One of the most exciting Upper School programs of the new school year is the daily activity period, a 35-40 minute opportunity between second and third period for students to meet with advisors, participate in established activities like chorus, student council or yearbook, or to try something completely new like Aviation Club, iMovie Club, Piano Club or School Newspaper. Mondays are reserved for students to meet with their advisors and activity groups meet from Tuesday through Friday. Different activities are offered on different days so that students who have made commitments to Student Council, Yearbook or Chorus can try some other clubs as well.

Each marking period, students can choose to continue with their chosen activity or club, or they may try something new. Each activity welcomes participation from all Upper School grades to allow for the opportunity for collaboration across all grades in the Upper School.

Both students and teachers are very excited about the activities program. For teachers, the program provides an outlet for sharing interests and skills outside of their normal curricular duties. For students, the activities program is an opportunity to learn something new and have a lot of fun along the way!

Here is a list of some of the new student activities being offered this year:
Aviation Club, Dance Club, Teacher’s Helpers, School Newspaper, Piano Club, Reading Olympics/Book Club, Civil War Club, iMovie Club, Creative Writing Club. Tech Club, Chess Club, Baking Club, Origami Club, Art Enrichment Club, Harry Potter Club, Game Club

Second graders have been immersing themselves in Writer's Workshop activities, with amazing results. We just completed storyboards which resulted in funny, spooky Halloween stories and we are also beginning to compose and write our first poems.

In math we have been learning about graphing and will soon begin a study about money. We also made scarecrow glyphs to learn about ways of interpreting data.

In Social Studies we completed a mini unit on Christopher Columbus. We are excited to begin our Native American unit in a few days, which includes a trip to Iron Hill Museum on November 10th and culminates in our annual Native American Day on November 26th.

Next Tuesday and Wednesday, the UCDS Student Council will be running a mock election for the entire Upper School. Students will use an online voting system as they participate in a mock election program sponsored by the Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI), a national civic education program based at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

The first computer in the Library will be our "voting booth." Sixth and seventh graders will vote on Tuesday, and eighth and ninth graders will vote on Wednesday. The polls will be open from 8-8:10 am,12:20-12:30 pm, and during Tutorial. Students will be also permitted to vote during history class. Student Council members will monitor the voting process.

Students will be asked to vote for President and Pennsylvania District #16 Congressman. They will also be asked for their opinion on an issue. If anyone is absent on the assigned day, they can vote on Thursday, October 30, with Mrs. Beck. That's the last day for student voting in this mock election.

The YLI will give us the results for our school, but no one else will know them. When student voting across the nation ends on October 30, we will also be given the results of the total student vote. We will post a follow-up article on the election results at that time.

The fifth grade had a lot of fun on their annual three-day trip to Echo Hill Outdoor School. We completed challenge activities in our groups that helped us to learn to communicate and to trust each other. We went to one class where we studied a pond ecosystem, and we also went on an excursion to a dairy farm. One of the highlights of the trip was the bay study class. We learned about the Chesapeake Bay and the important role that estuaries play as a nursery to most of the ocean's creatures. For this class we went out on the bay in a boat, where we caught crabs, an eel, and some fish. The students even got to kiss a fish! One of the most difficult things about the trip was how cold it was at night.

Echo Hill Outdoor School is located on the upper Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Echo Hill's 70-acre campus consists of open fields, hardwood forests, freshwater marshes, and a mile of sandy beach. The property is abundant with wildlife and provides ideal outdoor laboratories for ecological studies. The Outdoor School also owns 172 acres of "The Big Marsh" which borders the campus. The Big Marsh is a freshwater shrub swamp protected by the Nature Conservancy. In addition to these ecosystems, the School's educational facilities include a barnyard, a recycling center, an organic garden, a Native American site, and a fleet of historic wooden Chesapeake work boats. Echo Hill also has an extensive adventure course features low and high elements and an Alpine Tower.

Leonard Foote, a teacher from FCD Educational Services is working with our Upper School students from October 6-9 during the school day. FCD (the initials stand for Freedom from Chemical Dependency) is a non-profit organization based in Needham, Massachusetts, that provides alcohol, tobacco and other drug education for schools and colleges in the United States and abroad.

FCD teachers are highly trained educators who have achieved long-term recovery from alcohol and/or other drug addictions. This unique "I've-been there" perspective not only enhances the credibility of their message, but provides students with role models for happy, healthy, drug-free living. The four-day course is noted for its lively interaction, challenging discussion and high-energy fun. Most students find it extremely informative and thought provoking.

Leonard Foote will host a parent workshop on Wednesday evening, October 8, at 7:00 pm in the Library to offer parents support and guidance in helping their children enjoy a drug-free adolescence. The topics may include:

• Effective ways to communicate with your child about drugs and drug use
• Up-to-date facts about current drug use and trends
• What to say about your own experiences with alcohol and/or other drug experimentation
• How to spot early warning signs of trouble and effective ways to respond.

We are pleased to be able to offer this excellent program as part of our health curriculum.

Nancy Fromnick, Chester County Recycling Coordinator for the Chester County Solid Waste Authority uses student volunteers to help demonstrate which types of plastics are really recyclable.

The Upland Community celebrated Earth Day by welcoming Nancy Fromnick, Chester County Recycling Coordinator for the Chester County Solid Waste Authority, who presented a lively and informative assembly on recycling. Students learned that all plastic containers with recycling emblems are not created equal!  Only those stamped with a 1 or a 2 can actually be recycled.

In order to keep the spirit of earth day 2008 going, the Upland Science Department wanted to list some websites resources with information on how to effectively reduce, reuse, and recycle.

• Chester Country Solid Waste Disposal
• Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
• US Environmental Protection Agency
• The UN Environmental Program
• The Nature Conservancy

There are hundreds of other excellent sites with information about what we can do to help conserve the limited resources we have.  In addition, Dr. Brigman has posted an Energy Conservation Guide to Personal Computer Use on the technology page of the website.  Check it out at http://www.uplandcds.org/parents_technology.php

Creating small goals that can be met and built upon each week, month and year is the key.

Whole Foods Stores are now using compostable plastic containers for all of their cold to-go food.  These containers are similar to the cups and containers our fourth grade used when providing popcorn at the Power up Gambia Event at the Hagley Museum just weeks ago.  The desire to be responsible seems to be coinciding with the economics of new products that meet the needs of the public

Conservation of resources now should help us avoid the complete loss of resources later.

Thanks in advance for your effort and dedication to the environment from everyone at Upland.