2023.11.17 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

November 17, 2023

Dear Saxe Family,

I hope you had a wonderful week (and, enjoyed this glorious unseasonable weather – we sure did!). This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at the latest 1Second Everyday, Science, Music, our outstanding Education Support Professionals, lost & found, Saxe in the News, Saxe Outdoors, a Town Hall meeting, Leadership Team, moments of gratitude, Nemo, Dogs of Saxe, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Be Well,

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

11/22 Trimester 1 Closes (grade 5 only)

11/22 Early Dismissal – Thanksgiving Vacation (No Homework)

11/23 Turkey Bowl – Go Rams!

11/23-24 Thanksgiving Vacation – enjoy!

12/4-8 5th-grade conferences (please note: Saxe has 5 conference days; elementary has 4)

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“It is only when we take chances, when our lives improve. The initial and the most difficult risk that we need to take is to become honest.” —Walter Anderson

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa

“If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.” —Morris West

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” -Thomas A. Edison

“Don’t settle for what life gives you; make life better and build something.” — Ashton Kutcher

One Second Everyday

Back again 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 is a recurring, bi-weekly feature. At the end of the year, we will have a full version that includes every single day of the 2023-24 school year. Enjoy! (pro tip: to enjoy the video at a slower pace, change your viewing option to .75 speed).

Science

Ms. Rende and her 5th-grade students took advantage of the great weather this week to see how “Shadow Man’s” shadow is changing throughout the year!

Music

Ms. Rosen’s 6th Grade Flute Class plays “Over the River and Through the Woods” to say Happy Thanksgiving! You can watch it here:

Celebrating our Educational Support Professionals

Thank you to the Education Support Professionals at Saxe! It takes the roles of many to make up the amazing team within our school community. Each member is extremely valuable and we are grateful for the respective roles they play! Thank you to our Saxe Hospitality Committee for recognizing and celebrating these invaluable members of our school community!

What If ?

Let’s suppose just for a moment, what if there weren’t any ESP
What would become of our schools and where would education be
If not for the dedication of each Education Support Professional
How could our schools ever survive or even function at all

For the bus driver wouldn’t be there to pick up children along the way
The doors wouldn’t be unlocked, the lights on, or the buildings heated each day
The aides wouldn’t be there to help those children with a special need
Or the cooks wouldn’t have a hot and tasty meal ready for all to feed

School security wouldn’t be there to watch over the children with care
Each child’s records wouldn’t be the secretary’s load to bear
The computers would crash without the technician to keep them up to date
And not for the maintenance personnel, one can only guess the school’s fate

And there are many more that give so much, each in a different capacity
For to each ESP, education is far more than just another job or utility
Education is each child’s future, the hope and prayers of our nation
For that future, each day, ESP give their work, love, and dedication

Dave Arnold

Lost and Found

Our Lost and Found has no shortage of items! If your child has left a coat behind, or forgotten a sweatshirt or lunchbox, please have them visit the Lost and Found. It is located in the last hallway to your right as you are walking towards the cafeteria. If any parent would like to come and take a look, just sign in with the campus monitors and we will be happy to take you down. Items that do not find a home will be donated at the end of December to those in need. Thank you for taking a look!

Saxe in the News

Saxe was recently featured on a news story out of California where they covered our now former students, and 7th-grade Science teacher, Mr. D’Alton, on their NASA Tech Rise Journey! Check out the exciting, informative story, here:

https://www.foxla.com/news/in-depth-nasa-techrise-and-wisk-air-taxi

Congrats and best wishes to Harper!

Twitter/X

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

What does 64* on November 17th mean at Saxe? Get outside for some classes!

7th-grade Science classes were busy researching & learning about natural wind power this week!

Next step – students measure their “wind power machines” in action!

Getting the angles (30 degrees) of the wind turbine ready as our Saxe students take measurements of the amount(s) of power being produced!

6th-grade Student Leadership preparing the Start with Hello week video… Great planning & look forward to seeing the final product!

6Blue held their Town Hall this week where students completed an activity in groups to review the Behavior Expectation Matrix. Great brainstorming & teamwork!

Certificates were included in the experience as well!

8Red share their “moments of thanks” as we head into the Thanksgiving week next week… #MomentsOfGratitude

Not to be outdone, 8Green share their “moments of thanks” as we head into the Thanksgiving week as well… #MomentsOfGratitude

We are so grateful for our Saxe Educational Support Professionals – thank you for all that you do for our school community!

There were signs of gratitude for our Education Support Professionals all around Saxe this week. Thanks to everyone who helped create the signs, & of course, our extra special thanks to our ESPs – we are grateful for you!

There were signs of gratitude for our Ed Support Professionals all over Saxe this week. Thx to all who helped create the signs, & of course, an extra special thanks to our ESPs – we are grateful for you!

Bonus thanks to Ms. Carmichael for being a good sport w/the photo 🙂

Celebrating the Production of Finding Nemo

It’s SHOWTIME at Saxe!

This is what you call a packed house! 700+ people are ready for a great show at SaxeMS!

What a transition at Saxe as the lobby & auditorium morph into Nemo & friends underwater world!

The “behind the scenes” action is almost as impressive as the on-stage performance – what a team!

That’s a wrap! Congrats to all Saxe students, staff, & volunteers who made Finding Nemo such a great success!

Congratulations to the Cast and Crew of Nemo Jr.!

And, for the most impressive post-production performance of ALL TIME, Saxe SRO Blank and Ms. Sherwood welcomed their newest family member, Spencer Anthony Blank, into the world this week. Congrats, Lauren and Matt, & welcome, Spencer!

Progress around the building as the painters have been hard at work around Saxe. We are grateful for the “refresh”! Stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks…

Yes, this “Dogs Of Saxe” was as soft as this picture looks! Great way to start the 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. A special thanks to Melissa DiMeglio for the continuous stream of positive, optimistic quotes!

Saxe Resources (live links)