Seniors went into the woods last Friday for a double overnight at Western Maryland 4H Education Center. The two day, two-night event with all senior advisors included team building games, solo written reflections, card games, canoe activities, hikes, and advisory competition.
Along with the recent high school-wide trips to the ropes course at Sandy Springs, this 4H trip allows students time to interact outdoors in nature, build esprit de corps with their grades and advisories, learn to build trust with a wide group of friends, and expand their sense of confidence and community.
The sports teams had a very winning week! After beating Basis last week 26-20, middle school football triumphed over Paul this week 26-0. The middle school girls’ volleyball team also beat Paul, 2-0 on Monday. Varsity girls’ soccer won 6-0, and Varsity boys’ soccer bested Paul as well, 6-1.
Girls varsity soccer nabbed a big win against DCI 4-0, with two goals scored by Madison Cerkey-McFadden, one by Dami Akinsanya, and one by Layla Axam. Cross country starts also performed beautifully at Thursday’s meet with the girls team finishing second overall. Abby Hawkinson finishing first, Lola Orlove-Rodriguez finishing second, Lily Edwards finishing 8th and Lyla Kramer finishing ninth.
Sixth grade science students in Ms. Dobler’s class are finding scientific research in our own backyard. Students have been studying interactions in ecosystems by studying animals and plants in the school garden. This was an opportunity to look for examples of those interactions in the “real world.” In next week’s field trip through the neighborhood and Rock Creek Park, sixth graders will continue to explore their environment, observe trends, changes, and make connections to understand how the plants and animals around them interact.
English 9 students are hard at work on an Afrofuturism project. After completing the novel Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. The book depicts the experiences of an African student in the future attending an intergalactic college, when her journey is intercepted by attacking aliens who take over the ship. The story has many allegorical elements. For the project, Mr. Baum’s classes chose between a research project in which they write a report on another artist in any discipline who uses afrofuturism, and connecting this to Binti. Another option is to create an original story using futuristic settings and portraying aspects of the African American experience.
Washington Latin class of 2012 graduate St. Claire Detrick-Jules joined Ms. Breitman’s school newspaper club to discuss her work as a documentarian and the author of a book. She took students questions via Zoom, reflecting on how she tries to use balance and not convey bias, and also how she edits quotes to select the main idea out of what people have said. Students recently completed their interviews for the October issue and will be working on rough drafts this week.
Eighth graders in Mr. Byrd’s class are working on scripts depicting a conversation between Native Americans and Europeans after Europeans first arrive in the New World. Students were to use their knowledge of the Columbian Exchange and Native Americans’ way of life before European arrival. Topics included lust for gold, spread of diseases, conversion to Christianity, scarcity of food, sailing the sea, building empires, the use of the environment, weapons exploration, technology’s exploration, exploration, navigating new land, domesticating animals. Students will be presenting the scripts in Mr. Byrd’s class. This is one example of how our history classes utilize simulations, scripts, dramatic readings, and other interactive assignments to help history come alive.
