Eighth graders took a tour this week of the D.C. Superior Court and several monuments this week. The courts trip is part of the eighth grade English class’s Justice Unit, which includes several historical fiction and nonfiction stories related to famous court cases like the Scopes trial and the Salem witch trials. Students observed trials and got to speak to a judge about the challenges in his job, and maintaining a fair and unbiased courtroom. The students have been studying the signing of the Constitution and founding of the government in eighth grade history. While the government shutdown threw a wrench into some of the plans, limiting access to the National Archives, students got an insight into how the three branches of government work through trips to the Jefferson Memorial and the Supreme Court, as well as a visit with D.C. shadow senator Michael Brown.
Ms. Kolb’s theater class took an improv workshop last week with a faculty member from Second City- Chicago who is currently with a group performing their show “Love, Factually” at the Kennedy Center. Eighth graders in Ms. Kolb’s class were given improvisational activities to help them with physical comedy and public speaking skills. The class will perform scenes from “Much Ado About Nothing,” at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre’s upcoming student Shakespeare festival.
The week before vacation is a homecoming of sorts for Washington Latin alumni. Teachers and administrators warmly greeted students from the class of 2012 through 2018 who came back to visit their teachers, tell stories about college and the working world, and catch up with friends. Students shared details about academic classes, plans for majors, sports activities, their roommates, and learning to adapt to different social environments. The school has a very strong alumni network, helmed by director of admissions and alumni liaison Ms. Eleby-El.
The Indoor Track team had an exciting meet at the Hall of Fame Invitational at the Armory in New York City. Sophomore Zoe Edelman broke the meet record in the Freshmen/Sophomore Girls’ Mile with a time of 5:21.6 and also won the 3000m race with a time of 10:31.98. She is currently ranked 6th nationally in that event and ran an indoor Nationals qualifying time! Meanwhile junior Luke Tewalt also broke the meet record in the Boys’ Small School Varsity Mile, running 4:28.49. Luke also won the 2 mile race with a time of 9:33.93, putting him at #1 nationally in that event at this time! Other fabulous performances were clocked by Raven Berry, Cecily Bufkin, Casey Montrey, Chima Ukaegbu, Immanuel Charles, and Oliver Spiva. The team is lead by Coach Callum and Coach Akinsanya.
Last Friday students in the Chinese classes went to the Freer/Sackler museum and gallery for Asian art and to a Chinese restaurant to practice their Chinese while enjoying Chinese delicacies. Students in grades 8 though 12 participated. Modern language field trips allow students to get a greater insight into the cultures they are studying and put their new language skills to use in an authentic environment.