November 22, 2024
Dear Saxe MS Family,
Interestingly enough, last week was the first “full week” of school in November, and, this week happens to be the last “full week” of November. Time certainly does fly and each day is a gift. Speaking of “gifts”, we got some much-needed rain, and, our first snowfall of the season (all within 24 hours!). As we prepare for the lead-up to the Thanksgiving break, I hope your week was a good one.
This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at “tech-free Thanksgiving”, Lost & Found, Education Support Professionals, resources from “Parenting in a Digital World”, Special Education, Science, Art, “Good People Doing Good Things”, NCPS community events, Rowing Club, Health Ed, recess (with some amazing trick shots!), ELA, Math, Sustainability Club, “Know-vember”, scenes around Saxe, Dogs of Saxe, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!
Be Well,
Dave Gusitsch
Principal, Saxe Middle School
Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:
11/27 Early Dismissal for Thanksgiving break! (12:00)
11/28 – 11/29 Thanksgiving Vacation! (No Homework)
*Quotes that resonated with us this week:
“I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.” — Rosa Parks
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”-Eleanor Roosevelt
“When you cease to dream you cease to live.”-Malcolm Forbes
“The Expert in anything was once a beginner.”-Helen Hayes
Saxe Jokes:
What’s a scientist’s favorite dog? The Lab!
How do mice floss their teeth? With string cheese
What did the big flower say to the little flower?”Hi, bud!”
I told a bad chemistry joke once. I got no reaction.
Have you heard the joke about yoga. Nevermind it’s a bit of a stretch
“Tech-Free” Thanksgiving
Note: these images were created using a ChatGPT prompt asking it to capture the below message.
Before we hit the “scramble” of the holidays, we wanted to share some important messaging that we have used in the past about making a concerted effort to appreciate every moment over the upcoming Thanksgiving break. We will also include a link to this reminder, next week 🙂
Thanksgiving is a time for friends, family, and gratitude. And yet, many will be tempted to continue checking their phones, texting, and posting on social media during your time to connect. Of course, some technology may be used to keep you “present” in positive ways to create and remember memories (pictures, videos, etc.), so not all tech is “bad”. If you would like to try a “Tech-Free” (or, “tech-reduced”) Thanksgiving, here are some suggestions:
- Mention it ahead of time. Invite your guests to participate in a “tech-free” Thanksgiving, and ask them to bring a “tech-free” game everyone can enjoy. Play “Salad Bowl” (Google it!), Taboo, or another fun large group game.
- Request no phones at the dinner table. Of course, if someone has an urgent need to be available by phone, they may keep their phone on vibrate.
- Turn off the TV during dinner. This can be tough if your favorite team is playing, but try to schedule dinner around the big games, or simply turn down the volume and leave it on in the background.
- Provide fun games and crafts for young children. Think ahead about some crafts that children can engage in so they won’t be asking for the ipad or remote. Creating festive decorations for the dinner table can be a perfect Thanksgiving craft.
- Give Thanks. Involve everyone in writing down what they are grateful for this year. Everyone can write on a “feather” made of construction paper and then the” feathers” can be added to a paper turkey. Keeping everyone engaged will cut down on their need to go onto the phone.
If this sounds appealing to you, your family, or even a select few relatives/friends, please let us know how it goes. A Tech-Free Thanksgiving may reduce stress and make it easier for everyone to connect and enjoy their time together. It may very well end up being the best Thanksgiving you have ever had! Regardless of the choice that best fits your family, have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Lost & Found
I’m confident that we have some of the best custodians around at Saxe MS! Look at the care & attention that is given to our Lost & Found area! Speaking of L&F – please check out the inventory, we will be donating all unclaimed items to a worthy organization in early December.
Education Support Professionals
To all of our Education Support Professionals at Saxe MS – THANK YOU! You are an essential part of our learning community & you are APPRECIATED! We are grateful for the role that you play in the lives of our students (&, staff)… In case you were wondering, the following people are the ones who contribute to our school community on a daily basis as “ESPs”: Auditorium Manager, Building Manager, Building Subs, Cafeteria staff, Campus Monitors, Custodians, Drivers/Cafeteria Supervisors, Instructional Assistants, Interns, Manager of Facilities, Media Center – Aide, Nurse, Secretaries, Instructional Aides, SRO, Supervisory Aides, Technology staff.
Here are just a few of our ESP staff who were celebrated on November 20th.
Parenting in a Digital World
Key Takeaways from “Parenting Our Kids In A Digital World”
- You don’t need to go home and take away all of your child’s devices; instead, consider printing a family tech contract, reviewing privacy settings together, and involving them in discussions about reasonable daily technology use and safety. A PDF of a printable tech contract can be found HERE.
- The importance of making safe choices on the Internet and on social media, which requires parents to be vigilant and work together as a family. To help with this, he has developed one-page guides for staying safe on today’s most popular apps. These guides can be found on his website HERE.
- With many seniors in the midst of college applications, digital footprints can impact both college admissions and scholarship offers. He shared a slide (below) that may be useful to show your teens, illustrating which schools hire companies like his to review students’ digital footprints during the application process.
- For more resources, visit https://internetsafetyconcepts.com/.
A big thank you to our partners NCPS & Saxe PTC for making this event possible!
Special Education Presentation
The New Canaan Public Schools (NCPS) special education administrators will host a presentation on Tuesday, December 3, at 10 a.m. at the town library. This event offers parents and caregivers an opportunity to meet the administrators and learn about the programs and initiatives NCPS provides for children with special needs, from preschool through young adulthood. Attendees are encouraged to submit questions during registration. The event will conclude with time for informal conversations and networking with the administrators.
Science
Students on 8 Purple ran a seven day evolution simulation tracking the genetics of a fictional turkey population. The model gave students practice with concepts such as Punnett Squares, Mendelian and complex heredity patterns, allele frequency, selective pressures, natural selection, and the role that genetic diversity plays in evolution.
Good People “Doing Good Things”
Ms. Orlando’s class made a great contribution to Saxe’s Filling in the Blanks Thanksgiving Food Drive!! Her entire class of students each donated an item and helped fill the bins with food items for local families in need! The 7th Grade Student Leadership team is facilitating a food drive at Saxe to help gather Thanksgiving donations for Filling in the Blanks, a local organization that helps fight childhood hunger. Thank you to Ms. Orlando and her class!!
Art
The current 8th created these sculptures by using recycled materials that parents have donated to build a structure. Then, they used newspapers to help fill in the empty gaps and spaces. After that, they primed and painted them. These were inspired by the pop art movement and artists like Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.
Visual Art
Our Saxe artists have been hard at work in their classes, continuing to work on Value, to bring their drawings to life and make them look life-like. Here are some amazing examples of our students demonstrating their knowledge and application of Value in a variety of ways! Always impressed by the talent of our students…
Supporting our Community
Bring the whole family to The Lightning Thief, the Percy Jackson Musical at New Canaan High School! As the half-blood son of a Greek god, Percy Jackson has newly-discovered powers he can’t control and a destiny he doesn’t want. When Zeus’s master lightning bolt is stolen and Percy becomes the prime suspect, he has to find and return the bolt to prove his innocence and prevent a war between the gods. Adapted from the best-selling book by Rick Riordan and featuring a thrilling original rock score, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical is an action-packed mythical adventure “worthy of the gods”. Performances will be Nov. 22nd at 7pm and Nov. 23rd at 2pm and 7pm. For tickets and more information, please visit www.newcanaanhighschooltheatre.com
NCHS Winter Sing Along
Our 3rd Annual NCHS Winter Sing Along is back! On Tuesday, December 3rd, from 6-7pm, join us at the Carriage Barn Arts Center for a festive evening of music and joy. Bring your friends and family to sing along to your favorite songs, enjoy some light bites, and partake in seasonal crafts! Ticket proceeds support our students in the NCPS Music Programs, so let’s celebrate the holiday season together!
NCHS Poinsettia Sale
Once again, the New Canaan Education Association will be sponsoring their annual fundraising poinsettia sale this year. The money that the faculty raises is used to make charitable donations to various local and state charities, including college scholarship money to a deserving NCHS senior with an interest in entering the field of education. This year, you can order your poinsettias online. If you are interested in purchasing poinsettias this holiday season, please follow the link below to take you to our order form. The deadline for orders is November 26th. You will be able to pick up your plants starting December 2nd (details to follow). Thank you for your support!
2024 NCEA Poinsettia Ordering Form
Saxe Rowing
On Saturday the 16th, the Saxe rowing club rowed in the NCHS/Maritime indoor tanks in Norwalk
Coached by Hank Ellett and Will Valdez and stroked by St Luke’s Junior Quinn Wheaton (Saxe 2022), the rowers got their first taste of sculling, which is rowing with 2 oars. Please see the link below for a fun video!
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Below are photos and phrases that were included on our Saxe Middle School page (@SaxeMS) this week. Enjoy!
Unreal how well these plants are growing in the “Tower Garden” at Saxe! This is only after 1 week… Stay tuned for produce! 🌱
8Purple has some great reminders in their Team Charter – set goals, help others, disagree politely, be friendly, respect boundaries, & more… Nice work!
Students in Mr. Hautau’s Health class were able to have some fun learning about stress & stressors using the medium of Jenga! Not only was it fun, but it also promoted some great discussions before, during, & after the activity!
The last couple of days have not been the best in the “weather category” but our Saxe MS students have not let that hold them back one bit as they enjoy (&, benefit from) some fresh air & movement during Saxe Recess…
And, check out these “reverse shots” – impressive! 💪 🏀 (click to watch!)
Students in Ms. Mackenzie’s Saxe ELA class used hex-cards & accountable talk stems to promote conversation during their “book club” talks… Great strategies & all students were truly meaningfully engaged!
Students in Ms. Link’s Saxe Math class use many methods to demonstrate their learning & understanding!
Students in Ms. Tomasio’s Saxe ELA class worked on introductions, conclusions, & identifying literary devices while working in group writing using the poem “Annabel Lee”. Great interactions all around!
Here is just one of many neat projects we saw going into Saxe MS for a Spanish project this week!
The Saxe MS Sustainability Club utilized some Design Thinking to reposition some garden boxes this week. They have some big plans & we are excited to see them come to fruition – stay tuned!
(&, Thanks to Mr. D’Alton & Mr. Ekstrom for providing these opportunities).
Love passing this “message board” on East Ave on my way into work at Saxe MS… The latest update is one of the best ever! “Work Hard and Be Kind”, & “Believe in Yourself”. Great advice for anyone & everyone! (And, “Believe” is our 1-word for Saxe MS this year – nice!)
The Know-vember board outside the #SaxeLibrary continues to grow with some great images & trivia questions!
Some nice artwork on display around the building! Always impressed by the talent of our students…
Of course, we love seeing the school mascot as a subject – Go Hawks!
Scenes Around Saxe
Normally, it wouldn’t seem very exciting to take a pic of a rainy evening outside Saxe MS, but after what seems like a couple of months without rain, it seemed appropriate!
Good morning & happy Friday from Saxe MS! Last night’s rain turned into this morning’s snow & it made for some nice scenery around our campus! Have a great day, All…
Dogs of Saxe
Kingston, Cooper, & Waco were just a few of the #DogsOfSaxe who were out to visit this week!
And, this could double as our “feature cover” for Saxe Middle 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
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