Students in 8th grade enjoyed a busy day of visiting the National Mall for Friday’s Field Trip. This trip included scavenging exhibits on natural science, Latin, and history at the American History, Native American, and other museums to answer questions that the teachers had generated. This is the first field trip of the year for the 8th grade, but students will also visit the Shakespeare Theatre in December to see Much Ado About Nothing. 

Students in the Jazz Band, Honors Choir, Latin Voices, and Eighth Grade Choir will have a concert on Wednesday, November 9th at 7pm. The event is coordinated by Ms. VerCammen and the Arts Department.

The Middle School Cross Country team competed in the charter school championship meet last Saturday, and the kids ran remarkably well. Sixth grader Tori Starace finished 3rd overall, eighth grader Lyla Kramer finished 6th, and eighth grader Madelyn Zeller finished 9th. The team is coached by Mr. Green and Mr. O’Brien. All runners improved their 4K times by nearly 3 minutes in the championship race. Those improved times, along with Lia Simone Valentine finishing 12th overall in her very first 4K meet, helped put their team into position to beat out DCI and win second place to bring home a runner-up trophy. Five runners won individual medals for their races: sixth grader Sienna Kepner, seventh grader Avery Park, and sixth grader Liam Pittard, as well as Tori Starace and Lyla Kramer. Go Lions!

Girls’ varsity soccer heads to the playoffs next week after winning Monday against E.L. Haynes, 8-1. The team’s current record is 8-4. Boys varsity soccer has a game against DCI, ranked 13th in the city. Varsity girls volleyball beat Friendship Tech Prep this week in two straight games. Girls Volleyball is ranked 12 in the city, with an overall record of 11-5. Middle school volleyball won in a nail biter third set of the semi-finals against Two Rivers in a home game, and will go to the championship game on Friday. Middle school boys’ flag football lost its first game in 2 years to Capitol City in the quarterfinals 12-14. Both the boys and the girls middle school soccer teams won the first round in the St. Andrews, losing the championship games to St. Andrews last Friday.

Eighth graders completed their Shakespearean sonnet projects last week. Students wrote 14 line poems in Shakespearean verse, using iambic pentameter and traditional vocabulary from the point of view of various characters in Much Ado About Nothing. Students considered each character’s emotions, values, and narrative style, and addressed a love or hate poem to another character, using the sonnet rhyme scheme. Students will have a chance to see the play performed in December at Shakespeare Theater Company.