March 4, 2022
Dear Saxe Family,
The return from our February break was filled with energy and excitement! Our transition into March also brought about the beginning of Middle Level Education Month (MLEM), where we celebrate all that makes this critical developmental phase such a special one (more below). This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at some of our favorite quotes, MLEM, a “historic” Spirit & Kindness Week, “save the date” for the Saxe Meet & Greet, Women’s History Month, Math class, Math Team, Art, NC Color Drop, Trout Club, a UV sanitizer, grade-level meetings, some sidewalk chalk, “Saxe Syrup”, Dogs of Saxe, and much more… Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“Take the time to invest in yourself.” – Guy Bluford
“My mission in life is not merely to survive but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” – Maya Angelou
“If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.” – Dolly Parton
“Bring your whole self to the experience. Because the more we do that, the more that people get to see that, the more comfortable everybody’s gonna be with it.” – Bozoma Saint John
“I am thankful for my struggle because, without it, I wouldn’t have stumbled across my strength.” -Alex Elle
Middle Level Education Month
“We know that young adolescents are special. And that’s why the month of March is devoted to celebrating the wonderful things that happen each and every day in middle level education” (amle.org).
Did you know that 10-15 year-olds are experiencing the most rapid, significant changes of their lives other than from birth to age 3? They are developing physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively as they discover new vistas, form relationships with peers and adults, and explore their developing identity. As educators and parents, we have the tremendous opportunity to help support them as they form the attitudes, values, and dispositions that will form who they become as adults. The research tells us that young adolescents thrive when they are provided with learning environments that are:
As we enter the month of March, we continue to focus on our most important asset, our students. The Association of Middle Level Education (AMLE) has teamed up with several other organizations to declare March the official month to celebrate middle level education. The key messages to celebrate “Middle Level Education Month” are:
- The importance of parents being knowledgeable about young adolescents and being actively involved in their lives;
- The understanding that healthy bodies plus healthy minds equal healthy young adolescents;
- The realization that the education young adolescents experience during this formative period of life will, in large measure, determine the future for all citizens; and
- The knowledge that every young adolescent should have the opportunity to pursue his or her dreams and aspirations, and post-secondary education should be a possibility for all.
New Canaan exemplifies what it means to provide the best education possible and Saxe Middle School is proud to be able to play a critical role in the overall educational journey that our students make. Thank you for your continued support! Feel free to check out #MLEM and more information/resources at: http://www.amle.org/
Spirit & Kindness Unites Us!
As we look to make the most of MLEM, we recently accepted a challenge from our neighbors at Middlesex Middle School (yes, in “that” town next door :)…) and will be participating in a weeklong “Spirit/Kindness Week” from March 7-11. Each day will have a “spirit theme”, an “act of kindness”, and we will be sharing our participation between/amongst schools to build on the excitement, and unity, for a good cause. “Town rivals or not – we all win with kindness!”
Here is a sneak peek of the week:
And, a few slides that celebrate this unifying experience:
Saxe Meet & Greet
Mark your calendars, we are opening our doors to invite our parent community back into Saxe! On the evenings of March 22nd (Lower Division) and March 23rd (Upper Division), we will hold a “Saxe Meet & Greet” for parents to come in, see our classrooms, and meet your child’s teachers, in person. The tentative schedule will be from 5:45 – 7:45 p.m.. Stay tuned for more details and the official schedule in the next week or so.
Celebrating Women’s History Month
Mathematics
Our math students were excited to come back after February break. Pictured are 6th grade students in Ms. Hafkemeyer’s class using snap cubes as a model to reason through proportional relationships. This model allowed students to create equivalent tape diagrams to represent different scenarios. Using this learning, students will be able to solve more complex proportional problems.
Art
8th Grade students studied the history of linocuts, and looked at work by current printmaking artists. After learning the process, students sketched out their designs, transferred the drawings to the linoleum, and began carving. Now they are in the process of printing out three identical prints to display in a series. It’s an exercise in trial and error as they work to master the art of printmaking!
Saxe Mathcounts Team
Congratulations to our Math Team students who participated in the Southwest MathCounts Chapter Competition! Three of our students placed in the top 25% for the individual competition: Cormac Kilkenny (Gr. 8), George Wang (Gr. 7) and Ian Lanning (Gr. 7). Cormac will be moving on to the state competition. Saxe placed 5th for the team portion of the competition and consisted of: Jason Lin (Gr. 6), Cormac Kilkenny (Gr. 8), George Wang (Gr. 7), and Henry Buczkiewicz (Gr. 8). Great job by all!
NCHS Color Drop
The NCHS Color Drop is back! It is a great time to buy a ball and watch them drop at the NC Color Drop on March 26 at Waveny! Visit NCHS Scholarship Foundation to purchase a ball (or two) for the chance to win one of the great prizes and support a need based college scholarship.
Trout Club Update
The trout are hatched and doing well! Another tank has been set up to give the trout more room and one even hatched with two heads (pictured below)! The club has been keeping a close eye on their progress and continue to monitor the tanks so that there are many trout to release in the Spring.
UV Sanitizer
Check out this useful tool that was built by our students, from scratch, using the design thinking process. Feel free to try it out in the main lobby/office area. Congrats to the team, nice work, and thank you for thinking globally and acting locally!
Tweet Street
Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe middle school Twitter page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
Good Morning & Welcome Back! I hope you had a wonderful February break & it is so nice to see everyone again! Have a great day, All!
We welcomed everyone back this morning and began the day with grade-level meetings to revisit our norms and values (be kind, caring, respectful, etc). Great to see everyone back! If you’d like to check out the slides, please feel free to Click Here.
March is Middle Level Education Month! Join in celebrating all that makes this important developmental stage so important for our students in their learning and growth journey! Check out more through our national association.
Seen on the Sidewalks of Saxe!
“I love helping them navigate this period of self-identity development the most. Discovering what makes a child unique and watching them embrace it is awesome!”
Seen outside Mr. Pacicca’s classroom!
Principal Egan welcomes our 8th-graders as THE NCHS Class of 2026! Nice to see such a great group of “Future Rams” fill the auditorium!
Students and staff didn’t miss a beat getting back into action after the February break last week. Great to see everyone again!
Thanks to our faculty-senate for keeping the focus on the wellbeing of our staff!
A behind the scenes look at the upcoming Saxe/Middlesex “Spirit/Kindness Week”! Should be a great way to celebrate Middle Level Education Month, unite in the spirit of kindness, and have fun doing it!
It is official! Saxe has accepted Middlesex Middle School’s challenge for a collaborative “Kindness/Spirit Week” between our two neighboring towns! Let the fun begin, all in the good-natured spirit of kindness!
(click on the links above to see the videos)
Let’s go! Let’s unite in kindness next week – challenge happily accepted!
Here’s the “sap haul” from the first day of collection in the Saxe Syrup journey!
Can’t wait to see the sugar maple process in action at @SaxeMS! Thanks to @VivianBirdsall and her awesome students for keeping us in the loop with this real world learning experience!
Saxe students are fired up for the Kindness/Spirit week with our neighboring town! Thanks to Ms. Campbell and her students for these great signs!
Always good to remember perspective!
Dogs of Saxe
Shameless Dogs of Saxe (hat) photo for our grade-level meetings this week 🙂 Tommy & Melvern were good sports…
Have a great week, see you next Friday!
Thank you to all of our Saxe Weekly contributors! Each weekly edition is an example of collaboration in action. A special thanks to Lauren Sherwood for the continuous stream of positive, optimistic quotes!
Saxe Resources (live links)
The Saxe weekly 