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Dear Middle School Families,
Ohio winter has announced itself with verve! Thank you for your flexibility as we have prioritized safety in navigating this week’s snowy weather. Mr. Langford was quick to share the Mad River Mountain Cam live feeds on Monday morning; the fresh powder on the slopes promises ripe conditions for our first Winter Wednesday next week!
As we continue to anticipate increasingly cold and unpredictable temperatures, please remind your children to come prepared and properly outfitted for the winter weather. On Wednesday, January 15, we will begin our Winter Wednesday ski program at Mad River. This will be the first of five trips on Wednesdays through February 12. We’re excited for students to have the unique opportunity to spend time outside(!), push themselves to take risks and embrace challenge, and connect with peers in different social contexts.
Despite the weather-related hiccups, we’re hitting the ground running in the new year! 8th graders are immersed in independent research for their International Week projects in world language classes. This work will culminate with an interactive learning showcase at the end of the month, a highlight of the year for students of all ages. 7th graders are also engaging in independent research as they dive into their volcano projects, a unit of study that concludes with the epic Volcano Week, an eruption (sorry) of learning on display. Meanwhile, 6th grade is exploring genetics (Punnett squares!), fortifying grammar concepts, and studying ancient Egyptian civilization, while 5th graders are practicing both argumentative and creative writing, presenting research on Francophone countries, and learning about extreme weather phenomena – apropos indeed!
Inside the classroom, Wellington’s values are on full display. Between morning meeting announcements about weekend sports triumphs, yesterday’s swim meet, today’s 7th-grade service learning, and this afternoon’s 5th Annual Middle School Basketball Bash, I’m also reminded of how our middle schoolers push themselves to be curious, authentic, ambitious, empathetic, and responsible beyond our walls. There are so many ways to be a Jag!
The weeks ahead feature a few other events to keep in mind:
- Online re-enrollment opens on Wednesday, January 22, at noon and closes on Friday, January 31.
- The Well Life Series continues with our school counselors and resource officer EJ Windham here to register.
- The College Counseling department will host a coffee for middle school families on Wednesday, February 19, at 8:30 a.m. in the Doerschlag Den.
- All Things Wellington Returns on Thursday, February 20, at 6:30 p.m. in the Blanchard Performing Arts Center. Click here for more information and to reserve your seat.
In the spirit of the new year, I've got another mathematical thinking problem for you; I saw this one in a 7th-grade class yesterday. I invite you to reply to this email with your solution. Use the digits in 2025 (2, 0, 2, and 5) exactly one time each, along with any mathematical symbol or operation of your choosing, to create expressions equivalent to the numbers between 1 and 10 (e.g., (2+2)x5+0).
Happy new year! I'm excited to see what 2025 brings for our students.
With joy and optimism,
Louis
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