Friday April 16th, 2021—Syracuse Academy of Science high school welcomes Vazcee for its next Senior Spotlight. This slam dunking high school senior shares with us in our virtual interview who inspires her the most, what is one of her major accomplishments she had during her senior year, her favorite memory as an Atom and so much more. As we get ready to shine the ‘Senior Spotlight,’ read our interview below with high school Atom, Vazcee Robinson.

Interview with Vazcee Robinson

• What is one major accomplishment you had in your senior year of high school? Exempt from all my Regents Exams.
• What are your goals for after high school? To go to college and to continue my basketball journey.
• Name one person that inspires you? My mother.
• What advice would you give to the next senior class? To stay focused in class.
• Where do you see yourself in five years? Playing in the WNBA.
• If you could have dinner with any person living or dead who would they be and why? Kobe Bryant - I want to ask him about his mentality off & on the court.
• Name three traits that describe you? Caring, social and lovable.
• What is your favorite hobby? Gaming
• What is a hidden talent that no one or only a few people know about you? I can do gymnastics.
• What is your favorite memory of SAS? Culture Fair

Wednesday, April 7th, 2021—Throughout the month of March, the Syracuse Academy of Science Atoms have learned about influential women who have made a cultural or historic impact on society. The 7th grade Atoms in the Leading Ladies club virtually held their meeting to discuss their March Challenge which was:

"Choose one female role model of yours and write a quick note explaining why you look up to them. It can be someone you know or someone in the world you've heard of."

A few of the female role models include: Michelle Obama, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, mothers, and Sylvia Rivera. In addition to their group discussion, the students played Minute-to-Win-It games. Great job, Atoms!

Friday, April 9th, 2021—Throughout the month of March, Mrs. Wittchen challenged the 3^rd and 4^th grade students to participate in an online self-respect and positive self-talk challenge. To participate, students were tasked with writing one kind thing about themselves over a 5-day period. This simple task proved to be very meaningful and the many Atoms accepted the challenge and participated. While participating, the students learned a lot by reflecting and writing what they love about themselves as well as, kind things about themselves. This positive self-reflection helps create not only positive self-image but a positive mindset and a kindness mentality.

Congratulations to all of the 3rd and 4th graders who met the challenge and won counseling awards. In the words of Mr. Rogers, "Knowing that we can be loved exactly as we are gives us all the best opportunity for growing into the healthiest of people." Keep up the great work, Atoms you are all worth it!

Monday, April 12th, 2021—The Syracuse Academy of Science 7^th grade students in Ms. Brett’s art class learned about the art technique, Grid Art and famous artist, Chuck Close, who uses this technique to create a collection of abstract portraits of himself and others. For those not familiar with Grid Art, it is a technique that allows the artist to reproduce and/or enlarge an image that you want to paint or draw using a grid. Drawing inspiration from Chuck Close, the Atoms put their skills to the test and create portraits themselves using the Grid Art technique. Click here to view more of their artwork. Keep up the great work, Atoms!

Thursday, April 8th, 2021—Syracuse Academy of Science 4^th grade Atoms had a unique hands-on, minds-on learning experience as they helped raise and observe caterpillars to learn about the life cycle of a butterfly. For those not familiar with the butterfly life cycle the stages include:

• The egg
• The larva
• The pupa
• The butterfly

Each of these four stages is unique to the type of butterfly. As the students’ caterpillars went through the metamorphosis process, they observed each of these four stages. Last week, with the nice warm weather the students were able to release their beautiful butterflies. Click here to head to our Facebook page to view pictures of the butterfly release.

Friday, April 9th, 2021—It’s Friday, which means it’s time for Syracuse Academy of Science high school’s next Teacher Spotlight. We had an opportunity to virtually interview high school social studies teacher, Mr. Dwyer who shared with us a fun fact that has everyone guessing, his favorite book, advice for the Atoms and so much more. Read our interview below, as we shine our spotlight on high school social studies teacher, Mr. Dwyer.

Interview with Mr. Dwyer

• What three traits define you? Shy, Kind and Honest.
• What is your greatest accomplishment? This is an interesting question. I feel as though I accomplished many things however I feel like I have much more to fulfill. 
• Best book you have ever read? The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.
• What is one thing you cannot resist?(food/dessert/candy/etc.) Peanut Butter Cookies.
• If you could have dinner with one person living or dead who would they be and why? There are so many people I would like to have dinner with.  The list would go on forever. I would say I would like to have dinner with my current and former students. I would like to see what they have been up to since graduation and give advice to the current students. 
• What advice would you give to kids who are struggling at school? Life has thrown us a curveball in the past year. With that each person is special and although this is a big bump in the road of life each of you are going to accomplish great things.
• Tell us, what is something that might surprise us about you? I went to high school with a soon to be major league baseball hall of famer.

Tuesday, April 6th, 2021—The Syracuse Academy of Science elementary school 2^nd grade Atoms have been learning about persuasive writing. Atoms decided to put this new skill to the ultimate test and send handwritten notes to the Dean of Elementary, Mrs. Miller and state why in fact they should not have any homework. Some of their reasons included being able to spend more time with their family, pets and with the warm weather in the forecast they would be able to spend more time outside. With these excellent points, Mrs. Miller took them all into consideration and did in fact grant the students their request! Congratulations, Atoms your hard work, persistence and persuasion paid off. Enjoy your no homework night!

Tuesday, April 6th, 2021—The Getty Art Museum Challenge is a favorite amongst many of the Syracuse Academy of Science Atoms. You may have seen previous posts about the high school students showing their creativity by participating in this infamous challenge. Well, today we are sharing the creativity of the middle school 5th grade students participating in the Getty Art Museum Challenge.

For those not familiar with the Getty Art Museum Challenge, participants of all ages and around the world try to recreate famous pictures or paintings using everyday objects as props. This simple challenge is one that is fun for the whole family and can provide great entertainment. Click here to visit our Facebook page to view their Getty Art Museum Challenge pictures courtesy of the Syracuse Academy of Science middle school 5th grade Atoms!

Friday, March 26th, 2021—Syracuse Academy of Science elementary Atoms jet set around the world for their annual virtual Culture Cruise class field trip. Thanks to the wonderful support and help from the Syracuse Academy of Science elementary school families, teachers, faculty and staff the Atoms were able to learn about 5 of the 31 countries represented at the school. These countries include: Turkey, Bosnia, India, Cuba and Nigeria. During their Culture Cruise Atoms had an opportunity to learn about the countries culture, tradition, geography, history, flora and fauna, language and of course cuisine! This is a favorite field trip for many students and we are grateful for all who helped make this event possible. Please click here to view more pictures from this year’s Culture Cruise class field trip.

Thursday, March 25th, 2021—Syracuse Academy of Science kindergarten students in Mrs. Hartnett’s ENL class rolled up their sleeves and probably got their hands just a bit sticky with this hands-on, minds-on spring themed science experiment. For their science experiment, Atoms were tasked with using a traditional spring treat, Peeps, and describe not only its characteristics but predict if it would in fact float, as well as, if it would dissolve in water, vinegar or olive oil. The unanimous favorite characteristic was the squishiness of the Peeps. This science experiment was a perfect way to kick-off spring and Spring and Spring Recess.