Sometimes there are so many great things going on to share them all, so consider this a compilation of a few, but not all, of things going on in the Upper School!

Mrs. Lumsden’s AP Environmental class took a field trip to the local marina looking for macro invertebrates and also because of the large amount of solid waste pollution, did a clean up while there. They found mussels and a few fish, but very few macro invertebrates. They then decided to follow up with a water quality test. As for the results, the water quality looked good, but the amount of trash was discouraging. So do your part, people! Help keep our waters clean! 

Along those lines, the Environmental Research Team has placed four nets to catch trash that flows into the Roaring Branch Creek on campus. The hypothesis is that if we can stop the flow of trash into the creek then we will improve the diversity of the organisms that live in the creek community. This will be a year long project and all of the trash that is collected will be documented and weighed every week. 

Our physics students took part in the annual egg drop challenge this week. Students used recyclable materials to create devices that would prevent an egg from breaking when dropped from a 2 story building onto concrete. The results were smashing. 

And now, “Let The Advisory Games Begin!”

This year we were thrilled to announce the return of the Advisory Games, revived after having been dormant for a few years!

Conceived and run by the SGA officers, the games pit advisories against each other in a variety of games over the course of this week. Points are earned for things like having the correct random item in Let’s Make a Deal, tracking down one of our favorite college counselors in “Terrell Hide & Seek,” and much more. The winning advisory received a magnificent trophy and bragging rights for eternity.

Below are all the Advisory Flags presented as part of the Opening Ceremony. They were seen hanging in the Rotunda all week.

We also had an extra special celebration a few weeks ago as our very own head of the Upper School, Mr. Garry Sullivan, a South African native, became an official US Citizen. Our Dean of Students, Mr. Mark Erb and the students arranged a fantastic celebration in the Rotunda during break with a beautiful banner, a patriotic cake, the recitation of Pledge of Allegiance, and even a solo of  Star Spangled Banner performed by junior Jillian Molnar. Congratulations are well deserved!

So that is just a brief synopsis of some of the things going on in the Upper School these days! More to come so stay tuned!

For a more a more in depth look at what our Upper School has to offer students, please join us this Thursday, November 29th for our Upper School Insight. We hope to see you there!