Gold Key Winners

Middle School student Madison B. was awarded a gold key for her creative writing entry in the Scholastic Writing Awards program. Madison’s 3000-word realistic fiction piece is about a teen girl’s attempts to cope with the conflicting pressure at home and school. She considers creative writing to be her strength and is an avid reader. Madison states, "Winning is more than just the results, I believe. The recognition was an additional victory beyond what I won the moment I entered." In addition to the gold key achievement, Madison was one of five nominees from the region chosen for the American Visions & Voices designation. To gain the Visions & Voices nomination, five works are selected out of all of the gold key winners and are presented with the “Best of Show” award.

Upper School student Payton B. earned a gold key award for her poetry collection in the Scholastic Writing Awards program. Payton’s creativity spans from the visual arts to creative writing. She acknowledges that this was the first time her poetry was entered in the Scholastic competition and “winning a gold key gives me hope that I will someday be able to successfully pursue my true passion: writing.” A poem from the winning collection is listed below.

Both winning gold key winner’s entries will now move on to be judged on the national level.

Winter’s Teeth
By Payton B.

Trees stand naked
Plaintively
Wishing for the embrace of a summer breeze.

Birds huddle
Cold
Wishing for the flavor of sweet berries.

Deer lie still
Shivering
Wishing for the warm stroke of sun on their backs.

A girl clings to the trees
Shaking against
Winter’s teeth
Wishing for the safety of summer
Hoping for its embrace.

Praying,
Pleading for warmth…

Alice in Wonderland

Come one come all to Alice in Wonderland! A magical, delightful journey for the whole family starring your favorite characters! With a cast and crew of over 50 students from 5th to 12th grade, this is production not to be missed. Tickets are $10 and will go on sale via the LCDS website on Monday, January 30. Be sure to order early and we hope you enjoy the show!

Performances:
Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7:00 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 24 at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 26 at 2:00 p.m.

Faculty Achievements

Renée Morth

Theatre Director Renée Morth has been named a 2012 Swortzell Scholar in New York University's Steinhardt's Program in Education Theatre, where she is studying to earn a Master's Degree. Named for the co-founders of the NYU program, the Lowell and Nancy Swortzell Scholarship was established in 2002 to offer financial support for graduate students in the program. To be considered, Swortzell candidates were asked to write a response to one of a selection of prompts. Find out more about Renée and read her winning essay in the faculty profile on the LCDS website here. It is a testament to her love of teaching and a window into the theatre experience available to students at LCDS.

Olha Drobot

After taking 21 LCDS students to France with ACIS last spring, Upper School French teacher Olha Drobot was invited to attend a Global Teacher Conference, held January 12-16 in Barcelona, Spain. At the conference, Olha networked with teachers from around the United States who travel internationally with their students. Workshops introduced teachers to a broad range of travel destination and educational experiences for their classes.

After meeting with the president of ACIS, Peter Jones, and his team, Olha toured the gorgeous, forever-sunny city of Barcelona and had brunch at Parc Güell a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of El Carmel. Looking at future sites for educational discoveries, Olha viewed with awe architect Antoni Gaudí’s masterpieces, attended Sunday mass at Sagrada Familia, and stood presumably where Queen Isabella and Kind Ferdinand welcomed Christopher Columbus back from his first trip to the New World. Following the recommendation of fellow LCDS faculty/staff members, Betsy Heim and Nicole Dannehl, Olha visited the Pablo Picasso museum and dined at Els Quatre Gats (The Four Cats) restaurant where the artist frequently ate and held his first exhibition.

Other local sites included an exclusive tour of Torres Vineyard, chosen as the greenest winery in Western Europe for 2011. The cultural experience gave Olha the opportunity to savor a delicious four course Catalonian style lunch, while exploring the effective use of green technologies.

The slogan for ACIS is “Travel changes lives.” Through foreign travel, students gain a world view through the lens of real life learning experiences. For her part, Olha fell in love with Spain and its unique culture and looks forward to returning one day. Networking with the other teachers inspired Olha to pursue future travels, further professional growth, and additional educational programs. As a teacher, the conference has prepared her to better serve LCDS students on future international trips and has enhanced her approach when teaching students about the significant connections between cultures and countries.

Legos + Hands-on Learning = Cougarbots

On Saturday, January 14, the LCDS Cougarbots competed in their annual First Lego League competition, held at Oxford High School. First Lego League is an international program for 10-14 year olds, mixing all the fun of Legos with hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. There are over 15,000 teams in 50 countries, making this a truly international event. Saturday's event had over 40 teams from Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland.

One feature of the FLL competition is a different scientific theme each year. This year's theme was Food Contamination. Each team had to interview an expert in the field, focus on a problem, and offer a solution. This year's team chose the problem of food contamination on cutting boards, and "invented" a solution they called the "Bento Board". They also interviewed Dr. Beckley Davis, a professor of immunology at F&M, and the father of one of our Cougarbots, Sam Davis. In addition, they competed in the stress-inducing "robot game", in which their creatively engineered and programmed robot, Francis, attempted to navigate an obstacle course and solve challenges. All of this was the result of biweekly meetings since September. The Cougarbots had fun and learned a lot.