Horizons Opens Fourth Year

In our fourth year, Horizons at Saint David's welcomed 67 boys from five Harlem schools across four grades. The school is humming with activity this summer as boys work, learn, and socialize with each other.

Horizons continues to grow. This summer, eight teachers are coordinating the homerooms with five teachers working as specialists in science, music, art, and athletics. A reading specialist oversees the implementation of the comprehensive reading program. Nine Saint David's alumni volunteers support the program daily, along with three Saint David's teacher volunteers. Horizons is administered by a team of three.

Following are a few highlights of the first two weeks:

First graders are learning about plants. Last week during STEM time they planted wheatgrass that has already grown several inches.

A highlight for fourth grade boys is their study of simple machines. In addition, Lynn Wright and The Actors Company Theater (TACT) have teamed up with our fourth grade boys and their teachers to teach improvisational theater techniques. As part of their study, the boys visited the Classical Theater of Harlem to learn about their performance of Shakespeare's "Tempest" and get a behind-the- scenes look at the stage.

Following the Saint David's tradition of team sports during athletics time, the third and fourth grade boys now have sports together, facilitating a four team rotation for games. It has proven to be a very exciting part of the day.

Second grade boys are studying insects and using Beebots in their STEM classes.

Third graders are learning about rockets. This summer, they will design and build their own rockets and launch them in the backyard testing height, speed, and velocity.

During Friday afternoon assemblies, several boys from each grade are recognized each week for something special.

The second, third, and fourth grades last week traveled to Marymount's Fab Lab to learn about circuits.

For our fourth grade boys this is their fourth summer in the program. They have grown so much academically, socially, and emotionally. The program is a smashing success. This Wednesday morning is an Open House, drop us a line if you'd like to view the program in action.

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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!

Fascinating Art Talk by Michelle Marder Kamhi at Grandparents Event

Yesterday evening, independent scholar and critic Michelle Marder Kamhi ( www.mmkamhi.com ), co-editor with husband Louis Torres of Aristos , an online review of arts; author of Who Says That's Art? A Commonsense View of the Visual Arts ; and grandmother of two Saint David's boys, gave a thought provoking talk on art for our grandparent community. An advocate of objective standards in arts scholarship and criticism, Ms. Kamhi focused her talk on the ways in which art critics such as Clement Greenberg promoted the shift from representational art to abstraction. Kamhi argues that the abstract and post-modern art prevalent today, which often requires explanation by docents in order to be understood, goes against art's purpose. Taking issue with Greenberg's contention that representation is an expendable convention of painting, she quoted the late art critic John Canaday: "Art is the tangible expression of the intangible values that men live by." ...

NE Patriot Tom Brady at Saint David’s

Last night, Saint David’s was honored to have one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, four time Superbowl champion and three-time MVP winner Tom Brady, as the guest speaker for our Alumni Parents Council Lecture Series. Tom, who is the father of one of our Saint David's boys, addressed a standing-room-only audience in Hyman Hall comprised of our eighth graders, alumni, alumni parents and faculty. Friendly, introspective, witty, and wise, he directed his talk to the delighted eighth graders in the front of the room, and focused on the topic of leadership. “You are the young men and leaders of Saint David’s,” he noted. Tom debunked the perception that leaders are born not made, and credited his leadership abilities to “standing up to and facing fears” and to “cultivating a mental strength,” which he cited as “more important than being physically strong.” He also stressed the importance of working hard, honoring teamwork, believing in oneself and being a good lis...

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