February 24, 2022
from Dr. Jenn Milam, Middle School Director
iTERM 2022 – Imagine, Dream, Learn
In just a few days, iTERM will begin–a week of passion-driven, inquiry and exploration in a chosen area, alongside peers from all grades in the middle school, and led by a teacher (or two!) and maybe even a professional boxer! Your students have been entered into Schoology groups where they will get updates, information, announcements, and other key information for their week. If you’d like to be added, please reach out to the leaders of your student’s iTERM course.
For many of you, iTERM is new…here’s a few things you can expect:
- Students have lunch as usual, each day, just as they always do! Your student should plan to bring lunch or eat at school (if they have a purchased lunch plan) unless otherwise told by their instructor/course leader. Some of the courses involve cooking, field trips to markets in the city, or other excursions, but for the most part, lunch is at MPA right after recess, every day.
- The day begins at 8 AM and ends at 3 PM, just like always! You should follow regular drop-off and pick-up procedures.
- Their iTERM course leader will tell them what they need to bring if anything. They should wear comfortable clothes and shoes and plan not to change for PE.
- They can bring snacks, water bottle, and any other creature comfort they normally use.
- Please follow the dress code, per usual.
- The days are full, active, engaged, and so much fun–expect a tired middle schooler at the end of the day.
- Behavior and conduct expectations remain high and students are expected to show up, participate, engage, and be a good and contributing member of our community.
- If your student is traveling to Ely for Dogsledding or to Puerto Rico, your course leaders have likely been in touch with details about travel, packing lists, and more. Please read thoroughly all communication in preparation for these trips!
- The best part about this week is there is no homework assigned, no schedule, no grades – it’s a week of learning and exploring, for the fun of it!
- We encourage students to be caught up, as much as possible, by the end of this week, as there is no time for school assignments during this week. Projects, outstanding assignments, and other schoolwork, should be completed at home and submitted prior to spring break to avoid missing the two-week grace period to submit late assignments.
- There is NO study hall offered after school during iTERM week–because there’s no homework!
- School dismisses promptly at 3 PM on Friday to head into Spring Break!
Finally, on Friday, March 4, from 2:15-3 PM, we host an iTERM share fair. Each course prepares a display to showcase what they did together, what they learned, share some new skills, and show off their products. Please mark your calendars and plan to join us on campus for this awesome event.
NOTE: We expect that all who attend are vaccinated and/or clear of all COVID symptoms and adhere to our policy that, while in the building, all community members are masked!
The 2022 iTERM Courses and Teacher Leaders are:
- Chris Peterson, Woodworking
- Maddy Wolfe and Page Hauble, Breaking Bread
- Marina Dale and Jess Powell, Cultural Gastronomy
- Sarah McFarland, Ian Cunningham and Renee Sonka, Rebels with a Cause
- Anne Atchison and Pokey Phillips, Strategy Games and Design
- Lisa Buck and Jocque Warner, Art and Science of Baking
- Heather Mastel and Emily Jacques, Behind the Curtain
- Courtney Nagle, John Milam and Jay Springer, Arctic Adventures
- Evy Johnson, Not Quite Quebec (French Immersion Stay-cation)
- Marisue Gleason and Kate Eggers-Leaf, Spanish Immersion in Puerto Rico
- Coach Ceresso Fort, SIR BOXING Club (Jenn Milam, liaison)
The Middle School teachers and I have been working eagerly and tirelessly to plan enriching and exciting opportunities for learning and we look forward to a fantastic week!
Let’s Dream: Save The Date
We’re excited for the 2022 MPA Spring Auction: Let’s Dream, which will be held on Friday, April 22 at A’bulae in Lowertown. This is an opportunity for our entire community to gather safely together and celebrate the year. The event will feature an amazing meal, fun games and prizes, and the chance to bid on and win wonderful auction items, all in support of the MPA community. The event raises more than $200,000 in support MPA students, staff, and teachers.
Sponsorship packages and tickets are available now!
We’re also in need of a variety of a auction items including gift cards, baskets, experiences, and more! No donation is too small. Click here to view the 2022 Wish List.
The auction planning committee also invites you to attend our event preview at drop-off or pick-up time on Thursday, March 24! Join us from 7:15-9 AM or 2-3:30 PM in the Family Commons to learn more about this year’s auction, meet fellow parents, and enjoy snacks and drinks. For new families especially, this is a wonderful opportunity to connect with other parents and learn about what to expect when you attend.
Thank you to our volunteer committee: Karen Chan, Rebekah Cook, Sarah Cotter, Lucia Gray, Amy Kotch, Tara Lafferty, Jennifer Macdonald, Amy Minear, Renee Roach, Mindy Ruane, Kelley Still, Leslie Todero, and Lisa Vale
Please contact Jennifer Rogers-Petitt, director of development and community engagement, via email at jrogers@moundsparkacademy.org or at 651-748-5532 with any questions.
Good Luck Math Masters
Our sixth grade Math Masters will compete tomorrow. These bright, math-driven kiddos are going to do well and will compete against other students from across the region. Special shout out and thanks to Chris Peterson for coaching our teams in the Middle School.
Get Excited! Snow Tubing On Friday
Buses will depart with Middle Schoolers and their teachers tomorrow, Friday at 1:45 PM. All who have registered will head to Badlands Snow Park for an afternoon of tubing, food trucking, bonfires, and fun! If you have questions, please contact the office ASAP as the event dates is upon us.
As a Middle School Community Event—our first big event in almost exactly two years—we hope you’ll join us to meet other Middle School families, chat with faculty and staff, and have fun with your kids. They may tell you they don’t want you tubing, but trust me, if you make your way down the big hill, you’ll be the coolest (and bravest).
As a bonus, students are welcome to wear winter hats/stocking caps to school tomorrow!
Happy Parents, Happy Kids
I follow several parenting blogs and am always on the look for great tidbits of wisdom, insights, and learnings from other people’s experiences. I figure that if someone has paved the way before me, I don’t need to dig a new path all on my own…I mean, parenting is hard enough without feeling like you must do it all alone, right?
My most recent happening upon is from the Fatherly newsletter (fatherly.com) entitled, “15 Things You Should Give Up to Be a Happy Parent”. You can read the entire article here.
A few of my favorites on the list, include, giving up “supposed to” and “negative messages” and the best, give up “your own childhood story.” Each of these reminds me of one of Dr. Jules’ best golden nuggets of wisdom, which is to parent the child you have, not the child you wish/hope you had. So much of what we do is guided by our own experiences and our own instincts, and yet the truth is that parenting a child through a pandemic, swimming in social media, living through societal upheaval during a critical time of identity development, is nothing like what we experienced as kids. And, while I would contend that there are salient features of childhood that hold true and endure the passing years, there are also fundamental ways in which childhood has changed and we, too, must change as parents.
I am planning a Middle School Parent Conversation following spring break that will help to shed some light on the things that I feel most parents are overlooking at this current moment. We’ll talk about all the things you didn’t know you didn’t know and tackle some questions you’ve been afraid to ask. We’ll cover topics from identity development, including gender and sexuality, social media, sexting, and internet safety, to language usage, navigating social relationships, and the impact of the pandemic on inter/intrapersonal behavior. Be on the lookout for that date and the opportunity to submit questions ahead of time (confidentially).
While all of us had big ideas of what parenting would be like and maybe even dreams of who our children would be, standing in the present and letting go of some of the things that keep us from being happy, makes room for the more important things that require us to be fully present, engaged, and open—with our children and ourselves.
That’s all for now…mark those calendars and we’ll see you at the Snow Park!
Important Dates
- February 25: Middle School Snow Tubing, 2:30-5:30 PM *If not participating, student must be picked up by 1 PM*
- February 28-March 4: iTERM 2022
- March 7-18: MPA Spring Break
- March 21: Classes Resume
- March 24: Eighth Grade Field Trip, Children’s Theater Company, “Something Happened in Our Town”
- March 25: Fifth Grade Science Fair, 8 AM
- April 1: End of Quarter 3
- April 4: NO CLASSES—Grading Day
- April 4-6: Sixth Grade Overnight Trip, Osprey Wild
- April 6-8: Fifth Grade Overnight Trip, Osprey Wild
- April 22: MPA Spring Auction
- April 27: Grandparents and Special Friends Day
- May 5: Middle School Family Dinner (with rising fifth graders)
- Middle School Vocal Concert, 7 PM
- May 12: Middle School/Upper School Orchestra Concert, 7 PM
- May 19: Middle School/Upper School Art Show, Opens at 6 PM
- Middle School/Upper School Band Concert, 7 PM
