Dear Middle School Community,

As we enter March, we’ve started to thaw from our snowy winter and look forward to the sunnier Spring! This month, the Middle School will join the greater Churchill community in its effort to celebrate Women’s History Month. Students are looking forward to participating in the International Women’s Day Assembly on March 8th.

All my best,

Gina Manes & the Middle School Team

Upcoming Events

March 11th - 12:00 dismissal for students

March 15th - Trimester 3 

• 6th Grade: Tech
• 7th Grade: Music
• 8th Grade:  Art

March 17th - MS Parent Engagement Group: Executive Function Skills & Strategies

• Please see the March 3rd email for details

6th Grade Black History Month

The 6th grade explored paintings by the contemporary Black artist, Kehinde Wiley. Wiley is well known for his naturalistic portraiture of African Americans in heroic poses. His highly ornamental work, which borrows themes and techniques from classical western painting, challenges power structures, replacing powerful figures from the past with people of color. Using Wiley's work as inspiration, students created portraits that celebrate and honor an individual from Black History, past or present.  

Student Artwork Inspired by Kehinde Wiley

8th Grade and BLM

In honor of Black History Month and Black Lives Matter at Schools, the 8th grade learned about the Black Lives Matter movement. During advisory periods, 8th graders learned about the 13 guiding principles of Black Lives Matter. Each student was then tasked with making a poster to honor and bring awareness to one of the principles. To continue our discussions around and celebration of Black History, the 8th grade will be watching and analyzing Black Panther throughout the month of March. Knowing students' affinity for the Marvel/DC universes, as well as the strong connections that can be made from superhero movies to the present day, we wanted to use Black Panther as a springboard for discussion not just about Black American history, but African history and culture. As a primary issue in the movie is the decision about whether or not Wakanda should share its invaluable resource with the world, we did some pre-reading on colonialism in Africa, specifically the so-called "scramble for Africa". As we began watching the movie, students filled out charts for some of the main characters describing their traits, special abilities, actions, and what their actions say about their character. As we continue to watch the movie throughout the month of March, we will have conversations about African representation, and women and technology in order to celebrate Women's History Month.

Dear Churchill High School Families,

I hope this finds you well and in good health. On Tuesday, February 22 as part of the school’s Activism in Education series, the High School took an entire day to celebrate “Movers and Shakers” in society. Led by our new Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Ashley Green, the students had the opportunity to choose from dozens of workshops, each highlighting people who were “Movers and Shakers” in their respective communities. Since the day took place during Black History Month, there was certainly a focus on the impact of “Movers and Shakers” in the Black community, but the workshops were also inclusive of other communities as well.

Overall, the day was filled with a variety of learning opportunities as students were allowed to pursue topics that they had an interest in or take a chance on something they didn’t know much about at all. In addition to the four workshops that each student chose, everyone had the opportunity to listen to our opening keynote speaker, Lance Greene, who is serving as the first Black ADA for the county of Lancaster, PA. The day’s final event was a panel of artists who discussed their careers as Black women in theatre and the performing and creative arts. A big thank you to Ms. Greene for all of her work to make this day a reality and to all of the Churchill professionals who helped to create the workshops for our students and provide the space in their curriculums for this wonderful learning experience.

Just a final note to parents, we are now just past the halfway point of Q3. You should expect a progress report in your email from your child’s advisor by the end of the day on Friday, March 5.

Best,

Jason Wallin

Student Council

Like every year, this March is Women's History Month! Part of STUCO's way of celebrating is by hosting the Women To Women drive. This campaign is for Women incapable of affording feminine hygiene products, like tampons, maxi pads, feminine wipes, and other general goods. By donating the previously mentioned items, it can mean a lot for those who are suffering from poverty, especially during the times we are going through today. In collaboration with Service Learning, STUCO will be collecting these items all month. A bin will be in the lobby for all donations.

Yael Bayana Talk

The sophomores and a few juniors met Yael Bayana who spoke about the Ethiopian Jewish experience and her story. Yael's talk focused on her race, identity, and journey which included her move to Israel from Ethiopia at the age of 5, participation in demonstrations about racism and police reform in Israel, and detailing how she ended up in the U.S. after serving in the Israeli army.