On Tuesday, the upper school registered or pre-registered over 125 students to vote! Officials from the DC Board of Elections helped the students aged 16 and over through the registration process to help them participate fully in our democracy. The DCBOE representatives were thoroughly impressed with our students’ enthusiasm, detailed questions, and knowledge of the process. So many students attended that they ran out of forms and had to print out more. Latin students are ready to help shape decisions in their community!
Students in Ms. Barroso’s ninth grade class wrote essays this week reflecting how Medieval Europe resembled America in the 21st century. Students had to consider parallels and differences in military expectations, economics, literacy and education, religion, social hierarchies, and royalty. The writing activity encouraged students to think outside the box and make historical connections to the modern world.
The school is preparing to chase the winter blues away with another Wellness Day December 8th. The half-day events will include teacher and student-led workshops on all aspects of health, from creativity, yoga, hiking, story-time, athleticism, writing, arts, and relaxation. The Wellness Workshops help students tap into adaptive skills necessary for handling stress through positive outlets like physical activity, conversations, baking, theater, drawing, and other creative expressions.
Upper school students in Ms. Foster’s Red Hearts club are committed to community service to better the lives of the school community and the community outside our doors. They created care packages for Thanksgiving to show gratitude for the school’s janitorial and cafeteria staff to show gratitude for the hard work that keeps our community working every day. The club also takes part in activities geared to serving the homeless, elderly D.C. residents, and other at-risk groups in our city.
Students in several classes are working on creating scripts, using their original ideas and literature for inspiration. In Mr. Baldwin’s fifth grade theater class, students used props to improvise original storylines. In his sixth grade theater class, students utilized character archetypes from Comedia Del Arte to showcase various relationships from classical comedic scripts. In Ms. Reed’s sixth grade classes, students wrote scripts and videotaped dialogue adapted from the Jason Reynolds novel Ghost, which they had read in class. In eighth grade English, Ms. Haywood and Ms. Breitman’s students performed scenes from the play Inherit the Wind, and improvised scripted dialogue between characters imagining how the conflicts of the story continued in imagined scenes. By taking on the role of playwright, students get a lens into the creative process and dig deeper into the emotions and motivations for the characters they have learned about.
