For the Week of 12/18 - 12/22
LAST NEWSLETTER OF 2023!
Embedded Files
A Message from Dr. Clapp
Classroom Peeks
Counselor's Corner
Happenings
Get Involved!
Community Clicks
and Upcoming Events
Dear HKMS Families,
A couple of weeks ago, The Oxford Dictionary announced that the 2023 word of the year is "rizz." Rizz is apparently a derivation of the word charisma. They define Riz as "pertaining to someone’s ability to attract another person through style, charm, or attractiveness, this term is from the middle part of the word ‘charisma’, which is an unusual word formation pattern." Around the same time Miriam-Webster announced their word of the year is "authentic." Defined as, "not false or imitation, a synonym of real and actual; and also 'true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character.' Although clearly a desirable quality, authentic is hard to define and subject to debate—two reasons it sends many people to the dictionary."
Each dictionary chooses their word of the year using their own proprietary methodology, each manipulates a combination of prevalence rates in published documents (newspaper, magazines, books) and informal use (social media postings), analysis by linguists, and input from the public through voting. This is important because our language is a living thing, ever adapting to the experiences and understandings that evolve from year to year. As humans we think in language, the words we use and have at our disposal shape the depth of our understanding. Native Inuits have over fifty words for snow, I have about four words (snow, slush, granular, and powder). The ways I can think about snow are limited by my vocabulary, where as an Inuit will have lots more depth in their understanding of snow because of their nuanced and detailed vocabulary.
I find the selection of the two 2023 words of the year a fascinating development. For the last few years the words of the year have been decidedly pessimistic. Previous words of the year include goblin-mode, vax, toxic, pandemic, gaslighting, and post-truth. The shift to words like rizz and authentic is decidedly optimistic. I am hopeful this represents a change in attitudes, beliefs, rhetoric, and interactions we have with our fellow humans. Knowing we think in language, and these popular words represent how we are thinking collectively, maybe we are heading into a stretch of positive, upbeat, and hopeful attitudes as a species.
This last week of 2023 featured incredible acts of generosity as our 8th-grade council collected, wrapped, and delivered over 300 toys to Curiel Elementary in Bridgeport. So many of classes wrapped up major units of study, with projects, tests, and assignments culminated this week. Please be sure to check out all the amazing teaching and learning evident in this, the last newsletter of 2023!
Hoping you all have an truly authentic holiday and vacation and may you all reveal your inner rizz in the New Year! Oh, and please use "rizz" with your middle schooler as much as you can, they love it when adults commandeer their hip lingo.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, a Joyful Kwanzaa, and a Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Steven Clapp, Ed.D.
A glimpse inside of the terrific teaching and learning going on this week at HKMS!
Grade 6
Snowball fight! Mrs. Burke's ILA Classes utilized a "snowball fight" strategy to identify themes in several stories they recently read. In this strategy, students write a theme of one of the five stories they all read recently on a piece of paper. They crumpled up their "snowball" and throw it for another student to find. When a student find a new snowball they try to identify the story by the theme alone!
Mrs. Maggi's scientists are taking their Thermal Energy exam on Inner-Orbit. Inner-Orbit is a dynamic assessment platform that presents interactive science phenomenon that tests students' understanding and application of concepts learned. Mrs. Maggi gets real-time results allowing her to target and customize any re-teaching needed!
Grade 7
In Mr. Rogers' neighborhood, students finished their "book covers" for their stories, consulted with Mr. Rogers or Mrs. Aponte, published their covers and provided feedback to each other! Great conclusion to a successful unit!
In French class students are working together to learn the vocabulary about shopping and ordering in a cafe.
Grade 8
Bowling anyone? Mr. Mac's scientist are bowling with air... an air cannon that is! How many pins can students knock down with air? Student make a hypothesis, measure, and report out! Turns out they can knock down a whole bunch more than expected!
Math students looking for a little more challenge met with Mr. Crawford this week to study the Fibonacci Sequence, Pascal's Triangle (and how it relates to binomial expansion), and Modular Mathematics. This is all ties together by calculating the Pisano Period for various moduli and then drawing geometric art to represent them! Impressive work indeed!
FPAs
In Health class students are researching the social, emotional and physical consequences of alcohol consumption.
Trimester 2 PLTW students are working on their pamphlets about a field of engineering that most interests them. Their choices include fields such as aeronautical engineer and software engineers.
Looking Ahead to the New Year
By Mr. Nick Willett, HKMS Counselor and Academic Mentor
Maybe some things didn’t go as planned this year: you didn’t get a good grade, you didn’t make new friends like you hoped to, and maybe you weren’t as organized as you could be. Good news! The new year is upon us, now is a perfect time to reflect and start fresh. Here are some ideas to help get you started:
Take some time to reflect on what you have accomplished this past year and what you are most proud of. Keeping a journal is a great way to keep track of your accomplishments and disappointments throughout the year.
Show thanks to others. During the new year it’s always nice to show others what they mean to you. A nice gesture is to reach out to the people that are meaningful to you. Sending a letter to a friend, making a phone call to someone that you haven’t spoken to for some time, or giving a gift to someone will brighten their day and show them what they mean to you.
Set monthly goals for yourself. This is different for everyone but setting goals monthly is a great way to keep you on track and get the most out of your life. Examples: Make three new friends this month, write in your school agenda your weekly homework, set a grade goal for the trimester that you will be proud of. Revisit the goals at the end of the month to see if you have accomplished what you set out to do.
Plan places to visit during the year and go explore those places. This doesn’t have to be far away and could be somewhere local but getting out and seeing new locations, helps reenergize you from your ordinary life schedule. Can’t travel? No problem. Many museums and historical sites have online tours. Carve out some time to visit somewhere virtually.
Celebrate who you are as a person. Diverse talents are what makes life fun, so take some risks in the new year and you never know where your talent can lead you. Practice that instrument that you know Mr. Dolecki has asked you to practice a hundred times, think out of the box in art class with Mrs. Gasiewski and you might be the new Banksy, join garden club with Mr. Crawford and you might just feed the world, there are endless possibilities to your talents.
I hope that you will celebrate yourself for the accomplishments that you made this past year and look ahead to all the possibilities the new year will bring!
Happy New Year to All from the Counseling Department!
-Mrs.Burnham, Mrs. Keehan, Mrs. Pellegrini, and Mr. Willett
Events, activites, and other occurrences that happened at HKMS this week outside of the classroom.
8th-Grade Council on their way to deliver over 300 holiday toys to the James J. Curiale School! They spent the day as teacher assistants in the K through 4th grade classrooms.
At our faculty meeting this week, we finished our book club study of Smart but Scattered Teens (yup, the same one we are reading with the parents at our coffees). In this meeting we experimented with two different discussion strategies!
Last year all current 7th and 8th graders received Easton Public Library Cards on their spring visit. We wanted to be sure all our students have access to this wonderful resource! If you are a "new" to Easton family or a 6th grade family, please fill out the form above and we will arrange for your child to receive their card in the next few days!
Extra-Curricular Activities
The latest edtion of our student newspaper is here!
The latest edtion of our student newspaper is here!
Below are all the planned clubs and activities we will be offering this year.
CLICK ON THE CHART BELOW TO OPEN THE FULL DOC.
As each activities start date approaches, we will publish flyers of each club with more details below.
Green Playful Chalk Board School Bazaar Flyer.pdfPlease fill out the HW Club form linked here prior to Thursday
Thank you PTO!
Thank you PTO!
Thank you to the PTO and the Redding Roadhouse for the delicious holiday lunch you provided on Thursday...although all the teachers needed a nap after indulging in this bounty of food from the Redding Road House!
Easton PTO is chillin' with the Bridgeport Islanders on January 7, 2024!
The HKMS Select Choir will perform God Bless America!
Chuck a-Puck proceeds will go back to the Easton PTO!
Order tickets that support the PTO at this link:
Spiritwear Direct
New Paradigm Theatre Middle School Play Writing Competition is now accepting submissions
NPT partnered with New York City Children's Theater in 2018 and 2019 on their Middle School Playwriting Competition, with young actors participating in the staged readings at Theatre Row in Midtown Manhattan. Nicole Hogsett, who ran NYCCT's Middle School Competition from 2016-2019, is consulting with NPT to help launch this competition for Connecticut students.
Five (5) grand prize winners will receive a staged reading of their play, performed and directed by Broadway pros and talented young actors at the new Madison Ave Community Clubhouse’s Black Box Theatre in Bridgeport in April 2024. Every entry will receive feedback from a theatre professional.
To participate, students in grades 6-8 will write an original 10-minute play based on this year's social justice theme: ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS.
Environmental issues are defined as harmful effects to Earth and its natural systems due to the actions of humans. We want to hear your thoughts on environmental awareness in the form of a play and how it affects young people now and in the future.
Details and tools to help young playwrights can be found at: https://nptheatre.org/npt-middle-school-play-writing-competition/
The deadline for submissions is February 1st. 2024.
Winners announced at the end of February.
Submit in PDF form with permission slip to info@nptheatre.org (please find details and helpful tools at: https://nptheatre.org/npt-middle-school-play-writing-competition/
Questions? Please email info@nptheatre.org
THE NEW PARADIGM THEATRE COMPANY is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit theatre promoting social responsibility and fostering creative problem solvers, leaders, and global citizens through theatre arts education and productions.
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