On Friday, February 20th, the Piedmont Suzuki Violinists performed for the entire Middle School in the Eagle’s Nest gym. The talented group of 15 under the direction of Katherine Wiley, dazzled the entire audience of just under 200 with a wide variety of compositions from the Baroque period to a modern day tune written by a contemporary Canadian composer. The program was a winning combination of performance and education as the members shared origins of songs as well as the different sized violins used in the performance with its eager audience. Both groups left the Eagle’s Nest with a true sense of mutual appreciation as performers and audience members. -Cliff Clark
Special thanks to Cindy Hamilton for this video!
The project started with a book. Each fourth grader was given a biography of an American who made a difference for our country. In Social Studies class, the children learned where their historical figure fit into a timeline of American history. During their library time, Mrs. Hermann introduced the children to a variety of reference materials. In writing class, they took notes, wrote paragraphs, and are in the process of writing a full research paper. For the presentation on February 6, each child selected an important event in the life of their character to dramatize on the living timeline. The children wrote their own short speeches for the timeline. They appeared in order of the events they were portraying, not necessarily the order in which they were born.
Wow! It’s hard to believe we’re wrapping up another season of Lifetime Sports. The class was originally designed as a way of keeping athletes conditioned from fall to spring sports, if they didn’t play basketball. But it has become so much more. Students work on strength in the weight room with a full-body program, cardiovascular conditioning on the indoor track, flexibility training with yoga, and all aspects of coordination in tae kwon do. Most of the time, they perform these workouts three days a week, developing good fitness habits. Twice a week, we bowl. Instead of fitness, we learn about consistency, personal challenges, and the occasional, good-natured competition. Our students also get to experience recreational sports such as ice skating, roller skating, and skiing. At Summit, we try to give kids opportunities to try so many new things. We instruct, we help, we support. We let them fall, get up, and fall again. We want them to grow and get stronger. We want them to have the confidence to try. This year’s instructors have included Chris Culp, Laura Owen, Tom Seaver, Doug Johnson, and Devon Davis. They’ve been wonderful! -Lynne Roosa
