Peace Rally community meeting! :-)

Student reps led a workshop Friday surrounding peace, community, social courage and Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy.  Students shared shout outs from the heart (To MLK and to Obama!), Darien, Ali, Keegan and Khamani shared a musical tribute, and Bridgette and Natalie performed a song with interpretive dance dedicated to our message.  Rhys bravely stood up and said what we were all thinking: we would not be here at ESM sharing each day with one another if it were not for people before us believing in equal rights and a concern for ALL people.  Mr. Cappaert shared a personal anecdote about his father’s role in the civil rights movement, and Ms. Wilson led us through a mindfulness exercise in finding inner peace.  Miss. O’Connor helped everyone to engage in what it means to (literally) “throw” our words and thoughts out into the world.  We responded to prompts then had a peaceful snowball throw to see what to respond to next! Wow! Overall, Friday was one of the most moving events ESM has participated in and we are so glad to have shared it with the community.  While MLK day is officially a national day of service, ESM students know that every day is a good day to think beyond yourself and to ask if you are doing the right thing, and speaking up about things that really matter.

Mindfulness meditating!

graffiti Peace walls! 

Festive Advisory! In the spirit of the holiday and new year cheer.

The day before winter break can be dramatic, hyper, long, loud and... full of emotion.  Advisory groups took advantage of the :90 minute period this morning and enjoyed the company of friends and advisors.
Ms. O’Connor’s group played a (soon to be very popular I imagine) pie-in-the-face game this morning.  It looked like their friends enjoyed watching!
Ms. Devlin’s group decorated ugly sweater cookies. Don’t 8th grade boys always look enthusiastic?
Happy holidays, and the best wished for a lovely new year.

Academy of the Performing Arts skits about kindness, tolerance and integrity

Greetings and seasons greetings!
5th-8th graders got a taste of the theater this morning as a teen acting troupe from The Hartford Academy of the Performing Arts demonstrated social skits.  The actors showed themes ranging from bullying to tolerance, relationship rights and wrongs, and digital safety.  They were awesome!
After the skits, ESM students were able to ask the characters questions about how and why they acted a certain way, and if done again in the future how it could be different without hurt feelings.
Keep talking about the skits at home with advisees and with teachers during school as many of our students have found themselves in similar (and uncomfortable) situations.  The nature of middle school and teenage years is not always the smoothest, but with some knowledge about how to react in certain situations, a script and some confidence, students can build a healthy repertoire of social skills. !!

Happy New Year!

Career Fair and Silly Sweaters!

Friday’s advisory was busy busy!

6th grade teachers worked hard to host a career speaker fair for students to learn about possibilities within their community.  Speakers talked about inspiration, motivation and the tricks of the trade.  What skills are you honing today that will help you get and secure a job you enjoy?!  Keep talking about it with your advisor.  The entire 5th-8th grade upped their spirit factor by participating in Silly Sweater winter dress down Friday.  The pics below say it all.. check out Principal Thompson in her light up top! :-) 

Speakers / parents / community members who spoke at the career fair are below:

Pharmacist- Robert George, West Hartford

MDC Water Pollution Manager-Tom Tyler, Hartford

CT Humane Society-Beth, Newington

 

Mrs. Berggren's room:

Electrician-Matt Berggren, Middletown

Mason/Builder-Penny, Middletown 

Bike Patrol WHPD- Officer Rich Gesualdi, West Hartford

Ms. Couch's room:

Red Cross Director-Bonnie, Farmington

Firefighter NBFD- Brian Reeves, New Britain

Chef Firebox Restaurant- Mr. Garcia, Hartford

 

High School lottery sign-ups!

We are well into the lottery season for Hartford and Magnet schools.  During parent/advisory student led conferences, 8th graders took steps toward their future by applying for high school online in the computer lab.  Thanks, advisors and lottery specialists, for supporting our families in helping them make smart choices about high schools!
Many students are looking forward to going to CT River Academy, while a few students put Pathways, University High and more as their top choices.  Ms. Clapis will continue to accept Tech school applications (paper, printed from the school’s website).

Ask advisors for additional help and support.  You may change/edit your choices up until the end of February. :-)
See pics below.

CT River Academy visits our 8th graders!

Hello!

This morning our 8th graders had the opportunity to interact with students and faculty from the CT River Academy.  Part of the Goodwin College campus, the magnet school is a “pathway” school for ESM 8th graders.  Last year, everyone who put CTRA as their 1st choice got in through the choice education.org lottery.  With an environmental theme embedded in their programming, the school sounded like an awesome choice for many of our students.  We will continue talking about high school readiness in advisory, and this presentation today certainly inspired everyone to look forward to high school! 

http://ctriveracademy.org

http://www.choiceeducation.org

UPCOMING ADVISORY EVENTS:

Parent conferences Dec. 8th/9th

High School sign up with faculty support: Dec. 8th/9th

Community Meeting: Dec. 16th

Silly Sweater Day! Dec. 16th

Career Speaker Day! Dec. 16th

Washington D.C. 8th grade behavior expectations, and Dec. conference prep!!

Greetings!
It can’t possibly be December tomorrow, can it?!
8th grade advisory groups will be having a hard conversation about what it means to “rise to the occasion”.  With the very special Washington D.C. trip in May comes some high expectations for behavior.  Advisors will be making plans for their advisees for how to stay on track to ensure a smooth winter into spring.  What are your strategies for being your best self every day? How do you say no to temping friends who might be making poor choices? See below for the specifics. Ask your advisor or an administrator if you have any questions!
6th and 7th grade groups will of course be preparing for December conferences (Dec. 8th/9th of next week.)  Do you have your script ready? Example work to show parents?  A service learning plan?!