Friday, March 26th, 2021—Let’s build a bridge, Atoms! Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship elementary school students received their latest STEM-to-Go kit where students will be tasked with completing this fun hands-on, minds-on engineering challenge. The focus of this month’ STEM-to-Go Kit encourages the students to learn about Gravity and Force.

In their STEM-to-Go kit Atoms found toothpicks and marshmallows which will be used to construct the strongest bridge they can imagine. The students must construct a bridge with no support in the middle and measure how much weight it can hold before it collapses. We encourage students to use coins to measure the weight of their bridge. Please click here to watch a video from Mr. Roney explaining this month’s STEM-to-Go kit Challenge. Also, please remember to take plenty of pictures or videos of the students constructing their bridges.

Tuesday, March 16th, 2021—The fifth grade Atoms in Ms. Barker’s class was busy at work learning about fractions. Some days, understanding fractions can be challenging, but with this fun, creative hands-on, minds-on exercise the Atoms are taking the learning into their own hands, literally! Students created fraction strip manipulatives which will allow them to better understand and comprehend the material. Students are able to use these fraction strip manipulatives how they see best fit, to solve various fraction equations for their classwork and homework. Keep up the great work, Atoms!

Tuesday, March 16th, 2021—Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship third grade Atoms were busy at work plotting points on their bar graph. Creating bar graphs is a skill they learned in first grade and have since built upon this skill to draw and plot a more complex graph. We are always excited to see Atoms acquire knowledge and then build on it as they advance through grade levels. No matter how you plot it, the Atoms knowledge, and love for learning is off the charts excellent.

Monday, March 8th, 2021—Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship elementary students participate in daily Positivity Project activities. These activities help guide and empower students to build not only strong character strengths, but a strong classroom community and build positive relationships to become their best selves. This week, the students focus on the character strength of, love of learning. The goal of this character strength is to develop their love of learning by helping students discover what they are passionate about. This is done through differentiating, supporting and finding what works for our kids to ensure they thrive. The love of learning is just one of the many character strengths of The Positivity Project.

Friday, March 12th, 2021- As you may have seen or read, the Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship elementary school Atoms made quite an impact on the greater Syracuse community through the donation of over 4,000 Band-Aids to Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital late last week. With receiving news coverage from stations such as: News Channel 9, CNY Central, WAER, Spectrum News, Urban CNY and now the number one hit music station in Central New York, 93Q’s Ted and Amy in the Morning!

The Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship Atoms were featured on 93Q’s Ted and Amy in the Morning, on Friday, March 12th. Watch and listen to this aircheck video from Ted and Amy in the Morning. We are very proud of the Atoms, and all who helped make this event possible. Your kindness and generosity has certainly made an incredible impact on the community. Keep up the great work, Atoms!

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2021—In the upcoming weeks, the Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship 4th grade Atoms will begin reading novels as part of their core curriculum. That being said, what better way to prepare than having students practice reading fun children’s novels like Flora & Ulysses, I Survived, and the Season of Styx Malone, just to name a few. Atoms received these books at their most recent home visit with teachers Mrs. Hebbert and Ms. Reed. Happy reading, Atoms!

Home visits are one of the key elements in Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship's parent outreach activities. The goal of home visits are to help create a triad of parent-student-teacher relationships. During each home visit, teachers are encouraging parents to take an active role in student's learning at home.

Thursday, March 11th, 2021—Throughout the month of February, the Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship Atoms were busy at work, collecting hundreds of thousands of Band-Aids to benefit the families and children at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital. It’s with their herculean efforts that they were able to collect 4,532 Band-Aid, but that is not all. This astronomical amount of Band-Aids collected caught the attention of many, and they simply had to share this incredible story with the greater Syracuse community.

Last night, in case you missed it, the Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship elementary school was featured on the following television and radio stations.

• News Channel 9
• CNY Central
• Spectrum News
• WAER FM

Not to be outdone, this morning the number one hit music station, 93Q’s Ted and Amy in the Morning shared the Atoms’ story with their listeners.

Congratulations to all the Atoms, faculty and staff for your team efforts in making an impact in the community and for helping those in need. Click here to view the story from News Channel 9. Click here to read the story from WAER FM. Now that is what we call ‘Positivity in Action.’

Thursday, March 4th, 2021—The Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship 1^st grade Atoms practice their adjectives using their five senses with this fun class activity. Students were tasked to use adjectives, or descriptive words, as clues to describe an object in the classroom. Their classmates were then tasked with guessing the object in question. Click here to watch this short video, Adjectives in Action.

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021—Earlier this month, Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship welcomed SUNY Cortland interns who will be helping out and assisting in the elementary classrooms. We are excited to have these young professionals join our team as they will be presenting their lesson plans, building positive relationships with the Atoms, as well as, adding to their teacher toolbox. Welcome to the Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship team! Many Atoms, one family.

Friday, February 5th, 2021—Throughout the month of February, Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship Atoms had an opportunity to listen to various inspiring stories, business professionals, and community leaders as they shared insight, and wisdom with the students.

Wrapping up this month-long event the Atoms had the privilege of listening to three career professionals who volunteered their time to speak with the students for Syracuse Academy of Science and Citizenship's 28 Speakers in 28 Days. The guest speakers included:

• Timothy Liles II - Computer Software Programmer
• Nilikeah Brown - Vera House PREA Project Coordinator
• Koury Bonds - Dentist

Each of the guest speakers shared insight into their career profession, industry, and importance of education. Nilikeah shared with the Atoms how it is important to socialize among your peers, as well as, being aware of various social norms. Dentist Dourey Bond told the Atoms in order to keep their teeth healthy, you must brush them three times a day with toothpaste.

Thank you Timothy, Nilikeah and Koury for taking time out of your schedule to speak with the Atoms and for being inspirational leaders.