8th Graders Go To Washington D.C.
FMS parents and staff took 81 eight grade students to Washington D.C. last week (May 17th-20th) for an incredible annual learning experience to supplement classroom learning. The group of almost 90 took a long bus ride to the nation's capitol to tour architectural treasures, historical sites and memorials. Stops included the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, the African American Museum of History and Culture, Arlington National Cemetery, Ford’s Theatre, the National Mall and the Capitol Building. The group also saw monuments to Dr. Martin Luther Kind Jr., President Abraham Lincoln, President Thomas Jefferson, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as well as war memorials for the fallen soldiers of the Vietnam and Korean Wars.
Mt. Vernon, the plantation estate of President George Washington, was also on the sights list, where students saw first hand the luxurious home of the Revolutionary War General and our nation's first President, as well as the living quarters of the 317 enslaved Africans who built and maintained the elaborate property.
Everyone got their steps, had some laughs together, and appreciated the journey through our national history. Thank you so much to the eight adult chaperones (5 parents and 3 teachers) who made this trip possible.
#ferndalefamily #historicalcontext #nationalhistory
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Wednesday night, three Ferndale Family groups dedicated to supporting the music and fine arts programs of the district held their first meetings of the 2023-24 school year. BandAid, Orch-Support and Fine Arts Boosters (FAB). Great ideas were shared, and members planned out a great year!
Social Justice students 6-8 working and supporting each other while reading the class book “New Kid” as part of our Identity lesson.
The Social Justice elective is a one semester course for middle school students to examine issues that impact diverse groups of people. The course begins with an introduction to what defines social justice and continues with a close look at disparities based on race, poverty and gender identification.
The book "New Kid" helps us to truly dive into the term "Identity". In this book there is an African American boy who attends a new school where everyone is very different from what he is used to. He faces many cultural battles with peers at school and teachers as he learns how to navigate a new environment while staying true to who he is. Students really enjoyed reading it!
Tink, a certified therapy dog, who lives with Mr Turner of FMS, made her first visit of the school year.
Tink, who is certified through the Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs, visits FMS on the 1st Friday of every month. Today, she was joined by one of her therapy pals, Annie, a pointer.
Be sure to stop by the FMS commons during lunch, or swing by room 301 to get some puppy love!
During Social Emotional Learning (SEL) sessions this week at FMS, several students learned to deal with frustration appropriately through play. While standing up the dominoes, sometimes they would fall, and students would have to start over. One student in Mrs. Collins class, Exzavior, demonstrated executive functioning skills by developing a harm reduction strategy: completing small sections at a time so that only a small section would fall if an accident occurred. Once the small sections were all set, students went back and carefully filled in the gaps with more dominoes. During the lesson, the dominoes accidentally fell many times, but everyone practiced walking away, deep breathing, talking about what was frustrating (including positive self-talk), before coming up with solutions.
