Volume 8: Issue 9
    
View From the Nest    
The following blog entries have been published since our last newsletter:
 
The Fierce Urgency of... Whenever?, by Bill Ivey, written for Martin Luther King Day.
Pride in My Work, by Bill Ivey, about the importance of snowball fights.
Horses We Love,  by Sam Pleasant, a reprint of an earlier article by Sam about her relationship with horses as a rider, an alumna, and a riding instructor at the school.
Ninja Women, by Bill Ivey, about women in sports in Iran, the U.S., and around the world.
8th Grade STEM with Brittany    
Middle School science students recently had a class speaker. Dr. Rob Gutermuth, research professor in the Astronomy department at UMass Amherst came to talk about his research on star formation. The students got to see why using different wavelengths of light helps us to see far more of the universe then when we look with visible light alone. They were very respectful and asked some great questions. We are now continuing our study of astronomy as we learn more about stars and constellations. We’ll move onto the Sun next.

In Algebra, we just finished wrestling with some more word problems as we explored rate and area problems. We were asked to participate in a just-for-fun, all-school math contest designed to honor those students who can apply math to non-standard problems. Some students were very successful with this. Now that they have all tried it, they will have the choice whether or not to participate in the remaining 3 contests this year. To most students’ delight, we have left word problems and are now working on factoring (remember FOIL?). We are right on schedule to finish this unit before the end of the trimester.
Humanities 7    
Students in Humanities 7, joined by the three 7th graders from ESL Humanities, have been busy working on the scripts for the plays they will produce in the Theatre 7 class this spring. The students chose the theme "Updated versions of old stories," and within their three groups have chosen three very different takes on the theme. Even the methods they have chosen to work on the plays vary highly, as one group is mostly writing collaboratively, one group has divided up the script into chunks for which each member is responsible, and the third group is spending the majority of their time improvising ideas based on general situations. Going along with the theme, we have just finished Just Ella by Gail Carson Levine as our first morning reading book of the unit, and we voted on Ella Enchanted, another book by the same author, as our newest book. Meanwhile, the students are continuing both their independent reading and independent writing work,and every Monday we continue to enjoy students reading from their work.
Life Skills    
Mike Phelps, our Director of Dining Services, is continuing to offer baking lessons on Fridays to the group, and by the time you read this newsletter, everyone will have had the chance to make an apple pie. The next project will be bread, and again we will divide this large class into two groups. Meanwhile, Ellen continues her work with yoga and stress management, and along with Brittany has also shown a film and led discussions about pregnancy and childbirth. Brittany continues to await the coming of winter snows in order to work with the girls on wilderness skills, and hopefully Henry Margusities, a meteorologist at Penn State who posts on Twitter, is right that February will eventually bring snow. The students continue to work on their projects on specific skills on which they wanted to focus, and they continue to take extra study hall time on Thursdays which are the busiest day of the week for many students. Presentations will begin on Feb. 29 as there are many to get through, and it will be fun to see what the students have to say about their work as they practice their public speaking skills.
French II    
In Unit 4, the principle grammar point is object pronouns, and students have been working to master choice, position and, when used in the passe compose, agreement. It is a difficult and subtle area of grammar to master, and the students have been working hard and successfully to understand both what they should be doing and why they should be doing it in the first place. The unit exam is coming up soon; meanwhile, we have begun Unit 5 by looking at sports and body parts. Though we will have begun Unit 6 before the term is over, the final exam will include units 3-5 so that students can focus on long-term learning and have additional time to absorb and master the brand new vocabulary and grammar before being tested on it.
Guitar Class    
There are two guitar classes in the instrumental music program, one for first-year students and one for second-year students. The first-year guitar students have been working on six basic chords, memorizing chord shapes, increasing finger strength and mobility, and making their strumming faster and more precise. The first-year bassist has been working on hand position, speed, and memorizing the fretboard. They asked to work on the Taylor Swift song "You Belong With Me," and as of our most recent class meeting, they have begun the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Sweet Home Alabama" in preparation for joining up with Greg's classes. The second-year class has been working on "American Idiot" by Green Day, and has also spent some time with "Paradise" by Coldplay.
 
Both classes have also been doing some work with reading music and music theory, and it has been fascinating to see what questions emerge. The first-year class embarked on a discussion of how exactly scales relate to the fretboard and why chords have the fingerings they do, while the second-year class wanted to know how we came to have a 12-tone scale in the first place, and we will be following up that discussion with some more in-depth music history going back to Ancient Greece.
Rock Band    
Students in the middle school Rock Band have been working on two new pieces, "The Only Exception" by Paramore and "Vertigo"by U2. After choosing the beautiful, simple, and heartfelt Paramore song, they felt they needed to break their mold and do a pure, loud, genuine rock song, and "Vertigo" has filled the bill nicely. Both songs are coming along well, but certainly "Vertigo" is bringing about the most growth, with its tricky rhythms and fast tempo and with the need to play it loudly and aggressively. We hope to perform at least one of these songs at an upcoming concert tentatively scheduled for March 2.
MOCA    
Recent MOCA meetings have focused on the dress code and on Spirit Week. In attempts to clarify the dress code and help students follow these rules more consistently, our StuCo reps will be reading the dress code to the group and leading discussions. Later in February, Claire C.and Lizzy G., the StuCo President and Vice-President respectively, will join us to help clarify further questions.
 
Meanwhile, MOCA provided input to StuCo on Spirit Week ideas. Spirit Week will be Feb.13-17. Monday is Pajama Day, Tuesday is Superhero Day, Wednesday is SBS Spirit Day, Thursday is "Would you be my friend if I dressed like this?" Day, and Friday is Colour Wars. With 41 students in the middle school this year, StuCo asked us to decide whether to do one large group skit for Colour Wars or to split up by grade. The majority voted to split up by grade, and the 8th graders chose orange and the 7th graders grey. They have begun writing their skits, and the next two MOCA meetings will focus on ensuring they feel ready for the big housemeeting on Friday, Feb. 17.
Truth    
On Thursday, February 16, middle school students will be attending the premiere of the folk opera "Truth" along with Humanities instructors Minhee Kang, Karen Suchenski, and Bill Ivey. This work is based on the life of Sojourner Truth and stars Evelyn Harris, formerly of the iconic group Sweet Honey of the Rock. Director Linda McInerney has offered to greet us there and then follow up in person on campus by joining our classes. We will leave together from school,and parents may pick up their daughters after the show or back at the school. For more information, or if you have any questions, you may check out the website or contact Bill Ivey.
Quebec Trip    
Thirty-one students, four chaperones, an SBS mom and an SBS little sister traveled to Quebec City over Long Winter Weekend. The trip went smoothly thanks to the cooperation and good behavior of the students who participated. While it was very cold there, we enjoyed all the outdoor activities including snowshoeing, snow tubing, dogsledding, and Winter Carnival parade. Miriam was very proud of the students' efforts to speak French. Even those not enrolled in French classes sang the "Bon matin" song every morning and the "Carnaval" song every afternoon. Claire Lane taught our guide, Julie Daubois, the song "Un Petit poisson" and then Marisol, Roberta, Sofia, Audrey, Georgia and Jojo decided to show off their language skills by singing a song they learned in Chinese class. Students were unafraid to try the local specialty "la poutine" and some even ate it for lunch the second day. We also tried interesting dishes, such as sunflower seed soup and bison sausages at the Village Huron. At this authentic native village, we walked through a long house, learned about the role of herbs in medicine and travel with canoes and snowshoes, and were purified before watching dancers perform ritual dances. We have become experts at making maple butter, dancing the rigodon, and rolling our r's. What a memorable trip!
Ann and Greg go to Thailand!    
In January, 2012, The Sorvino Dance Project and The Pioneer Consort were presented with The Most Talented Group Award in the 7th Annual Surin International Folkloric Festival, held at Surindra Rajabhat University in Surin, Thailand. Participants included Ann Sorvino/choreographer, dancer; Billbob Brown/dancer; Meg Van Dyck/dancer; Greg Snedeker/composer, pianist, Michael Nix/guitartist, and Vic Sorvino, film documentarian. The group performed six new works for the festival, which will also be presented Sunday March 25 at 3:00 at The Academy of Music.
 
The mission of the festival, first organized in 2006, is peace, friendship and understanding between nations. The goal is for each delegation to achieve unity amongst nations through its artists and scholars. 15 countries participated: Thailand, USA, Italy, Israel, Lithuania, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India Manipur, India Gujarah, Phillipines, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia and China.
 
Upon arrival, groups gathered in an opening ceremony and a parade through Surin from the Provincial Hall to the Surin Rail Station. Performances took place in the afternoons at local school venues, including Banmai Chaiyaput Burirum Province and the Auciban Surin School. Evening shows occurred on the university campus and in Amnatchareon Province. Thousands of people were in attendance.
 
Delegates were also treated to visits to famous local Surin sites, including the elephant compound and the king’s own silk-producing village. Dancers and musicians visited the Panamyoi Monestary in Roi-et Province and shopped at the Indochina Market located on the Mekong River. All artists participated in a peace ceremony at Watpaignamtip Monestary. Another highlight was a huge fashion show were performing artists blended with professional models, a Thai pop star and soap opera actor to show traditional clothing from their native countries and new fabrics from local designers.
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