an overview of the Middle School Focus Week

NOVEMBER 2014
AIM ACADEMY
Middle School
Fall Focus Week
Focus Week is a week-long opportunity for students to engage in
experiences aligned with the 4-Threads of the Future. This is an AIM
Program that focuses on students’ interests and strengths with an eye
toward 21st Century Skill Acquisition. The curricular threads of this
framework include Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Sustainability
and Global Competency, Science and Engineering, and Arts and
Design. This year, students engaged in a different experience each
day of the week that was somehow tied to one or more of these
threads.
By Shannon Caldwell
The Sustainability project focused on bringing
student awareness to sustainability practices
with regard to our food. Students investigated
food origins, the impact of buying/growing
locally and seasonally sourced food versus that
which comes from far away, learned about
composting and waste management, and
recycling. Students collaborated and engaged in
activities such as visiting the farm at WB Saul
High School where AIM's compost is taken,
creating visual displays for the cafeteria to
promote sustainability practices among the
student body, and planting an herb tower to be
used by the chefs in our cafeteria.
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“Plant One Million”
Wednesday’s group participated in
a tree planting service learning
opportunity in conjunction with the
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society,
sorting trees to be planted as part of
their campaign to plant one million
trees in the greater Philadelphia
region. Students helped to move
and sort 1,200 bare root trees! The
group also toured the Urban
Outfitters Headquarters, learning
about all aspects of planning,
developing, and operating a
sustainable corporation.
Philadelphia
Poetry Walk
This project was designed to promote a love
for writing. The goal was to have students
observe, with an artist's eye, the happenings of
our city. Students walked around center city
mapping landmarks, histories, and traditions of
the city, while photographing and writing about
their experiences. Students were exposed to
famous poets related to our city, while listening
to the rhythms of each moment, being mindful
of that moment and of the details of their lives,
and then to expressing it in words.
3
The Mysteries
of Egypt
In the focus group, "Mysteries of Egypt,”
students uncovered the mysteries of ancient
Egypt. Students explored how archeologists
collect information through artifacts from ancient
cultures. These artifacts aid archaeologists in
uncovering facts that help them make
inferences about the way of life and the culture
of people who lived so long ago. Students
learned the art of critical observation and
making educated inferences to help solve the
mysteries of the dead, and created ancient art in
the form of masks with the information they
discussed and learned throughout the day.
Video
Production
This creative class allowed students to
focus on various topics through video.
Students
captured
images,
both
photographs and videos, and created a
finished product through post-production
editing using iMovie. Events included;
Nature and a walk through the
wilderness, a "How-to" video on soccer
and playground safety, a Newscast,
complete with a professional news desk,
interviews,
weather,
sports,
and
documentaries on famous musicians,
sports figures and actors.
5
The Truth
about
Junk Food
During this project, students learned healthy
eating techniques through the dissection of
nutrition labels, taste tests and individual
cooking. Students worked in teams to examine
and compare a number of different grocery
items. After a few short videos and “mock” meal
creations, students participated in a cooking
competition modeled off the Food Network
show, Chopped, where students were provided
with a set number of ingredients to prepare a
meal and have it scored by a panel of “judges.”
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This week was the
Drama Club’s “Tech Week.”
The cast, crew, and directors worked tirelessly to
prepare for their debut performances of Disney’s
The Jungle Book.
Cast
Baby Elephant - Izzy Weinberg
Bagheera - Margo Latty
Baloo - Journey Jones
Coconut tree/Shanti - Amelia Quek
Colonel Hathi - Maria Lehman
Kaa #1 - Jillian Godfrey
Kaa #2 - Chris Bunomo
Kaa #3 - Emily Bovarnick
Kaa #4 - Owen Mitchell
Kaa #5 - Izzy Thomas
Kaa #6 - Katya P.
King Louie - Ahmaad Johnson
Mowgli - Gabe Seplow
Old Monkey - Cam Veno
Shere Khan - Ciarana Rooney-Gaitmaitan
Vulture - Katerina Zisman
Additional Jungle Creatures
Hannah Erlbaum, Jessie Luterman, Mekhi Mobley,
Brandon Schwartz, Heather Whitcomb
Stage Crew
Jason Braker, Ava Esrich, Grant Krain-Einhorn,
Marco Maestri, Robbie Newman, Eliana Warshal,
Katerina Zisman
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