2018.12.14 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

December 14, 2018

Quote(s) that resonated with us this week:

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

“What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.”

“Failing is not falling down but refusing to get up.”

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

“Friends are like stars. You don’t have to see them to know they are there.”

Dear Saxe Family,

Thanks for checking out our second to last Saxe Weekly for 2018 (does not seem possible)! This week we take a look at Science, VPA, Technology Integration, Geography Club, community of caring, a new staff member, emotional intelligence, power in positivity, campus banners, and more…

Enjoy and have a nice weekend,

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

12/18 Saxe/NCHS Band concert

12/19 Saxe 7, 8 Choir concert

12/21 ½ Day – Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Vacation, Happy New Year!

Want to check out the weekly from last week? Click, here.

Science

Check out some Vex Robotics action in Ms. Rende’s 5th grade Science class. Students ended their robotics lessons with an engineering design challenge – modify your robot to remove a block from the arena… Mission accomplished! Seeing students design, collaborate, try, revise, and repeat is a great experience! For any college football fans, the quote at the end is priceless…

Visual and Performing Arts:

Ms. Bennett, Ms. Duncan and Mrs. Sailer’s 7th grade students have completed a drawing unit that involved higher order thinking skills and advanced drawing techniques. Each student chose a compound word and created a visual pun. The display in the art wing engages everyone who passes through to participate in this interactive display.

On Tuesday, Saxe Orchestra students performed at the 18th Annual Orchestra Festival at New Canaan High School. Along with the high school orchestra, they performed the songs “Take Five” and “Vanguard Overture”. Students sounded amazing! Special thanks to Director Mr. Favreau.

Technology Integration

Kelly Zilly (NCHS) brought her Interior Design classes over to Saxe on Thursday to visit the DesignLab adjacent to the library. She is starting a project with her students, and they will be submitting design ideas for our space at Saxe. They will tour the room and ask questions of our Tech Integrator (Ms. Pacelli), their “client”. What a wonderful collaboration between Saxe and NCHS!

Around Saxe

Please join in welcoming Maureen Campbell to our Saxe family! Maureen will be joining the main office crew filling the spot that was recently vacated by Jen Van de Graaf. Maureen comes to us with a great deal of educational experience and will be a nice addition to our team!

Geography Club

Our Geography Club sponsors, Mr. Fusci and Ms. Fulco, are proud to report that 9 of their 10 finalists qualified for the 2019 Saxe Geography Bee (last spot to be determined by a tie-breaker).

The final is scheduled for January 10, 2019 at 7:00 pm (participants arrive at 6:15 pm) in the Saxe Auditorium. Our snow date is scheduled for January 17 at the same time and place. Be sure to check it out!

Community of Caring

Yesterday the kids on 6 Blue made cards for the Cards for Hospitalized Kids organization. Here are a few pictures. Thank you to Ms. Collins for sharing!

Power in Positvity

Need a dose of positivity? Check out this neat video of staff members at Oak Park HS sharing with students what they mean to them. There is so much “good” around us every day, it is worth taking a moment to recognize it. Thank you to Saxe Counselor, Ms. Beltran for sharing. Enjoy!

Emotional Intelligence

This was an exciting week at Saxe with the rollout of the Mood Meter to all students. The Mood Meter is a tool to help students and staff be more aware of their own emotions and the emotions of others. Thanks to all of the faculty who worked so hard to make the roll out a success!

A little snow on Thursday was all it took for a few Saxe students to have their “automatic snow angel response” kick in during recess. “A” for effort!