Our Stories

Archaeology (written by Math Specialist Michael Frim)

I chose to run the Archaeology chug because a student came up to me after math class one day and excitedly asked if there would be ways to learn about the Incas and ancient Egypt in school. I studied archaeology in undergrad, and it had been a longstanding passion of mine since middle school. I was really inspired seeing the excitement this student and others had about the subject, and I wanted to help foster their interest in it and encourage them to continue learning about the ancient past beyond their years at MILTON.

My favorite thing about the chug is how much the students drive the discussion. Different students are coming to class knowing various pieces of information. Some are experts in ancient Egypt, and others know all about the Mayas, just to name a few. As a result, our discussions become a lively seminar where students teach each other about their own passions.

Some of the topics we’ve covered are:

• Ancient Egypt, during which we wrote our names in hieroglyphs
• Ancient Rome, focusing on Pompeii
• The Incan empire, during which we made our own quipus, or complexly knotted ropes historically used as data storage devices. This involved first learning how to decipher the knots of original Andean quipus to understand the messages encoded, then creating threads using traditional Andean techniques, and finally forming our own messages using knots
• The first people of the Americas

Recently we did our capstone activity, which involved flintknapping, the process of making stone tools. The students have discussed how stone tools were used by ancient humans and got to make their own!

Band and Choir (quotes from Rabbi Mat Tonti)

“My goal with the Middle School Band is to get students to understand that they can play together no matter what they play, and that everyone can be a music maker. Each class is a band, the whole grade is a big band, and the whole school is a symphony or a choir.

Each year, kids come in bringing different instruments, different skills, and different levels of talent, so the band is always evolving. This year, we have 2 violins, a flutist, a horn, a pianist, a guitarist, and 2 singers. I find songs that we can play depending on the lineup–this year, we have a big melody section. We learn a repertoire of Hebrew songs, pop songs, nigunim (melodies sung in groups repeatedly) and others.

The goal is to have a few performances throughout the year. We’ll perform at Kabbalat Shabbat and at Share the Nachas Day, for example. We also sometimes have the opportunity to perform outside of school. Earlier this year I brought four students to the Capital Jewish Museum to perform, and they sang while I played the guitar. One student did Flamenco dancing at the performance, which I didn’t know she could do! She brought it up because it fit with the song we were performing, Ocho Kandelikas–that’s another example of the skills different students bring. Last year, we sang at the White House.

The next step is recording. I have recording equipment, so we’ll record ourselves performing and then release it, probably on Band Camp. I want the students to see that the things they do here, they can also do outside in the world.”

Adventures in Nature (written by Middle School Counselor Rosie Nathanson)

In Adventures in Nature, students explore Rock Creek Park and go on micro-adventures in the local forest. 

We try to get children into the park as much as possible and take advantage of the amazing resource we have across the street. This fall, it has been exciting to observe the changing of the seasons in Rock Creek Park. It’s also fun to see which sites across the park we can get to in the limited class time of 40 minutes. Students have had the chance to explore the forest and creek and to challenge themselves in their outings. It’s an opportunity for the students to interact with one another, get their bodies moving and their minds wandering, and move together as a group through nature.

Adventures in Nature is the largest chug this session, and is also run by Learning Specialist Tirza Kramer and Rabbi Daniel Moses.