Feb 14, 2020
The middle school science fair last Thursday allowed students to share their original research, as the fifth, sixth, and seventh graders showcased their experiments and the results. In fifth grade, Nora O’Donovan and Rina Saxon came in first with a study of the sugar content of soda, sports drinks and orange juice. Avis Weeden and Jesse Sweek came in second, with a study of the distance traveled by soccer balls filled with air and water. Finally, Gideon Chaffee and Christopher Amaya Camacho earned third place with their research about which liquid evaporates faster: water, milk, coke, or gatorade. The fifth graders, advised by science teacher Ms. Dorsey, completed their own tests of their hypotheses, recorded data, and displayed their results to outside judges. In sixth and seventh grade, students in Ms. Dobler and Ms. Hinkson’s classes competed. First place was Preston Olander, second place was Sam Wilkinson, third place was Kai Pfeuffer, fourth place was a tie between Sophia Showalter and Nina Harris and Nora Durcan. Fifth place went to seventh graders Summer Romney and Sophia Smith.
Feb 14, 2020
Upper school students in Ms. Foley’s English class worked with Poetry Out Loud teaching artist Regie Cabico to help prepare them for their poetry recitations. He taught them warm-ups, invited students to perform poems, and helped share performance critiques with the students. Next week students will be participating in their classroom Poetry Out Loud recitations The winners will compete for the schoolwide title, and proceed to the citywide competition. They have memorized poems for recitation, working on diction, emotion, pacing, and expression. Several teachers and administrators will participate in the judging, showcasing our school’s reverence for the spoken word.
Feb 13, 2020
Students in 8th grade English completed a Comedy Unit this week. The unit included a comedic memoir, several satires, two parodies, and an ironic twist story. For the project, students created their own original comedic pieces in each of these genres. The brave souls shared funny stories about times they lied or were misunderstood, satirized their teachers and the behavior of the adults in their society, created song parodies, and wrote stories with surprising ironic twist endings. The culminating quiz featured gun control editorials, Weird Al song lyrics, and a Shirley Jackson story complete with a surprise ending.
Feb 13, 2020
The school’s Environmental Club was featured in “Sprout It Out” a monthly newsletter for the city’s garden programs published by the State Superintendent of Education. The Environmental Club, which is advised by Mr. Torrence, helps to maintain the school’s hydroponic tower gardens and monitors the pH of the indoor towers, helping to harvest the greens the school grows. The club is also working to replace paper towels in the science and art classes with reusable towers and beautifying the grounds.
Feb 13, 2020
The Indoor Track and Field Team ended the season at the DCSAA Championships. Senior Luke Tewalt won the 3200m, 1600m, and 800m races, and set a new record for the city in the 1600m. He was named the meet Most Valuable Player, the first male winner of the MVP award for our school. The girls’ 4X200 team of senior Cecily Bufkin, sophomore Ezinne Ukaegbu, freshman Isabel Charles, and sophomore Ife Akinsanya were named All-State. The boys 4X800m relay took 3rd place, featuring a team of senior Oliver Spiva, sophomore Casey Montrey, junior Robbie Mirabello, and senior Luke Tewalt. Spiva finished 2nd overall in the 1600m race, earning his personal best time for the indoor season.
