English with Jill Sugg
Advanced Placement Literature read All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. English 10,11,12 read Ordinary People. Both classes wrote essays on the aforementioned titles. English 10, 11, 12 has also begun The Basketball Diaries. Seventh graders as well as English 8/9 Regular Level read The Rag and Bone Shop. They are currently completing their related writing assignment. English 8/9 Advanced read The Great Gatsby and wrote an essay on it. All 7,8,and 9 students learned some Latin prefixes to help prepare them for the SAT, and had some grammar review.
Math with Annie Tally
Math students, in general, are busy working to meet their semester requirements. My third period class has had time to look at the Konigsberg Bridge Problem and also to discuss transversable networks as an exercise in logic.
Upper School Sciences with Lori Hilliard
Chemistry
The Chemistry class has completed their unit on acids and bases. The culminating activity was to tie-die T-shirts using natural dyes extracted from plants.
Biology
The Biology class has just completed their study of invertebrate organisms. Students participated in many laboratory activities and did a great job.
Anatomy
The Anatomy students are enjoying a unit on the cardiovascular system. Students have dissected a sheep heart, and discovered pulse rates at various places on their bodies.
Environmental Science
The Environmental Science students are studying weather. The class has looked at weather patterns and forecasting. We also constructed anemometers, wind speed indicators and wind catchers.
Physical Science with Dan Hill
The Physical Science class has completed its overview of the structure and history of the Periodic Table of Elements, and is now using this information to explain various types of atomic bonding.
Social Studies with Matt Wilhelm
World History
In addition to beginning independent research papers, World History students have been examining various aspects of the Cold War.
US History
Students have been pondering the Sixties dictum about tuning in, turning on, and dropping out. Stay tuned.
Psychology
Students have been studying the role of psychology in areas such as social and political behavior, as well as analyzing psychological techniques employed in advertising.
Current events
Students have started their Nation State simulations, while also considering the state of health care in America by taking a critical look at Michael Moore's Sicko.
Civics
Civics students have been reflecting on the role of media in a democracy and they have begun work on their year-ending public policy proposals.
Spanish with Celia Battle
Spanish I
We completed a chapter about family celebrations, understanding cultural perspectives on family celebrations and ordering meals in restaurants.
Spanish II
We studied emergencies, rescues, heroic acts and natural disasters. Students learned to describe weather conditions and learned cultural perspectives on natural disasters and legends.
Spanish III
Third year students continue their study of cultural fusion in Spain and Latin America. We have read a short passage from "Don Quixote" and have learned about the early history of Spain. Students learned the imperfect subjunctive tense.
Physical Education with Paige Passavant
The students are finishing their Student-Led unit. Each student got to teach twice and was required to have a Plan A (outside game) and a Plan B (inside game). They did a great job!
Jazz with Glenn Mehrbach
We added one more song to the mix in this module: "Body and Soul" by Johnny Green. This song presents many challenges. It is the first true "torch song" that will feature Rita's vocal and theatrical gifts. I also wrote an arrangement for Cami to accompany the vocal, to simulate the way an instrumentalist would improvise around a vocal line. Channing must really step up in this song as well, as her piano playing will help build the tune from a quiet ballad to a powerhouse torch song. And David and Edwin must work in tandem to support these transitions.
We also chose the songs for Evening of the Arts, and spent time refining those. The students are playing very well, listening to each other, and their concentration is good. I hope you enjoyed their performance.
Finally, we have our first booking outside of school, playing at "Artsplosure" in Raleigh for a 15 minute set on May 17th. We are all excited about that and hope you can come out and hear the group perform.
Art (7th & 8th grades) with Heather Cramer
We have continued our introduction to basic art skills, with a week off for class trips. We worked from a still life of bottles to learn the "drawing through" concept - completing lines of objects even though they can't be seen. We did lovely abstract watercolor paintings using these drawings. We also did an exercise in mixing paints to create gradation of shades from black to a color to white.
Drama with Susie Kless
We enjoyed preparing for Evening of the Arts. Thanks to the tech crew and the actors for all of their hard work and to Scott Jones, from Duke theatre operations, who helped us greatly.
Guidance Update from Thelma Glynn
The juniors took the ACT and prepared to take the SAT. All students in Grades 5-12 completed a Summer Activity Survey. The seniors made a last round of trips to their colleges in preparation for making their final decisions. It is a busy and exciting time!
