Tuesday’s Spelling Bee was an exciting in-person competition in the middle school. The final spellers completed 30 intense rounds of competition to make it to the very end and move on to the cluster bee against other schools nearby in February. First place finisher was eighth grader Reva Kelly, second place was eighth grader Noa Smudde, and seventh grader Imanuel Brandon came in third. Seventh grader Neila Wright was an alternate. All fourteen spellers did an admirable job and showcased impressive spelling prowess.

The middle schoolers took part in an online grade-level spelling bee this week. The winners will proceed to a school-wide spelling bee next week on Tuesday in the afternoon in the MPR. The fifth grade winners were Peter Clausen, Elena Kwon, and Olivia Darling. The sixth grade winners were Mila Appelbaum, Boaz Movit, and Iris Vergow. The seventh grade winners were Caleb Chaffee, Imanuel Bradon, and Gideon Chaffee. The eighth grade winners were Reva Kelly, Noa Smudde, and Maisie Sommer. 

Students in ninth grade history with Ms. Barroso wrote persuasive essays considering whether the knights of the middle ages shared the same values as the samurai. Students also reflected on what makes a civilization cultured or savage, and made persuasive claims about samurai traditions and values.  Students in ninth grade global history evaluate cultures from multiple perspectives and experiences. 

Students in 8th grade English ended their unit on Justice with screenings of several news and movie clips and a socratic discussion about the most effective means of protest. Students read books about racial profile police brutality, the Salem Witch Trials, the Holocaust, food justice, and a police sting operation. They watched videos that featured civil rights marches, journalism, civil disobedience, and court cases and analyzed which was the most effective means of creating change.