After reading Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear with Dr. Traver, grades 5th-12th attended a play of King Lear on March 9 at the People’s Light and Theatre. From “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is/To have a thankless child…” (Act I, Scene iv) to “Out, vile jelly!” (Act III, Scene vii), the students and faculty enjoyed the production and said it helped them to better understand the play by seeing it performed. This was a memorable event for all who attended. Thanks to Dr. Traver for preparing the students for the play.

Congratulations to all our TAA Scottish dancers who competed in the Essex County Scottish Dancing competition on 6 March 2010: in the 8 & under beginner category, Hannah Master, Laura Null, and Lena Harnish; in the 9 and over beginner category, Jacqui and Nathania Hofstetter; and in the Premier level, Sarah Null.  Ages 8 and under: in the Lilt , Hannah won 1st place, Laura 2nd place, and Lena 3rd place; in the Fling, Laura won 5th, Hannah 6th; in the Sword, Laura won 2nd; and in the Seann Triubhas, Laura won 2nd, Hannah 3rd.  Ages 9 and over: in the Lilt, Jacqui won 4th; in the Fling Jacqui won 2nd; in the Sword Nathania won 5th; in the Seann Triubhas Jacqui won 4th and Nathania won 6th. In the premier level, Sarah won 1st in the Fling and 4th in the Sword. She will go on to the regional level. Thanks to Mrs. Null for teaching and preparing the girls for this competition.  Lena, Jacqui, Laura, and Hannah each got a stamp for being in the top three in at least one dance.  When a dancer acquires six stamps they move up a level, excepting the Intermediate level, in which you only stay for one year.

Six of our students won awards in the Gladwyne Library League’s 38th Junior Author Contest on March 5. Congratulations to Samuel Chang (3rd grade) “Castles and Kings and Knights, Oh My!”, who won 2nd place for 3rd grade poetry, Seth Dewitt (1st grade) “Animal Cinquains”, who won 3rd place for 1st grade poetry, Jacqui Hofstetter (3rd grade) “Soccer Dog”, who won 3rd place for 3rd grade poetry, Lena Harnish (3rd grade) “Disneyland, Not!”, who won Honorable Mention for 3rd grade poetry, Sarah Null (5th grade) “Mystery Box”, who won 1st place for 5th grade poetry, and Molly Wells (5th grade) “Three Wonders of Nature”, who won 3rd place for 5th grade poetry.  There were 732 entries from 12 different area schools.   Thanks to Dr. Traver for helping the students with their poems.

Mrs. Hanko’s kindergarten/1st grade class has been learning about simple machines. The students have been taught new vocabulary and a new song about these machines, and have also been doing hands-on experiments.  They constructed and used makeshift catapults to shoot ping-pong balls at their “castle” made out of blocks.