Rapping up the Semester

Rapping up the Semester

Eighth graders in English class performed raps about immigration this week. For the second quarter, students have been reading various books about immigration. After constructing formal persuasive letters to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley about America’s policies on refugees, students loosened up with playful songs using vocabulary and quotes from their books. The student group that won the highest reviews from their peers will have a rap-off freestyle battle with their teachers. For the culminating quarter project, students will also complete a DBQ, using charts, photos, and political cartoons about refugees.

Art on Display

Art on Display

Just in time for the new year, Ms. Stephens’ seventh and eighth graders are displaying their masks and sculptures in the library. The 7th grade art students worked in small groups to study various folk art and visionary artists. For the project, the students had to collect materials in and around their house or find materials in the Art room to put together their sculpture. They could create a figure, something from nature, or a structure of some kind. They were also tasked to use one material that their artist used and were challenged to put together materials without using some kind of adhesive. Meanwhile the 8th grade masks along the back wall either express the true self of the student or help hide the true self/soul. The students learned about masks from around the world, identified their personality strengths and weaknesses, and looked at contemporary mask-masking artists. The masks are made from plaster strips that the students created with partners by plastering each other’s faces. Students exhibited include seventh graders Isabel Servaites, Kestus Carlson, Mansur Diallo, Amirah Taliaferro-Brunn, Henry Batkin, Ruthie Valentine, Sofia Atkinson, Samantha Martinez, Genet Tewalt, Jackson Lewis, Sam Regardie, and Mona Herst, and eighth graders Ife Akinsanya, Adriana Torero, Meliza Sorto, Jacob David-Fox, Luke Lowenfish, Young Pal Stallings, Evie Stettin, Ben Southworth, Juliette Warga, Caroline Watterson, Bruno Bakel, Caly Cage, Ben Long, Miles Pulford, and Nina Gomez.

WJLA Features Senior Jonathan Benitez

Senior Jonathan Benitez was featured as part of ABC7’s Michelle Marsh’s Inspire series over the winter break. Benitez is the recipient of a Beat the Odds scholarship from the Children’s Defense Fund. You can watch the story below.