NCS: locker clean-up

An NCS student nightmare, is cleaning out your locker for Thanksgiving. An amazing amount of “stuff” can collect in your ramp locker – despite weekly cleanings – during the course of the Fall term. This afternoon it all has to be removed and go up to the houses, to make room for the hats, gloves, and coats of our guests. Here two enterprising 9th grade girls find a garden cart to help them haul all their stuff up to Cascade House.

Travel safely; it has been snowing off-and-on most of the day. We are all very excited to see you!
Hock

NCS: safe travels

This morning we had single digit temperatures again. We are getting ready to host 280 for our Thanksgiving feast; students and staff are extremely excited about the upcoming visits. If you are traveling to the Adirondacks please remember hats, gloves, and warm coats. For those that are celebrating Thanksgiving elsewhere, my very best wishes; enjoy this special day and the warmth of family and friends. Some quick reminders:

Tuesday: 6:00 PM at the Caribbean Cowboy
Wednesday: 1:00 PM begins the book fair, academic showcases at 2:00, and dinner in houses at 5:30
Thursday: 9:00 AM arrival, 11:00 dress fro dinner, 12:15 Thanksgiving Dinner, with festivities ending at 3:00 PM

See you soon! Hock

NCS: saturday

A very chilly morning – single digits – however as you can see the students are all geared up for winter fun. Today we have several hiking trips going out, a sledding trip, another group is hiking up Whiteface to ski (or snowboard) down, and finally, an ice climbing trip. As I chatted with the excited students getting ready to head out into the fresh mountain air, I couldn’t help but think of the contrast with most of their peers across the country ... many of whom are parked in front of a TV for a good portion of Saturday morning.

Hock

PS ... I have enclosed a link to an interesting study just published in the journal “Social Indicators Research.” The researchers goal was to analyze 30 years of data to identify behavioral factors that correlate with personal happiness.

http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/sociss/release.cfm?ArticleID=1789

NCS: projects

The energy and excitement surrounding our upcoming Thanksgiving program is building. These 6th grade students have just finished their model of a Japanese Zen garden, and all the other students in the school are putting final touches on their projects as well. The other picture is one of the student designed posters advertising our Thanksgiving book fair ... we hope you’ll do some early holiday shopping for your child, and help the library out in the bargain.

Hock

NCS: 9th grade english

Ninth grade students are reading The Odyssey, by Homer, for their English class. In the attached photo, students are taking notes during a class discussion led by teacher Liz Jordan.

NCS: Level I music class

The attached photo shows Level I students playing Native American pentatonic flutes in their "Elements of Music" class with John Doan. In the Winter Term this group of students will have Drama class with Ryan Joyce.

NCS: langauge arts class

This Level III English class taught by Peter Rowley is reading Blue Skin of the Sea, a collection of loosely connected coming-of-age short stories by Graham Salisbury. First love was the topic of discussion that day.

Looking forward to seeing you next week for Thanksgiving!

NCS: biology lab

Hello. The attached photos are from our 9th grade biology class: a recent lab in which students identified sugars, starches, and fats in a variety of common foods, and a student's cell drawings completed for homework.

Enjoy your weekend!

NCS: music class

The Negro Gato Ensemble is performing at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Saturday, and we were able to have them at school yesterday to do a variety of drumming workshops with our students.

Enclosed is a passage from their website (address below): “The Nego Gato Afro-Brazilian Music and Dance Ensemble bring to their audiences the rich African influenced rhythms and dances originating in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, a region known for custom deeply rooted in the traditions and spirituality of ancestral Africa. The ensemble is directed by Jose Sena, known professionally as Nego Gato, to share his experience of growing up on the streets of Salvador immersed in the magical sounds of the Street Musicians, Carnaval, and Camdomble ceremonies.”

Hock


http://negogato.org/

NCS: literature

The picture shows the 9th graders updating their writing portfolios. Shortly after the pictured was snapped they launched into their study of Homer’s Odyssey. The lesson was comprised of much contextual background information. Elsewhere today, the 8th graders continued reading Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men; while our youngest students continued with their poetry unit. (Notice the fine wooden "Harkness" style table, handcrafted by the class of 2005.)

Hock

NCS: Spanish program

Hock is away at the a conference for Heads of New York State independent schools, so I am sending along this "photo of the day." The 9th grade Intermediate Spanish class meets three times a week and uses the Prentice Hall text Realidades 2, a standards-based Spanish curriculum that balances grammar and communication. This is the group of students that last year traveled to the Dominican Republic in February to do community service for Orphanage Outreach...a great immersion experience for our 8th graders.

This afternoon is beautiful and balmy (almost 60 degrees), but tomorrow the forecast is calling for rain; still we have a variety of trips going out: caving, backcountry cooking, hockey, ski trail maintenance. Our 9th graders will be taking the SSAT in the morning, and then join activities in the afternoon.

Looking forward to seeing you at Thanksgiving (please remember to send your RSVP and travel plans for your children to Sheila.)

NCS: leadership

I am reading a book called Leadership the Outward Bound Way, co-
authored by a former NCS teacher. It reminds me of the Town Meeting on
leadership we had several weeks ago. Below is the poster created from
the student dialogue and reflection. We see NCS as a place to develop
self-esteem, independence, and leadership skills.

NCS: carrot harvest

Even on historic days the daily work of the farm continues. Students
got a chance to watch Obama's speech and will see McCain's gracious
concession speech as well. Students also continued taking ERB
standardized tests as well as 9th graders continuing their prep for
the SSAT exams.

NCS: chemical reactions

Dave’s class has just finished an introductory reading on chemical reactions involving acidic rain and the copper found on some city buildings or - in the case discussed - the Statue of Liberty. The class has just received directions for a lab which will examine the reactions of an acid (vinegar) on pre and post-1982 pennies. (As you may know the compositional percentage of copper is vastly different in each vintage.)

In a small way, this highlights the goals of all our science classes, which is to provide important scientific factual information, key intellectual concepts, as well as the daily life applications of both.

Hock

PS ... It is almost 60 degrees, the last of the snow is melting and we will have a stretch of unseasonably warm weather coming up.

NCS: macromolecules

The 9th grade biology class is well into their unit on the structure and function of macromolecules. The conversation revolved around polymers and the subgroup monomers. The students were just about to launch into charting the specific characteristics of: carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins.
Hock

CTT: round lake

Hello. I hope all is well; many thanks to all those families that have already signed up for the summer of 2009. As the picture indicates, we have started to change our programmatic offerings ... the last canoe trip has gone out, and we have moved on to cross country skiing. After I snapped this early morning photograph, hundreds of geese – stopping for a break – took flight on their long journey South. It was a terrific sight!
Hock