ON THE BLACKBOARD ON THE BLACKBOARD (November 17, 2004)

HIGH SCHOOL MATHEMATICIANS . . . Students from Palo Alto High School flexed their math muscles earlier this month when they placed eighth in the 2004 Team Scramble , a national test in arithmetic. It was the first major team competition of the school year and students worked feverishly as the entire school raced to answer 100 problems in a variety of mathematical topics in just 30 minutes. With so many questions and so little time, students had to show strong math skills and an ability to quickly decide which problems to solve and which to skip. Because there wasn't enough time for a single student to solve all of the problems, students had to allocate the questions, as well as ensure all problems were answered and checked twice. Paly students will now participate in the 2004 Ciphering Time Trials on Dec. 9.

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS . . . The Children's Pre-School Center held events last week to celebrate its 20th anniversary with the teachers, staff, children, families and alumni who have supported the center over the years. The center is a non-profit organization that provides child development programs to families on the peninsula.

LOOKING AT ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS . . . The International School of the Peninsula , a language-immersion school in Palo Alto, converted its halls into an extravagant exhibit of talented student artwork Saturday. With leadership from internationally-trained teachers, such as Chantal Decleve and Maggy Gregoire-Henrot , the theme for the event was "Ancient Civilizations," through the eyes of children. Students and faculty transformed the entrance of the school into an Egyptian pyramid, where visitors entered and made their way through an "ancient passage" to the art exhibits. Student representatives were in costume, wearing interpretive headdresses of different animals. They guided visitors through the exhibit, while tribal and sitar music played in the background.

Send notices of news and events related to schools, child care or youth activities to Alexandria Rocha, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, 94302, or arocha@pawkeekly.com. The monthly school section runs the third Wednesday of each month. The deadline is the second Thursday of the month at 5 p.m.

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