Winter Edition 22-23

Notes and Accolades

Students of Color Coalition (E. Masil, I. Masil, L. Ribeiro, T. Trayer - East & West) & DEIB Coordinators (J. Lynch & M. Rais - East & West)

The Students of Color Coalition in partnership with the DEIB office hosted a viewing of Black Panther in honor of Black History Month after school on Friday, March 3rd. You can read here about Why 'Black Panther' is a Defining Moment for Black America. All students and Sturgis community members were invited, and about 30 attendees enjoyed watching the 2018 movie in the theater room at East. Black Panther themed snacks and favors were enjoyed, and the groups are considering offering a viewing of the 2nd Black Panther movie, Wakanda Forever. Stay tuned for more details, and consider joining us for our next community movie night!

Students of Color Coalition (E. Masil, I. Masil, L. Ribeiro, T. Trayer - East & West)

The Students of Color Coalition had their first cross-campus meeting of the year on Thurs., Feb. 2nd at the West campus. Over 30 students of color attended the meeting, where they connected over shared identity aspects, a game of 4 corners, pizza (thank you Sturgis!), and simply spending time with other BIPOC students. Jessica Lynch and Melissa Rais of the DEIB office dropped by to begin making plans for a Black History Month themed movie night that will be sponsored in partnership with SOCC. SOCC is excited to meet more regularly as a cross-campus group and build off the momentum from this joyful 1st cross-campus meeting!

Winter Spirit Week

East and West had a Winter Spirit Week from February 13th to February 17th. Students and teachers participated in a series of activities that brought a smile to us all before Winter Break.

Winter Storm Door Decorating Contest (East)

Advisories at East geared up for their February challenge of creating a Winter Storm themed door! Check out Mrs. Morales / Mr. Tecklenburg’s Frozen door that pulled off the win featuring Dr. O’Kane, Ms. Gauthier, and Mr. Marble! Winners received a gift card to Dunkin’ Donuts, but teamwork was the real prize! Who knew Dr. O’Kane would make such a beautiful Elsa?!

Peace Corps Week (RPCVs - East & West)

Celebrated annually, Peace Corps Week commemorates the day that JFK established the agency on March 1st, 1961. On Thurs., 3/2, Returned Peace Corps volunteers at both campuses (J. Ferguson, K. Houston, T. Houston, C. McDowell, A. Morales, H. Raftery, J. Tecklenburg, & B. Wojtowicz) set up information tables during lunch with brochures and pictures to share with students interested in pursuing service after college. Many students asked questions specific to Peace Corps programming, how to apply, and areas of the world where Peace Corps volunteers currently serve. It was an enriching conversation for all!

S.T.A.M.P. (C. Abel, M. D’Innocenzo, L. Ribeiro, & B. Morales - East & West)

S.T.A.M.P. (Standing Together Against Misogynistic Practices) is a recently developed student club that meets every other week with a facilitator from Independence House. These facilitated discussions include topics such as social constructs that influence behaviors, gender norms, healthy vs. unhealthy practices in relationships, and consent. Recently, S.T.A.M.P. members hosted a “pop-up” resource table for February’s Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. Students at both campuses had an opportunity to learn more about the club’s purpose, chat with Independence House volunteers about gaslighting and other unhealthy relationship habits, and spin the dating advice wheel for a chance to win a gift card! S.T.A.M.P. club did a great job advertising and assisting with the event!

ELD / English Language Development (A. McClorey Timoh & I. Masil - East & West)

The ELD classes from East and West visited Hyannis West Elementary School on Tuesday, March 7th, as part of a multilingual community storytelling unit. Students visited Chaitra McCarty’s 2nd grade classroom and interviewed small groups of students to learn more about their interests and experiences as readers. After the trip, students began crafting short stories based on their conversations, and they plan to share their final pieces with Ms. McCarty’s class later this month. The ELD students are also incorporating specific language features that the 2nd graders are currently learning into their stories, along with language scaffolds and translations for emerging bilingual students. In doing so, ELD students will further develop their own academic language skills while forming meaningful cross-campus and community partnerships.

SL2 Biology (K. Houston - West)

Students have been very hands on in class lately. Recently we were able to take their dissection and analytical skills to the next level while they dissected sheep hearts. Through a grant, we secured one large cow heart and they did an excellent job locating all important features! Through an additional grant, students examined different replicas of skulls of animals found around our area. Students also spent the day experimenting with different ingredients to create a coating around skittles that represented pills. They learned about the importance of these coatings in terms of medicine release and protection and then experimented what a good coating would look like and taste like.

9th Grade Biology (S.Stair-East)

9th grade biology students are enjoying the option of dissecting fetal pigs. Their anatomy is remarkably similar to human anatomy and the pigs we use were stillborn but at least 14 inches in length, making them sizable enough that structures are easily found. Major landmarks of the digestive, excretory, circulatory, respiratory and neuro system were examined. Students are mesmerized!

Care for the Cape Club (K. Houston - West)

From bake sales to canal clean ups to plans to plant sustainable and edible plants on the property, these students have been very busy! We recently spent a lunch period collecting trash from the woods surrounding Sturgis that yielded some interesting finds including: 4 tires, an early 20th century iron, and a lot of plastic trash.

English SL2 (A. Morales - East)

Seniors just finished a poetry unit that featured the selected works of Jorge Luis Borges. There were many philosophical conversations to be had including: the concept of time, acknowledging one’s own existence, and social and cultural constructs associated with death. For a creative writing assignment, students generated a poem that modeled one of Borges’ and incorporated two poetic literary devices. Here are 2 student samples from Corey Goodwin and Liam O'Keefe.

Machine By Corey Goodwin

Red paint, orange stripes, everything else black,

Exhaust pipes resembling the neutral barrel of a shotgun, unheld,

Three miles on the once-working odometer, lack of evidence -

Or maybe it was never taken out

Never ridden like it should have been.

The red-rounded gas tank still glistened in the low light of the garage,

A once shining engine case dulled gray by sitting, rotting,

Gas still in the tank, but the motor won’t crank,

A dusty battery, still connected at the terminals -

No lights when the key is turned.

Frozen brakes, and it yearns to go, to leave,

It can’t balance on its own; flat tires,

This bike has more in it than what one can see, hidden memories,

Small pockets of oil on the floor; thickened coffee,

An opened tool-box from times past next to the slack chain,

But there is only so much they can do, a bike in vain.

“The Cube” By Liam O'Keefe

The cube loved me at first.

And then it didn’t.

And I would look out the window to see everyone

Smiling

Laughing

Living.

They told me I would have it

If i just kept working

Working

Working.

And then I retired

And laughing makes me cough

And smiling shows all of my wrinkles

And I’m almost done.

Special Education- East (Massey)

On the Alumni Day a group of students came back to meet with Mrs. Massey’s, Ms. Gavin’s, and Ms. Mead’s study skill classes. These alumni spoke to students about what helped them while in high school, where they went to college or military, and just overall their experiences while in high school and since graduating. They were graduates from the Class of 2015, 2019, 2020 and 2022.

Her Future Coalition Club ( East, Prantis)

HFC club raised $625, but was able to donate $1250 (due to a matching challenge) to help women and girls who have experienced human trafficking or exploitation in India and Nepal. This organization, originally started by a Cape Codder, offers schooling, housing, and skills training to help women become independent. The East club of six worked very hard in our two big fund-raisers of the year– “Boo bags” and “holiday bags”-- filling and delivering about 200 bags over the two events.

Multilingual Learner Department & Student Athletics (l. Masil & K. Dumont, East)

Randy Norris (Team Norris), an MLB baseball player who started his professional career with the San Francisco Giants in 2018, was a guest speaker in East’s senior Multilingual Learner Support class on Thursday, December 1. He spoke with 8 seniors about his experience applying to colleges as a 1st generation citizen and 1st generation college student, as well as the various pathways to pursue athletics at both the college and professional level. It was such a success that Mr. Norris came back to Sturgis East on Monday, December 5, to share his message and advice with a group of around 20 students, representing all 4 grades and a variety of athletic interests. His advice on using social media as a vehicle for pursuing athletics, and also allowing persistence and dedication be key drivers to their personal success, proved to be invaluable for students and staff.

TOK1 (Prantis, East)

As a counter to the negativity bias which is a natural tendency to recall and dwell more easily on negative events and memories, students created posters to highlight events from 2022 that were positives worth remembering! Students addressed a wide range of topics including: Maura Healy’s election, President Zelensky, Maya Angelou featured on the quarter, Ketanji Jackson Brown’s election, the increase in humpback whale populations, Celtics in the finals, a Boston company upcycling chopsticks to furniture, the Earthshot prizes, and more!

Professional Development Day 12/7 (East and West faculty)

During the student half-day, teachers had the opportunity to hear from their colleagues. There were presentations on a variety of topics from behavior management to encouraging students to take academic and social risks to facilitating difficult conversations. Both seasoned and new faculty presented, either alone or in a pair, and teachers were able to select two presentations to attend in the afternoon.

Wings and Watch Party (DEIB)

Sturgis hosted a viewing party for the World Cup at 529 Main St. Along with the invitation, the DEIB Office shared resources such as a “bracket” for the World Cup and an article on the controversies surrounding the sporting event in Qatar. Students, faculty and staff attended the event on December 11th. Our own French teacher, Ben Guibal, brought homemade crepes!

Latin 2 (R. Albis - East)

The Latin 2 students spent much of the first marking period reading from the Aulularia, a comic play written by Plautus. (His comedies were the inspiration for the Broadway play and film, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.) The original ending of this play is lost, so as a capstone project, students composed (in Latin) a synopsis of how they would like the play to end. This is one of several ways that the Latin 1 and Latin 2 curricula have incorporated more composition in Latin, now that the new IB Latin HL curriculum has an assessment component that consists of Latin composition. Some Latin 2 students also celebrated the end of the Plautus unit by performing scenes from the play in the 441 atrium, which attracted an audience from other Latin classes that period.

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