2021.3.12 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

March 12, 2021

Dear Saxe Family,

It is amazing to consider that one year ago today, we were closed for one day before launching into our remote learning that would ultimately carry us through the rest of the 2019-20 school year. We made the best of the quarantine remote learning and celebrated the end of the school year as best we could. This school year has not come without its challenges, but the fact that we have been able to operate continuously brings a sense of pride for the role that each member of our learning community has played in this. We have learned a great deal over this past year and will continue to adapt, evolve, and improve to ultimately provide the best experience possible for our students. Thank you for your continued support!

This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at some positive messages, Art, extracurriculars, Leadership, Mandarin, some deep thinking, outdoor learning, a note from our School Nurses, Pi Day, World Down Syndrome Day, Saxe in the News, our awesome cafeteria staff, Dogs of Saxe, Saxe Hawks, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Be Well,

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

3/14: Pi Day; Daylight savings, don’t forget to set your clocks ahead 🙂

3/17: 1/2 Day for students; Professional Learning for staff; Happy St. Patty’s Day!

3/19: Celebrate World Down Syndrome Day

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.” – Malala Yousafzai

“The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up. Make sure you’re very courageous: be strong, be extremely kind, and above all be humble.” – Serena Williams

“Don’t ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions on what should happen, not what shouldn’t.” – Michelle Obama

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” – Marie Curie

“Tolerance and compassion are active, not passive states, born of the capacity to listen, to observe and to respect others.” – Indira Gandhi

Saxe Cares

The 8Red team shared what they are feeling “lucky” about and we are so proud that our

students reflect on, and appreciate, all there is to be grateful for! (Especially that many recognize “school”!).

Saxe Art

This week, Ms. Pennoyer & Ms. Beatman displayed their student’s recently completed artwork. This work represents a variety of mediums ranging from watercolor, to mixed media collage. Some of the work is representational and some abstract, but all have strong elements of expression and personal voice. This is just a small sample of the work the Art Department is producing with their students. Stay tuned in the next few weeks for our end of year Saxe Digital Art Show that encompasses a range of work from grades 5-8.

For additional photos, use this link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aQt3E40WqOjd5mPDfmRoz2eM7Dim-wnV?usp=sharing

Saxe Extracurricular Activities

The Saxe Spring 2021 Extracurricular Activities are here and will begin on Monday, March 15th and run until Friday, June 11th. Please use the link below to sign up for this session’s activities. The advisor of each club will contact students if they need any additional information needed to join the club. For additional information and to sign up, you can use this link: Saxe Extracurricular Activities

Leadership Club

Our SRO, Officer Deak, helps our Saxe students understand the power of teamwork and leadership. This was a great activity focusing on “perspective”.

Mandarin

Have you drawn a picture of animals with more than one body or mouth? Students learned body parts this week. They practiced recognizing the new Chinese characters they just learned through Nearpod drawings.

Grade 7 students drew out what they understood from a lesson paragraph with limited time. The paragraph was about a family’s information such as job, nationality, etc.

Around Saxe

This week, we got to enjoy listening to students discuss what came first, the chicken or the egg, in Ms. Demers class. This was in a deeply philosophical, science based context, of course…

Outdoor Learning

The weather has been amazing and our students have been benefiting from participating in some outdoor learning experiences! Grateful for the beautiful spaces on our campus…

Ms. Collins class had some scientific experiments with paper airplanes today. One focused on flying for distance and the other focused on hang time.

They were even joined by one of their remote classmates! (Zoom screenshot) 🙂

A couple of Steeler fan students enjoying some outdoor time during recess…

A Note from The Nurses – A reminder about when to stay home

Please remember to keep your student home from school if they are not feeling well. Fevers are not a predominant symptom of Covid in this age group. Symptoms can be very mild such as only a headache or fatigue. Also, if anyone in your house has been tested for Covid because they are not feeling well and the test results are pending, please keep your children home until you know the results of the test. If you are unsure about sending your child to school you can contact your school nurse anytime!

Fun Facts

Pi day is This Sunday 3/14! “Pi is the most studied number in mathematics, and for good reason. The number pi is integral to our understanding of geometry. Pi has uses in physics, astronomy, and mathematics. Pi is used in architecture and construction as well, and has been a vital part of everything from arches and bridges to the Pyramids of Giza.” https://www.piday.org/pi-facts/

Sunday, March 21st is World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD)

World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD), 21 March, is a global awareness day which has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012. The date for WDSD being the 21st day of the 3rd month, was selected to signify the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome.

The Saxe community will be celebrating World Down Syndrome Day by wearing crazy socks on 3/19/21! Please join us in promoting full inclusion by wearing crazy or mismatched socks. If sharing pictures of your socks to social media, please use the hashtag #LotsOfSocks to get this trending and promote inclusion world wide! If you’d like more information about WDSD or the #LotsOfSocks campaign, please visit: https://lotsofsocks.worlddownsyndromeday.org/

Saxe in the News

Congratulations to Saxe Middle School’s Aedan and Dane Mitchell. The brothers performed extremely well on the challenging National German Exam, which is designed for high school students. Aedan, a sixth-grader, scored in the 92nd percentile, while Dane, a fifth-grader, scored in the 84th percentile. They are German School of Connecticut students, taking lessons at Rippowam Middle School in Stamford. (news story from New Canaanite, 3.12.2021)

Kudos for the Cafeteria Staff

One of our teachers recognized our awesome cafeteria staff this week. We are truly fortunate.

“I just wanted to give a shout out of thanks for the ladies in the Cafeteria. Everyday they are awesome of course, but today was especially off the charts. They offered about 8 different types of pizza certain to satisfy every palette and preference today. (meatball, buffalo chicken, pepperoni, tomato, bacon, cheese, etc) Most professional pizza places do not even offer that in the restaurant world-these women go above and BEYOND! We are so lucky to have them! They are so compassionate and kind, today I witnessed a visually impaired student step up to the lunch counter with her aide and order her lunch. These ladies took the time to describe all of the different flavors and types of pizzas for her and take care of her needs. I thought that was so noteworthy to write to you about. Thank you for such an incredible team and staff! they are so inspiring and compassionate! They show our students an amazing example of kindness and community every day!”.

NCHS Color Drop

Saxe Parents! The NC COLOR DROP is a fundraiser for NCHS students, please support this great event by purchasing a golf ball today!!

To purchase your ball, or for more information – click HERE.

Dogs of Saxe

The weather is getting warmer and some of our favorite 4-legged friends are popping out of their windows to say hello as they intently watch their humans depart for school at Saxe each morning! We love our Dogs of Saxe!

We even had a #DogsOfSaxe photobomber! “Callie” was on the field this morning and paused for a photo before joining her owner. Thanks to our two concerned students who noticed her and made sure she was safely with her human 🙂

Saxe Hawks

We love it when our Saxe families spot our hawks on campus and share their pics! These were taken from the a.m. drop-off line (photo credit: The Breed Family)