Second-grade challenge students participated in a poetry unit this semester.
Spring Haiku Trail
Second-grade challenge students participated in a poetry unit this semester. Some of their poetry was entered in the Holden Arboretum poetry contest. Congratulations to Hayden Aini and Jack Penny whose poems have been selected to be displayed on the Spring Haiku Trail at The Holden Arboretum in celebration of National Poetry Month.
Virtual Field Trip
Seventh-graders explored the biomes of the world on a virtual field trip through Arizona State University’s Ask a Biologist platform. As a part of the unit on ecosystems and biomes, students were able to explore and learn about each biome using their tablets.
Students Shine at DI
Four teams of students participated in the Destination Imagination Regional Tournament at Barberton Middle School on March 9.
The third-grade team -The Brownie Kings – was a team of seven students that included Leonardo DiSanto, Evan Sammut, Hannah Casteel, Ayden Smelko, John Mele, Gianni Leaman, Nikolas Warner, Leo DiSanto and Nikolas Warner. They competed in the Technical Challenge called OnTarget. Their team took second place and they received a trophy and medals.
The other elementary team was the Jiggley Cheesey Cheetos, a team of four students that included Colin O’Brien, Tavian Lee, Max Platz and Ellie Bierne. They competed in the Scientific Challenge called Medical Mystery. Their team came in fifth place and also won a special award called the Spirit of DI Award. The award is given to teams who show problem solving, exceptional teamwork and creativity at the tournament. One of their team members was unable to attend the tournament, so their team had to quickly come up with a strategy to complete their challenge.
Two middle school teams competed. The Chicken Nuggets was a team of three students including Natalie Wojnar, Hailey Karban and former NDES student Shannon Mahoney. They also competed in the Scientific Challenge called Medical Mystery. Their team took second place and they received a trophy and medals. This team also received a special award called the DaVinci Award for the originality and creativity of their presentation.
The second middle school team was Thisisoneword, a team of four students that included Dylan White, Owen Tomsic, Brennan Burke and Roman Preziuso. They competed in the Engineering Challenge called Monster Effect. Their team came in fourth place.
NDES is proud of all the time and effort the teams put in to completing the challenge. It takes a lot of teamwork, problem solving, critical thinking and creativity to compete in the DI tournament.
Letters About Literature
Fifth- and sixth-grade challenge students participated in The Letters About Literature contest where they had to choose an author to write to, explaining how his or her book influenced their life in some way. Ava Sutter wrote to Shel Silverstein about “The Giving Tree.” Her letter qualified and will be in the finals.
