In The ZONA - Scottsdale Dec. 2013 | Page 14

Tesseract School Perfectly pitches their students for success! Article written and submitted by some members of Tesseracts’ Pitch Perfect Club (Amelia Anseth (8th Grade), Madelyn Anseth (10th Grade), Chloe Breger (10th Grade) and Jake Redmond (10th Grade)) completed commercials are occasionally used to help market the school. T esseract School, located in Phoenix, Arizona definitely knows the true meaning of a close-knit community. They stress ethical, compassionate and thoughtful behaviors in their students as they prepare them to help shape their world by making a difference to the community around them. The curriculum includes several class projects relating to real-life learning experiences and prepares the students with practical skills, in which the students all the way from early childhood to high school get excited about learning, while having a lot of fun. Tesseract’s curriculum ensures that learning occurs thematically throughout each class and solidifies the skills across subjects. One such theme is economics. Students in Middle School complete a unit on economics in social studies, ‘math in my dream job’ in math, learn correlating vocabulary in Spanish and participate in a Mercado project integrating all these skills. There are many other areas where students are exposed to economic concepts and skills throughout their educational experience at Tesseract. One fantastic part of Tesseract's curriculum is something that the 5th and 6th grade students participate in called "BizTown”. BizTown is an opportunity for the students to learn responsibility and build their business skills. Before their trip to BizTown, the kids complete exercises and other fun activities in class to learn about things such as economics, how to write and understand a check and how to properly Pitch Perfect Club apply for a job. The students even have the opportunity to vote and run for mayor in their educational town! The 5th and 6th graders can apply for jobs they want to have during their stay in BizTown. BizTown itself is an indoor make-believe city where the kids work at the jobs they applied for. They even have breaks where they could go around to the other places where their friends 'worked’. Overall, BizTown is a fun and educational experience for the 5th and 6th graders. This style of learning that Tesseract employs helps the students to learn lessons that are important skills that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Members of the Tesseract 7th and 8th grade Spanish classes participate in an event called Mercado every year. Mercado, or 'market' in English, is a simulated business environment. Students independently form groups and design a product for them to sell at a small market, which is set up on campus. These products are purchased by the fifth and sixth graders, as well as upper schoolers who attend the event. The name Mercado stems from the event’s connection to the Spanish curriculum. Products made for sale in the market must relate to Spanish culture somehow. Because of this, popular products are often churros, maracas, or small sombreros. In addition, all students are encouraged to speak Spanish while making their way through the makeshift market. In fact, it’s a large part of their grade. Both the middle and upper school have a vast number of clubs, such as Student Government, Spanish, and Amnesty. But this year there is a new club at Tesseract called "Pitch Perfect”. It is a marketing club formed by two sophomore students: Chloe Breger and Maddy Anseth (under the guidance of our new Director of Marketing & Communications – Jacqui Breger). The club got it's name not from the movie, but from the idea that marketing is all about pitching a campaign which they will be attempting to do perfectly. There are numerous elements to marketing which members of the club will employ, such as writing newspaper articles and press releases, learning how to create a promotional video, which will show the 'plusses' of attending Tesseract, what goes into an advertising campaign, creating brand recognition, online marketing, to name a few... The marketing club has taken it upon themselves to highlight the achievements of Tesseract students in a special section of the school website called: "Tesseract Toast”. This club is not exclusive to high school only, but it invites the 7th and 8th grade students to participate and have their voice heard. Tesseract School is dedicated to fostering each students’ intellect, love of learning and strength of character in an innovative and collaborative environment. By empowering its students with the ability to think critically, analyze and understand the real-world applications of what they learn, the Tesseract student will be well prepared for any situation they are confronted with in their future. Tesseract students go on to excel in college and beyond, lead lives of purpose and graduate as ethical and compassionate citizens with a global perspective. Z In the upper school, some of the theatre students are given the unique opportunity to create their own commercials from the ground up. They have to do everything; they script, storyboard, cast, direct, and film the entire thing. Of course, they get a little help from their teacher and classmates! The Jake Golden 5th Grader at Benchmark Elementary I have just started playing Lacrosse for a month. I decided to try it because it is dif