Calculus Project?

Can calculus projects be fun?

Apparently so!

In the Petra Calculus class the end of the year project is to make a trebuchet.  A what?

A trebuchet, a medieval siege weapon somewhat like a catapult only better because of the counter balance feature (at least according to one of our seniors who wrote a report on it).

It launches on Wednesday, between 2:30 and 3:30.  A further update to follow!

Grandparents are Great!

What a great time we had celebrating our grandparents last month!

The students put on an extra-special recitation to a very crowded room!

This was definately the most people we've ever had to put into one of our rooms, and it proved in yet another way that we are in need of the bigger quarters that will be brought about in our new building!

All of the classes hosted grandparents throughout the morning,

and many of the grandparents were put to work helping students with reading and other lessons.

Many of the grandparents were willing to share themselves with students who didn't have a grandparent present - and that was a very special gift!

After working hard all morning, many of the children were taken to lunch by their grandparent or their grandparent substitute.

All in all, a very successful and enjoyable day!

Football MSU Style

You would expect the boys at Petra to be excited about learning football drills in P.E. class.

And they were!  But take a look at the girls . . .

They were pretty excited too!

We may have to call a few of them "Crazy legs!"

The opportunity to learn football came about through Jon Montoya, who brought a couple of MSU football players with him.

These photos are all first, second and third graders, but the fourth through sixth grade enjoyed the same lessons.

Thank you Mr. Montoya and friends for bringing such a unique and fun opportunity to our students!  We hope to have you back next year!

Senior Thesis Presenations

Last week we celebrated the presentation a Senior Thesis from our three future graduates.  This project is the capstone of a Petra education, demonstrating the student's ability to reason, form conclusions and defend that conclusion.

The opportunity to witness their academic growth, their poise as they delivered and then defended their papers was wonderful.

We opened this event up to community members and were so flattered at the number of people who were interested in participating in this process.

Coming up next:  Junior Thesis, a huge step along the way to completeting a Petra education.  If you missed the Senior Thesis presentations, we invite to you come to the Junior Thesis presentation on May 14th at 11:15.  You will be impressed! 

Hiking the M

After a grueling week at their desks for standardized testing, the third, fourth and fifth grade classes got out to burn off a bit of energy by hiking to the M.

Dressed in camouflage, the fifth graders hid in the bushes and jumped  out at their younger schoolmates - but their camouflage was so good, we couldn't get any photos of them!

The fresh air helped to blow out the cobwebs of sitting for four days, and the beautiful weather was a little glimpse of summer to come.

A good time was had by all!  Special thanks to Mrs. Mann for providing us with some photos of this fun outing!