Texas Renaissance Festival School Days–11/4 & 11/5

The Texas Renaissance Festival invites all public, private and home school educators and students to join us for the 10th Annual School Days. School Days is offered exclusively as an educational opportunity. The festival grounds will not be open to the general public. It is designed to be age appropriate for students and all events, shows and activities will be both educational and entertaining.  Students, teachers and chaperones are invited to join the fun and come in costume.

Students step back in time as they enter the sights and sounds of New Market Village, an authentic recreation of a 16th century European Village.   Students will interact with hundreds of costumed characters representing the courts, culture, art, science and literature of the Renaissance Period.

Jousting knights, musicians, jesters and magicians perform on stages and arenas throughout the village.  Students will have the opportunity to learn courtly dances, the ancient art of falconry, and the history of arms and armor. 

Artisans in period dress illustrate the technological advances of the Renaissance age through live demonstrations in pottery, glass blowing blacksmithing, armor making and other arts and trades of this amazing period.

The 2014 School Days will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 4th and 5th, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.   The Texas Renaissance Festival is located at 21778 FM 1774, between the towns of Magnolia and Plantersville, Texas, 45 miles northwest of downtown Houston.

All Tickets are $8.00 per person, including same day ticket purchases at the gate.  Children 4 and under are admitted free.  There is no charge for parking.  

Tickets ordered prior to October 22, 2014 will be mailed.  Tickets ordered after October 22th will be placed in Will Call to be picked up the day of the event.  Admission includes all stage entertainment, demonstrations and interactive presentations. Admission purchase is required to participate in any School Day
contest.

800-458-3435
schooldays@texrenfest.com
http://texrenfest.com/school-days

The Festival is an outdoor event and will operate rain or shine. 

Contests
http://www.texrenfest.com/school-days/contests

School Days Performing Arts Festival 
http://www.texrenfest.com/school-days/performing-arts-festival

Theatre Arts Festival 2014
Tuesday, November 4th, 2014
Our Theatre Arts Festival is an adjudicated drama competition which offers students the chance to perform works of classical theatre in an authentic Renaissance setting.  Intermediate, junior high and high school students can compete in the categories of monologue/soliloquy, duet scenes, group scenes and one-act play.  Theatre Arts performances will be adjudicated by experienced and accredited theatre professionals and all contest judging will be based upon an impartial scoring system.  Awards will be presented to the highest scoring performances in each category and age group at a daily awards assembly hosted by the King and featuring the Royalty from England, France, and
Spain!

Early Music Festival 2014
Wednesday, November 5th, 2014
Instrumental and vocal music students are invited to participate in the Early Music Festival, an adjudicated competition for intermediate, junior high and high school students.  Bands, orchestras, choirs and other ensembles may perform period music in an authentic Renaissance setting.  Performances will be adjudicated by experienced and accredited music professionals and all contest judging will be based upon an impartial scoring system.  Awards will be presented to the highest scoring performances in each category and age group at a daily
awards assembly hosted by the King and featuring the Royalty from England, France, and Spain!

Individual and Family Portraits 11/5-11/7

Fernando Kohan with "Other Day's Light Photography" will be at EE on Wednesday, November 5th and Thursday, November 6th to take individual student photographs for the EE Yearbook. Family/group sittings will also be available on these dates and on Friday, November 7th. This will be the third year in a row Fernando has done our photographs at EE. We know you will love his work!

Individual student photos for the Yearbook will be taken during class time on Wednesday 11/5 and Thursday 11/6 prior to the sitting times listed on the sign-up form. If your student does not normally attend class on either of those days, please sign up for a time on the form so that he/she may be included in the yearbook. It would be helpful if you list "make up photo" in the comment section.

Fernando will also be available to take family/group portraits on Wednesday 11/5 and Thursday 11/6 as well as on Friday 11/7. The sitting is free of charge, and you may purchase portrait packages or a CD of your photos. He has added a family CD option as well. Please following the link below to the sign up form to reserve a time slot.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0d49afab2fa0fb6-individual

For more information contact Virginia Young at virginiakerr1965@gmail.com.

EE Fall Festival - November 7th

Hello EE Families! On behalf of  Tiffany Verot and Katrina West; your 2014 Fall Festival Coordinators… Welcome to the long awaited and highly anticipated "Fall Festival Volunteer Sign Up"!

You will find the "Sign up Genius" link below. Just click and go!  
Please read through the brief descriptions of the volunteer opportunities that are available.  We need many hands to make this a successful event, so please consider sharing some of your time.

Sign up sheets will be in the lunchroom and at the front desk FOR TEEN STUDENTS.  They will receive community service hours for their commitment. 

Please note:  Time increments are not posted on Sign-Up Genius. Once you have signed up YOU ARE NOT expected to work the entire time. Time slots will be in 30 minute or 1-hour increments depending on how many volunteers we have.  This will be determined and a coordinator will let you know before the festival.

BOOTH COORDINATORS NEEDED/ DUTIES:

• Ticket Sales Coordinator (tickets will be pre-sold) - Organize and track ticket sales.
• Kids Booth Coordinators - Contact/instruct/coordinate with your volunteers.  Gather materials, set up/tear down of booth.
• Bonfire Coordinator - Manage wood pile and keep area safe.  Make sure fire is secure and safe before leaving the area for the evening.
• Face and Pumpkin painting Coordinator - gather materials/supplies. Contact/instruct/coordinate with your volunteers. Set up/tear down of booth.

OTHER VOLUNTEER NEEDS:

• Set up/tear down crew
• Photo booth
• Cooking/serving
• Face painting/pumpkin painting
• Kids booths (fish pond/pin the tail/bean bag toss
• Cake walk
• Obstacle course/teen games
• Bonfire (adults)
• Hay ride
• Fill in/runner/ wherever you need me

Watch for upcoming emails ... We will need baked goods for the cake walk and old adult clothing for one of the teen games.... More info to follow!

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4BAEAE2C7-volunteer/5582148

Thank you,

Tiffany and Katrina

EIL BEST Robotics Team Results

The Extraordinary Innovation Labs BEST Robotics Team competed in the North Houston BEST Hub contest on Saturday, October 18th. The team came away with the Founder’s Award for Creative Design and advanced to Finals with their robot winning 4th Place Robot out of a field of over 20 teams.

The team also earned the 3rd Place BEST Award for their overall performance. The BEST Award is the most prestigious award in the BEST competition and recognizes the team for their efforts to Boost Engineering Science and Technology. As part of the team’s BEST efforts, the team earned a perfect score on their exhibit booth as well as a perfect score on their oral presentation.

The team will continue honing their engineering and marketing skills during the off-season. Please see the team’s website at www.eilrobotics.com for more information.

Houston Mini Maker Faire

November 1st
10am-5pm at the Stafford Centre
http://www.houstonmakerfaire.com/

Passing this on. It sounds like a lot of fun!  From the website:

Let’s get right to the point: we were all born to be learners and creators, but sometimes this gets lost in the rush and distractions of modern life. If you want to get back in touch with your inner passion to learn / create / design / build / make, Maker Faire is the place for you! Here you can see real projects, real experiences and activities, made by real people who might even live on your street. While there are some cool things to purchase if you want, Maker Faire is outstandingly about learning and doing.

Tickets for adults are $20.  Volunteers earn free tickets.
http://www.houstonmakerfaire.com/volunteer/

CYT at EE!

Plans are in the works to bring Christian Youth Theater classes to the EE campus starting with the Winter 2014 session! Classes will be held on Thursday evenings. Specific class details are still being finalized but will be released soon.

Registration for these classes will be handled through CYT – not EE. Be sure to check the CYT website for class details and registration information.

http://www.cythouston.org/classes/

Homeschool Baseball Opportunities

MtB Mustangs Kid's Camp - Saturday, Oct 24 (9:00am - 12:00noon)
The annual MtB Mustangs "Kid's Camp" will be held Saturday, October 25 for boys ages 6 - 10.  This is a great time when our coaches and high school players will lead boys through basic baseball drills.  This is a FREE event, so pass the word and let's get a good group of boys at this event.  The camp will be held at Barton Park, Conroe, Loop 336 just east of FM 1314.  Please download the 2014 Kid's Camp registration form from our website at: http://www.eteamz.com/mtb_mustangs/ (in the Forms section), complete it, and bring it to the camp.  The boys also need to bring a glove, cap, and their favorite bat - if they have one.  We look forward to having a great camp for our up-and-coming Mustangs.

MtB Mustangs 2015 Season Tryouts - Saturday, Nov 8 (9:00am - 12:00noon)
Mark your calendars for the 2015 season tryouts Saturday, Nov 8 at Barton Park.  These are tryouts for all players who want to play for the Junior High or High School MtB Mustang teams.  There is no cost for the tryout, but please come ready to try-on jerseys and caps so we can submit our uniform order and get them back in time for our kick-off meeting early-January.  This is an open tryout for any homeschool baseball player interested in playing next season.

For more info or to learn more about becoming part of the Mustangs, call General Manager Mark Pyle at 281-460-0502 or email: mark.pyle@suddenlink.net

MtB Mustangs - "More than Baseball"
http://www.eteamz.com/mtb_mustangs/

Please note that this is not an EE event. Information is shared for the benefit of our EE families.

EE Breakfast Club

THE BREAKFAST CLUB  is coming to EE beginning on Tuesday, October 21st and Wednesday, October 22nd!!!  All EE families are invited to take advantage of being able to easily feed your children breakfast on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and to gain a little extra time by dropping your children off at EE up to a half hour before school begins.  Your children will love being able to start the day socializing with their friends and having a chance to meet fellow students they have not yet met, all while eating some of their favorite breakfast foods. Please note that this event is a fundraiser for our students going to Italy over Spring break.

Here's the Breakfast Club Scoop: 

• Breakfast Club will be offered from 8:30-9:00am on Tuesday & Wednesday starting 10/21.
• Breakfast club will meet in the Lunch Room.
• The cost is $5.00 per child/per Breakfast Club session. This allows the child to spend supervised time eating breakfast with their friends on Tuesday and/or Wednesday mornings. 
• Students may choose up to three items from the selection available that day (for example: fruit, muffins, juice, milk, donuts, hot items, etc. -- which will vary each week).
• In order to plan for food and supervision, students must PRE-ORDER by the end of the previous class day. Just like lunch orders, please send $5 with your child and be sure they are signed up on the list at the House Manager’s desk.
• Students will need to check in at the front desk to get their name badges before arriving at The Breakfast Club. 
• Students who are not signed up for Breakfast Club may not come into the Breakfast Club area to hang out before classes start.

We hope to see you bright and early next week!

Extraordinary Innovation Labs Robotics Team

Come support the Extraordinary Education robotics team this Saturday, October 18th at the North Houston BEST Robotics Competition! Wear green to support our team’s theme.

Time: 9:30am - 4:30pm
The Woodlands College Park High School 
3701 College Park Drive, The Woodlands, TX 77384 | Map

The Boosting Engineering Science and Technology Competition (B.E.S.T.) is a robotics building competition held annually. It lasts six weeks and challenges students to use processes in engineering and design to develop a company that will build a robot to meet a certain need. This student led team will then have to compete with other companies from across their area to sell the product. The theme of this year's competition is Blade Runner. The “need” that must be fulfilled involves the process of carrying and constructing wind turbines. Our team at Extraordinary Education has participated in the BEST competition since 2001 having advanced to the Regional level 12 times.

The theme our team has selected for this year’s marketing efforts is the Power Rangers. We are looking for safe, efficient ways to transport and build wind turbines while making sure the animals that encounter them won't be harmed. In order to complete all the tasks that lead up to final game day, our team is divided into two sub-teams: the Technology Team and the Marketing Team. Each sub-team is in charge of a crucial part of constructing or promoting our company and products.

The Technology department deals with the construction of the product. The product, our robot, has to complete certain tasks and also comply with restrictions given by the judges in order to score. They also have to maintain data on how the robot was designed and built, the math involved, and other things required for Engineering Notebook. Both the Robot and the Notebook count toward the team’s overall B.E.S.T. score.

The Marketing Team's job is to promote our company, the Power Rangers. In order to do this, we must attract new “employees”, create outlets where people can view us such, construct an exhibit booth and deliver a marketing presentation to a board of judges while maintaining the professional environment. The Exhibit and Presentation also count toward the team’s overall B.E.S.T. score. Marketing is accountable for just as much work as the technology team, although their work is more public and less physical. However, they do have the opportunity to build when it comes time to construct their booth for Game Day.

Both teams are tested in their abilities to work together to create and accomplish a wide variety of tasks dealing with aspects of developing a company.

For more information about BEST Robotics or EIL's Robotics team, please visit our website for more information. (www.eilrobotics.com)