Sharing Skills Across Academic Divisions

From Connie Moore:

Hannah Snyder, Grade 11, is working with Middle School English teacher, Connie Moore, to introduce speech/public speaking to Grade 5. She recently introduced the topic and the influence Speech and Debate has in her life. Hannah will be working with Grade 5 once a week throughout the remainder of the school year—a terrific example of cross-curricular and interdisciplinary, collaborative activities between divisions.

Math Meeting of the Minds

From James Aldrich-Moodie (JAM):

It has been a year of firsts for the HAC math team. We defeated our nemesis (Pittsford Sutherland) to come first in several math meets this year, and on Thursday, we hosted a “home” meet (at Harley) for the very first time. Over 100 students from Brighton, Pittsford Sutherland (boo!), Pittsford Mendon, Rush-Henrietta, and Honeoye Falls-Lima came and competed at Harley.

Pictured: Students (including our own Oscar Wilcox) nearly ready to begin; also fueling up before the meet.

Chemistry in the Kitchen

From Chris Becker:

Honors chemistry is learning about the mole and chemical quantities. They used the kitchen to conduct an experiment to better understand chemical stoichiometry and limiting reagents. They developed a team hypothesis if they changed the reactants or ratio of reactants and analyzed their cookies against a standard batch. The criteria for evaluation was texture, shape, appearance and of course taste (mostly yumm….). Ms. Barker also spoke about the role of the ingredients and how the chemistry of baking involves proper interface between the ingredients and proper ratio of ingredients to maximize the quality of product being made. The class baked their cookies, and after a careful analysis and evaluation of their hypothesis, they had a good time eating their product.

Exquisite in Every Way

As a class we have been learning how to kiln-cast using the “lost wax process.” Lost wax kiln casting is a multipurpose method for making glass pieces in almost any shape. It involves creating a refractory mold around a wax model. The wax is then removed or “lost” which creates a cavity. The molds are placed into a kiln and brought up to a temperature of 1,525 degrees Fahrenheit. Glass is then cast into the cavity resulting in a finished glass piece. Currently, we are working on the exquisite corpse project inspired by the surrealist movement.

Working Hard in Nursery Green
From Kirsten Reader’s travels around school:

If play is the work of children, you can see our Nursery Green students are happy to be back to work. Here they are playing a dice game where they roll the dice and put that number of buttons on the shirt. A simple and fun game like this one works on math skills, social skills, and small motor skills. They are also painting their own art with inspiration from “Pete the Cat.” What fun!