Seventh and eighth graders had their winter theater showcase last week. Students from Mr. Birkenhead’s theater class performed plays in the MPR. Eighth graders performed  scenes from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a musical by William Finn. Seventh graders performed scenes from Fools by Neil Simon. 

Mr. Liu’s government class visited the oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday. They were present for some of the case of Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro. The class watched court proceedings, including hearing Justice Sonia Sotomayor question one of the lawyers alongside all of the justices. The trip was the culmination of a semester in which the students learned about the Supreme Court and all nine justices and debated several Supreme Court cases.  

In eighth grade history students are evaluating historical texts to gain better understanding of the period that lead up to the Civil War. Students are doing close readings of writing by Frederick Douglass, Clara Barton, Sojourner Truth, along with the “The Gettysburg Address”, Robert E. Lee’s Farewell, and the poem “O Captain My Captain.” By evaluating, summarizing, and memorizing these texts students are getting a closer understanding of the transformational themes of freedom, justice, and unity that were addressed during the country’s struggle to remain intact and whole in times of unprecidented division. Students will perform the speeches in class, for their teacher privately, or for high school students.