Delighted by Dinosaurs

Our Omega boys are immersed in an interdisciplinary study of dinosaurs: an adventure that combines music, social studies, science, math and art. They have been reading books about dinosaurs and recording research. In science they are learning about the periods in which they lived, their diversity, and characteristics. Soon the boys will go on a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History where they will act as paleontologists in a hands-on digging exhibit; they also plan to visit the Bronx Zoo’s dinosaur safari. Next month, they will perform the Dinosaur Show for their parents—a musical showcase of what they have learned. In preparation for their show, they are currently creating a Dinosaur Mural in art, featuring their own dinosaur creations against a habitat background.

Work on a mural such as this encourages cooperative problem-solving. The boys say that it is “so exciting” to create the mural, and this is evident in their singular focus on their painting and animated exchange of ideas from “Let’s make this mountain a volcano” to “That color blue for the water looks great.” They are learning how to mix colors, sharply define edges, and use contrast, all while reinforcing their study about dinosaurs from class. In all disciplines, their teachers often ask “why” questions to prompt the boys to think more critically about what they are learning. Units like this are found throughout the curriculum at Saint David’s in all grades. They allow our boys to delve deeper into a topic and to gain more comprehensive understanding.

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OLIVER!

This morning our fifth graders continued a great year-end tradition at Saint David's, The Fifth Grade Musical. The boys performed Oliver! and they were fantastic, providing impressive performances and demonstrating great vocal ability. They have been mastering the dialogue and musical numbers for weeks, and clearly gave it their all. Congratulations to the cast on a job well done, and to their Producers/Teachers James Hubbard and Jamie MacNeille, Director Phyllis Clark, Musical Conductor Jeff Moore, and the Parent Committee of Cynthia Chapman, Susan Kissane, Tara Neumann, Joyce Restituto, and Ann Roberts. Musical theater is alive and well at Saint David's!

Sixth Graders Meet with Dr. Carter Emmart, Director of Astrovisualization at the American Museum of Natural History

Dr. Carter Emmart with Saint David's Sixth Graders This past Friday, as part of our unique partnership with the American Museum of Natural History, sixth graders had the great honor to attend a private lecture given by Carter Emmart, Director of Astrovisualization at AMNH. Dr. Emmart told the boys about his passion for science along with an overview of the history of the Hayden Planetarium. He also gave the boys advice on how to take scientific information about the universe and compile it into an interesting and captivating show for an audience. The boys were able to see Dr. Emmart's original sketches, which helped create the Uniview program they are using to develop their presentations. The session provided our boys with an opportunity to learn how art and science come together in the planetarium, and to obtain expert advice on developing their own space shows from one of the creators of Uniview . You can learn more about Dr. Emmart's work and Univie...

Surf's Up for Horizons at Saint David's

Little can top catching a wave to beat the heat on an exceptionally hot summer's day. Yesterday, as the temperatures soared into the nineties, the Horizons at Saint David's Eighth Grade class traveled to Rockaway Beach with their teachers for surf lessons with New York's premiere surf school, Locals Surf School. The boys have been taking swimming lessons through our program since their first summer with us in 2012. At that time, they were were rising first graders, and our inaugural cohort of Horizons students. Yesterday, they were ready to go, and, as these pictures show, they had a blast while learning a new skill. This is the eighth year of Horizons at Saint David's, a six-week multi-faceted academic and cultural summer experience whose mission is to prevent summer slide in elementary school boys from low-income families. We began the program in conjunction with Saint David's 60th anniversary in 2011, as one way that Saint David's as an ins...

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