship captain’s data log.  Everything has a space and everything is in its place.  Now, mind you, while he has always been pretty good about this task, at times, it might have looked like this: 1) some brown thing that resembles the remnants of a banana peel, and a 7 month old protein bar crammed together in the side pocket with 5 dirty socks.  ( Do I need to describe this smell? )  2) the first aid kit that I purchased and carefully packed for him so that he would have bandaids in case of a blister eruption during that all important 3rd set… is opened and scattered in every orifice of the bag, along with random pieces of paper and a dried up Subway sandwich.  3) No strings.  This may not sound like a big deal… but let me tell you, if you are traveling out of town and you need to string a racquet, the stringing charge is twice the normal ATA $ amount because it is always a rush, you don’t need to be paying extra for THEIR string.

Over the years of varied experiences, his bag has become full of interesting and useful items for tournament play.  So from Josh’s bag check to yours, I suggest you keep these recommended items close at hand:

1) Racquets.  How many?  A good rule of thumb for the # of racquets you keep in your bag could be determined by the duration of the tournament being played… ALWAYS AT LEAST TWO.  Three day tournament – 3 racquets, 5 day tournament, 5 racquets.

2) string, grips, balls for warm-up

3) sun screen, hat, visor, sun glasses

4) extra shirts, socks, jacket, pants, shoes, shoelaces

5) snacks, bars, fruit, nuts, water jug, Emergen-C or other electrolyte powder/tablet

6) first aid kit, (Epi-pen if allergic)

7) script notebook, match cards, tournament draw with directions to sites

8) a good book to read

Over the years, you will develop your own unique items to keep in your bag… remember to be prepared and keep a strong life line.  You just never know, someday, the Tennis Channel might want to do a Bag Check on YOU to see what’s inside your bag!

I wonder what they will find?

~Carol

from Morgan, student contributor

Chinese New Year is here! This year is the year of the snake. The first day of Chinese New Year is February 10th, so the New Year is well underway.  The Chinese New Year celebration lasts over a span of two weeks. In preparation for the New Year it is a custom that Chinese people thoroughly clean their house sweeping away all of the bad luck from the previous year. After the first few days of the New Year they don’t clean their house to prevent the good luck that the New Year will bring to go away. Eight is the lucky number of because the word eight in Chinese rhymes with the word fortune and wealth. Red is the lucky color of the New Year; Chinese people typically paint their doors and windowpanes red for good luck. Some people also decorate their home with plastic firecrackers to ward off bad luck. Paper cut outs are also hung during this time. Red is also worn through the New Year and when worn with gold it shows full participation during the New Year. Children receive red packets filled with lucky money. Tangerines and oranges are also handed to children for good luck. Chinese people use the greeting 恭喜发财 (gōng xǐ fā cái) – meaning “you wish someone to be very rich” – but the phrase is generally used as a Happy New Year. Chinese New Year is the most important part of the New Year because it is a time to connect and share with your relatives and friends.  During Chinese New Year the Tray of Togetherness is used, it is a tray with eight compartments filled with food for good luck for people to eat from. Fish is also cooked because the word for fish rhymes with surplus or excess. Dumplings are made and some Chinese families hide a coin in the dumplings and whoever gets it is said to have good luck during the coming year. The Chinese Class of ATA College Prep went to 王老师’s house to cook for the New Year, we made dumplings, salmon, rice cake, and a noodle dish, it was all very delicious. Here are some photos of us celebrating the Chinese New Year. 恭喜发财!!!

Each week, CP students are challenged and tested with 10 new SAT worthy vocabulary words.  The ongoing contest is who can use them most eloquently in daily conversation… this week, Coach Newman wins.

I was in San Antonio watching the Boys and Girls 16s National Open the past three days.  There was a clear difference between ATA players and the other players I watched.  The milieu of ATA College Prep is one of teamwork and focus.  I have been impressed with the progress the players I watched have made, and by the progress all of you have made this year.  While sometimes rambunctious at lunch, during workouts and class you jettison bad attitudes and you each bring a unique, piquant taste to the ATA CP experience.  Improper terms and other negative self talk are anathema to you, and the diaphanous difference in skill and level make practice matches especially challenging and rewarding.  You all get along well; there is rarely a schism and you have a tacit understanding that treating each other well is the name of the game.  Fortunately, none of you are bibulous, so tournament trips go smoothly for the most part.  And, while we have room to grow, there is not room for a googol of ATA’ers.  You are one of a select few who get the opportunity to particpate in ATA College Prep. 

CP students practice square breathing at the beginning of each school day.  They practice Alpha on the courts before the beginning of practice.  They practice ‘the golden’ in between points.  What do these things have in common? They are all methods of becoming aware, eliminating distraction, and tapping into the alpha brain wave.

This article A Neural Basis for Benefits of Meditation describes a Brown University study that proposes a neurophysiological framework to explain the clinical benefits of what we already know and practice here at ATA CP.

Think it!  Be it!  ~Carol

If you have not had the pleasure to contemplate Sir Ken Robinson’s views on education… take a few moments to watch this TED Talk.