Agassiz Elementary School: College Prep
This year at the Agassiz Elementary School, ALERTA students are practicing all the skills they’ll need to apply and be accepted to college.  They are working on college-bound vocabulary and created “Pathways to College” diagrams that give them a visual picture of what it takes to go to college.  A large focus of their module is reading The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez, the story of a young migrant farm worker who, in spite of the difficulty of his immigration to the United States and the arduous work that he and his family do, aspires to school and academic learning.  Students at the Agassiz School also went on a field trip to see the Merengue!  Ritmos Visuales exhibit at the National Center for Afro-American Art this fall, and will be visiting UMass Boston this spring.

Blackstone Elementary School: Environmental Explorers
Continuing and elaborating on the theme from the 2008 ALERTA summer program, the Blackstone school is focusing on ecology this year. Students will learn about the science and the social studies surrounding the environment.  This includes in-depth studies and comparisons of the Earth’s eight biomes, figuring out the food web in smaller eco-systems, and strategizing what steps to take to create a healthier planet.  At the end of the year, the ALERTA students will write a play about what they have learned, which they will perform for all of the Blackstone students, as well as ALERTA parents.

Hennigan Elementary School: Community Peacemakers
Students at the Hennigan School are completing a new module this year: Community Peacemakers.  Drawing from a variety of conflict resolution, teaching tolerance, and history curricula and resources, the Hennigan ALERTA group is learning all about how to be a positive force in their world.  They discussed how to make their school into a safe space without bullying or “put-downs,” profiled significant peacemakers throughout history, including Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., and will be practicing how to be leaders in conflict resolution.  Students will culminate the year with a community service project.

Hernandez Elementary School: Ecology

In their first year with Project ALERTA, students at the Hernandez School are focusing their learning on ecology.  The 4th and 5th grade are students learning about ecosystems, while the 3rd grade group is learning in depth about water.  Among the projects that students at the Hernandez are engaging in are painting ecosystem murals, designing experiments with water, and building eco-columns, which are self-contained eco-systems in recycled soda bottles.  Students at the Hernandez will be taking a field trip to the New England Aquarium to see ocean eco-systems close up.

Hurley Elementary School: Astronomy

This year at the Hurley Elementary School, ALERTA students are studying astronomy. Students are learning about the planets in our solar system, the history of astronomy, Earth's rotation and revolution, how gravity works, and what life is like for astronauts in space. They also created a model of the solar system using papier mache.  Students will learn how to make scientific observations of the sky, and practice these skills during a trip to the Boston Museum of Science, where they are also seeing the Omni Film, “Roving Mars.”

Marshall Elementary School: Sports Math – Human Body – Nutrition
At the Marshall, students are doing three short modules this year: “Sports Math,” the human body, and nutrition.  They began by learning all about the math of team sports: player statistics, and the areas and perimeters of baseball diamonds, basketball courts and football fields, all while reading the biographies of sports legends.  Later in the year, students at the Marshall will study the most fascinating subject of all: themselves. In this science-based module, students will learn about the various systems of the human body and what our bodies need to stay healthy.