Announcements Nov. 11th-15th, 2013

Local artist Katherine Sandoz showing her work to the 7th graders. Hancock is VERY lucky to have her!

Savannah artist, painter and illustrator Katherine Sandoz is teaming up with Ms. Oosterhoudt to facilitate the Middle School community in creating a large scale fiber art piece which will hang in Hancock Hall.  The students will be cutting, folding, stitching, stapling, shredding, rolling and dying recycled materials from the Middle School building to create this sure to be fantastic work of art.  The project will be done over the next 5 months and we will keep you updated on our progress!  Katherine was here visiting with all the Middle School classes this week sharing her work, examples of Public Art, Street Art and fiber works from around the world. 

Katherine Sandoz has shown her work worldwide and we are lucky to have her participation!  Check out her website at www.katherinesandoz.com


FOOD BANK UPDATE

We are well on our way to reaching our goal of donating 2,000 pounds of canned goods to Second Harvest Food Bank. You can bring in your canned goods and non-perishable food items now through November 22^nd.  Also, don’t forget that if we reach our 1 ton goal that there will be a Teacher Edition of “Minute to Win It” held in the gym on November 25!!  

EXTRA CURRICULAR 

The 5-6^th Football Cheerleaders coached by Lindsey Giddens and the 6-8^th Varsity Competition Cheerleaders coached by Cindy Drew will compete tomorrow in the S.P.A.L. Cheer Competition at St. Peter’s Apostle, 12:00-2:00pm.  

WORDS FROM THE MIDDLE SCHOOL DIRECTOR

AWARDS PROGRAMS

From time to time, the Middle School office receives materials from organizations offering students a chance to attend conferences and programs. Usually these programs are located in major cities like Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago and others. With the exception of the Duke TIP program, we have not endorsed or participated in these programs as a school. 

The process for participation in these programs follows a common format. The school nominates a list of outstanding students and forwards these nominations onto the sponsoring organization. The sponsoring organization then contacts families to promote student enrollment and participation. If a student decides to participate, the family is responsible for tuition, transportation and chaperoning at the conference. Hancock Day School does not provide those services.

In the past we have not forwarded information about these opportunities onto families since we provide no support or endorsement for any particular event.  That said, I would not want someone to miss an opportunity that a family feels appropriate. Therefore, when I receive these invitations in the future, I will note them in our weekly newsletter. 

I received information from Envisions about a Washington conference entitled “Foundations of leadership I:  Bringing History to Life.”  That information can be viewed in my office or online at www.envisionexperience.com.  I must submit nominations by November 15^th so if you are interested, I need to know by Wednesday, November 13th.

STATE OF THE SCHOOL

The Hancock Day School Board of Trustees and the Hancock Administration invite all Hancock families to the annual STATE OF THE SCHOOL ADDRESS, Tuesday, November 12, 2013, at 6:30 pm in Hancock Hall.

UPCOMING SCHOOL VISITS

 The 8^th grade class will be visiting St. Andrews School Thursday, November 14^th, Savannah Country Day on Monday, November 18^th and Savannah Arts Academy on Monday, November 25^th (see below for Arts Academy tour description).

I have arranged a special tour of the Savannah Arts Academy on Monday morning, November 25^th.  This tour is only for students in the 8^th grade seriously considering applying to the Academy.  A special note about this application process.  It is a DEMANDING process, not to be entered into lightly.  If you have not already given serious consideration to attend the Arts Academy, you probably are too late to submit a successful application.  Why?  The application comes in two parts.  The first part is the academic requirements.  This is not unlike what all of our other schools require.  All of our current 8^th grade students would do well on this section.  The second section is the audition section.  Each area at the Arts Academy requires an audition and/or portfolio to be submitted and adjudicated.  This process is explained in detail on the school’s website.  To prepare for a successful audition or assemble an acceptable portfolio most applicants begin well ahead of this time and often employ a tutor and or coach to provide support.  If a student submits an acceptable academic application and a successful portfolio/audition application all those names are sent to an independent company in Texas that randomly picks those that will be selected to fill a limited number of seats.  This is a new step in the process this year.  Last year SAA had about 2 applicants for every seat. The top students in each category do not get accepted, it is a random draw among those students submitting successful application packages.

Touring the Savannah Arts Academy is a family event.  The admissions director has offered to host a special tour for Hancock Day School families.  To reserve a space on that tour (Monday, November 25^th in the morning), you must get your names to me by Wednesday, November 13th.  I will confirm the reservation with SAA and meet you at the school for the tour.  Details will follow to all those interested in this tour.  You are always welcome to take the general tour given by the school.  Those dates are listed on the School’s website.

QUARTER ONE HONOR ROLL

Congratulations to all those who earned High Honors distinction (95 or greater) or Honors distinction (90-94).  Job well done!

High Honors

Eighth Grade
Madeline Mascolo, Alex Mason, Virginia Maxwell, Allie Rathbun, Mason Stoever

Seventh Grade

McKenna Bazemore, Ally Best, Lexi Dixon, Caroline Gilpin, Will Gladden, Ashley Lanier, Carlisle McCullough, Hunter Simpson, Anson Siu, Isabel Stafford

Sixth Grade

Lily Allen, Hailey Arnett, Joshua Hameed, Aidan Henriksen, Selia Hooten, Charlie Ippolito, Rachel Mascolo, Taylor Mason, Emma Saunders

Honors

Eighth Grade

Lucy Batchelor, Kaitlyn Rowe, Jessica Tucker

Seventh Grade

Rowan Burgess, Elizabeth Hayes, Reid Markowitz, Miles Silva, Anna Giles Truax

Sixth Grade

Sydney Bacon, Lily Horton, Mallory Lockett, Caroline Massey, Libby Mattocks, Madigan Mourning, Elsa Paulick, Alaina Rachlin, Noah Wolfe

6TH GRADE NEWS

6^th Grade English Language Arts with Mrs. O'Connor

Students are wrapping up our study of short stories, and we have a test coming up on Tuesday, November 12^th.  Students already have a detailed study guide for this, and they should also spend time reviewing the quiz that we took on Wednesday.  We will review in class on Monday as well.  Once we have the test behind us, students will begin writing creative short stories.  This assignment will count as a major paper grade, and the rough draft will be due on Friday, November 15^th.  Final drafts will be due on Wednesday, November 20^th.  Next week we will also begin working with lesson five in Wordly Wise, as well as exploring adverbial prepositional phrases and appositives.

Math 6 with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Math 6, we will journey further into Chapter 5 learning how to divide fractions and mixed numbers.  We will also discuss customary units (units we use in the United States such as feet, miles, and ounces) and how to convert them.  Due to the State of School Address on Tuesday at 6:30pm (which we hope you will attend!) students will not have homework that night.  Students will receive a math facts quiz outline on Wednesday and will take their math facts quiz on Friday (11/15) in class.  The Chapter 5 test will take place on Tuesday, November 19.

6th Earth Science with Mr. Crawford

This week we will finish up our discussion of heat and heat transfer and cover the movement of air on Earth. There will be two quizzes on short sections of the book. Tuesday’ quiz will be heat and heat transfer and Friday’s quiz will be air movement. Homework – prepare for quiz; Tuesday – Sleep in preparation for OLSAT test on Wednesday; Wednesday – Read 439 – 443 w/notes; Thursday – study for quiz on Friday (which we might not get to!  Check on Wednesday)

6th Earth Science with Mrs. Blake

The sixth grade will finish their chapter on plate tectonics next week.  At the first of the week, they will spend time learning about the layers of the Earth that compose the plates and the layer responsible for the plate movement. They will also have a lab activity dealing with tectonics that will help illustrate the slow pace of this process. They will review in class on Thursday and have their test on Friday.  

6th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish class, the 6^th grade will continue to work with the verbs and vocab from their new chapter. Grammatically, this chapter covers prepositions. Student will have a graded listening activity and a vocabulary quiz on Friday, November 15^th. Students should continue to practice their Spanish at home and sign up for tutoring hours should they need help.

6^th World Civilizations with Mrs. English
This week we will complete the Akkadian Empire and pick topics for our ancient Egyptian unit projects.  We will have a test on Chapter 3 (Lessons 1,2, and 5) on Thursday November 14^th. We will also have a geography assessment on Central America and the Caribbean Islands on Friday November 15^th. For homework students will primarily be studying and completing a study guide for the chapter test.  

7TH GRADE NEWS

7^th Grade English Language Arts with Mrs. O'Connor

7th grade art

Next week students will continue to explore the oral tradition and folk tales as we read a few more myths, epics, and legends, and examine the differences between these three different types of stories.  In the  early part of next week students will try their hand at writing some of their own creation myths, and by the week’s end all students should have a solid understanding of the differences between these three types of stories, as well as an understanding of what it means to be an epic hero.  We will take a brief quiz over epics and the epic hero on Thursday, November 14^th.  Students will be ready for a test over this unit on Friday, November 22^nd.  Additionally, we will also be working our way through lesson five in Wordly Wise as well as exploring participles and participial phrases.

Pre-Algebra with Mrs. Reardon

Next week in Pre-Algebra, we will continue in Chapter 5 learning how to multiply and divide fractions with variables, as well as using multiplicative inverses to solve equations.  On Monday, students will receive their math facts quiz outline and students will take the math facts quiz on Wednesday.  The Chapter 5 test will take place on Wednesday, November 20.

7th-8th Algebra with Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Algebra (Grades 7/8) class, we will begin Chapter 5 by continuing our discussion of linear equations.  Students will learn how to write the equation of a line when given either the slope of a line and a point on that line or two points on the line.  We will also discuss point-slope form versus slope-intercept form of linear equations (5.1 – 5.3).

7th Grade Life Science with Mrs. Blake

After learning about the cell cycle and mitosis, on Monday the seventh graders will have an activity dealing with mitosis. They will then be introduced to meiosis. Meiosis is a specialized process that produces only germ cells. Both of these processes are important in the life of cells and students can easily get them mixed up.  It is important that your student reviews daily in order to be ready for a possible pop quiz next week. The test will be the following week.

7th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish class, the 7^th grade will begin Chapter 8A. We will be covering travel vocabulary, more verbs in the preterite tense, and expression of time. Students will have a graded listening activity and a vocabulary quiz on Friday, November 15^th.  Students should continue to practice their Spanish at home and sign up for tutoring hours should they need help.

7^th American History with Mrs. English

This week we will finish our notes on the backcountry of the Colonies and turn our focus towards chapter 3- Section 4 “The Southern Colonies.”  Students should expect a quiz on chapter 3- section 3 on Tuesday November 12^th and a geography assessment on Central America and the Caribbean Islands.  For homework students will answer review questions and define vocabulary from Chapter 3-Section 4.  

8TH GRADE NEWS

8^th Grade English Language Arts with Mrs. O'Connor

Next week students will continue reading To Kill a Mockingbird.  In addition to reading the text, we are also studying contextual vocabulary words and analyzing character development as we create body biographies for various characters in the novel.  We will eventually turn some of the ideas from our body biographies into the basis for a character analysis essay.  Students have a quiz over chapters 11-21 on Wednesday, November 19^th.  Our test over novel is scheduled for the following Wednesday, November 20^th.

8th Grade Physical Science with Mrs. Blake

Next week the eighth graders will start a new chapter on states of matter. In looking at the different states the students must keep in mind that the particles in matter are never still, but are always in motion. The amount of motion, due to energy, is responsible for each particular state.  Over the next week and a half they will perform some labs that demonstrate the transfer of energy which causes a change in state.

7th-8th Algebra with Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Algebra (Grades 7/8) class, we will begin Chapter 5 by continuing our discussion of linear equations.  Students will learn how to write the equation of a line when given either the slope of a line and a point on that line or two points on the line.  We will also discuss point-slope form versus slope-intercept form of linear equations (5.1 – 5.3).

8th Advanced Algebra with Mr. Lanfear

Next week in Mr. Lanfear’s Advanced Algebra/Introduction to Geometry course, we will start the week by continuing our discussion of the Pythagorean Theorem by using it to find distances.  This will lead into our discovery of the distance formula.  We will also discuss the formula for finding the midpoint of a line segment (11.4 – 11.5).  By the end of the week, we will have completed Chapter 11 and will have a test on it the next week.

8th Spanish with Ms. Hughes

Next week in Spanish class, the 8^th grade will begin Chapter 3B. This chapter explains how to give and ask for directions to specific places. Grammatically, this chapter covers direct objects and irregular verbs in the present progressive tense. Students will have a graded listening activity and a vocabulary quiz on Friday, November 15^th. Student should continue to practice their Spanish at home and sign up for tutoring hours should they need help.

8^th American Government with Mrs. English

This week we will continue our analysis of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.  We will consider if our rights and “contract” with our government is still upheld today. We will have a quiz on chapter 3- section 1 on Wednesday November 13^th.  We will continue our study of geography with an assessment on Friday November 15^th on Central America and the Caribbean Islands. Students should expect to answer review questions and define vocabulary from chapter 3-section 2 for homework.