Hello, Middle School Students and Families! Here’s what happened at today’s MS meeting…
Max Hogan ’28 and Charlie Schaffer ’28 ran today’s meeting. You can check out the slides from this week’s meeting here.
THE WEEKLY FEATURES
THE BVR STUDENT
Zico El Abd ’27 presented Listens with thoughtful attention.
To me, this means to think about what you’re listening to. Not only in class but when you spend time with other friends and family. To listen carefully you should not have side conversations or think about something off-topic. If you don’t think about what someone is saying you won’t get as much out of it.
FEED YOUR BRAIN PICK
The Haitians: A Decolonial History by Jean Casimir and translated by Laurent Dubois
Recommended by Kaedin Janvier ’28
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS BOOK …
It tells history from a perspective we don’t always see. It spoke to me because I wanted to learn more history that connects to me.
WHY I THINK YOU WOULD LIKE IT …
I recommend it to people who like non-fiction and anyone who is interested in learning more about history outside the United States.
WELCOME BACK FROM MS. SAMSON
Head of School Kim Samson welcomed the middle school to the first middle school meeting of 2023!
She encouraged our community to
- Assume goodwill and positive intent of others
- Give grace to others
- And to consider why these things are so important to a school community where growing is what we support and do all the time.
WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT
Grace Batycky ’27 announced the upcoming MS Social Justice Retreat happening on Friday, January 27 from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
She said, “Last year, I attended the Beaver Social Justice Retreat. I really enjoyed it because I got to do workshops with my friends about sea level rise, food insecurity, fast fashion, and ocean pollution. I also remember talking about identities and privileges and how they relate to food insecurity. I specifically remember doing a Kahoot about what we learned after one of the sessions. I recommend signing up because you are able to spend a day with your friends in different classes than usual and learn about new topics. This year’s theme is Stronger Together. We will get a chance to learn and meet leaders who have made it a point to connect with others who are different from them, and together work to make a difference. Check your email for the sign-up form!”
Rishaan Chowdhury ’29 and Joza Wang ’28 announced that the Afternoon Activity Innovation Lab went on a field trip to the Science Museum last week to see the new Engineering Design Workshop exhibit.
“We had a lot of fun learning about the engineering design process in hands-on ways”.
They also announced a new recess offering Digital CREATE; it’s an open-ended time to explore and try out all kinds of things with computers. It starts tomorrow and will happen every Wednesday.
Zarra Burke ’27 announced an exciting opportunity for BVR students to see Life of Pi at the A.R.T. in Cambridge. The show is about two survivors of a shipwreck who are on a lifeboat stranded in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days. One of the survivors is a sixteen-year-old Indian boy named Pi Patel and the other is a ferocious Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.
Beaver has 20 tickets at a discounted price of $15 for THIS Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. Students who want to attend need to fill out the form Ms. Farrell sent on Friday. Please know tickets are first come, first serve and families will need to provide transportation to and from the American Repertory theater in Cambridge near Harvard Square.
The BVR Counseling Team introduced themselves and announced that tomorrow they are serving waffles as a lunch dessert for Wellness, Waffle, Wednesday.
7th graders were reminded they have a field trip tomorrow. After leaving their backpacks in Ms. McKinney’s science classroom, they will meet in the Dining Room before getting on buses to head to Harvard Medical School.
7th graders will be problem-solving as medical diagnosticians by interacting with a lifelike robot in the medical simulation lab and performing an intubation. Students will be back on campus for a late lunch and afternoon classes.
Reid Bugbee ’28 and Lawrence Rosembert ’28 announced this week’s Teacher Appreciation. Reid presented Ms. Garayua and Lawrence presented Ms. Walske.
Yearbook staff had their first meeting yesterday. Congratulations to this year’s staff!
6th grade students: Charlotte Abramowitz, Rishaan Chowdhury, Jasper Ingenthron, Noa Shatz-Cauley, Maddie Stoesser, Juliet Wasserman
7th grade students: Kaedin Janvier
8th grade students: Riley Anderson, Zarra Burke, Margo Kuznetsova, Verveine Oringer, Charlie Scott
The winter season of debate begins tomorrow. Here’s the winter team:
- 6th grade students: Rishaan Chowdhury, Aly Diaz, Eka Krishnan
- 8th grade students: Jackie Horvitz, Marwa Murphy, Ethan Okafor
Maya Feinberg ’29 and Maddie Stoesser ’29 announced this week’s advisory activity: (re)introducing ourselves.
We want to start the new year off right and do an activity where we go out of our comfort zone and talk with fellow advisees who we don’t talk to much and that we don’t know much about.
Charlie Schaffer ’28 reminded students about ways they can stop the spread of germs
- Washing hands for 20 seconds with soap
- Using hand sanitizer whenever they enter a classroom
- Using disinfecting wipes found in all classrooms to wipe down their desk
- Keeping air purifiers plugged in
Tomorrow is Ms. Smith’s last day at BVR before she has her baby. Lulu Muwina ’27 (former Smith advisee), Tylee Gould ’28 (former Smith advisee), and Jasper Ingenthron ’29 (current Smith advisee) talked about why they love Ms. Smith and why they think she’ll be a great mom.
To celebrate we had cupcakes at lunch. We will miss her so much!
THIS WEEK’S LUNCH & RECESS PROGRAMMING, CLUBS & AFFINITY GROUPS
Today’s RISE activity was 2023 Intention Jars. Through fun activities, students learn how to deal with stress and worry.
This week’s home games
Tuesday:
Boys B Basketball vs. Shady Hill at 3:45 p.m. in Gym A.
Wednesday
Girls B Basketball vs. Winsor at 3:45 in Gym B.
Thursday
Boys A Basketball vs. Shady Hill at 3:45 p.m. in Gym A.
Wellness classes: Art 8.1 happened Tuesday at 12:35 p.m.