June 2, 2023
Dear Saxe Family,
Happy June! It has been an action-packed week and we still have lots to look forward to as we close out the last couple of weeks of the school year. This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at Math, Band, a reminder about tech and social media, a “thank you teachers” video, Odyssey of the Mind, a speedy crossword, outdoor learning, faculty senate meetings, motivational words, STEM, lots of celebrations, honoring our retirees, transition events, Dogs of Saxe, scenes around Saxe, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:
6/5 Grade 5 and 6 Fun Day
6/5 Incoming Grade 9 Meet the Coaches Night
6/7 7:00 pm 5/6 Chorus Concert
6/8 7:00 pm 7/8 Chorus Concert
6/9 Grade 8 Brownstone Trip
6/9 Quarter 4 Ends
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” -Colin Powell
“Life is to be enjoyed, not endured. So follow your dreams, embrace change and live what you love. “ -Aysel Gunar
“Either you run the day or the day runs you.” -Jim Rohn
“Teachers can open the door, but you must enter it yourself.” — Chinese proverb
Mathematics
In Ms. Campbell’s 5th Grade math classes, students are reviewing topics learned this year and working together to solve problems. They are multiplying and dividing fractions, working with decimal numbers, and creating visual models (area models, rectangular fraction models, tape diagrams) to support their reasoning.
In Mrs. Falcone’s Grade 6 Math 7 class, students use dice, playing cards, and pennies to simulate the probability of events. They predict the theoretical probability and then perform trials to determine the experimental probability. It’s interesting to learn which experiments are more random than others. Students love the hands-on approach to learning in math class!
In Mrs. Prinz’s Grade 7 Compacted Math Class, students are working on solving problems with rational numbers, including numbers in scientific notation using the laws of exponents. Students solved real-world problems together, such as using the speed of light to calculate distances! Students also collaborated using leveled task cards to work on targeted skill practice.
Band Concerts at Saxe
Congratulations to the 5/6 Grade and 7/8 Grade Bands for phenomenal concert performances this week! In addition to the amazing performances, we also had a song (All Star) that was led by a student conductor (Jakob Scott). It was a terrific demonstration of the overall growth that takes place during our student’s time in the music program! If you weren’t able to attend or would just like to see how incredibly talented our students are, you can use the links below to watch the concerts (and, there are a “ton more” pictures below in the Twitter portion of the Weekly).
Grade 5/6 Band Concert: https://youtu.be/Cz1uCsJfAAg
Grade 7/8 Band Concert: https://youtu.be/Qj1nK0Uube0
Public Health Warning from US Surgeon General
Thank you to our District Nursing Supervisor, Ms. Janet Reed, for sharing the following:
Dr Vivek H. Murthy , the US Surgeon General has warned that social media carries a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well being of children and adolescents. The report released on May 23, 2023 was an extraordinary public health warning.
The report recommends families keep mealtimes and in person gatherings free of devices to build social bonds and promote conversation.
It suggests families develop a media plan to set expectations for social media use including boundaries around content and keeping personal information private.
Dr Murthy also calls on tech companies to enforce minimum age limits and create settings with high safety and privacy standards.
We recognize the importance of screentime limits and appropriate use of technology and/or social media. Please see previous posts in the Saxe Weekly as they relate to the above topic:
“ABC’s of Social Media” from our May 5, 2023 Saxe Weekly
“Tech-Free” Thanksgiving from our November 23, 2022 Saxe Weekly
“Social Media PSA” from our January 22, 2022 Saxe Weekly
Thank You Teacher Video
The 7th Grade student leadership team put together a heartfelt thank you message for all of Saxe Teachers. The link is below – enjoy!
https://www.wevideo.com/view/3092090237
Odyssey of the Mind World Finals
Saxe Middle School students (left to right: Maddy Kelly, Sienna Smith, Zach Titov, Alex Lobashov, Nicole Lobashova, Niamh O’Regan & Emilia Humphreys) traveled to Michigan State University last week to compete in Odyssey of the Mind World Finals. They had a great time competing, attending festivals and ceremonies with dancing, laser shows, pin trading and much, much more!
NYT Mini Best Time Ever!
Ms. Nelson’s Workshop Class starts class by doing the mini crossword each day and we are VERY EXCITED for our PERSONAL RECORD of 25 seconds! Great job!
Tweets of the Week
Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe middle school Twitter page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
Well-deserved standing ovation following the final SaxeMS 8th-grade performance – Congrats to all!
Congrats to the SaxeMS 8th-graders for a wonderful performance during their final show on stage together! This is the closing of the song, “Rampage” by Todd Stalte…
Very neat to see a student conductor lead the way on “All Star” during the SaxeMS band concert – great job, Jakob!
“It is the way…” as The Mandalorian fills the SaxeMS auditorium!
A little Mission Impossible to close out the 7th-grade segment of the SaxeMS spring band concert!
Great rendition of The Star Spangled Banner to begin the SaxeMS band concert – excellent!
Ready to kick off the 7/8 Band Concert at SaxeMS – good luck to all!
Some SaxeMS outdoor learning today in Mr. Gillan’s SS class. Students were totally engaged while enjoying some fresh air! #SaxeOutdoors
Today’s SaxeMS Faculty Senate meeting was filled with celebrations! Thank you to this amazing group of student leaders who created this special tribute “thank you teachers!” video… Awesome!
If you want to check out the video, please click here – enjoy!
https://www.wevideo.com/view/3092090237
Today’s SaxeMS Faculty Senate meeting was filled with celebrations! Congrats to Ms. Pallisco on her recent engagement!
Today’s SaxeMS Faculty Senate meeting was filled with celebrations! Retirements, a birthday, & staff/school trivia through Kahoot!
Today’s SaxeMS Faculty Senate meeting was filled with celebrations! Here is a salute to our staff members who have reached “family milestones” – congrats & thanks to all!
6th grade Saxe Band wraps up the SaxeMS Spring Concert with an excellent rendition of “Bazaar”, followed by Ms. Rosen recognizing each group of instruments. Congrats to all involved, it was a wonderful performance!
Nothing like a fully immersive, surround sound experience to kick off the 6th-grade portion of the Spring SaxeBand concert – very cool!
Time to get a little “jazzy” as Mr. Kibbey leads the Jazz Band during the SaxeMS Spring Concert… Great job!
SaxeBand ended with a great rendition of “Let’s Go Band II” at the SaxeMs spring concert!
Great start to the SaxeMS Spring SaxeBand concert! 5th-grade kicked it off in style!
8Green has some “bee-autiful”, motivational words in their hallway. Words like “Happy, Caring, Kind, Generous, Outgoing” (& so many more) are great reminders of all the wonderful vibes our students spread throughout our Saxems hive!
Captured this awesome SaxeStem creation at arrival, which was quickly followed by a message from our SaxeMS STEM teacher, Ms. Birdsall, saying “check this out!” #SaxeClubs
Celebrating our SaxeMS retirees at the 2023 NCEA Gala this week – congrats & best wishes to Ms. Potts & Ms. Birdsall (&, all NCPS retirees)!
Thank you to all of the parents who joined our first-ever 4th grade Special Education transition information session! The turnout was incredible and the questions were extremely thoughtful! We can’t wait to welcome our 4th graders to SaxeMS!
The Saxe Chorus is sounding great as they tune up for their upcoming concert!
Our tour guides are trained and can’t wait to meet our future 5th graders tomorrow evening! SaxeMS #fifthgraderocks
Ms. Hillyer has a great group of 5th-grade students preparing for the incoming 4th-graders that will be visiting Saxe this evening!
Cool rendition of our Saxe Hawks logo created in STEM class this week… Nice job, Aidan!
Grateful to our Saxe Custodian for the amazing job they do in keeping our outdoor spaces looking great around the SaxeMS campus! #SaxeOutdoors
Grateful to have such beautiful scenery around SaxeMS! The amazing weather helps a bit, too…
A perfect morning for a couple of Dogs Of Saxe to wish their human a great day at Saxe!
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.
Saxe Resources (live links)
Website: https://www.ncps-k12.org/saxe
Saxe Middle School
Celebrating Our Learning Community Through Caring, Communication, & Commitment
