Students in Mr. Clausen and Mr. Hultgren’s Honors Humanities classes visited the National Gallery for the “Beauty” unit they are studying. This week students spent the morning in the West Building, looking at classical art. Students had the freedom to explore the collection. In afternoon, Ms. Smith met them in the East Building (modern) and led a discussion of abstract art, rooted in the Barnett Newman series “Stations of the Cross” in the East Building tower. Then, students were free to explore more on their own. At the end of the unit, students will write a paper focused on one work of art from the Gallery. They must discuss the artist, the work, their reaction to the work, and then whether and why they find the work beautiful. In preparation for the trip, students read an excerpt from James Joyce’s “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” and “Very Short Introduction: Beauty” by Roger Scruton.
Students in the Chinese class participated in a frosty morning volunteer work last week, setting up and taking down tables and chairs at a food bank. They helped with setting up and taking down the tables and chairs, managing the lines, registration, and distributing food, carrying boxes and putting them on the participants’ carts/bags. The volunteer opportunity was organized by Chinese teachers Xiaoming Han and Lawrence Liu.
Students celebrated the last day before vacation with a dress down day and holiday attire, from the most garish sweaters, to tinsel, to reindeer ears and holiday hats. Washington Latin will return January 3rd, but until then, we hope the two weeks are festive, relaxing, and full of joy.
This Thursday the AP Human Geography class took a field trip to Planet Word. The downtown museum focuses on language across culturesWelcome to Planet Word! Get ready to be inspired by the power, fun, and beauty of words while you explore our many interactive galleries and exhibits. It features a Speaking Willow tree designed by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, a 22-foot wall that shares the story of the derivation of the English language, and interviews with speakers and ASL signers from all over the globe, sampling various language to understand vocabulary, syntax, grammar, and meaning.
On Thursday, December 16th, the Distinguished Speaker Series: hosted 2013 Washington Latin graduate St. Clair Detrick-Jules. This filmmaker and writer and photographer focuses on immigration, women’s rights, and African American culture and identity. She directed and produced the documentary DACAMENTED, about nine DACA recipients. She is also the author of My Beautiful Black Hair, featured this summer in Washingtonian. Earlier in the month, Detrick Jules met up Lisa Pegram, the former creative writing teacher at Latin. Pegrem, who helped advise her on publicity for her book. Pegram’s poetry manuscript, “White Flag,” was published in 2015 and she is an adjunct professor at the Lesley University creative writing MFA program.
