Walden School
Walden Middle School Newsletter
October 5, 2009
 
CALENDAR 
  
M10/5 - No cross country practice.
T10/6 -
W10/7 - Young Citizens Organization Jr. KYA forms due to Mrs. Farmer (no meeting this week).
T10/8 - School Picture Day 
   -  Chess Club, 3-4 PM
   - Math Club, 3:00-3:30 PM  
   - Fall sports pictures after school (wear complete uniforms) 
   - Buddhist monks visit Walden, 8 AM program in the gym. 
 

  
F10/9 - No School/Fall Break
S10/10 -  Cross Country:  Capitol View Capital
 
M10/12 - No School/Fall Break
T10/13 - Volleyball Banquet @ 6:30 PM
W10/14 - YCO lunch meeting re KYA
T10/15 - All-school Photo
   - Chess Club, 3-4 PM
   - Math Club, 3:00-3:30 PM
F10/16 - Jr. Beta Club meeting during lunch.
 
M10/19 - Upper School Open House for 7th & 8th grade families, 6-8 PM (see information below).
T10/20 - Louisville Orchestra field trip for grades 5-7
W10/21 - 8th grade Camping Trip
   - CYO lunch meeting re KUNA
T10/22 - 8th grade Camping Trip
   - Math Club, 3:00-3:30 PM
F10/23 - 8th grade Camping Trip
   - Monster Mash
S10/24 -  Cross Country:  DeSales Invitational @ McNeely Lake
Louisville Orchestra Field Trip
 on Tuesday, October 20th, grades 5, 6, & 7 will attend a performance entitled, Latin America! 
Students will hear music from Venezuela, Columbia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil, and Cuba.  Arcoiris Latino de Louisville will perform a traditional dance from Mexico.  Students will leave Walden @ 9AM and return for lunch.
 
8th Grade Camping Trip
From Wednesday to Friday, October 21-23, the 8th grade students will be at Bradford Woods in Martinsville, Indiana for their team-building and outdoor education program.  Students will leave after lunch on Weds. and return late-afternoon on Friday.  All information has been given directly to parents at the open house or mailed home, and duplicate handouts were given to students.  Please send in 3 forms to Ms. Dana Fry (permission slip, photographic release, and behavior expectations).  Mr. Shell, Ms. Sorise, Mrs. Ernstberger, & Mrs. Wagner will be accompanying the students. 

    
SPOTLIGHT ON OUR FACULTY - see this issue's focus on Ms. Sorise below.
 
The Middle School Cross Country teams ventured into Southern Indiana again to run in the Highland Hills Invitational on September 23rd.  The boys team brought home a second place trophy and were led by Jake Wunsch who placed second individually, followed by  Aaron Gabriel(8th), Conor O'Daniel (9th), Paul Schieman (17th), Ben Spear(23rd), CJ Burton(24th) and Eric Elder(32nd).  Mary King( 16th) and Rosemary DeMarco(24th) earned ribbons while leading the girls team to a 5th place finish along with Tina King (28th), Samantha Brenzel (29th), Lily Carothers (32nd) and Anna Bond (34th).  Sydney Brenzel and Alexis Kinslow brought home trophies in the girls open race, while Matthew Bennett paced the team in the boys open race.  Sean Dowling, Sam McCalpin, Will Mandrola, and Warren Winburn all placed in the top 15 in that race.
 
Walden is starting a choir, for students in Grade 4 and up and you are invited to join!  The choir will meet on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 7:15 am to 7:50 pm.  Walden Children's Choir will be developing the student's voice to sing age-appropriate music, focusing on part-singing and harmonization.  Contact Ms. Bonacum or Mrs. Pusateri for more information.
 

Our art teacher, Sharon Weis, had an art opening entitled, Interstitial, last Friday at Zephyr Gallery.  Her paintings will be on display until mid-November. 
 
 
 
The fifth grade math field trip to Starlight was a success! The actual time it took the group to walk from Walden to Starlight was 19:01. This was fairly close to 5 Korte's estimate of 23:45 and was extremely close to 5 Kunz's estimate of 18:00! Also, since Starlight is 9/10 of a mile from school, our pace was about 21 minutes per mile, even including  the time it took to cross the street!
 
 
 
Ms. Sorise
Middle School (grades 7 & 8) and High School
Language Arts Teachers 
        The art of dedication is alive and well in Walden's Middle School and High School Language Arts and Literature teacher Kim Sorise. Teaching full-time at Walden since 2005, Sorise caught the teaching bug while she was a multi-award winning, nationally-recognized features producer and journalist for Louisville's National Public Radio affiliate station WFPL, at the same time she was also a successful music host and DJ at its sister station WFPK. Sorise combined her three loves music, news, and field recording to form a youth radio project that was worthy of much attention. R.E.E.L. radio, modeled after the famed Youth Radio, introduced area high school students to the craft of journalism, as well as recording and production techniques and music programming. The acclaimed weekly radio show gave
Louisville and Southern Indiana students a unique voice in local and national media circles.
        After nearly a decade in radio and over four years at the Louisville stations, Sorise decided teaching had also become a passion worth pursuing. She began substitute teaching at independent middle and high schools in the area looking for the perfect fit and then she found Walden School. As a long-term substitute, Sorise found herself in front of middle schoolers for close to 4 months; creating lesson plans and
selecting novels, and settled into what would be a new career path. "Walden is a community where I can help each student find his or her voice through effective written and verbal communication. It is a place where creative learning stretches into the class room and where partnerships between teacher, student, and family are key," says Sorise.
        As a writing instructor, Sorise pushes her students to exceed their own expectations, to learn how to think, not what to think, and to place value in what they know as individuals. "Teaching language arts and literature is more than just components of grammar, spelling, and the novel," Sorise adds, "It is about helping students find strength in their own words and allowing them to find a uniqueness of opinion."  For Sorise these ideas are most realized during the ambitious writing project known as Project:ME,
where eighth grade students submerge themselves into the writing process and emerge with a greater sense of self and community - not to mention essay structure. "There a is proverb that says, 'Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.' I think all good teachers have to let students be involved in the teaching process," says Sorise, " - to let them know that pride and dignity are essential to success, that failure is part of growth, and that teachers can learn from their students, as well."
        In the end, Sorise still has a great connection to her roots in radio and music, as one of the city's most sought-after and versatile DJs, spinning regular nights at many nightclubs and restaurants around town, as well as art openings, concerts, weddings, and private events. Sorise provided the musical entertainment for the opening of the Muhammmad Ali Center in 2005. In 2007, she was awarded with the Best of Louisville Critic's Choice award for Best Club DJ. She has been profiled in several Louisville publications like
LEO, Velocity, Louisville Magazine, and The Courier Journal, as well as Spin Magazine.

Math Club - Mrs. Korte is starting a middle school math club, which will meet every Thursday from 3:00 - 3:30. During these Thursday sessions, the focus will be to improve the speed and accuracy of basic computations, from addition and subtraction facts up to and including computations with decimals and fractions.  Later in the year, the club will begin meeting on Fridays as well, and those meetings will focus on problem solving, logic, and playing games.  The first session will start September 24th and go nine weeks, until November 19th. The cost will be $15 to cover snacks and prizes. The sign-up sheet will be available outside Mrs. Korte's room beginning Monday, September 21st. 
 
Walden School's International Theme - Check out Mr. Kimbrough's weekly Geoquiz question.  Mr. Kimbrough is one of our high school social studies teachers, and at each Monday morning assembly this year, he will present a geography question, which students can research and email their answer by 1:00 PM on Friday.  All students who answer correctly will be eligible to have their name placed in a random drawing to receive a special t-shirt commemorating this year's international theme.  Here's the link to check out this week's question: 
http://www.walden-school.org/display_pagecontent.php?id=1117 
Dear Parents:
 
We are once again hosting a Walden High School Open House on Monday, October 19th from 6:00-8:00 p.m.  This will be for all 7th and 8th grade students and their parents.  Students will experience a Scavenger Hunt with our high school students and parents will learn more about our high school from our teachers.  It is a wonderful opportunity to experience our exceptional high school first hand.
 
Please see the attached flyer for more details, but it is a great time for all.  Please note that no student will be admitted without a parent.
 
Thank you for your cooperation and see you on the 19th!!
 
Cathie

Scavenger hunt 09