Grade 7: Holton and Landon Chinese Collaboration

On October 27, the seventh grade Chinese class collaborated with their contemporaries at Landon in a spirited Halloween activity. The students shared a Chinese lunch and used their language skills to show off their Halloween vocabulary. The students then proceeded to play a game of charades to reinforce their learning and participated in a final interview, which involved each student presenting themselves to the group in Chinese. 

Fan dances, Opera, and Tai Chi!

As shared by Lower, Middle, and Upper School Chinese teacher Amy Liao:

On Monday, October 26, eighth and 10th graders studying Chinese had a fun-filled local engagement trip to Chinese Culture and Community Center (CCACC) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Students learned Tai Chi martial art and classical sword fighting forms and techniques from passionate and engaging teachers. 

Students listened to live Chinese opera music from MeiJing Chinese Opera Society. Following the performance, students then had the opportunity to enhance their artistry in fan dance by trying out new dance movements. As you may recall, the premiere of the Chinese fan dance at the Holton Mosaic event made quite an impression on everyone. 

The girls then wrapped up their trip by having an authentic Chinese lunch from Seven Seas Restaurant in Rockville, Maryland, and shared stories with local residents and participating members of CCACC. 

Sophia King '24 Claims Gold for an International Win in Wushu (Kung Fu)!

For three weeks in August, Sophia King ’24 had the opportunity to live and train at one of the best sports schools in Beijing, China in order to train for the 10^th International Wushu (Chinese martial arts - also known as Kung Fu) Competition in Hong Kong. The training facility had a strict regimen where the athletes ate, slept, and trained all within the school for six days per week.

The training process required a tremendous amount of discipline. Sophia had to repeatedly perform each basic movement to solidify her foundation - 200 kicks, 200 punches, 200 jumps, and 200 spins, only to return the next day to repeat the routine all over again. All of this was remarkably done in addition to her daily advanced level training.

Sophia has been training in Wushu since she was five-years-old. She enjoys training in Wushu because “it’s hard and it’s fun. Wushu is about being strong and graceful at the same time.” Sophia was a little nervous about going to train with the “best of the best,” but her excitement for the opportunity overshadowed any reservations. It was an opportunity for Sophia to go to the birthplace of Wushu, to train in a school with a long history of building Martial Arts champions and gold medalists, but best of all, it was the same school that Sophia’s coach trained at since the age of eight; this all became the perfect opportunity for Sophia to follow in the footsteps of her Wushu lineage.

The culmination of her years of hard work and training was finally tested when Sophia traveled to Hong Kong during the fourth week of her trip to compete in the 10^th Hong Kong International Wushu Competition. Along with over 2000 competitors from more than 50 countries, Sophia competed in two events. Within her division, Sophia won a gold medal in one event and a silver medal in the other event.

What a great accomplishment at such a young age! Congrats Sophia on the win!

Physics Fun! 9th Graders Build Mouse Trap Cars

Dr. Krug and Ms. Carver's physics classes created their very own mouse trap cars for class. The girls competed against each other as the cars zoomed down the hallway. Check out the gallery below to see whose mouse trap car reigned supreme! 

The World Language Team and Fourth Graders see "Las Aventuras de Don Quijote!"

The fourth graders in conjunction with the World Language teachers visited GALA Theatre in Washington, D.C. to see a bilingual, adapted version of Don Quijote de La Mancha. The title of the new adapted play, "Las Aventuras de Don Quijote" or in English, The Adventures of Don Quijote explores additional adventures from the classic Spanish novel, which included The Galley Slaves, The Princess Micomicona, and The Knight of the Forest. The adapted children's version sure brought a smile to the fourth graders faces as they learned of the adventures of Don Quijote and witnessed one of Spanish Literature's greatest novel to date.

Check out the bilingual play here!

Photo credit: GALA website

Grade 4: Math on the Mall!

The fourth grade girls had to think mathematically as they explored the Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the Reflecting Pool. They collaborated together to determine how to reasonably work and solve math questions while out and around The National Mall. 

Have You Read a Banned Book? It's Banned Books Week at Holton!

Yes. I am sure that you have read a banned book (I promise I won't tell anyone). The library staff is hosting Banned Books Week at Holton to raise awareness of the important access to books and support the right to read freely.

The faculty and staff are participating to publicize this message to the students by taking a picture with their favorite banned book behind a mugshot background. Each picture has been posted around the school, so that students can see which of their favorite books would be banned in other states and countries.

Check out some of the fun photos below and here are some examples of banned books:

The Lord of the Rings was banned for being satanic.

Charlotte’s Web was challenged because of "blasphemous and unnatural" talking animals. 

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank was censored… because it was too depressing.

Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss was asked to be reconsidered in Toronto in 2014 (not kidding). The complaint stated that the book promoted violence against fathers and demanded that "library officials publicly apologize and pay damages to any fathers injured by being jumped on by children."

Not all challenges are so laughable, but it is important that as developing thinkers we have access to information that confirms our opinions and challenges them.

The First STEM Outside-The-Box Day!

"Space and Time: Navigation Through the Ages" was the theme for the first STEM Outside-The-Box (OTB) day for the seventh graders!

Here is a small sample of what the girls learned that was Outside-The-Box...

• How to geocache.
• It took 18th century clock inventor, John Harrison, four times to get his clock right. 
• I didn't know anything about how early sailors figured out latitude and longitude before today, but now I know all about it. 
• Ben and Jerry's factory is in Vermont!
• About the Compass Rose, using a map better, and how clocks are made
• Different types of map projections. 

And some more thoughts on the girls reflections:

• I like it (The Mercator iPad activity) as is, it was really fun.
• My favorite thing was to see how Holton looked back in 1988. 

-