Dear Parents,

We’ve had a very productive week here at Plato Academy!  We have concluded our reading of Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes.  We will now be moving on to William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, a tale of how members of a society deal with a leader who they fear may become too powerful if not contained.

We also visited Graceland Cemetery as the culminating event in our unit on Chicago history.  We also read biographies of more than 40 Chicagoans who had a profound influence upon the city and the surrounding suburbs who are buried at Graceland.  Additionally, we created webs demonstrating how the residents of Graceland were connected in life.  As an example, piano retailer William Kimball who lived across the street from George Pullman in life on Prairie Ave., now resides across the road from him in death.  William Hulbert shares a connection with George Pullman in that Hulbert was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by President Grover Cleveland, who also sent federal troops to stop a strike at George Pullman’s train car company in the 1890’s.  John Root and Daniel Burnham who are both buried at Graceland established the architectural firm of Burnham and Root in the 1870’s.  Both are connected with architect Louis Sullivan who worked with Burnham and Root on several projects including the World’s Fair of 1893.  Photographer Richard Nickel is connected to Louis Sullivan as he was inside Adler and Sullivan’s Stock Exchange Building when it was being demolished in the 1970’s when he met his untimely demise.   Carter H. Harrison is connected to Daniel Burnham and John Root because all three worked on building the 1893 World’s Fair.   At the conclusion of the fair, Harrison was assassinated in his home.  Allan Pinkerton is connected to Joseph Medill who helped establish the Republican Party whose first nominee for president was Abraham Lincoln.  Pinkerton would soon thereafter be assigned the arduous task of getting Lincoln safely from Springfield, Illinois to Washington DC  for his inauguration in 1861, amidst numerous death threats.

We also discussed the withdrawal of American forces from Syria and the implications for the Kurdish people living there who have been strong allies of the United States in our battle against ISIS and other extremists in the area for many years.

In Science, we learned how iguanas have returned to Santiago a small island which is part of the Galapagos system in South America off the coast of Ecuador.  We also explored the history of the Galapagos Islands, specifically, Charles Darwin’s work there in the 1830’s in advance of his development of the theory of natural selection.  We also talked about the differences between the theory of natural selection or Darwinism and creationism.  Additionally, we discovered that many species indigenous to the Galapagos Islands and South America are disappearing. We explored the reasons behind these extinctions and what might be done to remedy the situation.

In Math we worked on multiplying decimals by other decimals and continued playing the 24 Game.

Have a pleasant weekend. As always, if there are any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me at: michael.flynn@platoacademy.org

Dr. Michael