Fall 2005 PDF - Milton Academy

Middle School Tackles Complex Problems on “Focus Days”Focus Days—occasional, intense,interdisciplinary days of handsonlearning—are one of theinnovations today’s MiddleSchool students experience atMilton. Scheduling a full daywhen all faculty and studentswork together on manyapproaches to a challenging andcomplex issue is possiblebecause of structural changes:Milton now has a discreteMiddle School division. Grades6 through 8 at Milton now havetheir own space, faculty, schedule,assemblies and traditions.Students’ pre-adolescent developmentalneeds are served by afull-time counselor, and aMiddle School athletic directormanages a program thatrequires every student to play ona team. Middle School studentscan choose to be involved inspeech, drama, chorus and communityservice at their owngrade levels, and the older twogrades participate in a speciallydesigned life skills curriculumthat takes on the key concerns ofthis age group.Last April’s Earth Day was agreat success as a Focus Day,students and faculty agreed.Eighth-grade studentsresearched renewable energysources that can supplement fossilfuel: hydrogen fuel cells,wind energy, solar energy andgeothermal energy, for example.A representative from the stateoffice of sustainable energy,kicked off the day. Following thelecture, students hosted anEnergy Fair, where they displayedand presented theirresearch of alternative energies.In a mock Congress, studentspresented, debated and voted onalternative energy bills. Everyoneat the Middle School was part ofthe action as they will be for theFocus Day series that takesshape this year.For Middle School news, go tothe dedicated Middle School portionof www.milton.edu, whereyou’ll find updates on activities,visiting speakers and more aboutGrades 6–8.Shakespearean Great Sir Derek JacobiPerforms Hamlet’s soliloquy at MiltonBritish actor Sir Derek Jacobi, aprotégé of Sir Laurence Olivier,taught master classes to studentsand delivered a performancelectureat Milton Academy onMay 11 and 12. Sir Derek’s stageroles have included UncleVanya, Oedipus Rex and Hamlet.Recent film credits includeGladiator and Gosford Park.“I find acting much easier thanthe real world,” Sir Derek toldMilton community members inKing Theatre May 12. “In thereal world, you don’t know howit ends.”Sir Derek concluded his hourand-a-halflecture by deliveringHamlet’s “To be or not to be”soliloquy and Prospero’s“farewell” to a standing ovation.Sir Derek’s trip to Milton waspart of the Melissa DilworthGold ’61 Visiting Artist series,which commemorates Melissa’slife and interests by bringinginternationally recognized artiststo campus. As part of the series,each visiting artist also spendstime with public school students:Sir Derek delivered a talkat Milton High School.Derek Jacobi and friends55 Milton Magazine