Summer Reading 2020

We feel that choice is essential to finding the right book to pique our students' curiosity during the summer months; therefore, this summer students will choose at least two books, fiction or nonfiction, which they feel would be both engaging and appropriate for a middle school audience. Although the minimum is two, we hope that students will read more. While reading, we encourage students to continue using the skills and strategies they have learned this year to be active readers. This could include jotting, using post its, and writing about their reading in a reader's notebook. During the week of September 21st, students will need to be prepared to demonstrate their understanding of their chosen works.

Click here for links to summer reading suggestions and information on the Ramsey Public Library Summer programming!

#TeachingforUnderstanding #ProfileofARamseyGraduate #EnhancingtheStudentExperience

Cubes in Space

Congratulations to Smith School’s Enrichment students, some of whom were among a select group of only 100 students worldwide to have their proposed science experiment sent to space in either a research balloon or rocket during the 2020-21 school year! No longer is the sky the limit!

Cubes in Space, a program by idoodledu inc., is a global competition for students 11-18 years of age to design and propose experiments to launch into space or a near space environment on a NASA sounding rocket and zero-pressure scientific balloon. The integrative STEAM-based program is in collaboration with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Wallops Flight Facility, NASA Langley Research Center and the Colorado Space Grant Consortium. Cubes in Space challenges students to derive at important questions that could be explored for future space exploration and human sustainability in space. This is the first time Smith Middle School Enrichment students have participated in the Cubes in Space Program.

Enrichment teacher Suzanne Wilson incorporated the international competition into the curriculum in early January. Students were given specific deadlines to submit proposals and applications, with constant modifications being made throughout the process. What makes the particular winning teams so unique, is that each member came from a different Enrichment class. The students worked collaboratively on one experiment proposal, but during different times of the day, and each with various responsibilities.

The members of the winning eighth grade Enrichment teams and their selected experiments are:

• Abby Lorusso & Bridget Heffernan: The Effects of Near Space Conditions on the Survival of Algae
• Alice Zang, Isabella Correa & GiannaMarie Conti: The Effect of Radiation on the Nutrients in Protein Powder