2024.12.6 – Saxe Weekly – The Saxe weekly

December 6, 2024

Dear Saxe MS Family,

Happy December! I had to peek at the calendar because it feels like weeks have already passed since Thanksgiving… If that is any indication, we will be at the holiday break in no time! In the meantime, the learning, experiences, and fun will continue at Saxe Middle School for the next couple of weeks.

This week in the Saxe Weekly, we take a look at Math, Science, Staff Spotlight – Health & PE, spirit, theatre, Special Education, Orchestra, scenes around Saxe, the “Grow Tower”, Believin’, Saxe Hawk, Dogs of Saxe, and much more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Be Well,

Dave Gusitsch

Principal, Saxe Middle School

Upcoming Noteworthy Dates:

12/10 8th Grade/NCHS Band Festival – 7:00 pm

12/12 Grade 7/8 Musical Auditions – 2:30 – 7:00 pm

12/13 Grade 7/8 Musical Auditions – 2:30 – 7:00 pm

12/13 PJ Day! (bonus for red/black or Hawk-related PJs 🙂 )

*Quotes that resonated with us this week:

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” —Nelson Mandela

“Either you run the day or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”— Steve Jobs

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier

Saxe Jokes:

“What do you call an old snowman? Water.”

“What is the best winter breakfast? Frosted Flakes”

“What had more letters than the alphabet?“The post office!”

“What do you call a baby potato? A tater tot!”

“Why are librarians always late? Because they’re overbooked!”

Math

Students in Mrs. Pelatowski’s Pre-Algebra classes worked collaboratively on vertical whiteboards to discover that equations may not always have just one solution. They used their prior knowledge of solving an equation together with using manipulatives to balance a scale to discover that equations can have no solution or an infinite number of solutions.

Mrs. Pelatowski’s Algebra students are currently working with linear relationships. Students use magnetic coordinate grids on vertical whiteboards to graph linear relationships. Using these tools to problem solve encourages communication and collaboration.

Science

Students on 8Red are learning about protein synthesis and were practicing the processes of transcription and translation using chalk markers. Students generated their own unique DNA sequences, transcribed these DNA sequences into mRNA, and then used codon charts to translate the mRNA sequences into amino acids.

Science Workshop

This week, students in Science Workshop participated in the spaghetti tower challenge – using 20 pieces of spaghetti, one yard of string and a yard of tape, groups had 18 minutes to construct the tallest possible structure that can support the weight of a marshmallow. The tallest structure was 24 inches! Think you can do better? Try it yourself!

Staff Spotlight – Physical Education and Health Department

Last week, we highlighted one of our 8th-grade teams (Green) as we kicked off our “Staff Spotlight” series to help showcase a little insight into what makes our school community special. This week, we take a look at our Physical and Health Education staff members! As part of our committed focus on the “whole child”, these dedicated professionals help our students learn in the affective, cognitive, physical, and social domains. Not only do they teach and provide opportunities to learn why taking care of yourself is so important, they often have a lot of fun doing it! Below are a few quotes that show why this component of our well-rounded education at Saxe is so valuable:

Good health and good sense: “Good health and good sense are two of life’s greatest blessings”
Healthy citizens are the greatest asset: “Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have”. Winston S. Churchill
Health is the foundation: “The first wealth is health”. American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson believed that good health is the most important foundation for a person to progress.
The secret of good health: “The secret of good health lies in successful adjustment to changing stresses on the body”. Harry J. Johnson
Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. John F. Kennedy

Thank you to our Saxe Health and Physical Education teachers!

Mr. Thompson, Mrs. Hendry, Ms. Goodman, Ms. Warren, and Mr. Arcamone

Mr. Hautau and Ms. Orlando

Saxe Spirit

8Red has updated their bulletin board and I look forward to checking out some of their positive messages!

Encore!

Mr. Myers, Grade 7 ELA Teacher, was nominated for Broadway World Award for Best Supporting Performer in a Professional Musical for his roles of Park Keeper and Von Hussler in Summer Theatre of New Canaan’s production of Mary Poppins this past summer.

Saxe Theatre News

We are so excited to start the 7th & 8th Great Musical! There will be a Parent Info Meeting on Monday, December 9th at 5:30PM in the Saxe Auditorium. Auditions are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, December 12th and 13th from 2:30-7:00 pm. The Musical Website will go LIVE tonight at 5:00PM, announcing the show and providing all the information you’ll need to Register, sign up for an Audition time slot, a tentative rehearsal calendar and MORE!

Kindergarten Orientation

Prepare for Kindergarten Success! Join us on Thursday, January 16, 2025, at 9:30 AM at East Elementary School for our Transition to Kindergarten orientation, where you’ll gain valuable insights into social, emotional, and developmental milestones, daily schedules, bus routines, and more. Note: We encourage all incoming parents from South, East, and West, to pre-register their child before the event to ensure proper class placement. Visit https://bit.ly/ncpskindergarten for more information and to register today!

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

We are proud of, & grateful for, all of our Special Education staff members at Saxe MS… Thank you for all that you do to support EVERY member of our school community – you are appreciated!

Love seeing some of the holiday spirit starting to spread across Saxe MS- such a fun time of year!

Some interesting discussion on the Missouri Compromise in Saxe SS class today. Students did a nice job working on their claims with context, evidence, & reasoning…

Mr. Chard & his Saxe Science students are learning about propagating plants with these two interesting samples – Spider Plants & potatoes!

Saxe Shark Tank is back & students have been working together, using the design thinking process, on their designs. Can’t wait to see the finished products!

What a wonderful experience seeing some of our current, & former, Saxe MS students performing in the “NCHS/Saxe 8th-grade Orchestra Festival” at NCHS this week – they were tremendous (Click to listen!), all around! Congrats to Ms. Dorfman, Mr. Ficks, & all students involved – bravo!

Good morning from snowy Saxe MS! It makes for some nice scenery around campus to start the day. Have a great day, All!

And, a HUGE thanks goes out to our Saxe Custodians for having our entire campus clear & safe for all upon arrival… Thank you, team – you are appreciated!

“Grow tower” update from Saxe MS – amazing! The produce is almost ready for harvest…

When you walk into Saxe MS this morning & see the decorations for the 5th/6th play (Elf Jr) & they include our “1-word” for the school year, the only expression is “awesome!”. Good luck to all involved in the play – break a leg! #Believe

Speaking of “Believe”, The Saxe MS “believe wall” continues to grow as Ms. Orlando & her health ed students add their latest notes… There is some terrific insight & life advice embedded in this ongoing process – nice work by all!

What happens when our Saxe MS Secretary, Ms. Jarosik, sees our mascot out in the wild? We get great pics! Go Hawks!

Dogs of Saxe:

Got to hang with one of our #DogsOfSaxe for a moment this morning – great way to start the day!

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)