Fifth grade book club discusses Pablo Cartaya

Once a week, from Sept. 20 to Oct. 4, members of the Lotspeich fifth grade book club gathered in the Lotspeich Library to break bread and discuss Pablo Cartaya’s various works. Each book club participant picked one of Cartaya’s works to read and analyze. This paved the way for exciting debates as students compared how Cartaya’s themes of food, family, and culture manifested in each book. 

“Cartaya has said that all of his books have three things: food, family, and culture,” Lotspeich librarian Lori Suffield said. “We’ve discussed how each book showcases these themes. Part of our discussion on Sept. 20 had to do with languages. Like Marcus Vega in “Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish,” many of the students in book club have family members who fluently speak other languages that they do not speak or speak fluently themselves. They were able to connect with the character and better understand their own lives through him.”

The book club attended the Middle and Upper School’s Between the Pages event, where Cartaya discussed his life and his inspiration for his novels. 

“My grandmother was my very first storyteller,” Cartaya said. “She would weave these incredible tales that stay with me today.”

After the presentation, the Lotspeich and Doherty book clubs met Cartaya, asked questions about his books, and posed for a photo together.

Fourth grade studies plant life cycles

Fourth graders have studied plant life cycles in science teacher Kate LeBare’s class, leading up to turning campus-harvested quince into jam during their class on Oct. 2. Quince is a hard, aromatic bright golden-yellow pome fruit, similar in appearance to a pear. Ripe quince fruits are hard, tart, and astringent. Students also learned about the pollination process, the importance of bees, and the basics of how to be responsible plant stewards.

Spanish exchange students reading to Lotspeich kids

In a fun, cross-divisional project, our Upper School Spanish exchange students shared books they wrote and illustrated during their time at Seven Hills with Lotspeich and Doherty students in late September. The short stories were written in Spanish and covered a wide variety of topics such as zombies, wasps, and getting out of bed. 

Lotspeich Spirit Week

Lotspeich has spirit! Every day from Sept. 18-22 students of all ages dressed to impress with their outfits for Spirit Week. We saw queens and pirates, Bengals and Chiefs, teachers of all ages, and overflowing school spirit. Thank you to everyone for participating and making the week magical!