Staff Member Highlight: Ms. Carolina
We would like to highlight a very important staff member of ours who keeps our students fueled and nourished every single day - Ms. Carolina. Ms. Carolina is our new Cafeteria Worker, and she is dedicated to preparing, presenting, and delivering multiple different nutritious meal options to the students each day. If her cheerfulness alone doesn't already put a smile on students' faces, her food will! Be sure to give her a warm welcome when you see her in the cafeteria!
St. Thomas More Teaching Fellows Dinner
On Thursday, Dr. Nadjarian joined in a panel discussion and dinner to support the St. Thomas More Teaching Fellows. As you know, we currently have 3 St. Thomas More Fellows here at St. Mary's - Ms. Gracie Allen, Mr. Antonacci, and Mr. Suriawinata - and they have filled the school with immense joy, faith, and dedication to their teaching ever since they stepped foot in the door. The purpose of the dinner was to share about the amazing program with others for the program to continue!
PreK
Our young scientists in Ms. P’s class learned how to make observations using their sight and taste. After describing the different colors of apples and counting the number of apples Ms. P had, students tasted red, yellow, and green apples. They colored on their sheet which apple they enjoyed the most. Each student’s favorite apple was written on the board, which will be used for data collection to determine how many students picked the different apples as their favorite!
K2
Students in Ms. McAuliffe’s class also practiced their counting with a spooky twist. One of the students led the class in reviewing numbers 1-100 on the board. Then, they enjoyed a Halloween-themed number lesson with movement breaks in between rounds!
On Friday, our K2 teachers organized a fun Halloween Celebration including interactive centers! Our amazing parent volunteers facilitated mummy bowling, eyeball balancing on wooden spoons, witch hat ring toss, jack o' lantern Cornhole toss, and mummy wrapping! These activities allowed students to practice both their hand-eye coordination and gross and fine motor skills. Students rotated activities in the classrooms and hallway and got to cheer on their friends. What fun!
Grade 6
In ELA, our 6th graders recently put their grammar knowledge to the test and then journeyed with Bilbo through Smaug's lair in the thrilling pages of "The Hobbit." They've been honing their writing skills through various creative writing activities.
On a different note, their costumes were incredible: some spooky, others funny, and still others beautifully creative!
Grade 7
In 7th grade, students took a journey along the Silk Road in Mr. Febesh's class. Students pretended they were a merchant and competed a simulation that took them along the silk road. Along their travels they collected good from cities such as Rome, Samarkand, Turfan and Chang'an.
In addition, Ethan, one of our 7th graders, delivered the school's morning announcements over the intercom in French and English on Friday morning! He described the weather and the events in both languages.
Grade 8
In grade 8, students have been furthering their understanding of To Kill A Mockingbird. They analyzed the connection to the virtues of courage and justice in the recent chapters. On Thursday, they had a Socratic seminar to better understand themes presented through rigorous and thoughtful discussion. The last Socratic seminar was led by Ms. Allen, but this time the students completely took the lead. Their mature and detailed dialogue was very impressive.