Monday, January 11th, 2021—In the fall of 2020, Syracuse Academy of Science high school welcomed virtual guest speaker Adrian Sims who spoke with the band students about his piece titled Champions Rising. This piece is one that resonated well with the students as it invites the listener to take a journey of overcoming obstacles, struggles and ultimately a triumph.

Over the past few months, the band students have been working hard and practicing over Zoom the piece Champions Rising, composed by Adrian Sims. We are excited to share that they recorded their performance for you to listen and watch. 

Monday, December 21st, 2020—Charismatic. Friendly. Talkative. With a passion for singing and a hidden talent of doing a Cher impression, this can only mean one Syracuse Academy of Science high school Senior Atom, Jacob Toledo! Check out our interview with Jacob and find out what are his goals after graduation, his advice to pass on to future Atoms and so much more. Without further ado, let us shine a spotlight for the month of January on Jacob Toledo.

Interview with Jacob Toledo

• What is one major accomplishment you had in your senior  year of high school? Independently applying for college.
• What are your goals for after high school? My goals are to graduate from college, so I can be the first generation to graduate from college.
• Name one person that inspires you? AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)
• What advice would you give to the next senior class? Some advice I have for the next senior class is to do your FAFSA right away, ASAP! It is a race & you want to be the first to catch the bag.
• Where do you see yourself in five years? I see myself either writing for a magazine or a blog while living in NYC.
• If you could have dinner with any person living or dead who would they be and why? I would have to choose Malcolm X to have dinner with because I want to get his opinion on the direction. The BLM movement is going & he was an intellectual person so I'd love to just converse with him.
• Name three traits that describe you? Charismatic, Friendly & Talkative
• What is your favorite hobby? Singing
• What is a hidden talent that no one or only a few people know about you? A hidden talent that not many people know about is that I can do a mean Cher impression
• What is your favorite memory of SAS? My favorite memory has to be hands down when all the languages would go down to NYC. It was my favorite part of the year & every time we went I felt so alive.

Monday, December 14th, 2020—There may be a lesson or two in this Virtual Story Time with News Channel 9’s Dan Cummings. Today, Dan read some of his favorite Aesop’s Fables to the 2nd grade Atoms. Before we settle in for this story time, let’s take a look at the history behind these well known short stories or fables.

Aesop’s Fables are a collection of short stories that were designed to teach moral lessons. These fables are credited to a Greek story-teller named Aesop who may have lived around or between 620 and 560 BCE. These fables are well known and have been translated into a variety of languages. Some of the fables are popular in many cultures and have been made into animated cartoon versions and are inspiration to some architecture. 

Thank you Dan for taking the time to share these historic fables with the Atoms. To listen to this Virtual Story Time of Aesop’s Fables, please click here.

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020—Do you ever catch yourself wondering or imagining what life may be like in a different town or city (or planet)? Maybe it’s a place where you can make all the decisions? If you have ever caught yourself dreaming or imagining this place you are certainly not alone.

The 6^th and 7^th grade Project Based Learning (PBL) classes teamed up to complete a project together where they were tasked to create a society. They had to determine not only what this place would look like, but the rules, the government, the behaviors, the societal norms and so much more. Once their town was complete they were put into a 'mock world' where they were given the following scenario.

Society 1 has experienced a drought this year and has had massive wildfires throughout their society. They have relied heavily on Society 3 and Society 5 to help feed their people. Two days ago Society 2 invaded Society 3 and cut off the trade route that Society 1 has been using and is now occupying that land and has claimed it as their own. The groups then had to form alliances, work together or stay neutral to decide how to help Society 1. What would you do?

Needless to say, groups formed an alliance to work together to try and help the other societies but inevitably a war was declared and Societies 1, 2, and 3 were victorious over Societies 4, 5 and 6. Societies 7 and 8 stayed neutral.