Middle School News
Middle school track returns to Mason-Dixon Games
The middle school track and field team sent seven competitors to the 2010 Mason-Dixon Games, which serve as Kentucky’s middle school indoor track and field state championship. After a four-year hiatus, new head coach Chris Herrick decided to travel back to Broadbent Arena for the marquee middle school event. According to Coach Herrick, the event serves as great preparation for the upcoming outdoor spring track and field season. Although the middle school event is limited to grades six through eight, the Mason-Dixon Games are not divided by size classification. Many events, therefore, receive over a hundred entries.
Five Bearcats placed high in the event standings, including a thirteenth-place finish by the girls’ 800m relay team of Selena Morgan, Kaitlyn Dwyer, Brigitta Hendren, and Catherine Lavin. Brigitta placed 35th in the girls’ 1500m, Catherine finished 36th (out of 139 competitors) in the girls’ 55m, and Hans Naake placed 36th in the boys’ long jump. Other notable competitors for the Bearcats included George Arnold in the boy’ 55m and Jack Smith in the boys’ 400m.
Coach Herrick says that he looks forward to competing with his entire roster, including a strong group of fifth-graders, in the upcoming spring track season.
Middle School Students of Color Conference has record attendance
The third annual Middle School Students of Color Conference was once again a fantastic success. With over sixty students and three new schools participating, the event has become a staple on the independent school spring calendar. The students discussed issues of race, religion, culture, and identity in workshops and affinity groups, but mostly just had fun! The day ended in a spectacular fashion show organized and run by our very own KCD students.
Diversity Coordinator Dexter Mahaffey was pleased with the outcome of this year’s conference. “What was most striking about this year's conference was how focused and intense the conversations between the students were right from the beginning. It seems that students and faculty chaperones are very clear what they're here to do, and they get right down to it. From our opening speech by youth leader Hisham Al-Qaisi to the mid-day talk by DJ Bone and closing session and party, the energy and commitment of these students was fantastic.”
Mr. Mahaffey also notes that the conference will change hands next year. “After founding and hosting the conference for its first three years, we will pass the baton to Sayre School of Lexington, who will take over hosting responsibilities in 2011. We look forward to taking a large and spirited delegation of KCD middle school students to that fourth annual event next year!”
Thank you to the KCD faculty that helped organize the day, run workshops, and make the conference a success: Lisa Stringfellow, Marjorie Seely, Kathryn Balbach, Matt Evans, Rachel Rawlings, Connor Bell, Rudy Keel, Annie Glosky, and Dexter Mahaffey. Thanks also to Ann Ponniah and Rennay Cooke for helping out.
KCDate 2010 sets the “Stage” for the future
KCDate coordinator Elizabeth Sherrard is pleased to announce that KCDate 2010 was a tremendous success. Although the final numbers are not in yet, all signs indicate that the event is close to meeting this year’s goal.
All proceeds from the event go to the KCD Fund. Numbers are still being crunched, and totals will be announced shortly.
This was the second year for KCDate’s new format, which included a cocktail buffet and a streamlined selection of live and silent auction items. The new format and the beautiful space at the Mellwood Arts Center combined to create the perfect environment for a fun and relaxing evening on Saturday, February 20.
Special thanks are due to Elizabeth Sherrard and KCDate co-chairs Abbie Kamen, Annie Locke, and Jane Tierney, whose hard work was crucial to the success of this year’s auction. We would also like to thank Mark Samide and Matt Evans for providing a lively auction as auctioneers as well as Steven Meeron, Keith Kidd, and the entire maintenance crew for their help.
A special thanks goes to event sponsor Norton Healthcare for their continuing support of this event. This is Norton Healthcare’s fifth year supporting KCDate as our event sponsor!
In addition, we would like to thank the other sponsors listed below for their support:
Event Sponsor
- Norton Healthcare
Platinum Sponsor
- Yum! Brands
Gold Sponsors
- Brown-Forman
- The Underwriters Group
- The Miller Family Foundation
Silver Sponsor
- Parco Constructors Group, LLC
Bronze Sponsors
- Mainstream Investment Advisers
- Kentucky Mirror and Plate Glass Company
- Stock Yards Bank & Trust
- Frost Brown Todd
- Fifth Third Bank
- Flynn Brothers Contracting, Inc.
- Heaven Hill Distilleries
- Lusk Mechanical Contractors, Inc.
- Ready Electric
Finally, thanks to all the faculty and staff volunteers who donated their time to make the event run smoothly.
MS Homework Club is back!
The Middle School Homework Club is open again after a short hiatus! Starting this week, Rachel Rawlings and Janey Andris will begin monitoring the study hall in the library.
Ms. Rawlings, who teaches sixth grade social studies, will supervise Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Ms. Andris, who teaches in the Lower School, will supervise on Mondays and Wednesdays. There will be no Homework Club on Fridays.
Homework Club will be open from 3:15-4:45 pm Monday through Thursday. Students should come with their books, materials, and planner. If your child cannot be picked up at 4:45 pm, they will be able to go to the Middle School After School Room (Room 13) until 5:30 pm.
If your child has attended the Homework Club this year, they can resume attending on their previous schedule. If your child has not attended previously, but you feel they would benefit from it, please contact Lisa Stringfellow at lisa.stringfellow@kcd.org. Thank you for your patience during this transition, and please let Lisa know if you have any questions.
Saxophone instruction available
Saxophone teacher Jacob Duncan is now offering lessons to lower and middle schoolers through KCD's after school programs. More information is in the attached flyer.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| saxophone-lessons.pdf | 544.62 KB |
Six new members inducted into Bearcat Athletic Hall of Fame
Five alumni and one former coach were inducted into the Bearcat Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, February 19. Athletic Hall of Fame inductees are recognized for bringing honor and distinction to their particular sport and to the athletic program at Kentucky Country Day School. The athlete or coach must have brought measurable success to a particular sport, including outstanding recognition from conference, local, regional, or state level competition. The induction ceremony took place at halftime of the boys’ basketball game vs. Collegiate.
This year, the inductees were Dale Bryant ’72 (swimming); Lydia Plamp Brownlow ’82 (swimming); David Oclander ’85 (boys’ soccer); Hollis Rodgers ’87 (field hockey); Jennifer Roos ’89 (field hockey); and Coach Valerie Dawson Vertrees (field hockey). Biographies of this year's honorees are posted here.
Mr. Jorge Oclander (former KCD soccer coach) represented his son David, who is stationed in Southern Afghanistan. Ms. Sue Evans represented her daughter Hollis Rodgers, who had a business conflict in San Diego.
MS Governor’s Cup team earns sportsmanship honors in district competition
Congratulations to the members of the middle school academic team, who finished in third place in district competition over Winter Break. The team was also awarded one of the competition’s top honors: the Hume Sportsmanship Award.
The Quick Recall team of Brigitta Hendren, John Horlander, Meghan Hyman, Danielle Jing, Abby Kass, Catherine Lavin, Maya McElwaine, Aleckxis Montelongo, and Austin Widman earned a third-place finish at districts.
The following students scored in the top five of the written assessment categories and advanced to regionals: Danielle Jing (Math and Arts & Humanities); Meghan Hyman (Math); Maya McElwaine (Language Arts and Composition); Abby Kass (Composition).
At the regional competition, Danielle earned first place in Math and fifth place in Arts & Humanities. Congratulations to Danielle, who will compete in these events at the state finals on March 14.
Noted Native American poet visits KCD
Renowned poet Simon Ortiz spent two days visiting KCD last week. Mr. Ortiz met with classes in all three divisions and offered several workshops for aspiring writers.
During his class visits, Mr. Ortiz read from his collection Woven Stone, talked with students about the creative process, and described how Native American stories have informed his own work.
Video showcases Jackson Hole ski trip
Teacher Matt Evans has put together a terrific video showing highlights from the recent middle school ski trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The video is embedded from YouTube below or you can watch it here.
ExploreLouisville volunteers needed
During the next few months, the ExploreLouisville committee will be putting together the 2010 ExploreLouisville event, which will be held March 26 for middle school students. An overview of the event in included below.
This event requires many volunteers to be successful. In the past, we have been blessed to have many amazing people volunteer to share their time and talent with our kids.
This year, we need fourteen parent volunteers to help this event run smoothly. Each parent will be assigned to assist a mentor in the classroom from 8:00 am to noon on March 26. This is not a difficult or demanding assignment!
If you have interest in volunteering, please email Tamme Tannehill at tamme@findmeafranchise.com.
ExploreLouisville overview
ExploreLouisville is a day set aside for our middle school students (grades 5-8) to learn about different professions from various mentors through mini-classes taught on campus, perform community service and shadow a professional in their work environment. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to think about what they may pursue as a career.
The day will begin with a motivational speaker for the entire middle school student body. Past speakers have been prominent community leaders such as Mayor Jerry Abramson and Tori Murden, just to name a few.
The fifth and sixth graders will remain on campus to attend classes taught by fourteen different mentors. Each student will attend four classes lasting forty minutes each that are taught by four different mentors. The first twenty minutes will be lecture format so the students can learn about each profession. The last twenty minutes will consist of an interactive group project put together by the mentor, which will allow students to take away a deeper understanding of that profession. There will be ten to twelve students in each class.
The seventh graders will be placed in various community service sites, and the eighth graders will visit and volunteer at various local charity organizations. A total of fourteen community services and local charity sites will be visited.
Classes will begin at 8:50 am, with a break from 10:15-10:30 am, and continue until noon. Mentors are invited to join the students and faculty for a cook-out lunch at 12:15 pm.
The remainder of the day is spent on a project associated with the student’s ExploreLouisville experience.
