2019-2020 Featured Clubs Archive

 

 

S.M.I.L.E. stands for Science & Math Investigative Learning Experience. ​Tom McCall Upper Elementary & Oregon State University​ are partners in offering this club.​ OSU supplies education and materials​ while Tom McCall Upper Elementary supplies the space and the coordination of our students.​ Students take part in hands-on science experiments, applying math concepts​ throughout.​ It is our focus to have fun doing science and math in a safe, supportive, and inclusive community. 

 

Students in the S.M.I.L.E. Club learn how to work together to solve problems and take an interest in the natural world by visiting the Tom McCall forest and other outdoor sites around our school. We engage in engineering challenges, science experiments and math activities leading up to a ​s​cience challenge each spring.​ The goal ​is ​to encourage students, especially students who have been underrepresented, to look for careers in math and science​, to ​understand​ high level concepts through inquiry, ​to bring ​relevance to students’ lives, ​participate in ​field trips, a​s well as ​​problem-solving ​at ​events on college campuses. Each year our students attend a "science challenge" ​on the campus of ​Oregon State University ​in Corvallis, ​where ​we​ meet and work with students from other S.M.I.L.E clubs. ​Our students are ​supported in the challenge by ​OSU ​college students and​ then​ tour the campus.​ ​Unfortunately our "science challenge" was cancelled this year, ​however​ students had fun participating in the activities leading up to the challenge.

 

 

Roots & Shoots Club

 

Our Roots & Shoots ​Cl​ub is part of Jane Goodall’s international program for youth, now in over 120 countries. Our Tom McCall group is one of the oldest groups in the country. The overarching goal is to empower youth to know and feel that what they do does matter and that they do make a difference. Each group is asked to design and carry out activities that meet the goals of improving our environment, improving the lives of animals (wild and domestic), and improving our human community. With those goals in mind, we have been very active this year. 

 

We have participate​d in the Student’s Rebuild “Hunger Challenge”, where we have explored the issues of hunger and created illustrated recipes that help raise money for international hunger relief groups. We have made edible chimp enrichment necklaces made of cheerios and dried fruit. These were sent to an Oregon chimpanzee sanctuary. ​ One of our favorite activities is our visits to Nana Cardoon, a local ‘urban learning farm’. ​When we are at Nana Cardoon, ​we explore where our food comes from. We have been part of helping create rich soil, seed and crop harvest, and seen how seasons affect plant cycles. At the end of each visit, we enjoy a delicious, healthy meal together that we created from what is growing locally. Unfortunately, the ​C​ovid-19 school closure has prevented our planned visits this ​s​pring. Whenever the weather permits, we go out to the “Tom McCall Forest” to observe the natural world, sometimes recording observations through ​N​ature Journaling.

 

 

Chicas Club

 

Chicas Club is an innovative youth development program that helps empower Latina girls by assisting in the development of leadership skills, healthy lifestyles, cultural identity as well as to achieve academic success. Our program allows Chicas to grow into their full potential by allowing them to have the safe space to do so. As we meet every Wednesday and Thursday, chicas are encouraged to engage in group activities and discussions that will encourage the cultivation of new skills and experiences. Weekly we partake in after school activities and sessions, weaving in field trips to universities and colleges around the state of Oregon. Our girls are given the opportunity to learn and bond with one another, while developing these skills. Lifelong friendships of sisterhood are formed as they become an integral part of our community. 

 

 

 

 

The Arts & Crafts Club’s purpose is to provide students with the space and tools to be creative and to grow through artistic exploration. Workshops are taught in order to provide students new methods and mediums to further explore art forms, encouraging each student to use their personal knowledge and experiment by combining materials and creating their own projects inspired by their curiosity. The process of creating art is valued over the finished product. The goal is to have fun while crafting and creating. A wide variety of methods and mediums are offered in order to provide options that are inclusive of all students in the Arts & Crafts Club.

 

 

 

Mid City Hip Hop Club is where students are learning new dancing techniques from breakdance, a form of street dance which plays an integral role in hip-hop culture. Mid City Hip Hop Club was designed with the intent for students to learn the basic steps for each dance style. Each week the adviser for Mid City breakers will demonstrate basic steps to help students understand the purpose of performing basic breakdancing moves. In addition, the Hip Hop adviser teaches students basic hip hop moves.  We combine both styles to create freestyle dance routines. 

Our goal is to guide students to feel comfortable and gain confidence as dancers. At the end of each session, we form a circle and take turns showing our moves. Breakdancing and Hip Hop dancing are a lot of fun, great exercise, and are very impressive if you practice enough to make it look good. We encourage any student to join the Mid City Hip Hop Club. We welcome the Forest Grove Community to stop by and check us out.

 

 

Unified Sports Club

 

Unified Sports Club gives athletes who would not normally be able to play a sport the opportunity to get out, move, and connect with their peers. We promote unity in our community by getting kids with and without disabilities to work together as a team both in and out of the gym. It's our belief that this shows both our Athletes and Partners that we are all equals and that anyone can become a leader and be connected to others beyond their immediate circle. Our students involved in Unified Sport Club will make lifelong friendships as well as gain the skills needed to be successful leaders in our community. 

 

 

 

Freestyle Dance is a club where students express their love for music and dance. We meet once a week and each week we pick a different style/category of dancing. The last few weeks we have created many simple/basic routines for hip hop, cake pop and pop dance.We start each session with a quick warm up. Our students are encouraged to bring new ideas each week to showcase and introduce them to each other.

In Freestyle dance there is no pressure for students to perform in front of huge crowds. We only perform within our own group. Each day we decide as a club what we feel like dancing to. The goal is to guide our students to feel comfortable and gain confidence, encouraging them by dancing in groups three or duals. Each week we see our students growing confidence as dancers. Parents are welcome to stop by and check us out.

 

 

Gaming & Design Club

 

In the Gaming & Design Club we use the scratch.mit.edu website to explore the realm of programming.  It uses buttons instead of code to convey various instructions. Students can rearrange and repeat the buttons to create their own program.  It lends itself well to making two dimensional game formats, though it can also be used to create the more popular three dimensional environments of some modern games.  Multiplayer games can be made but only if they run on the same computer.

 

A main focus of our club is finding ways to tie this tool to the interests of our students. Some of the games they enjoy online can be recreated using Scratch, though without the online multiplayer functionality.  The system can also be used to create music or animations for those students less interested in gaming. A cartoon dance video can be made as easily as a game. We hope to challenge students to recreate games they like using Scratch, or to create other media.  We hope that they find this tool, and programming in general, a rewarding way for them to express themselves.

 

 

Soccer Club

 

Our CLC Soccer Club is all about having fun while improving our soccer skills. We invite all soccer levels and abilities. While some of our students have played on competitive teams, others have never played soccer before. Our encouraging, fun environment allows all students to excel at their own comfort level.Our time in club is divided between small and large group games, which allow students to learn and practice many different skills. Dribbling/ball control, passing, spacing, goal kicks and team sportsmanship are all a part of our daily games. When our weather allows, we venture out to our brand new Tom McCall Futsal Court, which is located on our campus. This was a generous donation to our school given by our local Portland Timbers!!