Hello, Middle School Students and Families! Here is a recap of today’s Middle School Meeting.
Julia Phillips ’30 and Ninah Mahidhar ’30 ran today’s meeting. You can check out the slides from this week’s meeting here.
Announcements
🎭 Members of the cast of the Upper School play came to our meeting today to announce the Upper School Fall Play: Miss Holmes. Middle School students are encouraged to attend. Tickets are $8 and go on sale next week. The show is on November 6, 7, and 8 at 7 p.m. in Bradley Hall.
⭐️ Kieran Morrissey-Dhekne ’30 shared the recap from last week’s Hiatt Leadership Institute:
One highlight of this workshop for me was when we talked about our values and how we want to uphold them through the year. I also enjoyed learning about the North Star, how to identify it, and what it meant through different time periods, for example, a symbol of hope.
Kieran Morrissey-Dhekne '30
The next Hiatt Leadership Institute is on Monday, November 17.
🦫 The Student Body Advisory Council (SBAC) has its first meeting during recess tomorrow.
The members of SBAC this year are:
- Lexi Allen ’30
- Aki Cheung ’32
- Ava Clark ’30
- Lily DeBonis ’30
- Emma Hogan ’30
- Ninah Mahidhar ’30
- Julia Phillips ’30
- Julia Roetter ’31
- Olivia Smith ’30
- Violet Teman ’32
🍎 Two board members of the Dorchester Food Co-op spoke to the 7th graders during R-TIME today. 7th graders learned more about food co-ops and their roles in communities. This is part of their math unit on proportions.
🏫 Parent/Caregiver & Teacher Conferences are the next two Fridays: October 31 and November 7. Students do not have school on those days; students are encouraged to attend their conferences.
❄️ Winter Afternoon Activities begin Monday, November 3. Students can see their winter activity listed in PowerSchool. Tomorrow is the last day of fall afternoon activities, and all fall athletes must turn in their uniforms on Thursday in Gym A before they go to the Halloween Fair.
🎃 Elizabeth Zimman ’30 and Kat Nahvi ’31, of Student Council, reminded students about the Halloween celebrations on Thursday.
The Halloween Fair will run from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. and will include activities such as eating donuts on a string, sweeping a pumpkin with a broom, and carrying leaves with chopsticks. Students are encouraged to wear a costume on Thursday. All students must fill out a Google form to share their costume plan in advance.
Following up on Mr. Castillo’s announcement last week about appropriate costumes, we showed a clip from this video about cultural appropriation.
Book Buffet
Feed Your Brain Recap
Students recapped last Thursday’s Feed Your Brain Conference, sharing what they learned and their favorite part of their session.
- Isis Jones ’31 and Zoe Perry ’31: Cooking with Ms. Hollos. “I had never made waffles from scratch before, so now I know. My favorite part was eating the waffles because it was so good.”
- Morgan Jenkins ’31 and Hailey Dorman ’31: Volleyball with Ms. Graham. “It was fun playing something new and with friends from different grades. We learned how to serve, set, and hit the ball.”
- Ruby Parker-Geller ’31: Yoga with Ms. Graham. “We learned mindfulness strategies, breathing techniques, and yoga poses. My favorite part was when we did partner yoga. We tried challenging poses with our friends, such as the tree pose, the boat pose, and the lizard-on-a-rock pose. At the end, we got to have savasana, where we rested and used some breathing techniques that we had learned at the start of class.”
- Samir Kasrawi ’30: Drone Obstacle Course with Mr. McLaren. “We learned about how drones work, and my favorite part was flying them.”
- Eva Bachman ’31: Junkyard Jazz with Mr. James and Mr. Valentine. “We watched a demonstration of various instruments from around the world and learned how different instruments make noise. The best part of the experience was performing with the instruments that we created!”
- Elizabeth Zimman ’30: Tie Dye with Lindsay Merowitz ’02. “I learned how to create the style we want and how to properly tie-dye. My favorite part about this session was getting to customize the shirt and choosing colors.”
- Caroline Coe-Rohl ’30: Just Dance with Mr. D. “My Favorite part of the activity was being able to have fun with my friends and dancing to “Where Are You Now”.
- Avery Thompson ’31: Kickball with Mr. Castillo. “Something I really enjoyed about the game was scoring for my team. I learned to collaborate with my teammates, which is important in order to win!”
- Ru Thomas-Epstein ’31 and Ellery Harper ’31: Tetris Together with the R+D team. “I learned more about the resources on the D-Level, and my favorite part was having time to design my own pieces and see other people’s designs.”
- Niamh Peyton ’32: Bias in AI workshop led by Mr. Castillo. “We learned about the meaning of bias and how humans can affect AI being biased. I really loved this experience because using the AI Flint was very fun, and helped me learn more about the ways AI can be biased in its responses.”
- Caroline Coe-Rohl ’30, Wellness with Mr. Slotnick. “We talked about the effects of addiction and ways to stay away from drugs and alcohol.”
- Kaden Gould ’30: Sports Wellness with the Athletic Department. “I learned about how meditating and repeating daily habits can calm down your body. What I enjoyed was the Jeopardy activity because it was fun and competitive.”
Student Reminders
I talked about the signs in the front hall that announce where recess happens each day (inside in the gyms, or outside on the upper field and playground). Then we watched a short video stating that we expect all students to be at appropriate recess locations or participating in an activity/club. I reiterated that if recess is posted for the playground and Upper Field, the gyms are not available to Middle School students.
I also reminded students where to put their bags in the hallway—against a wall, never next to a door, and never on or next to the HVAC vents.
We reminded students to let me know if they want to run a MS meeting and to pick up trash on their way out of Gym A
Happening This Week
🎃 RISE: Pumpkin Suncatchers
📋 Advisory agenda: Defining Respect
This week’s home games:
MONDAY
🏐 Volleyball (A&B) vs. Park | 3:15 p.m., Gym A
WEDNESDAY
⚽️ Boys Soccer vs. Milton | 3:15 p.m., Upper Soule Field