Lila Faye Mandelman ’28 and Charlie Schaffer ’28 ran today’s meeting. You can check out the slides from this week’s meeting here.
This week’s…
BVR STUDENT HIGHLIGHT
Ezra Devonshire ’27 and Zico El Abd ’27 presented The BVR Student element Takes time for mindful breaks to improve mood and reduce stress.
“I like to meditate and do yoga when I’m stressed. I usually take a nap when I’m stressed. Take a break when you need one!”
FEED YOUR BRAIN PICK
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Recommended by Ezra Devonshire ’27
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS BOOK …
“It’s the book that made me like to read. It was hard for me to get into at first, but then I was hooked, and I read the whole series.”
WHY I THINK YOU WOULD LIKE IT …
“It’s a really great story. If you’ve read it before I recommend re-reading it for the nostalgia, and I’d also recommend reading all the other Percy Jackson books.”
LUNCH & RECESS PROGRAMMING
Today in RISE they did yoga with Ms. Ollen.
Also happening this week …
Ann Bevan Hollos, Associate Director of Middle School encouraged the middle school to read the next book club book, Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms. She read it this weekend; it only took about 30-40 minutes. It’s a graphic novel that tells the story of two friends on different tracks who reconnect and explore their romantic feelings.
- Book Club is meeting Friday, March 11 to discuss the book.
The Upper School Instrumental Ensemble had a concert today for the Middle School.
Ann Bevan Hollos reminded students where they can eat on campus: the Dining Hall, outside, or in their lunch spaces. The R+D center, hallways, and other locations are not places for eating.
Upper School’s Choreography Foundations class invited the middle school to their Winter Showcase next Tuesday, March 8 at noon. The showcase will include original pieces created during the first and second terms. Afterward, students can ask the performers about their work.
We are gearing up for the Winter Music Exhibit. Unlike the fall exhibit, the winter exhibit will happen during the school day. Each ensemble will present for about 20 minutes during music class next week in Bradley Hall, with their peers as the audience. This will be a way for students to show each other and teachers what we’ve learned this winter.
- Tuesday: Both Strings Ensemble presentations
- Wednesday: Williams and Ozawa presentations
- Thursday: Chorus presentation
EVENT RECAP
FEED YOUR BRAIN OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
Students recapped last Thursday’s Feed Your Brain Outside the Classroom Conference, sharing what they learned and their favorite part of their session.
- Reid Bugbee ’28 spoke about the Bag Design Workshop. She had fun designing her own bag and collection of bags (and found out that designing a bag is harder than you think!)
- Brittany Franklin ’28 talked about basket making. She learned how to make a basket by weaving a metal rope.
- Aubrey Emmons ’27 spoke about the 7th-grade Wellness class led by Will Slotnick. Mr. Will Slotnick talked about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse using his own story as an example. Aubrey said it was powerful to hear it from someone who experienced it first hand.
- Liv Podgurski ’26 talked about the chapstick-making activity. She said her favorite part was designing the label because they could make the labels the way they wanted, creating their own brand.
- Zuzu Wyett ’28 and Kylee Marcus ’28 spoke about Large Collaborative Design. They said it was fun to not have a specific thing to draw but just be able to do freestyle.
- El Strom ’27 spoke about Board Games and Games. El played Blackjack and learned to ration her chips so she didn’t lose her “money” all at once.
- Ameen Faris ’27 and Harrison Mrazek ’28 talked about RISE with Ms. Graham. They made slime, practiced meditation, and enjoyed eating chocolate.
- Mabel Forkner ’27 did the Escape Room. Her favorite part was looking around the classroom for different clues and trying to put things in order to unlock locks (and winning!).
- Kellan Glass ’28 spoke about the Social Media & the Brain workshop led by Ms. Flannery and Ms. Latour. They talked about ways to keep your mind off social media and how to stay off it. For example, changing your home screen so it’s only daily apps and not social media.
- Henry Diver ’26 assisted the cooking class. He said, “Our presenter was Ken Oringer, a James Beard award-winning chef and a restaurateur here in Boston. We made gnocchi. My favorite part was helping people make it and eating some at the end.”
- Misti Birnbaum ’28 and Aubrey Harper ’28 did the resin jewelry class. They learned the step-by-step process of how to make resin jewelry and we learned some tips in the process. Their favorite part was adding all the cool decorations, like gold leaf paper, beads, and food coloring.
- Miles Wheatland ’26 and Leo Wheatland ’26 took the CREATE workshop. They used the laser cutter—designing in Adobe Workshop first—to make their projects.
- Gigi Peselman ’26 spoke about Dr. Jill Walsh’s social media workshop. She said, “I learned not all forms of social media are bad. My favorite part was being able to communicate with my group and share our ideas.”
- Margo Kuznetsova ’27 spoke about the Zine-making activity. She said she learned that information can be spread in different ways. Margo made an Elton John zine.