News From the Principal

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Charles Kolterman – Eagle Scout Project at ELA

Thank you to Charles Kolterman for your dedication and hard work on your Eagle Scout project at East Lake Academy this summer.
We are so appreciative of Charles’ wonderful design and installation of a flag pole, landscaping and retaining wall at ELA!
Charles, age 17, is a 2016 graduate of Libertyville High School and a member of St. Joseph’s Troop 60 in Libertyville.
The idea was generated by Steve Gerber, an ELA parent, and grew with the expertise of Mike Graham of Landscape Concepts, Inc.
The flagpole, originally located at Precious Blood Convent in Lake Villa, was donated to the project by the Convent. The flag, which will be raised during a school ceremony in September, is certified to have flown over the United States Capital in Washington DC.
Congratulations on a job well done!
Thank you to Charles, his parents, Susie and Jim Kolterman, and all the volunteers who helped during this amazing project:
Troop 60
Carter Barhorst
Matthew Pawlowski
Philip Kolterman
Kyle Barhorst
Andrew Frels
Matthew Spranza
Jonathon Valentine
Teddy Williemsen
Russell Black
Connor Nettersheim
Alvin Santner

Volunteers:
Susie Kolterman
Dan Kublank
Ken Litchenberger
Steve Baughman
Will Baughman
Nathan Kolterman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3D math photo

This trimester there was a new elective course for East Lake Academy middle school students three afternoons a week (from 2:25-2:55pm). In this hands-on 3D Math class, students were introduced to three-dimensional problem solving. Senora Gonzalez taught the class, as she had experience teaching it in prior years. Senora commented: “Teaching this class is a lot of fun, watching the students bring 3D patterns to life excites them and that positive attitude is contagious. Throughout the class there is laughter, teamwork, plenty of opportunities for the students to grow in patience and an overall excitement to accomplish the tasks at hand.” There was no cost to take this class and no homework assigned. The lessons are quite open-ended and allow for students to work independently and at their own pace. Using the book “Drawing Stars and Building Polyhedra” students learned to draw stars with seven or more points, and formulate conjectures about their mathematical structure. They also assembled polygons into 3-D polyhedra and developed their spatial intuition in the process. This class was created to guide students to inductively develop definitions, test conjectures, and analyze properties of geometric shapes. Sixth grader Max Makowski reacted to the class in this way: “This was a great use of my study hall period 3 times a week. I’ve had a lot of fun AND I was learning each class! Specifically, I learned how to find edges and vertices of polyhedra. I know this will make me a stronger geometry student in the future. It had never occurred to me that I could calculate how many edges were on a soccer ball, and now I know how!” Seventh grader Matt Shinnick added: “This is something I had never thought about in the past and now feel thankful that I had the opportunity to learn. The shapes we created were really cool.” We hope to offer this class in the future as well.