Saint David's School Boys Study DNA in Partnership with the DNALC

Fifth graders participated in the first session of their study of DNA, which is conducted through our school's partnership with the Cold Spring Harbor DNA Learning Center. Over the next six weeks, the boys will delve into the structure and function of DNA and learn how random mutation and natural selection lead to species' evolution.

Co-taught by their teachers and DNALC educators, the unit includes sessions in our new STEAM labs as well as a full day's visit to the Cold Spring Harbor facility where the boys will interact with geneticists and learn about the latest strides in DNA research.

Today, the boys practiced extracting DNA from wheat germ, using the tools and techniques that actual DNA scientists use. They did a great job and were able to take their samples home. Next week they will choose their own variable to test its impact on the experiment.

Our school's partnership with DNALC provides one of the signature experiences of a Saint David's education, offering world-class, curriculum-driven learning experiences conducted both in and out of the classroom.

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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!

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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." ...

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