OUTDOOR EDUCATION DAY
Every other year all students in PACE (grades 1-5) spend the entire school day at a local park in Seattle. Parent volunteers and other outdoor and nature experts lead the students in hands-on educational activities.
Students explore the water, the beach, and the forest as they participate in activities such as sea life identification, crabbing, orienteering, cooking over a fire, birdhouse construction, knot tying, and more. At the end of the school day, families join for a picnic dinner as they enjoy an evening of entertainment. Past evening events have included musicians, magicians, and science-themed shows.
More information at Outdoor Education Day.
MINI-UNITS
One of the educational highlights of the PACE program are our Mini-Units.
These mixed-age sessions pull PACE students from a variety of grade-levels to discover and learn through immersive and hands-on activities. We organize Fall and Spring Mini – Units sessions.
We alternate between art and science for each session as well as incorporate environmentally conscious projects.
Because Mini Units are a fully parent/caregiver-led curriculum, this is a great opportunity to volunteer and not only earn more PACE hours but also create memories with our students.
More information at Mini-Units.
FIELD TRIPS
While the curriculum in the PACE classrooms is identical to that in the neighborhood classrooms, one of the great benefits of PACE is extra funding (provided by enrollment fees and member fundraising) for extra field trips.
While every child might learn, for instance, about ecosystems, PACE students could visit marshlands, beaches, and forests to better understand how those ecosystems work; while every child might learn about simple machines, PACE students might visit Boeing Air Field to see those machines in action.
More information at Field Trips & Guest Speakers.
SPANISH CLASSES
Throughout each year, PACE students experience weekly, in-class Spanish lessons. These lessons, which educate our students about both language and culture, grow steadily more advanced as our students pass from first to fifth grade.
A yearly event–also celebrated across the world–called the Dia del Nino (Day of Children) is a highlight of the PACE experience. Students take part in culturally-themed activities as they get to translate their classroom studies into practice.
More information at Spanish Classes.
GUEST SPEAKERS
Because every PACE family is required to volunteer for a minimum of 80 hours a year, many PACE parents, grandparents, and family members (with a great diversity of talents and experience) are placed in direct contact with PACE students.
PACE students are fortunate to be able to take advantage of the artistic, performance, literary, and scientific talents of our collective family.
More information at Field Trips & Guest Speakers.
ART DOCENT CLASSES
Our classrooms have assigned two Art Docent volunteers. With a big support from school PTA Art Docent Program our Art Docents teach students hands-on about different elements and genres of art. We provide art lessons each month and introduce our students to variety of art mediums like: paints, pastels, modeling clay, weaving and texture art, print making, ceramic clay, just to name a few.
The program goals are to emphasize that discussions about art and art focused activities are a springboard for creative exploration and to establish the importance of art as a critical part of the basic curriculum.
For our students we want to give them the ability to form definitions of their visual world, to introduce children to varied media and types of ART ELEMENTS as a means of expression of their creative endeavors. We also want to introduce them to artists in history and their work.
ADDITIONAL IN-CLASSROOM ENRICHMENT
Thanks to our daily parents and caregivers volunteers, and cooperation of our Pace teachers our program provides an additional in-classroom enrichment like cos-plays and drama; learning about other cultures and holidays through exploring their traditions; cooking and baking; cider making; hands on science experiments; chemistry reactions experiments; fun interactive social studies (some examples: creating together a giant map of WA state, making digital presentation and model doll for student biography assignment); learning about plants, photosynthesis and circle of plant life through growing from seeds, dissecting plants and more.
EGG DROP ENGINEERING CHALLENGE
Each Spring PACE hosts a STEM challenge event for Lockwood. The Egg Drop Engineering Challenge.
All Lockwood students are invited to participate and create their own egg contraption designed to protect their raw egg from a 30-40 ft fall. It is a wonderful opportunity for our students to learn planning, constructing, and the laws of physics as well as the attributes of the different materials they use.
To learn more visit Egg Drop Challenge
Know of any other business who may be interested in supporting our enrichments and programs?
Please contact Jason Taam // Pace Fundraising Chair or Natalie Streich // Pace President.