Weekly Update - June 15, 2018

MIDDLE SCHOOL CLOSING CEREMONIES

Congratulations to our Middle School students and teachers on another outstanding year! Yesterday's Closing Ceremonies included speeches by Leandre J. '22, Noah G. '23, Lily B. '24, and Daniella H. '25, who were representing the students in their grades, as well as performances by the Middle School Chorus, Orchestra, and Jazz Band. Photos.

LOWER SCHOOL ARCH DAY

A big cheer and "congratulations" to our Lower School students and faculty who celebrated another successful year at Arch Day earlier this week! The speakers were Annabelle '26, Isabelle '26 and Jason '26 and every grade performed a song after walking through the arch. Photos: Grades 2-4 and PreK-Grade 1,

ALUM TELLS NATIONAL PUBLICATION HOW HE CAME OUT TO BC ...TWICE

Cal Goodin '15 just wrote an article for The Advocate called "I Came Out to My Entire High School -- Twice." In his own words, it's about "what happens when you publicly announce you're gay and then decide that's not quite right?" We're clearly not the only ones proud of Cal, as the Advocate's Facebook post promoting the article has been shared 12 times as of yesterday.

BC CAREER SYMPOSIUM: PARENTS, ALUMS & EXPERTS GIVE STUDENTS INSIGHT ON CAREERS

9th-11th graders learned about different fields of work at BC's 4th annual Career Symposium! Dennis Masel (BC parent, founder and former CEO of Creative Circle, and cofounder of The Jeanne and Dennis Masel Foundation), gave the keynote address. Students then heard from nearly 30 other BC parents, alumni, and faculty on 12 different panels. Read the full list of panelists and see photos.

MIDDLE SCHOOLERS DEBUT THEIR INVENTIONS IN ROBOTICS ELECTIVE
Middle Schoolers in the Robotics elective, taught by Mr. Ryan Byrne and Ms. Meenakumarie Schaffer in the Beta Lab, recently presented their final projects! Creations included an automatic fish feeder, sonar glasses, and a balloon popper. Students used their knowledge of various sensors, programming techniques, and electrical principles to design robots using Arduino (an open-source electronic prototyping platform).

ALUM UPDATE: ALEX LAMB '03 PUBLISHES POLICY BRIEF

BC lifer and former teacher Alexandra Lamb '03 recently published a policy brief as part of her doctoral research at the University of Connecticut! She's currently pursuing a PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy and her research focuses on the organizational structures and practices that make tech integration successful in schools. She says her work is very much inspired by her time as a tech integrator at BC!

PSYCHOLOGY CLUB PROVIDES STRESS RELIEF DURING EXAM REVIEW DAYS

 It's a stress-less goody bag! The Psychology Club held a bake sale to raise money to create these bags and pass them out to all 9th, 10th, and 11th graders during final exam review days. The bags contained a lavender sachet, a stress ball, a pencil, a candy kiss, a peppermint, a list of relaxation apps, and other suggestions for de-stressing. Students have already been spotted holding their lavender sachet while taking a final exam.

KINDERGARTNERS RAISE AWARENESS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Kindergartners in Ms. Tanya Khordoc and Ms. Diana Socorro's class engaged in environmental activism by designing posters to raise awareness of climate change in the Arctic. They discovered their cause while using books, video clips, and iPads to research the Arctic and the animals that live there - realizing the ecosystem is under threat due to global warming, overfishing, and plans to drill for oil.

LOWER SCHOOL CHANGEMAKERS CELEBRATE THEIR WORK THIS YEAR

 Our Lower School changemakers commemorated the impact they've had in our community at their final meeting of the year! This year, these cause-driven students have educated themselves and the BC community and organized fundraising efforts to address issues around animals and the environment; equity and accessibility; peace and justice; and kindness.

MIDDLE SCHOOL TAKES ON "PROJECT BROOKLYN"

On the last 2 days of school, Middle Schoolers participated in 19 Project Brooklyn courses. These experiential education opportunities were created by faculty with the goal of ending the year with exuberance, adventure and a spirit of camaraderie. ! Courses included: Make a Difference; Zombie Dance Party: Thriller; Food, Glorious Food! Photos.

6TH GRADE HUMANITIES CLASSES PRESENT THEIR RESEARCH ON ACTIVISM 

As a culmination to their work in Humanities class and a study of Malala Yousafzai, 6th graders presented independent research that focused on activism. They were asked to demonstrate how people choose to participate in local and global communities, by picking an issue that's important to them and coming up with a way to educate others and get involved. Photos.

4TH GRADE DISSECTS SQUIDS 

As they completed their dissections, 4th grade scientists learned all about the various parts of a squid, including the gills, the ink gland, and two hearts.

MIDDLE SCHOOLER WINS ACADEMIC AWARD FROM BIG BROTHERS

Congratulations to Talin S. '22 on being honored with an Academic Achievement Award by Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC

UPPER SCHOOLERS HELP ORGANIZE HISTORIAL SOCIETY EXHIBIT 

Gabe D-R. '19 and Alba M. '20 were involved in organizing a current exhibit at the Brooklyn Historical Society titled "Brooklyn: A New Home, A New Life" in which Teen Council Members "analyzed how concepts of 'us' and 'them' lead to stereotypes of immigrants and considered how race and immigration have intersected differently across eras."

LOWER SCHOOLERS DECORATE CUPCAKES TO CELEBRATE A GREAT SCHOOL YEAR

Olivia '28, Willa '29, and Zoe '28 celebrated the end of the school year with burgers and pizza with Lower School Administrative Assistant Erita Doko! Bonus: They got to decorate their own cupcakes.

JUNIORS ATTEND COLLEGE ESSAY WRITING WORKSHOP

Believe it or not, BC juniors (rising seniors) are already preparing for college applications! Before leaving for the summer they participated in a college essay writing workshop run by Dan Grayson, formerly of Tufts University admissions, and organized by the BC College Office.

5th GRADERS EXAMINE PLANETARY OPTIONS FOR HUMAN SETTLEMENT

5th grade astrophysicists presented their solutions to the questions: Where in the solar system should we convince NASA to send humans next? What will we need in this new settlement? Photos.

Students chose locations throughout our solar system for humans to settle and determined what information they would need to gather, conducted research, then designed and built landscapes of their locations as well as landers, rovers and habitation modules.

6TH GRADERS CREATE VIDEO FOR CHILDREN IN HOSPITALS 

Noah B. '24 and Nicholas H. '24 want to improve the lives of children in hospitals. After skypeing with the founder of Make-A-Wish America, Frank Shankwitz, they created this video as part of their final Humanities project, which asked students to identify an issue they care about and try to make a difference in that field. "We made this video because kids in hospitals are dealing with the stress of their medical needs and we want to give them something that will brighten their days."

LOWER SCHOOLERS EXPLORE SUMMER READING OPTIONS

Lower School students explored summer reading options at the annual Book Fair! The event, which was sponsored by Greenlight Bookstore, was also a fundraiser for BC's library.

HAPPY SUMMER, BC!
These flowers from BC's rooftop garden are courtesy of our 8th grade science class which seeded a raised bed with local wild plants to support pollinators. Now in its second season, the garden is looking wildly beautiful.