Hello, Middle School Students and Families! Below is this week’s MS Meeting recap.
Nathaniel Bennett ’29 and Zach Chiu ’29 ran today’s meeting. You can check out the slides from this week’s meeting here.
THE BVR STUDENT
Henry Rice ’29 and David Yatskar ’29 presented: asks for help when they are struggling.
It’s important for you to ask for help when you are struggling so you are able to learn to your full potential. If you don’t ask for help, you don’t know what you are doing wrong or what help you need. When receiving help, you understand what you were doing wrong and how to do it correctly the next time. If you need help, you can ask for help in class, during R-TIME, or you can email your teacher. At Beaver, you can ask your teachers for help and they will be very supportive.
FEED YOUR BRAIN BROOK BUFFET
The Song of Us by Kate Fussner
Recommended by Ms. Hollos
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS BOOK …
It’s about two 7th grade girls who fall in love, then have a fight and have to figure out if they can recover (because they still like each other!). I was drawn in by the issues they have to face, like keeping their relationship a secret.
WHY I THINK YOU WOULD LIKE IT …
Because it’s about falling in love as a middle schooler. And it’s written in verse, so it’s a quick read.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Bea van Stolk ’29, Emerson Daly ’29, and Charlie Schaffer ’28 announced a new lunch/recess activity: Book Club. All middle school students are invited to attend to Book Club with Ms. Kosberg and Mr. Winglass to discuss books.
Mr. Barber announced the spring break reading challenge. To participate, students need to read books over break, and submit a form (sent to their email) to say what they liked about the book and why they think others will like it. Students will earn prizes for the books they read and extra prizes if they share their books at a MS Meeting.
Mr. Barber also reminded students how to check out books from the BVR library and encouraged students to come to the R-Level to check out books during R-TIME tomorrow.
A spring mini-season of debate starts on April 3. Debate runs on Wednesdays from 5 to 7 p.m. for six weeks. Students who are interested need to reach out to Coach Kuntz by Friday. A limited number of students can participate. Students can participate in debate again as long as we have space. We will prioritize students who haven’t done it before.
As you may have seen in previous communications, after Spring Break, Beaver is hosting a two-day immersive conference for educators and industry leaders on expanding the nature of school on Monday, March 25 and Tuesday, March 26. It’s an exciting two days, and we want Middle School students to be a part of it!
Here are the ways students can sign up to volunteer and help:
On Monday, March 25 (the day there are no classes):
Students can volunteer to be tech support (like helping people plug their laptops into the classroom TVs) in the morning or afternoon. They are also looking for students to be greeters, help people find their way around Beaver, and give tours in the morning or afternoon.
On Tuesday, March 26 (the first day back from spring break):
Looking for students to present their work (a project done in one of their classes)
An email to sign up will be sent out today to sign up. (Click here to view the form.) Sign-ups are due tomorrow!
Important note: Students who want to volunteer on Monday need to talk to their family to make sure they can come to school that day, since it’s a professional development day, and not a regular school day.
The Winter Music Exhibit is taking place this week during music class. The event will be filmed and shared with families.
Sharing the Wisdom: 8th graders presenting about an important middle school topic.
Ms. Flannery’s advisory presented on Conflict Resolution. Kaedin Janvier, K.L. Benjamin, Aaron Westerling, Naima Russell, and Mira Bedi shared, “It’s important to know that conflicts are a part of life and managing conflicts is a skill to learn.Some questions to think about are: Why is there a conflict? How does this affect not only myself, but others involved? What is the aftermath? When you find yourself in a situation where you and others aren’t finding a solution, it’s best to take a break, think about the problem, and seek the help of a teacher or an adult. They could help you come up with a solution. We know that when it comes to conflict resolution you should choose a good time to talk about it, plan ahead, talk it through, and show that you’re listening and being kind. Something that I think is important for you to know about conflict resolution is that when you have a conflict with somebody remember to be the bigger person and always show kindness. One thing to think about is to never hold a grudge. Holding a grudge is bad and can spiral the situation.”
RECAP
FEED YOUR BRAIN CONFERENCE
Students recapped last Thursday’s Feed Your Brain Conference, sharing what they learned and their favorite part of their session.
- Kyle Benton ’28 spoke about Ultimate Frisbee with Nate Guevin “I enjoyed playing ultimate because it’s a sport I really enjoy and I got to play with a ton of my friends.”
- Catherine Crooker ’30 spoke about Paws-itively Awesome Dog beds with Ms. Graham and Ms. Graham “I liked this activity because it made me happy making pet beds for animals that need them. I really liked that we also got to watch “Secret Life of Pets” while we were there.”
- Lawrence Rosembert ’28 spoke about Hexagons with Joe Delfino “I thought it was a unique activity and I liked that it was similar to origami. I also liked it because I got to work with Mr Delfino. I like working with him and I don’t always get a lot of time with him”
- K.L. Benjamin ’28 spoke about Uno with Mr. D. “I enjoyed playing Uno because it’s fun being competitive. I liked playing with the whole 8th grade.”
- L’mar Hibbert ’30 and Reade Mrazek ‘30 talked about Weight a Minute with Jordan McComb. “We enjoyed Weight a Minute because we got to exercise and do some of the activities that students do in BVRFit. We also liked trying new things and spending time with Coach Jordan”.
- Jonah Freifeld ’29 talked about Comics with Mr. Barber “I liked there were a lot of options to create comic strips with your own character or create a comic using the prompts.”
- Eka Krishnan ’29 spoke about Doodling with Mr. Barber. “I enjoyed this session because I felt very creative, and it was also relaxing”
- Maggie Whitney ’28 and Romy Seidman ’28 talked about Paper Lanterns with the Admission team. “Making the lanterns was super fun. It was relaxing and it was nice that you can do the activity while also chatting with your friends”
- Zeyno Birnbaum ’29 spoke about Cupcake Decorating with Anna Jones “I learned how to make a lot of different flowers and shapes from the different frosting tips. I also liked eating the cupcake at the end”
- Addie Marsh ’28 spoke about Skate Park with Nate Guevin “I really enjoyed taking apart and rebuilding the toy cars to make them into something new”
- Catherine Da Silva ’30 spoke about Slime with Zoz “ This activity was great. We got to make a ton of slime and I really liked that we could make different colors”
- Alice Gametchu-Walker ’30 spoke about Ice Skating with the whole Middle School “Ice skating was a really fun way to end the day. I enjoyed going off campus and it was really nice doing something fun with my friends and the whole middle school”
Dismissal on Friday is 2:25 p.m. for Spring Break. All buses will depart at 2:35 p.m.
PROGRAMMING & EVENTS
LUNCH & RECESS PROGRAMMING, CLUBS & AFFINITY GROUPS
RISE
Yesterday’s RISE activity was macrame rainbows. Through fun activities, students learn how to deal with stress and worry.
ADVISORY AGENDA
Classification Challenge (sort of like The New York Times Connections, but with pictures and more the one right answer)