Skip to main content

The Boys are Out and About: N-Y Historical Society Partnership - Year Five

Today our Sixth Grade boys left for a two day overnight trip to Ramapo for high and low ropes outdoor leadership and team building experiences.  Our Seventh Grade boys return tomorrow from a week-long experience in marine biology and ecology on the Cape and last week, Second Grade boys had their first in a series of sessions with an educator from the New-York Historical Society.

The boys are learning about life in early New York City. For the next couple of weeks, their teachers and the N-YHS expert will lead them in hands-on learning  activities related to the Lenape tribe of early Manhattan--or Mannahatta--"the land of many hills."


In the first session, they were given samples of Lenape artifacts and then worked together in small groups to try to determine their artifact's purpose through careful examination and observation.

Guided by their teachers and the N-YHS educator, the boys are now creating seasonal models of Lenape communities complete with longhouses and wigwams.


Educators and curators from the N-YHS will continue to visit the boys' classrooms at specific times throughout the year, and the boys will be making special planned visits to the Society.

Through our partnership with the N-YHS--now in its fifth year--the boys benefit from having access to artifacts from the museum's collection and the expertise of an expert in the field. Saint David's also partners with N-YHS for a First Grade unit on mapping, in which the boys study the historical maps of New York City and explore how to create a map using the techniques of cartographers.

Learning out of the classroom is as important as learning inside the classroom.  Saint David's boys are out and about.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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...