eCurrents December 6, 2012

Seventh grade students traveled to Jamestown last Friday with Blue Wheeler to study geology at Fort Wetherill and Beavertail State Park.

	All School LUNCH MENU \| PHOTOS \| CALENDAR

	All School Winter Concert TOMORROW \| 6:00 Choir (5:30 call time), 7:30 Instrumental (7:00 call time) \| Sharpe Gymnasium Tickets are $5 and will be sold at the door. Call times are one half hour Yearbook Deadline Extended The deadline for ordering 2012-13 yearbooks has been extended to Friday, December 14. Click here for more information or to order. Mariner Boxes The Mariner Box project is an annual all-school event during which each division adopts children and teens in need. We kindly ask that all donations be brought into School by Monday, December 17. Click here to learn more. Jump Rope/Hoops for Hearts An American Heart Association representative was on campus last week to present Sue Wood and Traci Fairchild the Rhode Island Division II 2nd Place Award for the 2011-12 Jump Rope/Hoops for Heart fundraising program. Tunes & Tales Tuesday, December 11 \| 10:45 - 11:30 AM \| Preschool Building A monthly story time and sing-along designed for two to five year olds and their grown-ups. Please join us! The Hill Relaunch Reception Thursday, December 13 \| 4:00 - 5:00 PM \| Carriage House This is an event to mark the relaunch of Rocky Hill's student literary magazine, The Hill. Students and parents will gather to read selections from the journal and celebrate its distribution. Head's Blog What if you could major in sports in college? Click here to read what the Head of School thinks about that. "Victoriae ex laboribus" Last Saturday the Certamen team competed at Advanced Math and Science Academy in Marlboro, MA. Though they gave up their entire Saturday to the rigors of competition, they earned outstanding accolades to compensate for their semi soporific states. The Novice Team of freshmen Jenna O'del, Edward Litvinov, Griffin Rademacher, and Noah Jorgensen, and the novice team of eighth graders Jamie Frost, Anessa Petteruti, Abby Siegel, and sophomore Jacob Lane both made it to the semifinals. The intermediate team of sophomores Brady Dill, Jess Ring and senior Nick Charbonneau just missed out on the finals, placing fourth overall. The school will close for Winter Break at noon on Friday, December 21.

	Upper School

	Flying High Freshman Zachary Jennings received a $1,000 scholarship for flight lessons from Ocean State Aviators, the local chapter of Experimental Aviation Association (EAA). The award was presented by chapter president Michael Spieth. For the last few years Zachary has attended the EAA's Strawberry Pancake Fly In at the Richmond Airport and attends the EAA's monthly meetings when available. A few weeks ago he attended a Young Eagles event the EAA was hosting for a cub scout pack and was permitted to fly one of the planes. He takes lessons at Horizon Aviation each month, working towards his personal pilot's license. He also was able to fly a replica of the Wright Brothers glider while in Kitty Hawk this past May at the 2012 Hang Glider Spectacular, a perk for the pilots entered in the competition. No-Shave November Michael Levy '14 raised $690.25 to support prostate cancer research during his No-Shave November pledge drive. Midterm Exams Monday, December 17 - Friday, December 21 See the school calendar for specific details. Success Story For the second year in a row, freshman Jenna O'del has had her work published by The America Library of Poetry. Her poem, "The Menacing Beast," was selected from thousands of submissions, for publication in their annual collection. Jenna is also a NaNoWriMo Winner, having completed the National Novel Writing Month challenge to write 50,000 words of a novel during the month of November. As such, she is the author of the novel in progress, "Chase and Capture."

	Middle School

	Cross-Divisional Learning Last Friday fifth graders visited Middle School English, where sixth graders taught them how to use Quizlet, a flashcard and study skills app for the iPad. Using words from their spelling books, the fifth graders discovered how to make a new list, enter a definition, and use some of the many features of Quizlet, including the learning games Scatter and Space Race. More collaborative visits are in the works, including a joint writing project. Candy Cane Sale The eighth grade class will hold its annual candy cane sale, beginning Monday, December 10. For $1, a student can purchase a candy cane to send to a friend, teacher, or their favorite MS division head, with a note attached. The candy canes will be delivered during the week of December 17. Proceeds from the sale support our Mariner Box program, providing gifts and holiday spirit to the children at Communities for People in Providence. Reading Challenge Eighth graders Anessa Petteruti and Abby Siegel completed the Middle School Independent Reading Challenge for the first trimester. The challenge was to read five independent novels and complete annotations on each one, above and beyond what they read in school. They were awarded a pizza luncheon with Jody Cicchese.

	Lower School

	Glass Class The third grade went to The Glass Station in Wakefield Tuesday to make glass ornaments. The children helped gather and add "sprinkles" of color to the hot glass and then blew a beautiful ornament. Campbell Horton's parents Eben Horton and Woodi Woodring were hosts for the trip. A fantastic experience was had by all! Perkins Post Learn more about how the Math in Focus program is used in grades 3-5. Click here. Fall Harvest Fourth graders harvested some cold weather greens and carrots from the Garden Classroom, and, with the help of Jaime Gardner, made a salad and fry bread to enjoy at lunch, family style! Fourth graders also went on a trip to The Old Rhode Island State House in Providence to conduct historical research for their project-based learning experience, and did a book tour retracing the steps of the characters, Kenny and Caleb, from Avi's spooky story set in Providence, Something Upstairs. Hopes & Dreams Second graders continued with their project-based learning experience by hosting guest speakers to help students achieve their hopes and dreams. Charlie Laurent shared how to blow the perfect bubble-gum bubble, Alexis Cote's dream, while Jaime Gardner helped Nilsa Tashjian fulfill her dream of learning to make pizza. Pioneer Podcast Fifth graders are beginning a project where they will be taking their most recent writing pieces and turning them into podcasts. The question, "If, as a pioneer, you had to pack your covered wagon for a trip west, what you would bring and why?" inspired some wonderfully creative and thoughtful written pieces. RHEA Kelly Shamburg's RHEA Film Making class completed their fantastic short film, "Tick Season," and shared it in today's Lower School assembly.

	Athletics

	Field Hockey Awards The following Rocky Hill players received awards at the Rhode Island Interscholastic League field hockey banquet: Courtney Harrington '13 2nd Team All Division, Lauren Silva '16 All Rookie Team and Kyla Teeters '14 Honorable Mention All Division. Mariner Classic Basketball Tournament Friday, December 14 \| 4:00 - 7:00 PM Saturday, December 15 \| 10:00 AM - 2:30 PM The boys' varsity basketball team will host a tournament with Newman School, Block Island, and St. Andrew's. Hot Shot The boys' varsity basketball team began the season Tuesday with a victory over Barrington Christian Academy 67-57. Senior co-captain Troy Pierre-Louis had a remarkable performance, scoring a game high 49 points! Troy has been a four year starter for the Mariners and is currently working towards scoring 1,000 points in his high school career.

	Alumni

	Team Winged Victory Giles Van Gruisen '12 is handling the media for Team Winged Victory, the sailing team that Sam Hallowell '12 put together to compete in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup Trials. Click here to see Giles' work.

Send any news, photos, kudos and comments to Karen Gibson by Wednesdays at noon.

Archives of eCurrents can be found here.