2020.2.13 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

February 13, 2020

Dear Saxe Family,

February break is upon us… These breaks provide us the opportunity to relax, recharge, and spend quality time with those we find most important to us. Whether you are traveling afar or staying in the area, it is my hope that you have a chance to reflect on all that we have to be grateful for. I look forward to spending time with family, creating some special memories, and catching up on some reading that has been “in the queue” for a while now.

It was not a full week for students, but we packed quite a bit in. This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at Social Studies, Art, Community, World Language, ELA, Workshop, positive school climate, Spirit, the latest one-second everyday, and much more…

Enjoy and have a wonderful February break!

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

2.24: Welcome back from February break!

Want to check out the “Saxe Weekly” from last week? You’re one click away, here.

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“Live in such a way that if someone spoke badly of you, no one would believe it.”

“Life is about how you handle Plan B.”

“We will all make mistakes. Life doesn’t come with instructions.”

“To thrive in life you need 3 bones………A wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.”

Back again for this week – the latest, updated Saxe Middle School 1-Second Everyday! “Life is made of seconds.” Check out a few seconds from each day of 2019 (so far), showcasing so much of what makes Saxe Middle School great. This is a recurring, bi-weekly feature. At the end of the year, we will have a full version that includes every single day of the 2019-20 school year. Enjoy!

Grade 8 Social Studies – Our 8th graders are currently in their 4th unit, War, Diplomacy and Imperialism. These period 5 classes were caught deep in preparation for their modified Socratic Seminar on Tuesday. Students discussed and prepared their answers to questions that might arise.

Thank you to our 6th period students (below) for respectful, engaging and thoughtful evidence-based academic discussions on Tuesday. They wrestled with multiple sources and themes in order to deepen their understanding of the era and concepts of imperialism. Students used argumentation and listening skills to build upon each other’s thinking, to agree with others stating why and to counter the claims of others.

Celebrating Student Talents

The painting titled “Standing” was created from start to finish by Saxe 8th-Grader Angel Shi for “Challenges In Art” and was awarded a silver key. Also included is another piece by Angel. Amazing accomplishments for this talented young lady!

Building Community

The Hubbard and Lanna homerooms participated in a service project this week, their third! The first was making placemats for kids living at Inspirica and the second was tying blankets for Circle of Care. This week, they made Valentine’s Day cards for the residents of Waveny Care Center. Thanks to everyone involved in helping support our Saxe, and NC, communities!

Parent volunteers from Ms. Dobranky’s class came in and helped students make these lovely Valentines for the seniors at Waveny. One of our room moms delivered all the Valentines. Great community support!

Awesome Awards

The 6th-grade Blue Team handed out their “Awesome Awards” today during their most recent Town Hall meeting. Congrats to all and thanks to our teachers for recognizing students who went above and beyond this month!

World Language: French

On Monday February 3, 2020, all French students began the month of February by participating in a cultural presentation on “La fête de la Chandeleur” also known as “National Crêpe Day”. The children love this tradition since it is a day dedicated to crêpes. While making the crêpes, the cook usually holds a gold coin in one hand and flips the crêpe with the other. If he is successful then he will prosper all year long.

The students also had the opportunity to see a presentation on “How to make crêpes” . A special thank you to, Madame Vuitton-Conquet, and her family for creating the video for our French students!

After the presentation, our French students had lots of fun playing a game of Kahoot. Also, as a culminating cultural experience, for the eighth graders, the French teachers planned a “déjeuner” for the students. Therefore, after the presentation, our eighth graders enjoyed eating a lunch that was catered by Meli-Melo in Greenwich, Ct. and served by the French teachers. This consisted of a savoury crêpe with a salad and for dessert a sweet crêpe.

French students contribute to the revamping of the bulletin boards using the 11 charter words translated into French, as a continuation of our Emotional Learning program.

Escape Room in ELA

Students in Mrs. Craw’s seventh grade class used their problem solving skills to participate in an “information escape room”. They worked together to put their critical thinking and information reading skills to the test to try to solve the clues!

Saxe Shares with South School!

Mr. Young’s (7th grade ELA) Workshop class created recently picture books, and traveled over to South School (Mrs. Young’s first grade class) to be “guest readers”. Writing for an authentic audience adds meaning and engagement for our young authors. Check out the great connections made between our seventh graders and first graders below!

Saxe Counselor’s Corner

As the district continues our work around Emotional Intelligence, Saxe Counselors have released two editions of “Counselor’s Corner”, a brief newsletter designed to empower staff and parents to enhance their own “EI” through learning new skills. CLICK HERE to view the parent editions of “Counselor’s Corner” via the Saxe Counseling web page. Our Winter 2019-20 edition focuses on emotion regulation through the use of present moment attention and gratitude, and our Spring 2020 edition focuses on the power of our thoughts, and strategies for self-compassion. If you have ideas for future editions, the Counselors would love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out to any Saxe Counselor to offer your feedback.

Saxe Spirit

Schools Supporting Each Other

Mark your calendars! New Canaan High School Theatre Presents, The Jukebox Musical: MAMMA MIA! March 19th, 20th, and 21st at 7:00 PM in the New Canaan High School Auditorium