St. Michael's Country Day School - The Daily Mike

That championship season

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:31:15 -0500

Busy Bs-- Congratulations to our undefeated Boys B soccer team, which is celebrating a great fall season, made only greater by the fact that they won every game. At the fall sports awards ceremony earlier this week Coach Chuck Avenengo (standing behind the boys on the right), citing great teamwork and a winning spirit, applauded the standout team that ended its season with a 9-0 record, having scored a total of 53 goals—and given up only eleven. Adding to the effort was assistant coach Emo Drayton, SMS class of 2005, standing at the far left.

Looking for that "inner spark"

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:31:51 -0500

A little play with all the big subjects-- Auditions began earlier this week for the winter drama production of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town." The tryouts were spread out over three days, with students reading for different characters and different scenes. Drama department head Christina Johnston and drama tech head Ellyn Eaves-Hileman spent three afternoons taking it all in, watching and listening and looking for such intangibles as on-stage chemistry and a quality of character projection that comes from the heart and not from the printed page. "I look for that inner spark that comes out when a certain character is read," explained Mrs. Johnston. "Or when a certain combination of actors works together."

"Jane Goodall would be proud!"

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:30:13 -0500

Worm journals-- Earthworms are very agile acrobats, nothing stops them, and when thirsty they will go in search of water. These are just a few of the worm facts collected by the Kindergarten students this morning in Lisa Pritchard's science lab.

A thankful crowd

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:13:05 -0500

It was a great day for Tom Turkey at yesterday's Lower School morning meeting when LS Head Lauren Abraham first introduced the iconic visitor, ventriloquist-style, to the assembled group.

Fertile minds

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:44:46 -0500

It hasn't been all election pomp and punditry in the first grade of late. In art class one day recently, students first listened to Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are and then, much like the story's willful misbehaving protagonist Max, they got to create their own wild things.

Pre-k Bulb Day

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:27:50 -0500

Campus beautification is in full swing in the early childhood center. One morning last week the prekindergarteners, equipped with trowels and a supply of daffodil bulbs, planted the harbingers of spring in the flower beds between the EC end of the van Beuren Building and the Lower School science lab.

The week that was

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:28:24 -0500

Our first admission open house of the year, held on Election Day, was a tremendous success. Ten potential families walked through our door, including this young candidate, who seemed not at all concerned to be sharing the spotlight with the other--perhaps slightly better known--candidate standing behind her.

"Citizen Journalists"

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:52:31 -0500

It was a busy, grass-roots day for ten members of the eighth-grade class on November 4, who visited two Newport polling places where they were able to witness--and document--the voting process in action, and then got their photographs posted on the New York Times' website. As participants in The Polling Place Photo Project, "a nationwide experiment in citizen journalism that encourages voters to capture, post and share photographs" of people voting, their pictures became part of a broader patchwork of images that the Times intended to help "capture the richness and complexity of voting in America." To see their photos, click here, and then click on "Browse Photographs." Computeristas Beth Holland and Jeff Day escorted them on their walkabout. "These students should be commended not only for their photography," says Holland, but also for how well they represented the school. All of the volunteers commented on what a fantastic group of students came through. They were polite and respectful."

Election fever

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:08:31 -0500

Voting early-- With less than a hundred hours to go before election day, our students have been getting an election education in ways large and small. Last Friday morning an authentic voting booth was set up in the Mason House library, and we held a mock election.

Likely candidates

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:37:06 -0500

Joe the plumber didn't show up here either-- The eighth-grade component to the Middle School focus on the election (grades five through eight have presented their projects at morning meetings for the past two weeks) was Thursday's appearance by McCain-Obama impersonators (selected by their classmates) to deliver a campaign statement followed by a brief Q & A.

It was a far, far better thing they did

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:25:58 -0400

Definitely the best of times-- The eighth grade, accompanied by Middle School Head Bob Tavares, drama tech teacher Ellyn Eaves-Hileman, English teacher Mary-Lou Wernig, and drama department head Christina Johnston spent last Wednesday (Oct.

The best-laid plans of our political forefathers

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:20:15 -0400

These students will cast their first votes in 2016-- At today's Morning Meeting Ann Hemeon's and Claire Stieff's fifth-graders presented their class projects on the upcoming presidential election.

Runners' Hi

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:13:20 -0400

Congratulations to the St. Michael's Marathon Moms who ran, relay-style, in last Saturday's Breakers marathon. In a great display of teamwork they turned it into a fundraiser, raised more than $3,000 for the programs and faculty at the school.

Pumpkin Patchwork

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:12:51 -0400

They're all great pumpkins, Charlie Brown-- In grand St. Michael's fashion, the appointed pumpkin truck was well stocked this afternoon with a good-sized crop of carved pumpkins, all of them created and donated by our families.

Our twenty-fifth Grandparents and Special Friends Day

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:40:05 -0400

Not a ten, but a twenty is how one grandmother referred to the event (the school's twenty-fifth), not to mention the weather. Visitors were introduced to SmartBoard technology, rejeuvenated their rusty French; helped make weathervanes in Lower School science, and were an appreciative audience at the first public performances of A and B Bands. The unexpected bonus of Grandparents Day is that not only does everyone leave having had a great time, but that it has also unexpectedly become a time for self-assessment. After a busy first month it makes the entire school community stop and slow things down for a day before heading home for a long weekend to ponder about the value of our school and school community. (Oct. 10)