Page 9 - Priorities 3

receives individual feedback designed to help him or her move to the next level, whether the paper is very basic or very advanced.
In math, we keep to a narrower range of skill lev- els in each class and invite able students to advance to the next level, if they wish. Several middle school- ers are working at freshman and sophomore level math. In the coming year, we will have some middle school French students working part of the time with a high school French class. When a student is serious- ly pursuing an out-of-school talent, we try to arrange schedules to accommodate that opportunity without academic loss.
Recently, we launched a program called “Transitions” to encourage our eighth graders in learning to talk to each other about their concerns. Rebecca Van Dalsem, a long-time faculty member, meets with small groups, giving them an opportunity to share ideas in an emotionally safe environment. The students decide the topics, which in this past year centered on high school demands, health, and feelings of uncertainty about separations, among other things. In the coming year, we may try separat- ing groups by gender for a period of time.
The change from sixth to eighth grade is dramatic. When I see these students at graduation, self-confi- dent and prepared for high school, it is encouraging to see the growth that has happened in just two or three years. That is the excitement of young teen edu- cation — the challenges are great and the rewards are even greater.
Michael Alcheck Katharine Alsop Brian Bechtel
James Cirino
Emily Cohen
James Corning Joseph Daly
Amanda Davison Alexandra De Martini Jesse Dienner
Jon Hasse
Mary Hurlbut Zoltan Kovacs Brittany Ladrech Bryce Larsen
Paul Lewis
Jerome Mayer-Cantu Alexander Meyer Louis Molakides Jonathan Morgan
Michelle Ogren Eric Perret
Mary Schwabel Joshua Shleffar Eric Tsai
Takashi Tsuchiya Joanna Watkins David White Edward Wilson Linda Zhang
“May I share with you my mother’s favorite Irish blessing. Good luck, God speed, and, until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.”
Closing remarks of
Tim Molak, Dean of Students Selected by the class to be their commencement speaker.
The honor of valedictorian is award- ed to the student who has earned the highest grade point average through the third quarter of the eighth grade.
“Before I begin, I’d like to say to those of you who have come here expecting the traditional valedictory speech of how we’re going to ‘go forth from these hallowed halls’ and ‘stamp out poverty’ or ‘wipe out hunger’ or some- thing to that effect, don’t worry. We’re only 8th graders. We still have trouble remembering our homework...”
Joseph Daly, Valedictorian
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8th Grade Commencement, Class of 2000