The Malabon Science Fair featured over 40 exhibits. Participants set up their projects in the cafeteria and the entire student body was invited to browse and enjoy the exciting research.

    A 2nd grader has her own art exhibit in the Northwest Gallery of MOMMA: The Museum of Modern Malabon Art. Her art features swirling fantasy figures bathed in colorful environments.

    Mrs. Gillis has made cardboard "office cubicles" for her students to use whenever learning sessions require privacy and distraction-free concentration. Students enjoy the office atmosphere that these cubicles offer and Mrs. Gillis notes that these simple devices have made a noticeably positive impact on the educational environment in her classroom.

    The RASCAL (Renaissance Achievement in Science, Culture, Arts & Literature) Award has been awarded for the first time during this school year. The RASCAL Award is presented after performing a variety of academic, artistic, and physical skills during a one month period on the students own time.
    This extra-curricular program allows students to independently expand their educational skills by employing realistic applications at a voluntary pace and deadline.

    Mrs. Nelson's 3rd grade class combined a science lesson with a pretty and practical endeavor. The study of plant life cycles was followed by the planting of sunflower seeds in the Malabon Courtyard. When the students returned to school this fall, the conclusion of their science lesson was in full bloom.

    The RASCAL (Renaissance Achievement in Science, Culture, Arts & Literature) Award was awarded to two students during the Pillar Assembly. The RASCAL Award is presented after performing a variety of academic, artistic, and physical skills during a one month period on the students own time.
    This extra-curricular program allows students to independently expand their educational skills by employing realistic applications at a voluntary pace and deadline.

    Mrs. Admire invited Mrs. George to the RISE Room to teach the students about the Braille alphabet. Mrs. George demonstrated a Braille writing machine and taught the students how to write their own Braille alphabet. A mystery word written in Braille was assigned to each student and they were able to decipher it based upon what they had learned.

    The Malabon World Fair was held on April 16. Fifty students presented 35 exhibits featuring countries from around the world. Each project consisted of a written report, hand-drawn map and flag, and an object of interest representing their particular country.
    The World Fair was presented to the entire student body as a mass display in the cafeteria. Participants prepared their projects as an optional extracurricular activity on their own time at home.

    Mrs. Maul, Malabon's guidance counselor, has developed creative methods to foster advanced social skills using inexpensive games. Groups of students gather on their free time to engage in cooperative game playing. They are joined by Mrs. Maul, who acts as an interactive moderator to guide the students towards more sophisticated methods of social awareness and negotiative cognition.

    Mr. McKenzie has taken teaching innovation to an extreme by shaping major components of the 5th grade curriculum into one single project. Each student researched a historical figure and wrote a biography on their life and accomplishments. The student then composed an auto-biography about themself to accompany the project. Each artistically designed project was shared with the other students, exposing the entire class to the complete body of research performed.

    The Malabon Science Fair was held on February 19 in the cafeteria. 67 students in grades 1-5 presented 54 exhibits. This was 22% of the student body participating in an optional extracurricular activity prepared on their own time at home.
    The exhibits were open to viewing for the entire Malabon student body and parents. Below are some more pictures from the fair.

    A 1st grader has her own art exhibit in the Southwest Gallery of MOMMA: The Museum of Modern Malabon Art. Her art utilizes colorful figures containing interesting detail.

    A 4th grader has her own art exhibit in the Northwest Gallery of MOMMA: The Museum of Modern Malabon Art. Her art features bold and exciting figures set in stark contrast against minimalist backgrounds.

    Mr. McKenzie's 5th grade classroom held elections for class officers by combining a real election with a Social Studies unit on government. Students learned the responsibilities of public office, campaign techniques, and public speaking tactics. They then held a secret ballot vote to elect their class officers for the year.

    Mrs. Mogstad headed up a project to paint dots on the sidewalk next to the playground. When lining up to come indoors from recess, each student stands on a dot. This helps maintain an orderly and fast exit from the playground.

    Students in Mr. DeFlaminis' 4th grade classroom studied the mathematics of structural engineering and constructed stick bridges to test the strengths of various methods of support. Weights were placed on the bridges to compare the structural integreties of the different designs.

    Mr. DeFlaminis took his fourth graders outdoors to discuss various plant species. Combining state curricular science standards with a practical project, the class planted a variety of species in Malabon's courtyard beds.
     Students studied root anatomy and learned how to properly prepare the soil and place the plant into the ground to ensure proper growth. They also visited trees in the vicinity and learned how to identify species based upon leaf configurations.

    Students in Mr. McKenzie's 5th grade class studied the use of media advertising with an eye towards the multiple techniques used to part a consumer from their hard-earned money. The students formed groups, created products, and then wrote an advertisement based on standard commercial ploys which they acted out for the class in order to demonstrate the various advertising mechanisms in action.
    This goal of this exercise was to link state literary standards with a real-world format to help the students become smarter consumers while at the same time improving their writing skills.

    Fourth graders in Mr. Deflaminis' classroom divided into small groups to each study a planet in our solar system. After the research was completed, each group made a paper maché model of the planet to hang from the ceiling in order of distance from the sun. The groups then shared their research with the class, performing a curricular science unit and having fun at the same time.

   The Music Room begins its percussion segment this year with new drum pads and drumsticks that were purchased with grant money. This is the same equipment used by professional drummers for quiet practice.
    The Remo drum pads are 10" in diameter with a real drumhead over a foam mute to provide the same feel as a snare drum. The Pro-Mark 5B drumsticks are made of American Hickory wood and have the perfect weight, balance and response for student hands.

    Joanna May, art scholar with the ArtBridge program, recently visited our 3rd grade classrooms for ten sessions. The students had studied Picasso in their reading curriculum, so Ms. May coordinated her art projects towards Picasso's style. The above picture displays some of the finished student work.
    The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon sponsors this program and the Malabon PTO paid for the art materials. This is the fourth year that the 3rd grade has undertaken this art activity.

    Service Learning students from Willamette High School often come to Malabon to help out where needed. This student (pictured above) is formatting news articles written by the students into an upcoming issue of The Malabon Student Reporter. He also helps to rotate art exhibits in MOMMA: The Museum of Modern Malabon Art, which is located in the cafeteria.

    Students at Malabon are taught that the first person in line always holds the door for other students to pass through. This is one of many "good citizen" concepts of civilized behavior that are continually emphasized during Malabon's school day.

    Malabon's Micro-Observatory is located in the Music Room and is available for student perusal before and after music classes. Nine microscopes and six magnifying glass stations allow for the study of tiny specimens and the hard-to-see details on common items.

    Students participated in an earthquake drill and learned techniques to protect themselves in the event of an incident. The earthquake drill was followed by a school evacuation drill as students were led to safe areas outside the building.

    The 3rd graders of Mrs. Byerley and Mrs. Nelson were treated to a workshop on birds from a member of the Audubon Society. Several stuffed birds were on display for study. The lecture tied in with the grade's current reading project and the students learned how to sketch the birds with colored pencils, incorporating an artistic lesson into the process.

    The RASCAL (Renaissance Achievement in Science, Culture, Arts & Literature) Award has been awarded for the second time during this school year. The RASCAL Award is presented after performing a variety of academic, artistic, and physical skills during a one month period on the students own time.
    This extra-curricular program allows students to independently expand their educational skills by employing realistic applications at a voluntary pace and deadline.

    Malabon held a Pizza Party for all new students. Mrs. Maul, the guidance counselor, hosted the event designed to help these students feel welcome and comfortable within their new surroundings. Malabon takes a proactive approach to ensuring student well-being and offers many such events during the school year.

    Students in Mrs. Byerley's 3rd grade class studied the African folk tale called "Traveling to Tondo" and then created sculptures of the main animal in the story placed in a forest setting. Combining the study of literature with an art project makes an academic exercise more meaningful.

    The Oregon School Counselor Association has provided a grant for Bethel school counselors to offer parenting classes. Mrs. Maul, Malabon's guidance counselor, will teach Positive Behavior Support techniques and discuss strategies to deal with children in a fun and effective manner. Contact the school for more information.

    Dr. Greg Nelson, an anthropologist at the University of Oregon, visited Mrs. Nelson's 3rd grade classroom to lecture on prehistoric animal life. He used the casts of ten skulls, including a saber-toothed cat, baboon, and spider monkey, to discuss how the animals led their lives.
    The picture above depicts the skull of a saber-toothed cat known as the Smilodon, which lived during the Pleistocene epoch spanning 1.8 million to 10,000 years ago.

    The RASCAL (Renaissance Achievement in Science, Culture, Arts & Literature) Award was awarded to a young student during the Pillar Assembly. The RASCAL Award is presented after performing a variety of academic, artistic, and physical skills during a one month period on the students own time.
    This extra-curricular program allows students to independently expand their educational skills by employing realistic applications at a voluntary pace and deadline. 

    The Malabon Micro-Observatory (MALAMO) located in the Music Room has a complete possum skull on display for the students to study.

    Students in Mr. McKenzie's 5th grade class wrote and directed a play that was performed for the class. Auditions were held, and seven students acted the roles. Mr. McKenzie has students write and perform scripts throughout the school year, honing their conversational and imaginative writing skills within the real-world application of producing a product for public consumption.

    A student has donated an anatomical model of the human torso for display in the Music Room. Nicknamed "Tiny Tom", the torso will sit next to a full-sized model named Tommy Torso. Students can study the internal organs, bones and muscles as they enter the room for music lessons.

    Students from Willamette High School joined in with the upper grades at Malabon to read stories with the younger students on a day dedicated to Dr. Seuss. Students wore pajamas and Dr. Seuss costumes while gathered in various locations around the school for the read-along.

    The 5th graders have built functioning aquarium-terrarium ecosystems with six plant species and four live animals. This project is part of their Biomes and Environments Life Science unit and is funded with a grant through EWEB.

    Mrs. Kampfer's 4th grade class designed a project to study the effects of smoking on the human body. They learned lung anatomy using a medical model and used common materials to demonstrate the effects of tar on the inner lung tissue.
    This project was featured at the Malabon Science Fair and also presented at the Bethel School Board meeting.

    Fourth grade teacher Mrs. Kampfer uses a unique technique called "A Scene" to help students comprehend the key components in books they are reading. Students draw pictures illustrating the key themes within their reading material and then share them on a bulletin board. This allows the students to use visual imagery to augment their written analytical assignments.

    The entire student body performed their "Choo Choo Ch' Boogie" concert in Powers Auditorium at Willamette High School.

    Mr. McKenzie is an award-winning writer. His novel To Roost won the Oregon Literary Arts 1st Novel Walt Morey Award. He has written two other novels: Flocks of the Landing and Kastor's Myth.
    Mr. McKenzie has also written a screenplay titled Go Lucky Get Happy. Other novels and screenplays are in the works.