Hello, Middle School Students and Families!
We’re happy to be back with our meeting minutes this week. Here’s what happened at today’s MS meeting:
Lino Sanchez ’26, Jahbari Dacosta ’26, and Connor Hurley ’26 ran today’s meeting. You can check out the slides from this week’s meeting here.
April is National Poetry Month. To kick off the meeting, Nate Guevin read an excerpt from Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino.
FEED YOUR BRAIN PICK
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
Recommended by Arlinda Leka ’26
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS BOOK …
“It’s a great self-help book. James Clear talks about the system of cue craving response and reward as the backbone of how habits are formed. He writes about the numerous stories that show how his proven theory of creating habits works. It helped me get out of a never-ending cycle of bad habits.”
WHY I THINK YOU WOULD LIKE IT …
“If you are someone who wants to show up as their best self, I recommend reading this book, especially for teens our age who struggle trying to balance multiple things at once. We really do need some guidance. With this book, you are able to break bad habits and adopt good ones.”
LUNCH & RECESS PROGRAMMING
Music R-TIME was today and Thursday.
Today in RISE students did diamond art.
WHAT ELSE WE TALKED ABOUT
The next Hiatt Leadership Institute workshop is Monday morning. The topic is Climate Justice, and the discussion will be about environmental injustices in regard to basic resources like clean air and water. Students will learn how to take action towards awareness and equity.
Ms. Wildes announced that the Community Action Leaders (CALs) will be delivering leftover Dining Room food to CASPAR in Cambridge during R-TIME on Thursday. Students can sign up with the form Ms. Wildes emailed.
Bee Ashburn ’27, El Strom ’27, and Alex Borden ’72 announced students can sign up to take part in the National Day of Silence, which is this Friday. This student-led demonstration commemorates the centuries of silence forced upon LGBTQIA+ people, and students who sign up take a vow of silence for the day. Participants will be given a badge to wear on the day that explains why they are being silent; if someone asks the question “why are you silent?”, students can simply show them the badge.
The Middle School Students of Color Conference—hosted virtually by Rocky Hall Country Day School—is Saturday, May 14 from 9:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. All students of color are invited to register for this event. Because the conference is virtual, BVR students are encouraged to come to Beaver that day to participate with other students and faculty.
Dany Sidman ’26 and Christopher Anderson ’26, Student Council president and vice president, announced all Middle School students will be taking four surveys this week to give their teachers feedback in the following areas:
- What they’re learning;
- Their teachers’ expectations for them;
- How connected they feel with their teachers.
The survey is anonymous, and teachers will receive a summary of the results. Teachers will not receive students’ individual answers.