2022.12.9 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

December 9, 2022

Dear Saxe Family,

Another full week is in the books at Saxe! This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at the latest 1-Second Everyday, Hawk’s Talk podcast with SRO Blank, Art, Chorus, Orchestra, welcome to some new staff members, community outreach, EI, PJ Day for Kids, robots, kindness, gratitude, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Be Well,

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

12/13 – 8th Grade /NCHS Band Festival – 7:00 PM @ NCHS

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“The sun himself is weak when he first rises; and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on.” – Charles Dickens

“Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.”

– H. Jackson Brown

“Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” – Howard Zinn

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill

“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” –Paulo Coelho

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 2022-23 school year. Enjoy! (pro tip: to enjoy the video at a slower pace, change your viewing option to .75 speed).

Hawks Talk Podcast

Our Dean of Students, Mr. Adams, had a great conversation with our School Resource Officer (SRO), Matt Blank. They discussed the importance of his role, school safety, safety tips for the holiday season, and more. Please feel free to check out the latest episode (or, others), here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1uGv4iK4kTkJEhc6LVA79s?si=rWwHmFG3QGyCx3OhwGBUYA

Saxe Art Department

Ms. Duncan’s 8th graders studied the process of photorealistic painter Chuck Close. He believed that like life, art is less daunting if broken down into smaller pieces. The students broke down their resource photos into grids. Then they used drawing pencils to create their pieces square by square.

6th Grade Chorus

The 6th Grade Chorus is working to reach their goal for Community Outreach and Connection Through Music! Volunteer students from the 6th Grade Chorus performed for the League of Women’s Voters of New Canaan’s Annual Holiday Luncheon! The performance at Waveny House provided a beautiful setting for beautiful holiday music. The students prepared over 10 holiday songs, and nearly 30 minutes of music for this performance! This was just the first of many holiday performances the 6th-grade chorus has, so be on the lookout for what’s to come!

Music

Last Saturday, 14 Saxe band and orchestra students auditioned for the Western Region Middle School Music Festival at Fairfield Woods Middle School. These students have worked very hard to prepare over the past several months and we are very proud of them!

Picture: 6th graders, Anca and Mary Jordan, who auditioned on clarinet and violin, respectively.

Upper Crust Bagel Company Art Show

The annual New Canaan UCBC art show is open! Work from elementary, middle, and high school art students is on display. A variety of mediums and genres are represented. Head down, grab a bagel and enjoy the show!

Winter Sing Along!

Volunteer 5th and 6th-grade students were invited to join in the community-wide Winter Sing Along hosted by the High School Music Department on Wednesday 12/7. Students lead the audience in traditional holiday carols. The night was full of music, joy, and connection to our community!

Welcome to our Newest Saxe Staff Members!

Toys for Tots

This year, the Saxe community is proud to announce that we are hosting Tuni’s Toys for Tots fundraiser! Elena Dillon, Grade 7, helped organize this fundraiser to honor her family. She says “Tuni’s Toys for Tots is a fundraiser that was started by our family members when we lost my beloved Aunt Tuni. This foundation was created to honor Tuni and to keep her kindness and love alive.” By partnering with the Saxe Spirit Club and the original Toys for Tots foundation, Elena is hoping to spread joy to our community. We are asking students throughout the school and members of the school community to consider donating a toy to help a child in need.

What: New and unwrapped toys for children up to age 12

When: December 9th – December 20th

Where: Drop off at the main entrance in the Toys for Tots box

Please contact Mrs. Prinz at jacqueline.prinz@ncps-k12.org for more information.

Saxe Chorus Looking for Food Donations

Saxe Middle School’s 6th-grade chorus is now joining Filling In The Blanks! Filling In The Blanks is a charity for children who are experiencing food insecurity. So, how can you donate non-perishable food to Filling In The Blanks? Boxes will be at the lower division office, main office, and room 153. Collections will also be at the Saxe 5th and 6th-grade concert in January. Just think of all the donations we can get! As Saxe Middle School we can make a difference in the community. We can change people’s lives!

Emotional Intelligence Lessons in 6th Grade: Being Your Best Self

The 6th grade worked with students on an important aspect of their emotional intelligence- their ability to set and reach their goals, while teachers, counselors, and Dean of Students (Mr. Adams), taught lessons on stress management.

Tweet Street

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

It was amazing seeing the massive support for such a meaningful cause all around Saxe today! There were tons of students and staff getting “comfy for a cause”! If you’d still like to participate, please feel free, here:

https://give.connecticutchildrens.org/team/468356

Vivian Birdsall & her students are working with some of the latest Vex Robotics in her STEM program. Impressive functions, problem-solving, and teamwork!

A little fog filled hoops to start the day for these Saxe students – great to see them out there each day!

A Kindness Calendar for December. What a great way to enjoy the holiday season!

Good luck to everyone involved in the Nutcracker this weekend! Here are a couple of our dedicated Saxe students who will be performing. Best wishes to all!

Grade 5’s top secret project for our wonderful teachers!

Some amazing artwork is going up around Saxe as we prepare for the holiday concert and art show series!

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)