During our first session of enrichments students were able to participate in an enrichment called "Flattened Me." In this enrichment, students were able to work on their reading and writing skills and be creative at the sametime. Students started the session by reading a story about a boy name Stanley who somehow became flattened. He was then able to travel to many different locations by mailing himself. Going off of this idea all the students then made a flattened version of themselves and choose someone to mail it to with the hopes of having that person take a picture with the flattened me and send it back to them. The students then mailed their letters and "Flattened Mes" to several different celebrities. Letters were mailed to Ellen DeGeneres, Liam Neeson, President Obama, and the WETM Storm Team. Samantha LaRocca from WETM Storm Team answered by putting "Flattened Abagail" on the morning weather. We were so excited for Abagail and her flattened me. Thank you Samantha LaRocca for featuring her on the weather.
On December 19th, A-3 hosted a Build a Gingerbread house contest.
The students were given a limited amount of graham crackers (gingerbread) and
icing and then were instructed to build a house with two windows and a
door that could support its own weight. In addition to these
instructions students were under a time limit. The construction phase
lasted for only 20 minutes. It was truly amazing to watch all the students
working to the last minute and correcting engineering flaws with seconds to
spare. 
Then they had the opportunity to decorate the house. Again
students had a limited amount of time and materials to accomplish their
task. Students were then judged by how many details they added and
how creative they were in the building and decorating of their
house. Some of the houses had garages, floors, sidewalks/paths, and/or
chimneys. All of the houses showed so much creativity. It was very
exciting to watch all the young engineers working to do the best job they could
do. All of the students that participated were able to work as a team
despite differences of opinions and have a lot of fun while building and
decorating. Most of the students would agree that the best
part was eating the houses at the end. 
Pictured: Top Left - Airrin and Emily show off their house. Top Right - Skylar, Sarah, and Cammien are all smiles after licking off the excess frosting. Middle Right - Colin and Matthew show off their construction skills. Bottom left - The First Place Team (Cheyenne, Kali, and Danielle) shows off their house complete with a chimney, sidewalk and path, and a family inside the house. Congratulations to them and ALL the participants for working hard, having fun, working as a team and for showing off your creativity.
