Fifth graders visited Calleva on Tuesday, for a day of outdoor education. Students took part in low ropes course and trust building activities, like the Think Tank, Giant Swing, Round Robin, and Zip Line. Students faced and conquered their fears and worked on communication skills with their peers. Ninth graders went Thursday to Terrapin Adventures to do outdoor activities, orientation, and team building skills. The sixth grade students visited Ray’s Meadow in Rock Creek Park for a water monitoring trip hosted by the Audobon Society. Sixth graders are research watersheds for a year-long study in water quality and environmental impact on plant and animal life. More outdoor trips will come in the spring for the seventh, eleventh, and twelfth grades. We relish the chance to take students into nature and build leadership skills along with respect for the environment.
Upper school students celebrated Spirit Week this past week. Monday started with a pep rally. On Tuesday, students showed Latin pride with their new school shirts. Wednesday was Meme Day, as students wore costumes inspired by Internet Memes. On Thursday students wore athletic attire to celebrate their favorite teams. Also, Friday students wore class colors. During the week students cheered for the volleyball and soccer teams in their homecoming games, and the week capped off with a Homecoming Dance on Friday.
Mr. Koenig’s 8th grade U.S History students conducted a mock trial this week in the International Criminal Court. The defendants were Christoper Columbus, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, and the System of Empire. The charge was Genocide against the Taino people of Hispaniola. Students played the roles of lawyers and witnesses, arguing whether Columbus’s treatment of the native people constituted Genocide. The class is working on a unit on exploration as part of the year-long American History curriculum.
Junior Luke Tewalt and sophomore Zoe Edelman won the boys and girls varsity A titles in the recent Cross Country Meet at Landon School. Tewalt won the 5K in 16:47, earning the fastest time recorded on Landon’s course since 2013. Edelman won the girls varsity ‘A’ title by over a minute.
Junior MK Wilson spent her summer at a University fo Virginia Creative Writing workshop hosted at Sweet Briar College. She took the 3 week long advanced poetry workshop. Her classes were taught by published poets and fiction writers. MK is the Assistant Editor of the school’s literary magazine, and editor-in-chief of the school newspaper.
Junior Gabby Micheli attended a seven week summer technology immersion camp called Girls Who Code. Each week had a different topics, including working with robots, designing websites, and programming an app. The program was hosted at Georgetown Law School and run by the organization Software.org. During the time there, Micheli got to meet with a senator and a congressman and earned a free laptop. To learn more about the program go to girlswhocode.com
