Model U.N. Team Won Three Distinguished Delegate Awards at the State

Congratulations to the FSA Model U.N. team!  Last week, the team traveled to Statesboro, GA to compete in the 32nd Annual Georgia Southern Middle School Model United Nations competition.  The team this year has a total of 24 students, many of whom had never competed or been involved in Model U.N. before.  Mr. Stiffler and Ms. Pruett are so excited to announce that our team won Honorable Mention as a school delegation, and had 6 students win individual awards.  

Neel Ambardekar, representing Mali and Vikram Ruppa-Kasani representing Togo, both in the African Union, and Aditya Choudhari representing Mali were each given honorable mention for their performance.

In the Human Rights Council, both Brian Shoffeitt representing Cote d’Ivoire and Chloe Richardson representing Sierra Leone as well as Nicholas Glotzbach representing Togo in the Security Council were all named as distinguished delegates for their roles.

The team now has to quickly turnaround and prepare for their next competition on November 22^nd at Centennial High School.

Congratulations to these students, and to the entire team for such an outstanding performance!  Mr. Stiffler and Ms. Pruett are so proud of them, and hope you will share in our excitement as you congratulate these students! 

1st Place in 2013 Luella High School Math Competition

On Saturday, November 9, Fulton Science Academy Private School Math Olympiad Team students attended 2013 Luella High School Math Competition. Our students have shown an outstanding performance in this competition. They did not only won 1st place as a team but they also won top three placement individually. Please see the individual placements below:

1st Place – Julian Hamelberg

2nd Place – Aditya Choudhari

3rd Place – Jean Moorman

5th Place – Hasan Unal

Other Math Olympiad students in our 1st place winning team are Hyen Jay Lee, Brian Shoffeitt, Araneesh Pratap, Sid Marupudi, Nadir Lews, Karuna Kumar, Ananya Terala and Elaine Wen!

Congratulations to these wonderful group of students, their parents and our coaches, Mr. Seker and Mr. Tuzen. Way to go!

Kindergarten Fall Center Party Was a Big Success

On Thursday, October 31st all the Kindergarten students enjoyed a Fall Centers Party between our two Kindergarten rooms and the playground.  Students decorated cookies (one to eat and one to keep!) and enjoyed a cup of “Spooky Brew” with Mrs. Long (Orion’s mom) at the “Cookie Decorating Station.”   Our little artists painted beautiful wooden frames at the “Craft Station” with Mrs. Mishra (Aryana’s mom).  After adding a little glitter glue, a few 3-D stickers, and the commemorative picture of all their friends by the colorful playground tree- this Fall keepsake brought smiles to everyone’s face when they got to take the frames home on Friday.

Students were finally able to put the last two weeks of daily morning estimation practice to good use during the “Estimation Station” activity.  Mrs. Irshadullah helped students look at several containers filled with treats and prizes and had each member of the group come up with and write an estimate for the amount of items inside one jar they chose as a group.  After counting every item in each jar, the child that guessed the closest to the actual number received two items from the jar to put in their goody bag.  The other children in the group each received one.  Students had tons of fun estimating like crazy and earning prizes until it was time to switch stations!

Ms. Pacheco (Ian’s mom) and Mrs. Thai (Jonathon’s mom) took turns leading the “Pumpkin Game Center” and “Storytelling Cave.” Students helped select and then listened to some of their favorite Fall stories inside a cozy tent complete with fluffy pillows and a cozy pumpkin blanket.  The best part?  Students lit up their stories with the glow sticks and wands they brought with them from the “Craft Station!”  

On the playground, students added points earned during “Pumpkin Buckets”, played “Pin-The-Nose-On-The-Pumpkin,” and used pumpkin sponges to transport water as fast as they could from a giant cauldron to plastic pumpkin buckets in the “Jack-O-Lantern Relay.”

Thank you to everyone who helped make this event a big success.  The students couldn’t stop talking about all the fun they had the rest of the day on Thursday and all day Friday.  They said it was the “best day all year.”  Oh, if only they knew how many fun events they have to look forward to yet in Kindergarten…

Elementary Students Enjoyed Pumpkin Story Book Characters

2nd through 5th grade students and their families worked hard to create a 3D character from a picture or chapter book of their choice using a pumpkin. This project required students to think creatively and critically as they decorated their pumpkins to look like a character from their book.  Hopefully, this project inspired our young readers to try new books and created excitement about reading!

CMP Speaker Series Hosted Ameriprise Financial Advisor, Craig Carter

We have enjoyed hosting another successful leader of our community this past week as part of Fulton Science Academy Private School College Mentorship Program Speaker Series. Mr. Craig Carter received a distinction from the Atlanta Magazine just this month as a 2013 Five Star Wealth Manager. The topic he covered with our students was "Personal Finance." This is a much needed topic for today's generation as they prepare for life. Mr. Carter's speech provided a high level discussion on forward planning with a budget (big rocks verses little rocks) the importance of having an adequate cash reserve, and time value of money.  We thank Mr. Carter for his time. It was an amazing experience for everyone attended. Please see pictures from last week's speech below:

1st Place in 2013 Georgia State Chess Tournament

Congratulations to  our newest State Champions. We now have two more State Champions at our school. This past weekend, November 2nd, 2nd grader, Raj Mehta and 8th grader, Vikram-Ruppa-Kasani competed at 2013 Georgia Grade Level Chess Championship at Creekland Middle School and they both won 1st place trophy at the state level. Additionally 3rd grader, Pranav Devalapalli won 5th place trophy in third grade level. Considering we are a small school, it is amazing that our students won two of the nine possible grade level championships at the state level.  Congratulations to these students, their parents and their coaches. Way to go! Please see a picture of these champions below:

Fulton Science Academy Students Write BIG THANK YOU Letters

6th grader, Addie Hobbs came to Fulton Science Academy Assistant Principal, Mrs. Campbell asking if we could write letters to the military soldiers that are deployed and won’t be home for Thanksgiving. Mrs. Campbell told Addie that not only could we do it, but she would ask all the students in the school to participate. The Bert Show (radio show) sponsors this effort and is asking everyone to write a heartfelt letter to a military soldier, in hopes that each soldier will receive one on Thanksgiving Day. In class we discussed how important their job is and without them we may not be where we are today. 

http://thebertshow.com/the-bert-shows-big-thank-you/

3rd Grade Students Enjoyed Making Ecosystem in Water Bottle Project

3rd graders created ecosystem in water bottles. There is pond life in the bottom and land life in the top and the two exchange water and oxygen so that you can watch bugs crawling on the second floor and fish swimming in the basement. The students were very excited to share their project with class.

7th Grade Life Science Students Extracted DNA

Life Science students extracted DNA from strawberries in lab today.  Ripe strawberries are an excellent source for extracting DNA because they are easy to pulverize and contain enzymes called pectinases and cellulases that help to break down cell walls. And most important, strawberries are octoploid.  This means that they have eight copies of each type of chromosome so there is a lot of DNA to isolate.  (We are diploid with two copies of each chromosome)

Students observed first hand that DNA is in the food that they eat and learned a simple method to extract DNA and why each step of that method is necessary due to the complex organization of DNA in cells. 

Fulton Science Academy Math Team Won 1st Place at Rockdale Math Competition

On Saturday, October 26, 2013,Fulton Science Academy Private School Math Olympiad Team students competed at  Rockdale Math Competition in Conyers, Georgia and won 1st place not only in their division but also overall among all middle schools. 

http://alpharetta.patch.com/groups/announcements/p/fulton-science-academy-math-team-won-1st-place

Please see the ranking of overall middle school results below:

Rank   School    Total Score
1  Fulton Science Academy Private School    160
2  Sculley Academy    149
3  Wesleyan  128
4  Webb Bridge  121
5  Crews  117
6  Blackmon Road  115
7  Chamblee  112
8  Stratford  111
9  Immaculate Heart of Mary 104
10  Five Forks  85
11  Eastside Christian  85
12  Providence Christian  69
13  Mt. Pisgah Christian  69
14  Tattnall Square  62
15  Champion  59
16  Davidson Fine Arts  53
17  Darlington  47
18  Soli Deo Gloria  34



FSA Math Olympiad students who attended this competition includes Hasan Unal, Araneesh Pratap, Brian Shoffeitt, Jean Moorman, Julian Hamelberg, Aditya Choudhari, Vikram Ruppa-Kasani, Mira Mutnick, Elaine Wen, Katherine Li, Charlie Furniss and Karuna Kumar.  

Congratulations to these students, their parents and FSA Math Olympiad Team coaches Mr. Tuzen and Mr. Seker for this wonderful achievement. Way to go!



http://alpharetta.patch.com/groups/announcements/p/fulton-science-academy-math-team-won-1st-place

Fulton Science Academy Student Council Sport Equipment Fundraiser

Dear Students, Faculty and Parents,

FSA Student Council has recently started a fundraising campaign to purchase sport equipment for use during P.E. and recess time.

Student Council invites everyone to join our fundraiser.

Please click on the link below to view the online sign up sheet.

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0E4CA4AD2FABFA7-fsaprivate

Please make your payments payable to FSA and send to the FSA front office at 1675 Hembree Road Alpharetta GA 30009.

On behalf of all the FSA Student Council members, we thank you for supporting our first project of this school year.

Sincerely,

Faith Lucas, Student Council President

Omar Kayyali, Student Council Vice President

ROBOTICS TEAM STUDENTS ENJOYED THEIR LAKE LANIER CAMP

FSA Robotics Team attended a wonderful cabin camp at Lake Lanier this past weekend. They spent all day working on completing their robots, presentations, and programming. When they weren't sleeping, eating, or working, they went outside and explored the acres of land. They went down to the lake and walked around on the dock. At night they sat around a campfire and roasted marshmallows, while they bonded as a team. Keep up the great work robotics team! This is what we call team spirit! Way to go!

FSA College Mentorship Program Speaker Series Hosted Leader Stacey Abrams

WORK HARD, WORK SMART, AND WORK TOGETHER

FSA College Mentorship Program Speaker Series hosted Leader Stacey Abrams this past week. Please click here to see the bio of Leader Abrams. It is simply amazing. We are so happy to host such wonderful speakers at our school. Students truly enjoyed the speech given by Leader Abrams and they asked many questions. There was lots of energy in the room and the message was very clear. Work Hard, Work Smart, and Work Together. At the end of the event FSA Student Council President, Faith Lucas and Vice President, Omar Kayyali thanked Leader Abrams on behalf of all students.  It was a great day for everyone. Please see some pictures here:

Stay tuned! FSA College Mentorship Program speaker series will continue with some other leaders and experts of our community on Wednesdays during College Mentorship Program hours.

We think that the future leaders of our world, our students, will benefit dearly from the speeches of this successful leaders in our community.

Fulton Science Academy CMP Speaker Series Hosted Sheriff Thomas Brown

FSA College Mentorship Program Speaker Series started with a wonderful speech from Dekalb Sheriff Thomas Brown last week. Sherif Brown talked about the importance of math & science education and time management. Students truly enjoyed the speech and asked many questions to Sheriff Brown. 

FSA CMP speaker series will continue with some other leaders and experts of our community on Wednesdays during College Mentorship Program hours.

We think that the future leaders of our world, our students, will benefit dearly from the speeches of this successful leaders in our community.

FSA Science Olympiad Head Coaches Attended Coaching Academy in Ohio

Last weekend, to help prepare for our upcoming competition season, Mrs. Stathos, Mrs. Walsh and Mr. Seker took a 3 day road trip to Ohio for the Science Olympiad Midwest Coaching Academy. It was a whirlwind tour, with each of us attending 10 to 12 events sessions. Between the three coaches we were able to attend all the Middle School Events. We came away with many coaching ideas for academic events and building tips and ideas for our technology events. We are already making plans for next year and hope to have some of our event coaches join us!

The Science Olympiad team is gearing up for our first competition at Chattahoochee High School on November 16.