2021.5.21 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

May 21, 2021

Dear Saxe Family,

I hope your week has been as nice as the weather we have been able to enjoy! This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at Annie, Science, Mandarin, Geo Bee, EI, Physical Education, AAPIH Month, “living” history, recycling club, happiness, outdoor learning, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Be Well,

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

5/26: Incoming 5th grade parent orientation; 1/2 Day for students, Professional Learning for staff

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“Life is too short to waste your time on people who don’t respect, appreciate, and value you.” – Roy T. Bennett

“I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me… All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.” – Jackie Robinson

“One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” -Bryant H. McGill

“If people respect you, respect them back. If people disrespect you, respect them back. They represent their ideology, you represent yours.” – Anonymous

“Respect is a two-way street, if you want to get it, you’ve got to give it.” – R.G. Risch

Saxe VPA

A HUGE Congratulations to the Cast and Crew of Annie!! They had a fantastic weekend of LIVE shows. A true testament to perseverance, dedication and focus. We are very proud of the Saxe Theatre program and the incredibly talented students involved. A very special thank you to Lauren Sherwood for her tireless efforts in creating this memorable experience for all!

Science

Grade Six Red & Blue Teams had another great visit to the Waveny Trail for their ecosystem field study. They discovered many new changes as spring has progressed. The vernal pools have dried up and the stream has slowed, but the students were still able to collect water samples to observe the variety of insect larva and other macroinvertebrates using microscopes in the classroom.

Saxe Geo Bee

Every year, National Geographic holds a Geography Competition for students in grades 4-8 to test and show their knowledge of their world. Due to the pandemic, this year’s geography bee was cancelled. However, this didn’t stop three of the Saxe Geography Club Alumni from giving our students this opportunity! Drew Bench, Adrian McMahon, and Gigi Caldero, current NCHS freshmen, worked together to create 90 preliminary questions that were given to students in early May, then 7 rounds of final competition questions for the top 8 finalists, held on May 18. Our top 8 finalists included: Rowan Richey Elliot, Niyathi Iyengar, Henry Brauweiler, Nicholas Marti, Anthony Westhead, Heath Barry, Jason Generalis, and Kaleb Tan. Third place is Nicholas Marti, runner up is Rowan Richey Elliot, and our 2021 school champion is Niyathi Iyengar! They all did incredibly well and should be very proud of themselves! This would not have been possible without the dedication of Drew, Adrian, Gigi, and all the participants of the preliminary test and final competition!

Emotional Intelligence work continues at Saxe Middle school as students have been talking about unkind behavior, developing empathy, and specific ways to be an upstander to “intervene if it is mean.” Sarah Beltran, School Counselor, and Ben Young, ELA teacher and EI committee member are pictured below facilitating the lesson.

Mandarin

Pictionary games never get old! Students were engaged in the activity to practice the classroom objects and daily common phrases they learned this week.

Physical Education

Students in PE class have been working hard to walk, jog and run their way through the Saxe mile during the month of May. The mile is a great assessment for aerobic endurance as well as contributing to the daily goal of at least 10,000 steps towards being active. Aerobic endurance is your ability to do an activity continually (running, biking, swimming, etc.) without tiring/stopping and is important for everyone as it comes with a wide variety of health benefits. Students reflected on their mile time and set a SMART goal for the summer while applying the F.I.T.T. Principle to maintain/improve their aerobic endurance. Frequency (how often), Intensity (how hard), Time (how long), and Type (what kind of exercise/activity are you doing). Miss Goodman’s favorite quote…if it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you. Get out, get active and have some fun this summer!

Congratulations to our “Top Milers”:

5th Grade: Blake Pozatek 6:01 AND Haley Schlafman 6:24

6th Grade: George Wang 6:22 AND Sienna de Kanter 6:43

7th Grade: Rogan Lowe 5:54 AND Eliana Savelli 6:01

8th Grade: Ryan Boulanger 6:00 AND Charlotte Moor 6:07

May Celebration of AAPIH Month

Continuing our tribute to these important contributors!

If you are looking for so relaxing music to brighten your day, here is a beautiful performance by Thursday’s “featured” AAPI: Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Scott Perform “Over the Rainbow”

“Living” History

Carl Boccadoro, one of our amazing Saxe custodians, is also a member of the 5th Connecticut Regiment. The 5CR is made up of a group of local historians who all share a passion for Colonial America. Mr. Boccadoro graciously shared his expertise with some fifth grade class after his shift one day this week. Their classroom studies came to life as he explained how soldiers lived during the American Revolution. Thank you, Mr. Boccadoro!

Social Studies

Student led Kahoots are a great way for classmates to show their learning & understanding. The engagement was terrific and the activity was a great snapshot into the student lens of this 6th grade SS topic!

Math

Students participated in some kinesthetic learning as they work through decimals on a number dot scale…

Saxe Walk to School Day – May 14th

Walk to School Day may have been last week, but we received some awesome pictures that we had to include!

Charter Week – Happy (May 10 – May 14th)

Cora Huang was been inspired by the charter, and by our social issues unit. She decided to wear this “punny” t-shirt to celebrate “E-Koala-T.”

Grade 6 Language Arts Students, In the spirit of happiness, banded together around our “new student,” welcomed them with open arms.

Sase Recycles

Our Saxe recycling club is back at it! Thanks for thinking globally and acting locally!

Around Saxe

Dr. Clapp was working through the process of preparing for the first ever Saxe virtual tour, and celebrating his success! We can’t wait to see the finished product, our incoming students are going to love it…

I have always known, believed in, & been grateful for the wonderful students that we have at Saxe. Here is just one example… When a student asks to share a “personal project” that she has been working on (not an assignment) and it is about the “true meaning of happiness” – wow! Thank you to Elisa Da Rold for sharing!

We love seeing creative t-shirts at Saxe. Here is a great one from today…

Recess

Fresh air, friends, and sunshine is a great combo! We have been fortunate this week and hope to have many more great days outside… Thanks to Ms. Pennoyer for the great skyscape photo!

Outdoor Learning

We are grateful for the outdoor learning spaces at Saxe that allow our students to learn and grow in a wonderful environment. We also appreciate the care and attention these spaces get from our custodians!