2022.5.13 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

May 13, 2022

Dear Saxe Family,

It’s official, Spring is here! The temps rose (and, stayed up), the flowering trees were in full bloom, and we had another productive week at Saxe. This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at the latest One-Second Everyday, School Nurses Day, Science, Art, EI in Action, Recycling, the 5th-6th Parent Orientation, some Saxe Spirit, Saxe SRO, scenes around Saxe, outdoor learning, schedule committee work, and much more.

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Be Well,

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

5/19 – Saxe Orchestra Concert & Art Display

5/20 – Grade 5 Colonial Day

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“The joy of life is becoming a person you are proud of.” – Bill Orender

“Even if I don’t reach all my goals, I’ve gone higher than I would have if I hadn’t set any.”

– Danielle Fotopoulis

“When you realize how precious and fragile life is, it changes your whole perspective.”

– Ryan O’Donnell

“The sun is a daily reminder that we too can rise again from the darkness, that we too can shine our own light.” – S. Ajna

“Do more for the world than it does for you.” – Henry Ford

One Second Everyday

Back again for this week – the latest Saxe Middle School 1-Second Everyday! “Life is made of seconds.” Showcasing so much of what makes Saxe Middle School great! This will be a recurring, bi-weekly feature. At the end of the year, we will have a full version that includes every single day of the 2021-22 school year. Enjoy! (pro tip: to enjoy the video at a slower pace, change your viewing option to .75 speed).

Thank you, Nurses!

We are fortunate to have two of the best in the biz! Thanks to our very own School Nurses, Ms. Graham and Ms. Paine, for all they do for our entire learning community.

Science

All sixth grade students are studying dynamic ecosystems this spring. The students were excited to participate in a field study to better understand biodiversity by finding and identifying a variety of organisms in Waveny Park. In addition, students will/have also been collecting water samples from a small stream and a vernal pond to compare and contrast with their aquarium ecosystems in the classrooms. Students are looking forward to visiting specific sites in Waveny twice to observe how our ecosystems change in the spring! We are so fortunate and grateful to have this wonderful resource to use as a meaningful learning experience so close to our school campus.

Grade 7 Science Purple Team students finished up the cell unit by explaining the Too Much of a Good Thing phenomenon through modeling.

Students are finishing out the school year studying the human body systems and metabolic reactions. They were presented with a case study about M’Kenna, a 7th grader experiencing many digestive system symptoms. Students are challenged with the task of figuring out what is going on in M’Kenna’s body that is making her feel sick. Below are some photos of students learning about the digestive system using an interactive simulation.

Art

8th grade students getting creative with an everyday materials! Thanks to Ms. Farley for sharing these amazing cardboard creations.

Emotional Intelligence in Action

Thanks to the EI teams for all of their work this year teaching perspective-taking. 8th grade taught multiple perspectives through the book, Of Mice and Men- and the 5th grade team used “Bully-ve in Yourself.” So critical for students to be able to see multiple points of view!

And… a shout out the Spanish teachers who are spreading the word on EI!

Thinking Globally, Acting Locally

Ms. Poidmani’s Trash Walk and Talk Club has been out on the playground fields gathering items left out on the fields. They are trying to send a message to students to clean up and recycle. Below is one of their slides that will run on the monitors around the school as a reminder!

Grade 5 to Grade 6 Parent Orientation

Thank you to our students and panelists for helping make the grade 5 to grade 6 parent orientation a great success! And, thanks to all who came out to attend! If you want to see the information that was covered, you are welcome to check out the slide deck. Or., you are welcome to watch the entire recorded session.

Proud of our 6th grade students who presented to 5th grade parents during the 5-6 Transition Night Saxe from their perspective. Thanks to Mr. Adams for facilitating.

Kendall, Chandler, and Dean were awesome!

Tweet Street

Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe middle school Twitter page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!

Sending Happy Mother’s Day wishes to all the Moms out there! Thanks for all that you all do (all the time)!

Thank you to Carianne Pabon and the entire 8th grade team for teaching perspective taking through Mice and Men!

Aloha Day to kick off the A-Z countdown! Lot of great spirit around Saxe to start the day!

Even more A-Z countdown proposalThis should be a fun way to celebrate the final month+ of school. Students did a great job, were well prepared, and exhibited some fine presentation skills!

Purple Team

Red Team

Our Saxe SRO offers up some life lessons in the Leadership Club. Great school/community partner relations that benefit our students!

Just about every morning, all year, rain or shine, this group of Saxe students start their day with a little pickup hoops game. Awesome to see and happy they finally have some nice weather to enjoy. No better way to start the day!

Got fresh US & Saxe flags up on the flagpole this week! Adds to the nice scenery around our campus, and, love seeing the bike racks getting back into use with the nicer weather!

Saw one of our Saxe Science classes utilizing one of our freshly cut outdoor learning spaces! Nothing like some experiential learning, outside!

The grass is green and being kept freshly cut by our custodian rock stars – thank you, Timmy (&, the rest of the crew)

Our dedicated Saxe schedule committee continue the important work today! Grateful for each and every one of them and their contributions to our school community!