On Friday AP Literature students in Ms. Seid’s class will visit the Will and Jane exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library, which honors William Shakespeare and Jane Austen and looks at common themes of love and gossip between their stories. The class reads Hamlet and Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre  and is planning a trip next Friday to Manhattan to see the Bronte exhibit at the Morgan. On Friday, the 18th, the class will hold the second annual Jane Austen Tea Party here at school, and students will be assigned various characters from Austen’s text to dress as for the occasion.

Students in Ms. Adele Mujal’s fifth grade English class continued their experiential study of Jean Craighead George’s novel My Side of the Mountain with a feast composed of the foods Sam Gribley might have eaten in the book while surviving in the wilderness. Students sampled savory fare like crayfish, rabbit, and acorn pancakes, and dandelion greens, and more common fare, like apples and berries to make sure even the most cautious taste buds were appeased. Thursday the classes were visited by falconer Mr. Mike Dupuy and two of his birds. Using the sounds, tastes and sights of the novel allows Ms. Mujal to make the adventure come alive for her students.

The Varsity Girls soccer team also hit the charter championship this week, and like the boys’ team was victorious. Coaches Richardson and Senty celebrated a win at the 2016 PCSAA girls soccer championship Wednesday with the team’s 4-0 victory over Capital City. The next game will  be Tuesday at St. John’s School.

Several middle school students earned accolades for their work in last weekend’s Model United Nations Conference  at Holton Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland.  Sixth grader Liam Murphy and seventh grader Vlad Zadorojny earned honorable mentions for their work debating on the topic of climate change. Seventh grader Henry Cohen was named “Outstanding Delegate for his work in the Disarmament and International Security Committee, debating on cyber security and cyber warfare protection.  Eighth grader Aaron Scott scored an “Outstanding Delegate” nod while serving on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees committee. Eighth grader Philip Horrigan nabbed the impressive ”Best Delegate” title while serving on the committee of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs debating nuclear non-proliferation. Meanwhile, sixth grader Jaden Davis won praise as a first time participant to the Model United Nations activity, debating the topic of the Syrian refugee crisis while serving on the committee of UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Eighth grader Nico Davis impressively served on the World Health Organization debating what to do about the Zika virus. The team is advised by seventh grade teacher Mr. Wills and fifth grade teacher Ms. Lee-Bey. All of the delegates researched their topics and wrote position papers to present to the chairpersons of their committees. They then defended their opinions and negotiated and persuaded other delegates to support their  resolutions through a full committee voting process.

Ninth graders saw “Romeo and Juliet” at the Shakespeare Theater this week.  The tale of feuding families and the unlikely lovers caught in between is a dramatic follow-up to last year’s students’ experience with the more whimsical “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Each year students in the upper school have the chance to read a Shakespeare text and perform scenes from the play after visiting a performance at Shakespeare Theater Company or The Folger Shakespeare Library. In recent years, upper school students have also seen “Othello,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Comedy of Errors,” “Henry IV Part I,” “Twelfth Night,” and “The Tempest.” Live performances help bring the words of the Bard into reality for students, so that young readers can appreciate the witty banter, double entendres, brutal swordplay, and epic tragedies on the stage. Meanwhile, Ms. Kolb’s eighth grade theatre students are planning to put on a student-directed production of “Macbeth” in the spring at the Folger library.