Another Baby Chick is Born!

On Friday, Mrs. Meyers received four new eggs from Mr. Clark at Carriage House Farms. When I came in on Monday morning, I found a surprise. One of the chicks had already hatched! We put it into the new brooder we received where it began chirping and hopping around excitedly. We have not yet named it, nor do we know whether it is a girl or a boy. Check out the video to see the new baby chick, and check back for more updates on the other baby chicks that are sure to hatch soon!

- text and video by Kara F. (Class of 2016)

Riding to Success! The Interscholastic Equestrian Association Nationals

On April 28^th our IEA riding team went down to Prince George Equestrian Center for Interscholastic Equestrian Association Nationals Competition. We were the two riders who made it to Nationals from the Middle School. The Upper School qualified as a team and some of the riders qualified individually. Everyone was very excited!

Jackie: This was my first time going and qualifying for Nationals. I was very excited to show against people from near and far. I was a little nervous going into the ring for my course, but my nerves eventually went away. The course had a lot of tight turns and bending lines. It was challenging and fun!  I ended up getting fourth place out of 19 riders. Nationals was a very fun experience and I can’t wait to do it again.

Gabi: I got very lucky at my first Nationals: I drew a Garrison Forest horse. I was in group A: it had ten girls in it, and group B had nine. They announced the eight out of nineteen finalists. I was the second number to be called for callbacks. About an hour and a half later they had my callbacks. There were eight girls total in my class. Finally came the award ceremony. They started from eight and went up to first. Finally, there were four girls left. Then the announcer said, “In fourth place number 236, Miss. Gabi S.” I went up and took a picture with the head of IEA. I was very proud of myself. To read more about the Garrison's team performance, visit the Garrison Forest School website.

-- Text by Gabi S. and Jackie W. (Class of 2016); photos by M. Sorrentino

Garrison's Middle School's GOT TALENT!

 Seventh Graders Singing "Mr. Postman" 
(VIDEO EXCLUSIVE!  This video can only be displayed on this URL.)

Near the end of every year, the Middle School hosts a Talent Show for the students and faculty. Every year there is such a wide variety of acts, but this year there were so many cool and unique acts!

Student Leaders as Harry Potter characters.

There were singing performances, dancing performances, cheerleading, robotics, acting, and more! This year’s talent show had some of the best acts by far! Cammie’s favorite thing about the Talent Show is “All the students and faculty come together to cheer on everybody and everybody is so supportive.” Ashlei’s favorite thing about the Talent Show is “Everyone gets to show their talent that some people may not have known about.” Evie’s favorite thing about the Talent Show is “All the cool acts! No act is exactly the same.”

Will Sarah Share?!

 Also, before the Talent Show we have some sort of fundraiser to raise money for an organization.  This year, the Sixth Grade held a raffle for a Movie Night Basket and a five pound chocolate bar. This year Sarah S. won the chocolate bar and Eryn F. won the Movie Night Basket. On top of that, the Sixth Graders sold bags of candy for one dollar. All the money went towards an organization called The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra OrchKids. OrchKids supplies schools in Baltimore, Maryland with instruments, and also teaches the children how to play music. We thought that it was great how we benefited an organization that teaches children the importance of the Arts when we are doing the same thing in a way. After the Talent Show we had raised $200.00 for OrchKids!

We can’t wait for next year’s Talent Show!

Text by Cammie G. and Evie G. (Class of 2016); Video by Hallie A.

Welcome to Our World, Baby Chick!

On April 10^th, 2011 Mrs. Meyers received an egg from Carriage House Farms in Stevenson, MD.  Today, May 5^th, 2011, the egg hatched, revealing a beautiful baby chick. We were all very excited.  It started hatching at around twelve pm, during a seventh grade science class. No one could focus and we didn’t get very much work done because we were waiting for it to hatch. Two hours later, at one pm, the chick finally finished hatching. Everyone was crowded around the table, wanting to catch a glimpse. Kara F., Erica D., and I caught the entire hatching on a Flip camera and my iPhone 4. Take a look! 

-- text and photo by Lauren T.; video footage by Lauren T., Kara F., and Erica D. (Class of 2016)

So You Think Your Robot Can DANCE?

 
On April 16^th, 2011 I attended the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Robotics Challenge. The challenge is open to middle school and high school students.  This year’s competition consisted of 5 categories--Petite Slalom, Mystery Course, Search and Destroy, Innovative Use, and Robot Dance. Each category was very different yet equally challenging.  

I competed in the Search and Destroy and the Robot Dance challenges. My robot detected four tumors in 47 seconds, which resulted in second place. For Robot Dance, I choreographed two robots to dance to the Cha Cha Slide.  The robots danced well and the audience was very impressed.  I was awarded with grand prize in this category. Visit the website for the complete list of 2011 winners.

The day was challenging, rewarding, and fun at the same time. The JHU Robotics Challenge expanded my experience in the field of robotics. I learned a new programming language and improved my engineering strategies. I also found ways to apply mathematics to solve problems I encountered. At the end of the day, I was able to take a tour of the Johns Hopkins campus and the Engineering Research Center.  At the JHU mock operating room, I had the opportunity to control the DaVinci surgical robot. I learned that grad students are integrating webcams with the DaVinci surgical system. They are also trying to integrate Xbox 360’s Kinect with the DaVinci system.  This will expand the system’s gesture base to include the hands and arms. I also operated a robot that was used for spinal surgery. This system incorporated software for haptic sensation. I enjoyed this competition a lot and highly recommend it to those who want to expand their knowledge in the math and science discipline.

-- Text and Photos by Jackie M. (Class of 2016) ; Video via www.abc2news.com

Seventh Graders Learning Photoshop CS5

As Seventh Graders, we have been exploring the world of Marketing and Photoshopping Images in Digital Thinking Ι. We have looked at advertisements and websites that show how they make food look so delicious on TV, but not very good the store. We were completely blown away by the things they put in a basic meal. Ever thought about why on commercials with ice cream, the ice never melts or has any sign of it melting? Well we know why and it definitely doesn’t make your mouth water about wanting to eat ice cream. Here is the list of the ingredients: Shortening/Margarine, Powdered Sugar, Corn Syrup, Vanilla Beans Strawberry jam, cocoa and other colorings and flavorings. To add to that, you can put this type of ice cream in a plastic bag for months and it wouldn’t change its looks. Yuck! Moving away from that thought, let us explain our Photoshop projects.


 

The Projects we are working on are fun and challenging. The first project we had involved us cutting ourselves out of one picture and copying it onto another picture. They turned out pretty awesome. We took approximately six classes to complete this. We basically pasted ourselves into somewhere extraordinary that we wanted to go to or something we always longed to do. We tried to make it as real-looking as possible. For example, we put ourselves on a beautiful beach in Hawaii. It was really dreamy to pretend to be on a nice beach in the midst of the freezing cold winter. Some of our other classmates were placed on trampolines, walking down fashion runways, and even on the moon!

Now we are in the process of working on another Photoshop project. This one is being completed in pairs because it requires more work. We are using to Photoshop to create something archival from the pre-1980s. It’s slowly moving along, every pair working out all the study halls we have together to finish it as quickly as possible. Some partners have chosen to do old books, old music, etc. For example, Sakina’s partner and she are doing old animated cartoons and we are going to Photoshop all the prehistoric cartoons, like The Jetsons, and Popeye the Sailor, into a Color bar based on the year in which it was originally produced. We can’t wait to see how it all turns out!  

Text and top photos by Sakinah R. and Paige S. (Class of 2016)
Photoshop projects by the Seventh Grade Digital Thinking II students

What It's Like to be a Captain

This year I am proud to be one of the two team captains of the 2011 Lacrosse C Team. As a captain I have to take full control and responsibility of the team, while still being a friend and teammate. Part of being a captain means you have to go up in morning meeting to share when the next lacrosse game is and the score of the past ones. Also, I have to make snack lists and schedules for the games and days when we are going to dress up in fun colors and different themes. Last Friday we had everyone dress in animal print, and almost everyone did! Being a captain is hard work, but more than that, it is FUN!

To get ready for games, captains have to prepare the team and lead laps around the field, stretches, and shuttles (and the same goes for practices). While the team is warming up, we have to meet with the referees and the other team captains from the opposing team.  After we are all introduced we have to pick heads or tails when the coin is flipped, and if we win we choose which side our team defends first. No matter what, we have to follow the Middle School lacrosse rules, and set good examples for our team and school.

So far this season we have had three games out of nine. Our first game was against NDP (away) and unfortunately we lost 3-7. It was a really great game because we did not have our goalie! Our second game was against BethTiphila and it was also away, and, we won 9-7 and everyone did amazing. Our third game was on the hottest day of the spring so far, and we played home against Key school, but we lost 10-13. It was really close and we are all really proud of our team! We will have many more home games, so come cheer us on!!! The A, B, and C lacrosse game schedules can all be found on the Garrison Forest School website.

 -- Text and photos by Isabella Z. (Class of 2016)

A Visit from the ARK

On Friday the Seventh Grade had a unique opportunity to spend time with preschoolers from Baltimore City.  The ARK preschool for homeless children brought the children to Garrison Forest School for fun and games. 

The Ark School is a school that supports homeless preschoolers ages 2-5 by giving them an education, and providing a calm and soothing environment where they can play and be a normal preschooler.  The ARK stands for Noah’s Ark because it was a safe place for everyone during a time of need and the founders of the Baltimore Ark want it to be a safe place for the preschoolers.  Garrison Forest seventh graders have supported this cause by creating a carnival every year for five years. 

The morning started out when half the Seventh Grade ran games and painted faces.  The preschoolers loved getting tattoos and their faces painted. The parachute, obstacle course and ball pits were a big hit with the seventh grade and preschoolers alike.

After the Preschoolers and Seventh Graders were finished playing, they went back to the middle school for some yummy snacks and story time! The Ark kids loved the having books read to them, and even got to take some books home!

By the end of the morning with the adorable and energetic preschoolers, the Seventh Graders were just as tired as the preschoolers were. This was definitely one of the favorite service projects that the 7^th graders get to make happen!
 
To learn more about the ARK and all they are doing to help the preschoolers check out http://www.ecsm.org/programs/ark.php

-- Text and Photos by Jessica M. and Brooke F. (Class of 2016)

Diversity on Campus!

Here at Garrison Forest School there is not only a large amount of diversity, but also a great feeling about it – there are different cultures, races, religions and nationalities. If I were to walk through the lunch room on a busy lunch day where there are Upper School students, you would see so many different cultures that you’d have to blink twice. Even at breakfast I hear different languages being spoken: Spanish, English, Korean, and Chinese. We even have events that support diversity such as Community Connections Day.

We celebrate all cultures that attend Garrison (or even that don’t.) At Community Connections Day, for example, we have the Lower School singing in Chinese, the Middle School chorus singing a song in Korean, and Moncrieff students singing in Spanish. At the Chinese Moon Festival, all the students who take Chinese had the opportunity to engage in a celebration in the Confucius classroom with Dou Xiaoshu (the previous Chinese teacher). Lastly the Martin Luther King dinner celebrated cultures around the world, with African dancing, and flags of many countries hung up in the dining hall.  They are still there to this day.

As you probably have already assumed, we have many international boarders here at Garrison. Ten students from Mexico, Sixteen students from China, and fourteen students from Korea.  All of these students bring a cultural uniqueness to the school. Even in the dorms, they try their best to mix up cultures by pairing roommates with different nationalities.   

Personally I enjoy having many different cultures here on campus. Not only does it broaden my knowledge about different cultures, but it prepares me for my future because the world will be much more diverse in a short amount of time. Not only that, but having these diverse students around me has inspired me to learn more languages on my own, including Korean: 안녕히 계세요 (Goodbye!)

-- Text and Photos by Sidney B. (Class of 2016)

Can you D.I.G. It?

Building with Magnets

Thanks to Mrs. Chrobocinski and Mrs. Oleiski, we have an extracurricular class called DIG, which involves science and math.  Students from Sixth and Seventh grade were able to have the opportunity to participate in this fun club.  Every Thursday the participants meet at the Upper School where we complete the warm-up and move on to the fun activities the teachers had planned for us.  Although math and science are not all of the students’ favorite subjects, we do many exciting activities, such as mixing colors, making goo, and causing explosions!

On March 24^th we were challenged to make a structure that would stand with powerful magnetic sticks and balls.  We were split into two groups.  Group 1 decided to use triangles, since that is the strongest structure, and build up, while Group 2 also decided to use triangles but build out.  Do you know which group won?  Group 2 won the challenge!  It stood for more than 30 seconds, while Group 1’s building fell immediately.  After the challenge we all went to the lab for an exciting and a mind blowing experiment.  We put milk in an aluminum pan and we added four drops of colored dye (blue, red, green, and yellow).  Then we put a cotton swab with dish soap in the pan.  Suddenly, the colors came into the center and started to combine.

As you can see we do many interesting experiments and challenges in this club!

-- Text and Photos by Zena S. (Class of 2016)