January 17, 2020
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Mr. Parsons’s seventh grade math students played a challenging game simplifying expressions that involve the distributive property and combining like terms. In pairs, they matched the answers on the sides of each tile to create a five-by-four rectangle when finished.
Message from Head of School
Why I Give
Brendan Largay, Head of School
Post Date: January 17, 2020
Giving is a statement of our convictions, and these days at Belmont Day, it is impossible not to feel immensely grateful for the generosity of our families, faculty, and students as we begin 2020.
The size alone is a statement, the mountain of donated oatmeal boxes—all destined for Pine Street Inn to support their work providing the homeless with a warm meal, a friendly face, and a reminder of our shared humanity. This growing collection of oatmeal is a reminder of the power of giving to a worthy cause, especially on the heels of the holiday season, when our culture of commercialism can overwhelm us with advertising for the material things we might receive or give.
The magic of giving—whether in the form of oatmeal, a special holiday gift, or a contribution to Belmont Day’s annual fund—is rooted in the spirit of supporting people and causes that advance our values of respect, caring, and responsibility. Our giving reflects our priorities: caring for the less fortunate, lifting the spirits of others, or supporting a faculty and staff that gives selflessly on behalf of our students.
Each passing year offers the opportunity to reflect on why I give; ultimately, it is because I believe in the purpose of giving as profoundly as I care for the recipients of the gift. I give back to those places in my life where I find my values reaffirmed—the institutions that seek to extend those values out into the world and further affect positive change.
If you have already helped your child donate to the oatmeal competition or have contributed to our annual fund for the 2019-2020 school year, please know that your gift is making a difference, and we are truly grateful for it.
Wiggles and wonder in kindergarten when Ms. Solomon stopped in to help the students feed and care for their worms.
This Coming Week at BDS
January 18 to January 24
All School
Saturday, January 18
10–11 a.m., STEAM Saturdays 3
Monday, January 20
School Closed: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Tuesday, January 21
1–3 p.m., Prospective Student Visits – Grade 3
Wednesday, January 22
3:30 p.m., Wrestling vs Fenn
6:30–8:30 p.m., Parents’ Association Paint Night, Coolidge Hall
Thursday, January 23
3:30 p.m., Boys’ JV Basketball vs Rashi; Boys’ Varsity Basketball at LCA; Fencing vs Beaver; Girls’ JV Basketball vs Rashi; Girls’ Varsity Basketball vs LCA
6–8 p.m., Braiding Different Strands, Coolidge Hall
Friday, January 24
8:50–9:35 a.m., Martin Luther King Jr. Day Assembly, Palandjian Arts Center
1–4 p.m., Prospective Student Visits, Grades 6, 7, and 8
Paint Night
Wednesday, January 22
6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Coolidge Hall
The parents’ association’s friendraiser committee has organized a Paint Night. Join fellow parents for some creative and relaxing fun! Participants will receive step-by-step instructions from a local artist. No prior experience with painting is necessary. Light apps and wine will be served and laughter will definitely abound. Please RSVP to bdspa@belmontday.org by January 20. The first 10 guests to RSVP are free! While Paint Night is not a fundraiser, you can prepay here. The PA will then distribute the funds to the painting instructor. Hope to see you there!
Braiding Different Strands
Thursday, January 23, 6–8 p.m.
Coolidge Hall
Please join us for the first Braiding Different Strands gathering of 2020. We’ll share survey input from parents about social identity topics and groups, discuss the idea of developing a “Parenting for Social Justice” group at BDS, and enjoy dinner and each other’s company.
Please RSVP to Carlos Hoyt by Tuesday, January 21, so that we can know how much food we’ll need. Please note any food allergies. Thank you!
Lunch & Snack Menu
January 20 to January 24
Monday
School Closed
Tuesday
Snack: saltines; applesauce
Lunch: cheese tortellini with marinara; steamed broccoli; crusty French rolls; greens with balsamic
Wednesday
Snack: chocolate chip granola bars; bananas
Lunch: crispy cheesy chicken; green beans; sweet potato fries; garden salad with ranch dressing
Thursday
Snack: Kettle Chips; grapes
Lunch: chef’s choice soup; turkey and cheese panini; roasted cauliflower; Caesar salad with croutons
Friday
Snack: celementines
Faculty Lunch
Looking Ahead
LIBRARY NEWS
Visiting Author: Maria Padian
Tuesday, February 11
Author Maria Padian will discuss her latest novel, How to Build a Heart, at a presentation for students in grades 6 to 8. This new book, as well as her earlier titles, are available through Belmont Books. Please follow the instructions on this flyer if you are interested in having a book signed and personalized for your student on the day of the event.
BDS News
ATHLETICS NEWS
Fencing Remains Undefeated
With a commanding 16-11 win over the International School of Boston, the fencing team kept their unblemished record intact and will roll into next week’s showdown against Beaver with momentum on their side. Despite losing sabre (4-5) and foil (4-5) the epee squad propelled the team to a win behind their 8-1 record. Kaitlyn Tan, Sophia Tang, and Jacob Stephenson all shined for the home team, each finishing the day 2-0. Second-year fencer Rosie Schrag also had a standout performance with a dominating 5-0 win in her only bout. With a combination of new energy and veteran talent, the Blue & Gold have set high expectations for the season and as they approach the midway point of their campaign it’s been all W’s thus far.
More Athletics News
- Wrestling split four matches against Fessenden and dropped five of seven against Fay during this week’s tri-meet. Harry Reitshamer had the match of the day, nearly winning with a far side cradle. Alex Foley showed good footwork and technique against a talented opponent.
- The Gold squad took two of three games over Blue in volleyball’s first intrasquad competition. Alice Shu and Clio Burger served well for the victors, while first-year player Bella Lightbody stepped up defensively for the opposition.
- Jake Walsh buried four foul shots with under a minute to play to secure a hard-fought 25-23 win for the boys’ JV basketball team over Shady Hill this week. Cody Casanave was active on both ends of the floor for the home team.
- Dana Chang (solid passing and ball-handling) and Shireen Griffith-Ebrahimi (great defense and rebounding) played extended minutes during the girls’ JV basketball team’s lopsided victory over Shady Hill this week.
- Bree Legrand and Ruby Kokinos were strong on the defensive end of the court during the girls’ varsity basketball team’s 9-point road loss to Shady Hill. It was the team’s first loss of the season.
- Miles Sandoski’s 14 points were the lone offensive bright spot for the boys’ varsity basketball team during their 53-30 defeat at the hands of Shady Hill. Michael Timmins grabbed seven rebounds.
ARTS NEWS
Making it Move!
Seventh and eighth grade students in the kinetic sculpture arts elective are exploring how to use air as an integral component in their work. Students began the term by investigating various local examples they had seen in person. These included free-standing sculptures such as the statue of Paul Revere on horseback near Old North Church and relief sculptures like the Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial near the Massachusetts Statehouse. In contrast, kinetic sculptures are designed and built to incorporate movement. After creating a small-scale wire sculpture that included at least three moveable parts, students took inspiration in the work of American artist Joshua Allen Harris. Harris’s series of animal sculptures, made from plastic bags, were positioned over subway grates in New York City. The sculptures inflated and deflated with the passing of the trains below. Using a fan, students tried various strategies to determine how to harness moving air to inflate their sculptural creations.
– Anne Armstrong, visual arts teacher and arts coordinator
COMMUNITY SERVICE NEWS
Inaugural Oatmeal Drive Challenge a Huge Success!
Donations Accepted Until Next Friday
“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education, and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
I write to openly acknowledge my good fortune in having landed in a community that fully embraces and endeavors to bring about this vision–one that, of course, only appears to be audacious in contrast to prevailing social circumstances.
I am inexpressibly grateful, encouraged, and joyful over the outpouring of support–material, emotional, and practical in response to our MLK Jr. Oatmeal Drive Challenge for the Pine Street Inn.
As of this writing, we’ve collected 435 boxes of oatmeal for Pine Street. 435 boxes!
I wish you could see the children take in the twin-peaked mountain of oatmeal in the Gallery, their eyes agog, their comments flowing from astonishment to pride and to motivation to do more.
And I wish I could express how uplifting it is—how affirming of our values it is—to see this community so effortlessly and joyfully mobilize to share our good fortune with those less fortunate.
Thank you. And please keep it coming. The Gallery table is available to be weighed down with your generosity until Friday, January 24.
Dr. Carlos Hoyt, director of equity and inclusion
-On behalf of MLK Jr. committee members, Koreen McQuilton, Betty Pryor, Beth Sousa, Dean Spencer, Heather Woodcock, and with thanks to Anderson Santos-
HEALTH NEWS
As we communicated to the community earlier this week, the flu season has arrived at Belmont Day. Currently, we have four diagnosed cases and a few more presumptive cases. Three of the diagnosed cases are in middle school; the fourth is in the lower school.
We ask for your help in protecting the health of our community by keeping an eye out for any symptoms of flu in your family. Flu signs and symptoms usually come on suddenly. People who are sick with flu often experience some or all of these symptoms:
- Fever or feeling feverish/chills; however, not everyone with flu will have a fever
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Muscle or body aches
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Vomiting and diarrhea; this is more common in children than adults
If you have any suspicion that your child may have flu, please check in with their pediatrician. Antiviral drugs shorten the life of flu; there are now antivirals that are safe for children. If your child is diagnosed with flu, please let me know.
For more information about the flu, please check out the CDC website. If have any questions or concerns, please contact me at any time.
– Liz LaRocque, school nurse, and health and wellness coordinator
CLUBS NEWS
Gardeners Share Pickle Recipe
The first term of middle school clubs ended this week. The Edible Garden Club worked in the school garden and used local ingredients to create recipes. Last week, students made pickles to share with their classmates for the club sharing. The pickles were so well received the students wanted to share their recipe with you!
Recipe
New York Times Dill Pickles: Yield 2 quarts
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds washed pickling cucumber
- 2 cloves of garlic, sliced thin (optional)
- 1 dill flower or 5 sprigs of fresh dill
- ½ teaspoon coriander seeds
- ½ jalapeno, seeded and slivered (optional)
- 2 tablespoons salt
Preparation:
- Slice bottom ends off cukes and slice into spears.
- Pack cukes into quart jars. Tuck in garlic, dill, coriander, and hot pepper.
- Add salt to two cups of boiling water and stir until dissolved. Add two cups of ice and stir until melted and brine has cooled. Pour into quart glass jars, covering cucumbers.
- Loosely cap jars and place in pan in case jars leak during fermentation.
- Leave pickles on counter to ferment. They will bubble and the brine will become cloudy. Taste after three days. If you want them to be more sour, leave out for a day or two more. Once they are sour enough, refrigerate. Keeps for 1 month.
Parents’ Association News
PA Dues
Thank you to all who have already contributed your PA dues! We appreciate your support in helping to create engaging enrichment assemblies, supporting our school, and helping our children have a marvelous year at BDS. If you have not paid your dues yet, we suggest $50 per family (any additional amount is tax-deductible). You can make payment conveniently with a credit card, debit card, or eCheck (ACH) via the BDS PA Payment Portal. Click here to pay online.
You can also pay by paper check or cash. Please leave your contribution in the mailbox by the front desk or mail it directly to the school (Attn: PA Treasurer). If you have any questions, please contact the PA Treasurer, Alex Min. Thank you for your support!
Thank You!
We would like to extend a warm thank you to Morgen Bergman and Cathy Fullerton for co-chairing last Saturday’s Family Fun Night. Both children and parents alike had a wonderful time. This is such a special BDS event, and it was nice to see so many of you there.
PA Meetings
Please mark your calendars for the last two parents’ association meetings of the school year. The dates have changed, so please take note.
March:
Friday, March 13 (was previously March 6)
May:
Friday, May 15 (was previously May 8)
Beyond BDS
FENCING COMPETITION
Junior Men’s Sabre World Cup
Saturday and Sunday, January 18 and 19 at 10 a.m.
Boston Fencing Club, 100 Holton Ave, Brighton
The Boston Fencing Club will host a qualifying event this weekend for the 2020 Olympics Games in Toyko, Japan. See some of the nation’s most skilled fencers in competition and catch BDS fencing coach Adam Brewer in action as one of the event’s judges. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, click here.
LEGO FUN
9th Annual Brickmania!
Saturday, January 25
Cary Memorial Library, Lexington
Enter the building contest, test your skills in the challenge zone, sign up for a workshop, vote for your favorite entry, marvel at the LEGO displays, build a robot with LEGO WeDo, and more! There’s fun for the whole family during this daylong celebration of all things LEGO. Click here to see the details and schedules of all the activities.
COMMUNITY EVENT
Belmont’s 26th Annual MLK Community Breakfast
Monday, January 20 from 8:45 to 11 a.m.
Join Belmont Against Racism for the 26th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Breakfast at the Belmont High School cafeteria, 221 Concord Avenue. The guest speaker, Ragini Shah, clinical professor of law at Suffolk Law and founder of Suffolk’s Immigration Clinic, will discuss “Uplifting the Human Personality: Martin Luther King and Immigrants’ Rights Today.” Admission is $5 person or $10 per family and tickets are available at the door or online.
PARENTING WORKSHOP
Learning to Negotiate
Saturday, February 8, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Moms As Mentors is offering a free half-day workshop on the critical skill of negotiation at the Tobin Beaudet Schools in Needham. Moms as Mentors believe moms who are more comfortable negotiating on their own behalf will be even better equipped to raise confident girls. This is a workshop is for adults only.
Click here for more details and to register. Registration closes on February 5 at 5 p.m.
BDS Student to Perform in Dance Production Celebrating Black History Month
Sankofa: Past | Present | Future
Saturday, February 8, 5 p.m.
Strand Theatre, 543 Columbia Road,
The Roxbury Center for the Performing Arts and A. Major Dance Company will present a Black History Month tribute, “Sankofa: Past | Present | Future,” a celebration of African American history from past to present day. Third grader Kali Owens-Schwartz will perform a part in this stunning production. Tickets are available online.
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