SFA Newsletter Jan-Feb 2012

7/26/2019 SFA Newsletter Jan-Feb 2012

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We know that this one testdoes not measure everythingthat our children are learning orour teachers are teaching. Wedo not judge ourselves by thisone measure alone, but we dorecognize that the state does!

Lets roll up our sleeves andwork together to make surethat the state of Pennsylvaniaand the School District of Phila-delphia know that at SankofaFreedom Academy Parents and

School Strive for Achievement!

Some folks think that PSSAstands for Pennsylvania Systemof School Assessment. How-ever, at Sankofa Freedom Acad-emy Charter School, we knowthat it really stands for Parents

and School Striving for Achieve-ment. Certainly, we know thatthe PSSA exam provides anopportunity for us to gain in-sight into the progress of ourchildren and the efficacy of ouracademic program. It also,however, provides insight intohow well we are partnering withparents for the academic suc-cess of each child. At the endof the day, we know the great-est factor in the success of ourchildren is parental support at

home.

We depend on our parents tomake sure our children practicethe things they are learning inschool each night. We dependon our partners to read to theirchildren or engage their chil-dren in conversation about what

they have read. We depend onour parents to make sure thatour children are getting the restthat they need and nutritiousmeals so that they can come toschool alert and ready to learn.We depend on our parents to

make sure our children come toschool on time every day.. Aswe enter the PSSA season, letsdo so vowing to work hard andto work together to make sureour children are successful insharing what they are learning.As preparation for the test in-tensifies it is imperative thatyour child is in school EVERYDAY! Remember absence dur-ing the PSSA is simply not anoption. The state of Pennsyl-vania mandates that every singlechild is tested. In order to

make sure that your child isready it is important that yousend him or her to school everysingle day, especially betweennow and throughout the month

of March.

Peace and Blessings from Dr. Mama:

PSSALets Partner!

Look Out World Here Come the Kongo Scientists

Inspired by the spirit of Dr.Charles Drew, the first grade na-tion of Kongo is tapping into itsscientific genius. Under the lead-ership of Bro. Darrius they haveformed cooperative learninggroups in science class. During themonth of February the scholars ofKongo have been studying theenvironment. Since we are in theseason of winter, it is not an ap-propriate time for plants to grow.Bro. Darrius and the Nation ofKongo Drew performed a lab ex-periment, creating a man-madeenvironment in order for our

plants to be able to thrive. Theyplaced cups of soil and seeds in acrate, enclosed and sealed in aplastic bag. The cups were wa-

tered twice a week. The enclo-sure created a green-house effectwhich allowed the plants to retainmoisture and warmth. The plantswere placed under florescent light,resulting in the growth of theplants in just a weeks time. Kongowas proud of the results and weare proud of the young scientist of

Kongo Drew!(Pictured to the right areyoung scientists Nekaya Aus-

tin and Faith Banks)

January / February , 2012Volume 3/Issue 5

The Sankofa Bird Newsletterof

Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter School4256 Paul Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19124

Telephone #-215288-2001

Sankofa Freedom

Academy Charter School

Leadership Team

Dr. Mama Ayesha Imani, CEOBro. Isa Clark, Director of

OperationsMama Geraldine Newton,

Business ManagerBro. Elisha Tigah, Technology

CoordinatorSis. Nieka Brown, Lower

School Lead TeacherMama Pat Morales, Lead

Teacher k-1Baba Norman Bayard, Dean

of StudentsUpper SchoolBro. Maurice Patterson, Stu-

dent Support Specialist,

Lower SchoolSis. Dr. Kelli Mickens,

Transition & Servant Leader-

ship Coordinator

Transformation

Newsletter Contributors:

Bro. Dane GallowayBro. James MalamutBro. Isaiah ThomasMama Tavina HillSis. Kenyatta NorrisMama Patricia MoralesSis. Sarah McGeeSis Nakyria Bartholomew

Photo: Mama Holliday and Sis. Lisa partne

with parents and scholars.


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Kush 2nd Grade

Devon FisherNykyah Watson

Diamana Giddings

Natural Guerra

Songhai3rd Grade

Dwayne Wells

Joshua Lubin

Cheyenne Washington Holiday

Daneisy Mejia

Zulu4th Grade

Jayda Gill

Rasa WatsonLuis Padilla

Shymir Ladson

Bambara Math 6th Grade

Omar Long

Rashae Rochester-CottleMarayah Roher

Dayana Holt

Bambara Literacy6th Grade

Martiyana Gillis

Amore Stephens

Tanylr Clark

Tyeana Cebollero

Keep

Developing Good Habits ofthe Mind, Body and Spirit

Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter School

Congratulations to the Lower and Middle School Student of the Months

Dogon Literacy5th GradePaulinda Nicholson

Ian ChapelleShateria Thompson

Dia Lee

Dogon Math5th GradePaulinda Nicholson

Joshua PerezJaymes SavageUnique Lowe

Ashanti GarveyKhadijah Turner

Congratulations to ouryoungest scholars. Picturedon the left are Students of

the Month for JanuaryKeon Kenner, IsaiahSpain, Ahsan Jenkins,

and Ismael King

Pictured on the right Stu-

dents of the Week:Liani Rodriguez, TainaBenitez, Semalah Wallace,Nakel Trader, Shawn

Copeland, Kamara MortonIsaiah Davis is in the backwith Early Years Lead

Teacher, Mama Pat

Lower and Middle School Symmetry Contest (Submitted by Bro. James)

The Lower and Middle Schools had a contest to see which scholars could create the word or sentence that had thelongest continuous line of symmetry. The rules allowed us to switch lower case, capital letters, and fonts whenever

we wanted. There were many excellent entries. However, Shaun Snyder of Songhai submitted the longest word:COOKBOOK, Rajaa Bint-Idris of Dogon submitted the longest sentence: DID I DO +HA+. (Rajaa was creative anddrew the a and t in that so that it did continue the horizontal line of symmetry. Congratulations Rajaa and

Shaun!

Congratulations Early Years Students of the Month and Week


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N

I Remember Him by Keolebogile More

DogonGrade 5

I remember himHe was Martin Luther King.

The man with FaithThe man who did not

Hate.I remember him.

The one who did not give upHope.

The one who dreamed and dreamedUntil he spoke.

I remember him.The one who gave a speech.

The one who creied for peaceI remember him.

The strong words he said his dreams that were ahead.I remember him.

Lower and Upper School Poets Corner

She Lives in the Water

Music and Lyrics By Lillian Rodriquez

Breath, breath, breath underwater

Shes down on the ground

Why dont she swim now

Maybe at the feet of her own mercy

The cuts they are deep stricken jealousy

Look around dont u see the thorns of misery

Moans and groans screams and shouts

Tears are falling to the ground


Dont drown not now

Swim to the altar

You have to find; the key to your misery

Go, go swim to your salvation

Swim to the bottom breath, breath, breath underwater

No dont drown save yourself now

His lungs are filled only with darkness

He stabs at her heart only..regardless

His blood icy cold sharp as a deadly spear

He cuts her deep wounds her then sleeps her

He feeds on her tears & fears dont 4get humility

Shes alone and surrounded with insanity


Dont drown not now

Swim to the altar

You have to find; the key to your misery

Go, go swim to your salvation

Swim to the bottom


No dont drown save yourself now

Page 3Volume 3/Issue 5

Now shes s transparent as the waterYou can still see the misery in her eyes afterShe falls deep in the water, he doesnt even say goodbye or

farewellShameless to say her body quite frozenSinks down again but not 4ever

Breath, breath, breath underwaterDont drown not nowSwim to the altar

You have to find; the key to your miseryGo, go swim to your salvationSwim to the bottomBreath, breath, breath underwater

Wisdom


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Welcome Home Jamaican Ambassadors

BrianaRobinsonWallace

(ReflectiveJournalDay#7)

TodaysourseventhdayinJamaica.OverallIfeelliketoday

wentverywell.WemetupwiththeYallahsstudentsandwe

continuedto

work

on

our

documentaries.

My

group

is

mainly

focusingonlanguage,andhowAmericanslangissimilartoPat

ois.Weinterviewedoneanother,andaskedinterestingques

tionsaboutourlanguages.Asweweregettingourquestions

togetheroneoftheYallahsstudentsaskedus,whatistheback

groundofourslanglanguage.Nobodyknew,Ifoundthatreally

shocking.IfeltlikeanyJamaicanthatIhavecomeintocontact

withknewtheirculturewithoutadoubt.Buttheminutewe

wereaskednoonereallyknew.Todayeverybodyseemstobe

caughtupandtheydontseethebigpictureofthings.Ourgen

erationdoesntrealizethatthemajority,ifnotall,thethings

thatwedooriginatefromsomewhereinadditiontheyalsohave

somesort

of

background.

Ibelieve

its

becoming

acycle

for

our

communitiesandourpeopletoforgetthepastandforgethow

manyofourtraditionscameabout.Ihopethatwiththisdocu

mentary,notonlywillthoseofuswhocamewilllearnsome

thing,beaffectedbyit,andpassiton.Weneedtotellwhatwe

learnedtoothersandbroadentheirthoughtsonourcultureas

apeople.

Page 4 The Sankofa Bird Newsletter

From January 12 to January 24, Tavine Lasswell, Briana Rob-

inson-Wallace, David Jones, Shyeim Ladson, Janee Maxwell-

Robinson, Shakira Henry, Messiah Hopson, Tytieana Jeffer-

son had the time of their lives. Accompanied by Mama

Diane Holliday, Dr. Kelli Sparrow-Mickens, and Baba Ras

Ben, our Sankofa Ambassadors partnered with the youth of

Yallahs High School in Jamaica to create a documentary on

the use of popular music forms in Jamaica and America to

deliver positive messages to the next generation. During

their time in Jamaica, our ambassadors worked diligently on

making their documentary, visited a university, museums,

frolicked on the beach, met the sons of Reggae great BobMarley, and made new friends and family. To get a real

sense of the adventure experienced by the Mighty Ambassa-

dors of Nubia, please visit their blog at www.sankofa-

abroad.blogspot.com.

Sankofa Ambassadors Briana Robinson-Wallace

with a friend and colleague from the Yallahs High


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The halls are alive with the sound of music at Sankofa! As we

move into the second half of the year, we reflect on all the hardwork and dedication of Sankofa Freedom Academys many mu-sicians. Seven Servant Leaders from Nubia spent the semestermastering the fundamentals of either guitar or piano while alsofinding their own musical and lyrical voices through many song-writing projects. These brilliant young minds are now con-stantly creating and speaking the language of music. They have

truly become lifelong musicians.

Scholars from the nation of Axum participated in an explora-tory music elective in which they learned the fundamentals ofmusical theory and explored various genes of music. At thenext community meeting they will present an original composi-tion that explores the healing possibilities of music as a force inthe world. This presentation was created and will be per-formed in collaboration with Servant Leaders from the Mentally

Gifted collective.

The first annual Sankofas Got Talent! saw the debut of theSankofa Freedom Academy Choir singing a compilation ofpopular songs they selected. Performing that evening wereServant Leaders Lillian Rodriguez and Antonio Dill from theNubian 11B music class. Sis. Lillian played piano and sang aSpanish-language rendition of No One by Alicia Keys, whileBro. Antonio accompanied on the acoustic guitar. Ujima Hallwas packed and everyone was feeling the beat. Bro. Antonioalso picked up his guitar to accompany himself in the Sankofa

Freedom Academy winter production of The Witch and theMagic Mountain.

Music at Sankofa Freedom Academy continues to grow astwelve scholars from Kemet and ten new scholars from Nubiabegin their intensive music electives this marking period. Be on

the lookout for information about a spring concert .

The Sound of Music at Sankofa Freedom AcademySubmitted by Bro. Dane Galloway


Photo above: Music is our life mural by Tavine Lasswell and the11B music class. Pictured below, Nubia music class: ErinaWhite, Quadirah Milburn, Lillian Rodriguez, Sadeeq Abdullah,

Special Thanks to Bro. Dane for work-

ing so faithfully with our students. We

are especially grateful for Bro. Danes

having keyboards and guitars and other

necessary equipment donated for the

music class. His loving kindness pa-

tience humility and tremendous talent

have made our music program possible.


6/8

They came in jeans, uniforms, and even paja-masbig people, little people, parents, andteachers. The came with big books, littlebooks, chapter books and picture books. To-gether they filled Harambee Hall with a loveand excitement for learning and literature.Yes, this was our first annual Reading Underthe Stars at Sankofa and it was an absolute hit.During the evening our teachers and staff mod-eled effective read-a-loud techniques and howto ask good questions before, during, and aftera story. Scholars and parents enjoyed sharingstories and left with little packets with strate-gies for improving reading comprehension.The best part is that so many families broughtnew books from our book vendors. Specialthanks to Sis. Brown, our Lead teacher fororganizing Reading Under the Stars and for all

the staff members and parents who came outto support this wonderful evening.

Reading Under the Stars Was Simply Heavenly

Mathematics Counts at Sankofa Freedom AcademySubmitted by Sis. Sarah

In the nation of Zulu Richardson, scholars know that Mathe-matics counts. Students in Zulu work together to wrestlewith mathematical concepts and to create mathematics prob-lem together. The scholars used oranges and orange slices to

develop problems with fractions and mixed numbers.

Here is one multi-step real world problem created by the

Qyadir, Mikai, Aarion and Nyrees group shown on the left.

Nyree had one orange split into12 orange slices. Hegave Qyadir 6/12 of the orange, he gave Mikai 2/12 ofthe orange, and gave Aarion 2/12 of the orange. Nyree'smom came and gave him 6 slices from her own orange.

How many slices does Nyree have now?

Page 6 The Sankofa Bird Newsletter

Putting Kongo on the MapSubmitted by Nakyria Bartholomew

Students of Kongo Parks had a great time creating maps oftheir neighborhood as a special Social Studies project.

Scholars had to take a walk around their neighborhoodwithin a 2-3 block radius of their homes. The scholarsand their parents had to put their homes and favorite

neighborhood places on their maps. I wonder whetherthis is how Benjamin Banneker started out when he was

surveying Washington, D.C. ? Good Job Kongo and Con-

gratulations Sis. Bartholomew on a great project.

Facilitator Bro. James and Parent Mama Maureen (MalikThompsons Mom) share a story with the scholars of

Songhai

Sis Brown and Bro. Mohamadu

at Reading Under the Stars.Good Job! Good Job! Sister

Brown


7/8

The Magical Cloth by Daneisy Mejia

Once there was a little girl named Sarah.

Her father was a fire man. His name wasFran. One day he found a magical kentecloth in a house that caught on fire. Hedid not know that was magical. It was avery hot day. He gave the cloth to hisdaughter Sarah. He said, Sarah, you coulduse this cloth to make a dress for your dollwith some accessories like shoes. Sarahmade a dress, shoes, purse and a headband. As soon as she put the stuff on thedoll the doll came to life. The doll said,Hello. Sarah was so surprised she toldher mom, but the doll did not talk whenSarah told the doll to talk in front of her

mom. The mom said that Sarah imaginedthe doll was talking. Her dad came home.As soon as Sarah went to her room she said,

Why did you not talk? Oh, becauseyour mom would probably give me awaysaid the doll. That is nonsense, She wouldnot do that. At the dinner table will youtalk. The mom cooked dinner. At the din-ner table the doll said, Hello, I can talk.The mom and dad were so surprised. Sarahwent in the room with her doll and said,Thank you. The doll said, Youre wel-come. They lived happily ever after, Sarah

with her magical doll.

Brown for producing and direct-ing, Sis. Malaika for art design,Bro. Dane and Mama Renee Rob-inson Way for musical direction

and Sis. Toni and Mama T whowere members of the cast! Onceagain, another awesome Sankofafamily night! Finally, a round ofapplause for the parents whosechildren participated in Saturdayand Sunday rehearsal and all thefamilies that came out to supportthe play. The house was packed.

What a wonderful evening!

On Friday, January 27, UjimaHall was transformed into amagical place full of wonderand surprises. Our winterproduction of the Witch andthe Magic Mountain was anintergenerational treat thattestified to the power of bothmemory and story. The castincluded scholars from lowerschool , servant leaders fromupper school and facilitators.Congratulations to the cast andcrew. Special thanks to Sis.

We Write What We Like The Mighty 3rd Grade Authors of SonghaiSubmitted by Facilitator Mama T / Featured Author Daneisy Mejia

The Witch and the Magic Mountain Is A Smash!

The Art of Exaggeration by Songhai Robeson

Songhai Robeson scholars have been studying exaggeration.

Here are a few examples of their exaggerations :

Im so happy, I thought it was Christmas. Nana Ankoma-Darko

Im so angry my head could pop off Nana Ankoma-Darko

Im so thirsty, I could drink an oceanRiyaadh Lewis

Im so tired I could sleep for 100 yearsNana Ankoma-Darko

Im so cold I couldn't even feel the breezeMzyah Heck

Im so excited, I could jump to the skyJoshua Lubin

Im so excited, my brain explodedAlleyah Murphy

I was so cold I have ice sickles hanging from my noseMakayla Towns

Im so rich, I swim in moneyMakayla Towns

Im so poor I couldnt even afford my lifeCashmear Moore

Im so happy my smile could reach 100 yardsJasmine Hunt

Im so bored, I could play in glueYvette Clark


Members of the Cast of the Witch and the Magic

Mountain


8/8

Sankofa Freedom AcademyCharter School

4256 Paul StreetPhiladelphia, Pa. 19124

Phone: 215-288-2001Fax: 215-288-2099

Email: :[email protected]

Upcoming Events: Calendar

February 17 School Closed fo r Professional Development

February 17Jamaica Ambassadors Banquet

February 20School Closed Presidents Day

February 20 Sankofa Board of Trustees Meeting

February 22 and 23 Report Card Conferences

February 24Black Histor y Family Celebration

March 12 PSSA Begins

MICROSOFT

Ashe -Spotlight on Luis Munoz Rivera

Building Intergenerational Communities of Scholarship, Culture, and Activism

Were on the web:

Www.sfacs.us

We who believein freedom

shall not rest

until it comes!

.Ella Baker

Leon Damas was a French Guyanan poet who helped to advance theNegritude Movement. He inspired African people through his po-etry and instilled pride in Africanity world wide. He ended his ca-reer as the head of the African Studies Department at Howard Uni-versity. During this month as we celebrate the beauty of our his-tory and culture let his Le Negritude, written in French and trans-

lated into English speak for him and for us.

Never will White be blackbecause beauty is black

and black is wisdombecause endurance is black

and black is couragebecause patience is black

and black is ironybecause charm is blackand black is magic

because love is blackand black is the swaying of the hips

because dance is black

and black is rhythmbecause art is black

and black is movementbecause laughter is black

because joy is blackbecause peace is black

because life is black.

Ashe - Spotlight On: Leon Damas, 19121978

Dont Miss!Report Card Conferences are coming Wednesday, February 2from 1:30 to 4:30 and Thursday, February 24 from 4:30 to 7:30

Please come to discuss your childs progress

Dont Miss!Family Celebration of Black History Month sponsored by SankoFreedom Academy and State Representative Tony Paytons Ofice. Come share a film, meet the historian and actor, and enja Sankofa performances from Sankofa students. Save the dat

Friday, February 24. More details to follow!

Sankofa SuccessAcademyevery Saturday from10:00 am to 12 noon.(Contact Sis. Brown for

more info.)

Professor, Poet, and Pan-African

Leon Damas

SFA Newsletter Jan-Feb 2012

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