Hello, Middle School Students and Families!
Before we get into the update, a reminder for our current 8th grade students and families that you are invited to attend next week’s US New Family Welcome event (details below).
And now the minutes:
Shirin Sakoulis ’27 and Grace Batycky ’27 ran today’s meeting. You can check out the slides from this week’s meeting here.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Upper School New Family Welcome
All 8th-grade students and their parents/caregivers are invited to the Upper School New Family Welcome next Thursday, May 16 from 6 to 7 p.m. Gus Knoedler ’26 talked about what to expect at the event: parents/caregivers will learn even more about life in the Upper School and students will meet other newly-accepted Upper School students. After the event, families are invited to stay for the opening night of the US Musical, Into The Woods, at 7 p.m.
Middle School Students of Color Conference
The virtual Middle School Students of Color Conference—hosted by Rocky Hall Country Day School—is this Saturday, May 14 from 9:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. All students of color are invited to register for this event. Students can let Mr. Christy know if they want to attend.
THE WEEKLY FEATURES
BVR STUDENT HIGHLIGHT
Keola Appleton ’28 presented Stays on Task and Follows Directions.
“It’s important to stay on task because you will get your work done quicker. That will leave you more free time. And if you don’t stay on task, you can fall behind and you’ll have more work to do during your free time. It’s important to follow directions because it’s helpful to others because it won’t distract them, or intrude on their learning. Teachers take time to write clear directions, so if you ask the teacher questions before you read and follow the directions, it takes time away from the teachers to teach.”
FEED YOUR BRAIN PICK
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
Recommended by Reid Bugbee ’28
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS BOOK …
“It’s a good story about growing up. The main characters are twins—one of them is popular and the other one is jealous. The writing style makes you feel very attached to the characters.”
WHY I THINK YOU WOULD LIKE IT …
“You’d like this book if you like books in verse or books about sports, but it’s not just about sports. It’s also about middle school and growing up.”
LUNCH & RECESS PROGRAMMING
Today in RISE they made diamond art.
WHAT ELSE WE TALKED ABOUT
Beaver junior Liam Infantino ’23 encouraged Middle School students to check out the Call & Response: Photos and Poems exhibit in the VPAC lobby. The exhibit features original US student photography inspired by original US poetry—and vice versa.
William Mortimer ’28 announced the first Beaver Lego League, which will kick off next school year. He explained the program and encouraged students to sign up. William said:
“Lego League is a competition that focuses on scientific and real-world challenges. One important part of the competition involves building and programming a Lego robot to complete tasks or missions on a large game board or table. The other part of the competition is to come up with a solution to a real-world problem. Next season’s theme is energy, and, to be able to innovate for a better future, teams will be exploring where energy comes from and how it is distributed, stored, and used. We will start building the robot and learning about energy at the start of next school year.”
An email will go out later this week to see which students are interested.
Ms. Wildes announced the Community Action Leaders (CALs) will deliver leftover food from the Dining Hall during Thursday R-TIME. Students can sign up with the form Ms. Wildes emailed.
Dany Sidman ’26, Sadie Wylie ’26, and Christopher Anderson ’26—this year’s Head Admission Ambassadors—encouraged all current 7th-grade Admission Ambassadors to apply for the leadership role next year. They shared their experiences with students:
- Chris said: “One of the reasons I became a Head Ambassador is because I was one both in 6th and 7th grade and I wanted to keep going with it. Another reason why I became a Head Ambassador is that I wanted to help new kids who are in a position like I was, being nice and kind to them, and making them feel welcome.”
- Sadie said: “I wanted to become a Head Ambassador because it seemed interesting to me and I wanted to welcome new students and families to Beaver. I enjoyed it a lot because I got to help both new families and other Admission Ambassadors.”
- Dany said: “I wanted to be a Head Admission Ambassador because I really enjoyed being an Admission Ambassador all throughout 6th and 7th grades, and I admired the leadership that the head Admission Ambassador showed.”
STUDENT REMINDERS
I reminded students they:
- Need to follow their schedules and be present for things like MS Moment, and lunch/recess.
- Must eat outside for snack and lunch; they are not to eat inside the building (in hallways, in classrooms), unless they are having advisory snack with their advisor.
SURPRISE
Student Council members Leili Singer ’26, Andrew Adamic ’27, Verveine Oringer ’27, Toby Marsh ’28, and Reid Bugbee ’28 made quite a stir when they started an announcement saying all Middle School students would be participating in another student reflection on Friday.
They then said “just kidding” and announced a special Middle School field trip to Kimball Farm, which is happening this Friday, May 13!
All Middle School students will board busses after first period, spend the day at Kimball Farm, and return for Afternoon Activities. A BBQ lunch will be served. Students should wear clothes appropriate for the weather and the activities (Bumper Boats! Mini Golf!). It is going to be hot Friday, so sunscreen is encouraged.
Note: All students and faculty will be masked on the bus rides. Please make sure your child has a mask to wear on the bus rides on Friday, as well as a labeled water bottle, and sunscreen!