Social Gathering
Student Council has rescheduled the Valentine’s party for upper school students for Friday, February 22nd, after school. We will hang out in the upper school space from 3:30 until 5:30. StuCo is providing snacks and drinks, and we’ll have games for students to play. Upper school teachers will be present to chaperone.
We hope to see you there! Please email esmith@thesummitprep.org if you have any questions.
This week in Social Studies:
Middle school students are wrapping up their free speech essays, and they will submit them to the SMBA Law Day competition this week. The essays are due Friday, and we’re all excited to see how everyone’s hard work pays off!
Sixth grade students have just finished their presentations on 19th century immigration to America. Students have done a lovely job teaching their classmates about the push and pull factors helping to cause migration from Ireland, Germany, Russia, Prussia, Norway, and Poland. One student found a letter a young immigrant from Ireland wrote back to her family. Ask your sixth grader what country they chose and what they learned about immigrants to America.
Seventh and eighth grade students are currently concluding their research on revolutions around the world. Students were able to choose from a list of revolutions that they wanted to learn more about, and they will be presenting to classmates throughout the course of this week. Revolutions students have chosen include Haiti, France, Latin American, and the Industrial Revolution. Students are really taking ownership of this project and doing a great job so far. One student made a Kahoot over her presentation to test her classmates’ learning of the Haitian Revolution. Be sure to check in with them regarding their research and what they learned.
High school students are learning about the Gilded Age this week. Their guiding questions for these lessons are: What are the social conditions that make freedom possible, and what role should the national government play in defining and protecting the liberty of its citizens? The events of the Gilded Age, and the Progressive Era that follows, should help students form answers to these questions. This time is rich in history, with growth in immigration, innovation, communication, transportation, and government action.
In Model United Nations, students have been zooming in on the situation in Venezuela to see how the United Nations might get involved in a region in times of crisis. After spending time learning details of the situation there, students took today to hold their first mock “conference” and practice their skills of diplomacy.
Finally, all history students are working diligently this week to prepare for their student-led conferences. They are choosing their favorite projects and identifying areas where they feel strong and areas in which they would like to grow as historians.
