Middle
March 11, 2021
Middle School Holds True, Kind, and Necessary Day
The Middle School held its first-ever True, Kind, and Necessary Day in early March. The day kicked off with a presentation from Seven Hills alumnus Shane DiGiovanna ’17. DiGiovanna spoke to students about his experiences with his rare genetic skin condition, Epidermolysis Bullosa, which makes his skin extremely fragile and prone to injury. He discussed the importance of empathy, embracing others, and how to overcome difficulties. DiGiovanna shared lots of advice with students, telling them to embrace their differences and how being kind can change the trajectory of a person’s life. He said to embrace yourself and others. “Our differences are what make us special,” DiGiovanna said. “Our differences are what make us human.” After DiGiovanna’s presentation, students worked in groups to create videos about empathy. They also watched the documentary “Trust Me,” which is about the importance of media literacy. True, Kind, and Necessary Day was organized by sixth-grade science teacher Jennifer Licata and Middle and Upper School head librarian Megan Whitt.
Latin Students Virtually Tour Nashville Parthenon
Marcie Handler’s sixth-grade Latin students virtually toured the Nashville Parthenon in late February. The Nashville Parthenon is a recreation of the Greek Parthenon. The full-scale building replica includes a 42-foot statue of Athena as its centerpiece. The tour was led by Katie Petrole, the Nashville Parthenon’s director of education and a friend of Handler’s. “My students studied the Greek goddess, Athena, and we ‘visited’ the Parthenon to get an idea of what an Ancient Greek temple was like.” Petrole gave students a brief introduction about the building then walked them through, pointing out highlights.
Seventh-graders Learn Circuitry in Innovation Lab
During the spring semester, seventh-graders in Karen Glum’s Innovation Lab will design and build a functional cardboard flashlight. For the first step of the process, students learned circuitry for the bulb of the flashlight. “Students were given a single piece of aluminum foil, a bulb, and a battery and had to figure out at least one arrangement that lights the bulb and at least three that don’t,” Glum said. “Building off this experience students learned about open, closed, and short circuits and began to think about circuitry in their flashlights.” Seventh-graders also practiced making cardboard attachments and design techniques they’ll use to build their flashlights.
Spanish Students Study Famous Afrolatinx Citizens Using Escape Rooms
To celebrate Black History Month, in a late February lesson, eighth-graders in Kaitlin Link’s Spanish class worked in teams to complete Escape Rooms to learn more about notable Afrolatinx citizens. “Students decoded a set of vocabulary words related to ‘La afrolatinidad’ as their first ‘lock,’” Link said. “Students then completed a set of five puzzles in Spanish to be able to break out of their rooms.” Some of the famous people included in the puzzles were journalist Soledad O’Brien, poet Julia de Burgos; athletes Carmelo Anthony, Sammy Sosa, and Roberto Clemente; politicians Adriano Espaillat and Graciela Dixon; doctor José Celoso Barbosa, and performing artists Mariah Carey, Bruno Mars, Kid Cudi, and Zoe Saldana.
Sixth-graders Review Math Concepts with “Jeopardy”
To review a recent unit, sixth-graders in Theresa Keller’s math class played a friendly game of the classic trivia game, Jeopardy. Students recently completed a chapter on ratios, rates, and proportions. They learned to calculate unit rates and solve proportions. “In this chapter, students completed a cost comparison of grocery items from multiple stores in the area to figure out where they should shop,” Keller said. “We played Jeopardy at the end of the chapter to review the skills covered. Students earned points in the game, both as an individual and as a member of a team.”
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Five Stingers Sign to Play in College
Five Stingers from the Class of 2024 signed their letters of intent to continue their athletic careers in college.
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