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Not only did I learn recently that I am more Neanderthal than some 95% of the human race, I also found out that I am 99.9% of northern European extraction, which, as a repeated skin-cancer survivor, comes a no surprise to me. However, I was quite excited to learn from this same 23andMe test that I am something like one-tenth of one percent (approximately a hang-nail's worth) Askenazi, which is a broadly dispersed, generally European subset of the Jewish people.
I am quite excited to have learned this about myself, that some seven or eight generations ago I had a Jewish ancestor. Turns out, I now fit right in with my wife and daughter in this respect. The same 23andMe test that I took told Lisa that she's almost 30% Ashkenazi and also that she's nearly 10% African, and even a skosh east Asian, most of which she didn't know about herself at all before (and the story of her previously unknown 63-year-old long lost sister that 23andMe told her of is great story for another time, too). All of this, of course, makes Bek a wonderful amalgam of just about every continent and many of the major people groups in the whole entire world. Kinda like Marshall School. Which thrills me to no end.
All that said to say this: חג פסח שמח... happy Passover! Which is an admittedly religious thing to say to you on this Friday afternoon after the first full moon after the vernal equinox (or something like that). But a religious remembrance to which, in view of my newly discovered cultural and ancestral heritage, I hope you will indulge me, just this once.
Testing Season Is Upon Us
Just another heads-up: we dive full force into our annual state-mandated AzMerit tests next week, and will continue to plug away at them for all students in grades 3-5 throughout the next several weeks.
Thanks for keeping your head, and the collective heads of all your students, in the game.
If you're one of the lucky ones who will be proctoring these sessions, please ensure that your tests are secured each night, that you follow all protocols and instructions to the letter, that you review and honor the security agreement that you signed, and that your students comply at all times with the state's expectations for how, where, when, and who must take these tests.
If your position let's you out of this obligation, nevertheless, we will expect that you will respect the effort that is being made in this regard by so many members of our school community and that you will demonstrate this at all times by moving quietly throughout the building during this period, by reviewing the many small changes and modifications that have been made to schedules and calendars, and by giving, as you are able, both moral and professional support to your cohorts who are reasonably anxious to see their students succeed in this endeavor.
Calendar
- Monday 02 April
- Third grade AzMerit: Writing
- Kinder Suzuki performance at FHS, 5:30
- Tuesday 03 April
- Fifth grade AzMerit: Writing
- First grade Suzuki performance at FHS, 5:30
- Wednesday 04 April
- Fifth grade AzMerit: ELA & Math #1
- PTO meeting in the Library, 4:30
- Second grade Suzuki performance at FHS, 5:30
- Thursday 05 April
- Fifth grade AzMerit: ELA & Math #2
- Friday 06 April
- Kevin and Kathy Brown visit to some K, 3, 4 classes for book presentation, 9:00
- STEAM Council in the Science Lab, 12:45
