It’s hard to believe that our show is over. Kids all around Hayground are singing songs and reciting lines from our production. The kids should be extremely proud of themselves for writing and producing a show that was clever, witty, and harnessed the energy of what they learned about vaudeville; and we accomplished it all in about two months!
Read MoreThis month in Jeff’s Kitchen, we have been working with a few students who chose to center their senior learner projects around cooking and food.
Read MoreOur Four Seasons Realms project has been in full swing this past month. After collaborating as a full class to design an immersive Autumn realm, students have transitioned into smaller groups, taking ownership of the seasonal world they chose to bring to life. Each group is approaching their work with the same guiding vision: treating their space as a blank canvas and transforming it into an environment that transports visitors to a completely new world.
Read MoreSince late winter, our weekly library visits continued into early spring, where we consistently restocked and organized the seed library to support ongoing planting efforts. Alongside these visits, students remained engaged in a range of hands-on activities, including composting, upcycling, insect studies, experiments, garden and floral design, and seeding.
Read MoreThe end of the year is wrapping up nicely! We completed our Budding Author books and had a really nice celebration at the Bridgehampton School with an author who shared some of her writing techniques.
Last week we worked with Louisa’s mother who brought in materials for the students to create a mandala in celebration of Earth Day - along with the students of Tohanash and Javis‘ class.
Read MoreSpring has sprung, and with it, new beginnings in our classroom. Our egg incubator is humming away and doing it’s job of nurturing our chicks until they are ready to burst into the world on (or about) May 5th! We have been reading all we can about chickens and eggs, fiction and non-fiction, and tracking the growth and development of the embryos. This week we were able to “candle” an egg, a process by which we were able to shine a light into an egg and observe the changes inside.
Read MoreThis month the Art Studio has been a veritable laboratory, with the students exploring, experimenting and delving into both representation and abstraction through drawing, painting, collage and sculpture.
Read MoreWith all of this snow, it has been challenging to get out into the field to continue our water quality monitoring program. It has been a good opportunity to explore the effects of climate change within the classroom and how it creates extreme weather conditions and can have an impact on temperature fluctuations. Students explored the polar vortex conditions that brought over 2 feet of snow to different areas around Long Island and we explored some of the different forecast models that are used to predict snow fall and other weather conditions.
Read MoreOur months long collaborative project is up at the Parrish Art Museum!
Our exhibit, 'Masks Whisper Stories,' is Hayground's installation that is the culmination of our study of masks from around the world. Students studied the history and cultures of masks throughout Asia, the South Pacific Islands, Central and South America, The Pacific Northwest and countries throughout Africa. Students then envisioned and created their own masks out of a variety of materials.
Read MoreWe are still reflecting on the wonderful memories from Soul Food Night! The students did a fantastic job facilitating games, performing, and showcasing their artistic work, honoring influential Black Olympians and singers. It was a meaningful celebration of Black excellence, allowing them to share their creativity with the community.
Read MoreWe kicked off the month of March by celebrating Women’s History Month with a reading of A Life Made by Hand: The Story of Ruth Asawa by Andrea D’Aquino. Through our discussions, students reflected on important women in their own lives and shared how these individuals have influenced and inspired them.
Read MoreThe children continue their exploration of the night and all its wonders. By now, they have completed three of their four formal observations of the moon and have created animal masks inspired by the poem Welcome to the Night by Joyce Sidman.
Read MoreMarch has been a green month, with Saint Patrick's Day taking over our mornings, working with egg cartons and paper towel rolls the students have been busy creating crafty ways to trap those tricky leprechauns.
Read MoreMarch is a busy month in Jeff’s Kitchen. To kick off the month, we celebrated our annual Soul Food Night on the evening of March 4th to celebrate Black history, culture, music, and food. Our chefs spent the days leading up carrying picnic tables from around the snowy campus, baking cookies to fill platters for the dinner tables, and arranging flower bouquets.
Read MoreAs part of their study of the American Revolution, our senior learners were tasked with developing tabletop games around topics related to the revolution's origins. The results were impressive!
Read MoreWe can see clearly now—the snow is gone! We began studying which plant varieties survived the winter and started seeding for an early start in our greenhouses. Our visits to the John Jermain Library continue as we restock and organize the seed library.
Read MoreOur class is moving steadily toward our Hayground Show performance date of April 30. Mark your calendars! Our opening theme song has been written and we are creating and learning choreography to go along with it. Most of the acts for the show are complete, Vaudeville information is being written, and we’re looking forward to tweaking our scenes through feedback from rehearsals once we get back from February break. Then, we will also begin building sets and props for our acts.
Read MoreWe’ve been taking harmonica lessons as a class since the fall, and the students are excited to perform a new piece they’ve been learning for our upcoming Soul Food Night. The kids especially appreciate the portability and creative freedom that the harmonica offers, and it has been wonderful to watch their confidence grow as musicians.
Read MoreOwls, owls, and more owls! The children have wrapped up their study of these fascinating creatures with presentations of their research. Many questions were answered, such as How far can an owl turn its head? and How do owls hunt?, among other topics that piqued their interest.
Read MoreSo far during the new year we have been continuing some of our projects which include finishing up our Long Island Map, the model of Long Island’s aquifer and water table, a chemistry day, and water quality sampling. We have sampled at Mecox Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, Mill Pond North, Mill Pond South, and Sag Harbor Cove. We have combined our data together and began plotting these on graphs to view the data in a more streamlined way and will be collaborating with the Mecox Bay Conservancy to share our findings.
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