The AHA! Moment: Looking back on the semester

One of the many interesting quirks in our Middle School schedule is the fact that our electives in sixth through eighth grade are the only components to run on a semester schedule since we use trimesters for all of our academic classes. That means many students are coming to the end of their first two electives classes of the year and will start with new teachers and classes in January when we return from Winter Break.

I wanted to take a minute and celebrate the successes our students and teachers have enjoyed over this first half of the school year.

Last Thursday, December 5, we held our Winter All Bands concert. Our Middle School bands, under the direction of Performing Arts Department Chair Miranda Vargo and MS/HS Band Director Kyle Barboza, did a wonderful job showcasing their growth over these first few months of school. We enjoyed performances from our sixth-grade band, seventh-grade band, and eighth-grade band, a joint performance of seventh and eighth-grade bands, and the seventh and eighth-grade bands joined the High School Concert band for a song as well. Wow! All of this was led off by our seventh and eighth-grade African Drumming ensemble, led by teacher and performing artist Carlos Duran. You can view photos from the concert here.

During the eighth grade portion, our band was joined by vocalists Ashley Martin ’29 and Brianna Castro ’29, under the direction of our Vocal Teacher Bethany DeSantis. The combined power of the band and the vocalists performing the classic tune "At Last" was palpable in the room.

Marci Murphree’s “Music and Movement” and Dance classes for sicth through eighth grade have their capstone performances on Monday, December 16. Parents have received invitations to view their children’s progress in these final performances. Dancers also get to invite a select few of their Middle School peers to be supportive audience members.


Marci Murphree's sixth-grade "Music and Movement" class rehearses for its final performance on Monday, December 16.

In Photography, Kimberly Manz’s students found photos of familiar places and items around campus but “from a different perspective.” These images will be posted outside of the Middle School Office, and Middle School Counselor Randi Days and Assistant Head of Middle School for Student Affairs Kelicia Cox are going to turn this into an advisory activity on perspective-taking for our students during the spring semester. Can you recognize these images from some familiar places around the school?

             
By Tigerlily Tashian ’30                                   By Leo Hemphill ’29

Art Teacher Dan Furbish’s 3D Art class built “Bicycle Taxidermy” in the style of Pablo Picasso and also made functional arcade games. They’ve been on display in Tibbott this week, and it’s not too late to check them out.



Chorus Teacher Bethany DeSantis’ Mini-Musical elective students performed for our Lower School students, taking advantage of our K-12 setting to share their learning with younger students and get them excited about our Middle School programming.

Students in MS/HS Art Teacher Andy King’s 2D Art class created mini-compositions to set up an art gallery … in a locker! If you’re in the building, swing by Locker No. 189 in the sixth and seventh-grade hallway outside Sixth Grade English Teacher Dorlisa Dismuke’s classroom to see their mini masterpieces.