Middle School Students Embrace New Challenges During WinterMission
For middle school teachers Tang Di and Vicente Saavedra, there was no question about their favorite moment from their WinterMission course, Chinese Calligraphy and Ink Art: “When students held up their final projects for a group shot. They looked so happy and proud of their creations.”
It was the culmination of a full and fulfilling week of learning and exploring the art and philosophy of writing Chinese characters and ink art, an important aspect of Chinese culture. The course was one of 18 — with subjects ranging from scuba to the history of hip hop to theater to cooking — offered to middle school students.
In addition to creating their own works of art, students took a workshop with Mansheng Wang, a calligraphy master and artist; visited with Dr. Paula Chu, psychotherapist and associate director of the Stanley H. King Institute, to learn about the art and videos of her father, Charles Chu; and explored the Chinese wing, the Asian garden, and a temporary calligraphy installation by a famous Taiwanese artist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The course was the perfect fit for eighth grader Ava Losen. “I’ve always loved to paint, draw, color and create any kind of art,” Losen said. “I don’t have any experience with Chinese calligraphy or creating ink art so I was interested in learning.”
Of many memorable experiences, Losen said her favorite was visiting the Met: “It was amazing to see the ancient calligraphy and ink art after learning about it.”
Di and Saavedra said their goal with the course was simple: “We hope students learned the connections between creating beauty as a meditative practice. Some students said in this day and age of fast food and fast culture, it is so nice and therapeutic to just slow down and pay attention to the details and the process of creation: each stroke, each color, practice again and again and notice the improvement each time.”
That lesson certainly resonated with Losen: “I was shocked how hard it is to use the right amount of pressure to make sure my stroke came out the way I wanted it to. Furthermore, it was hard to write with a brush, since I am not used to it, and learning the basics about calligraphy was challenging.” Nevertheless, she “found creating the artwork to be very relaxing.”
While some were slowing things down, those in Serving Up Racquet Sports were taking it up a notch.
Upper school Spanish teacher Marce Márquez and upper school math teacher Doreen Erickson were inspired to create the course because, “We both play and love racquet sports, so we know firsthand how they improve focus, strategy and resilience while also building teamwork, communication and respect.”
The curriculum, which covered table tennis, badminton and squash, focused on learning and playing the sports and considering how racquet sports promote physical, mental and social wellness.
Students visited the Westchester Table Tennis Center in Pleasantville, took in a professional squash match at Grand Central, and participated in a mini-Olympics competition.
“Students embraced the challenge of representing different countries and celebrated the diversity and camaraderie sports can bring,” the teachers said.
For Jack Barek ’29, the GuitarWorks course struck the perfect chord.
“I really wanted to know not just how to improve in guitar but also how to dig deep into chord theory and technique,” Barek said.
Over the course of four days, he did just that: “I learned how to develop chords on guitar from just a root note, something I never understood until the class. It’s something I know I will carry with me for the rest of my musical journey.”
Music teachers John-Alec Raubeson and Sam Appiah ’12 led the class, a deep dive into all things guitar, from mechanics to basic music theory to mindset and effective practice habits.
Students had the opportunity to take apart guitars to make repairs and reconstruct them; talk via Zoom with Mike Meadows, co-band leader of the Eras Tour and longtime utility player for Taylor Swift (and the brother of Katie Meadows, the Middle School's performing arts coordinator); and visit luthier Alex Glasser’s shop in Rockland County, New York.
Raubeson was particularly moved during the visit to Glasser’s shop: “He was describing how I was his guitar teacher almost 40 years ago and how that led to a lifelong journey with the instrument. Listening to him tell his story in his shop with a cohort of young students who are beginning their guitar journey, it felt like I was coming full circle.”
Barek was impressed with how the course appealed to musicians of all levels. “Some people had never touched a guitar before while others had been playing for years,” he said. “In GuitarWorks, everyone felt engaged and that they were improving no matter their skill level.”
MORE NEWS
GET SOCIAL
The Masters School
