Members of the boys track team returned to the Penn Relays last week, ready to perform. The team that has earned many medals in the past included seniors Ayinde Motirayo and Max Muradian, junior DJ Okuleye, and sophomores Oliver Spiva and Luke Tewalt. Last year Motirayo and Muradian were part of a team that ran a 3:31.32 in the boys’ 4x400m at the Relays, breaking a previous school record by almost 4 whole seconds. This year the team cut their seasonal record down by 3 seconds, and Max Muradian ran the third-fastest leg in their heat out of all 64 runners!
I like to think of our library as the heart of the school building – not just because of its physical location, but also because of the role that it plays in the day-to-day life of the school. With huge picture windows, artwork and a magnificent quote board, it is an aesthetically pleasing space. It is also a center of collaboration, inquiry, and reading for pleasure. Perhaps more so than any other place within the main building, people gravitate toward this space.
For a school where words matter, we can definitely say that books matter too. To this end, the library has an impressive fiction room filled with a wide variety of works. If your child has a favorite author that interests him or her, this is a great place to look. From time to time, Ms. Hamm arranges “Book Tastings,” featuring selections displayed on tables with fancy tablecloths. Classes visit, by invitation. And, after an introduction, students mill around the room, sampling various “courses” of texts prepared for them, based on author style, genre, or interest. On other occasions, the comfortable chairs and couches and nooks of the main library room are filled by fifth graders and their 12th grade reading buddies. As a part of a program designed by two English teachers: Ms. Mujal and Ms. Seid, younger and older students are encouraged to connect with each other while exploring high-interest literature.
Our nonfiction room features a variety of high-quality research texts arranged by area of study. Ms. Hamm uses this room to teach students about research and also hosts smaller book groups. So far this year, Ms. Hamm has spent more than 200 hours working with different classes in varying grades. She has partnered with teachers to create in-depth research projects that familiarize students with our print collections and media resources, and how to use them to find information.
We are excited about new books on math and statistics that have arrived in time for Math and Statistics Awareness Month (April). Ms. Hamm has also set up a remarkable collection of Shakespearian works and activities just in time for the Bard’s birthday this month. And, to cap it off, with the help of Physics teacher Ms. Shapiro, and Middle School Science Department Chair, Ms. Dobler, Ms. Hamm has created a Makerpsace, or lab for creating physical objects, including a 3D Printer.
Juniors visited the Museum of African American History Tuesday. Students had the chance to observe several exhibits and tie their learning into their history and English classes this year, examining aspects of American History and how it impacted the lives of African Americans. Their summer reading was the science fiction graphic novel Kindred by Octavia Butler, a fictional evaluation of the modern scars left by slavery. In the first quarter, students read excerpts from the narratives from Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs, and poetry by Phillis Wheatley, and learned about Harriet Jacobs and Thomas Jefferson. They also analyzed the film 12 Years a Slave. In the fourth quarter, they are reading Song of Solomon, a sprawling story by Toni Morrison stretching from slavery through the Great Migration and the Civil Rights movement. In March Washington Latin parent Judge Robert Wilkins of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, spoke at our school about the century-long struggle to establish a museum honoring AfricanAmerican history. He was Chairman of the Site and Building Committee of the Presidential Commission established by Congress in 2001 and authored a book about the path to making the museum a reality.
On Tuesday, Washington Latin hosted its first ever Blood Drive in the gym. Senior Emma Moore and Humanities teacher Bill Clausen helped organize this event. The blood drive was planned to coincide with the monthly ANC meeting and there was also a PFA meeting that same evening. The school met its goal of 30 pints donated, which can save up to 80 lives; because the minimum age for donation is 17, many of the participants were first time donors. On Thursday evening, Latin hosted LearnServe International for their annual Fellows presentations. Former Head of School Martha Cutts is on the board of this organization and attended. There were 175 guests for the event, which occupied the library, MPR, and several classrooms and showcased more than 75 student-directed service projects.
Ms. Lee-Bey escorted the WLPCS Great Debaters Policy Debate Team on Friday to a rally for climate change at the Wilson Building. Four students presented speeches at the rally and to DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson, Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White, and a staffer of Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau. Students voiced support for a policy to reduce carbon emissions in the city. On Saturday the debate team participated in the final tournament of the regular debate season, earning a nomination for Team of the Year. Seventh grader Jackson Lewis and eighth grader Nassir Purnell-Snowden also earned nominations for Debater of the Year. Under Ms. Lee-Bey’s supervision, the team has grown from two to 14 debaters, who won many accolades. Other members of the team include seventh graders Brandon Souverain and D’Andre Person, sixth grader Aaron Smith, and fifth graders Mariana McDiarmid, Lena Webb, Vanessa McCullers, and Aaron Smith.
