November 15, 2024
Dear Saxe MS Family,
It may be hard to believe, but we are already halfway through November and this was our first full week of the month. While time may be flying, we still have quite a bit to share and celebrate. Thank you for taking the time to read, scan, or scroll through the Weekly as it allows us to share a snapshot of what makes our school community special, each week.
This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at Veterans Day, Education Support Professionals Day, National School Psychology Week, Robotics, School Counseling, Student Leadership, a “Parenting our Kids in a Digital World” session, “exploring” with AI, the return of the Tower Garden, “Know-vember”, setting goals, artwork, yearbook, kindness, Dogs of Saxe, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:
11/20 Education Support Professionals Day
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“There may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.” —Derek Jeter
“One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.” — Malala Yousafzai
“In a world where you can be anything, Be Kind.”-Unknown
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”― Martin Luther King, Jr.
Saxe Jokes:
What do you say to Simba when he’s moving too slow? MUFASAAA!
What kind of tree fits in your hand? A palm tree.
Why did the kind computer invite all the other computers to a party? Because it wanted to create a network of kindness
It’s illegal to laugh out loud in Hawaii. You have to keep it to a low ha!
What’s the best season for sky-diving Fall!
Thank you, Veterans
Saxe MS is proud to have so many Veterans represented on our walls. Each star includes family members of students & staff members & we are grateful to be able to honor them. Thank you to everyone involved & to all who have served!
Thank you to our very own “Saxe Veterans” – Ofcr. Blank, Mr. Ellett, & Mr. Hearty! Not only are you terrific members of our Saxe MS community, we are grateful for your service to our great country. You are appreciated!
Our Saxe MS students heard from local veterans today as we all celebrated Veterans Day ‘24. Great messages about commitment, accountability, trust, kindness, & just being good people… Thank you to all who serve(d)!
Honoring our Veterans was a highlight at Saxe MS today! Grateful for all who helped make today possible & the positive impact it had on our students & school community. Thank you, All!
Students in Ms. Reed & Mr. Devine’s classes had the great fortune of hearing from Ms. Reed’s nephew (1st Lieutenant in the Army & currently stationed overseas), for Veterans Day. What an amazing story of goal setting, perseverance, & even “being ok” without tech/cell phones! 🙂
Good morning & Happy Veterans Day from Saxe MS! We look forward to sharing how we celebrate our nation’s veterans throughout the day today… Thank you to all who have served our great country!
Education Support Professionals Day
Education Support Professionals (ESP) Day is celebrated annually on the Wednesday of American Education Week. In 2024, ESP Day will be on Wednesday, November 20. ESP Day honors the vital contributions of school support staff, including: Cafeteria workers, Custodians, Bus drivers, Paraprofessionals, and Nurses. Next week, we look forward to celebrating these important members of our school community. Thank you, Saxe Education Support Professionals!
National School Psychology Week
November 11-15, 2024, marks National School Psychology Week, an annual celebration of school psychologists and the contributions they make to their schools and communities. Often overlooked, school psychologists are uniquely qualified to support students’ ability to learn and teachers’ ability to teach. We are grateful for Ms. Shapiro, Mr. Dykes, and Ms. Gagliano – thank you for all that you do for our Saxe community!
Robotics
This week, our 8th-grade robotics class had an exciting visit from members of the high school VEX Robotics team! The high school students shared insights into their experience on the team, what it’s like to participate in robotics at a competitive level, and some behind-the-scenes details about this year’s challenging VEX Robotics competition. They discussed their approach to designing, building, and programming their robot to tackle the competition’s unique tasks, giving our students a preview of what they could look forward to in high school robotics. This was a fantastic opportunity for our 8th graders to ask questions, learn more about the next level of robotics, and see the possibilities that lie ahead!
School Counseling
The Saxe MS School Counselors partnered with the 7th-grade Social Studies department to lead a lesson on goal setting. Students explored the value of consistent, daily effort and the willingness to try as the foundation for long-term success. They then developed individual academic S.M.A.R.T. goals that incorporated anticipating and planning for potential obstacles.
Student Leadership
The 7th grade Saxe Leadership Team is working with a non-profit organization called Filling in the Blanks which provides food to people in need over the holidays. Bins will be located at the front and back entrances of the school. Please see the attached flyer for the requested food items. This initiative will begin on Monday, November 18th, and run until Wednesday, November 27th. Thanks in advance for your participation!
Celebrate Saxe Pizza Parties
This week, Mr. Gusitsch got to enjoy a couple of nice lunches with some terrific Saxe MS students as the Celebrate Saxe vibe lived on! One student was chosen from each team with the highest participation rate in Celebrate Saxes and they got to bring a few of their friends along. It was great to get to know them a little better & learn more about their experiences at Saxe… Thank you to our Saxe PTC for making this possible!
New Canaan PS hosted a great session on “Parenting Our Kids in a Digital World” with Scott Driscoll
this week. It was very informative with real-world applications & helpful resources. Thank you to New Canaan Cares for partnering & consistently bringing in such relevant speakers!
Yes, times certainly have changed as the tech revolution rolls on…
Also, it included real world applications, helpful resources, & positive messaging that applies to any aspect of life. Want to learn more? Check out some of the info that was shared…
“System Updates”
We are in the process of updating our staff bulletin board. Please keep an eye out for the latest version!
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Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe Middle School page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
8 Red has updated their board for “Colors for a Cause” at Saxe MS. So many great selections to bring awareness &/or remembrance to…
Thanks to Ms. Freeman & Mr. Petrakopoulos for helping Saxe MS students explore with some AI tools in Saxe Social Studies, using Padlet. It was interesting to hear students discuss prompts, iterate, & work through getting images that supported their learning!
We have some pretty amazing students here at Saxe MS… Here are just a few members of our Saxe Leadership team who are looking forward to helping make a difference as we go into the holiday seasons! (A special thanks to School Counselor Ms. Nettleton for helping, too)!
Ms. Orlando & Mr. Hautau’s “Believe wall” has begun in Saxe MS Health Ed classes… Stay tuned to watch it expand, with some great messages!
Thank you to Mr. Petrakopoulos for reviewing, & introducing, important tech info with our Saxe MS staff during PL this week. Not only was it informative, it was fun & inspiring to hear how our teachers are using AI (safely) to create richer learning experiences for our students!
Here is a sample image generated using ChatGPT. It still has some room for improvement, but you can see the potential and the creative options will be limitless!
Thank you to Ms. Nicholas for welcoming some of our former Saxe MS, & current NCHS, students in to share about their experience with robotics at the next level. Very inspiring! Saxe STEM
The “Tower Garden” is back at Saxe MS! Can’t wait to see all the great produce that will be growing out in the coming weeks!
The “Know-vember” board outside the #SaxeLibrary is really filling up with some great facts & trivia! Thanks to all who have contributed!
Thank you to our Saxe Counselors for offering up a terrific “Goal Setting” lesson this week. Our Saxe MS student’s participation & contributions made it fun to watch!
Love seeing the “handcrafted”/original Saxe Yearbook ads around the building! Be sure to order yours, soon…
Our Saxe Yearbook crew brought their “A-Game” with their flyers for this year! Be sure to get yours before it’s too late!
Sometimes, walking through the hallways of Saxe MS, I will come across things that are absolutely fascinating… This piece of Saxe Art was created by one of our students & is beyond impressive!
Always a good reminder to focus on what we can control & consciously block out the “UCs” (“uncontrollables”)!
Happy World Kindness Day from Saxe MS! It’s too easy to make someone’s day with a simple act of kindness… Enjoy & have a great day, All! Be Kind…
Ms. Jarosik & Ms. Benware had some fun kicking off this Friday Saxe MS with a “MacArthur Park – cake in the rain” treat! It was pretty delicious, too…
Dogs of Saxe
Zipper, Toby, King, & Cabot all decided to visit on this chilly but sunny Wednesday morning at Saxe MS arrival this week. Thanks for taking a moment to say hello as you saw your humans off to school!
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)
Website: https://www.ncps-k12.org/saxe
Saxe Middle School
Celebrating Our Learning Community Through Caring, Communication, & Commitment
