The Beckwith Chronicle

Dates to Remember
Dec. 24-Jan. 1 No School – Holiday Recess
Jan. 8 PTSA Providence Bruins Event
Jan. 8 Student Council Bash
Jan. 18 No School- Martin Luther King Day
Jan. 19 Geography Bee
Jan. 25 Early Release at 11:30 a.m.
Jan. 29 Math League Meet
Jan. 29 PBIS Bash
Jan. 29 Student Council Dance

Learning in Action!
Ms. Sousa’s 8th grade Science class determines chemical or physical changes during a lab. In Mr. Kelly’s 8th grade Social Studies class, students work together to answer challenge prompts including “Write a short speech explaining Jefferson’s views on education” and “Draw a picture explaining the 8 parts of the Preamble.” Students in Ms. DeMelo’s Social Studies class play Latin American Countries Twister. Students must identify countries on a blank map by placing their hand or foot in the appropriate place.

Ms. Heim’s 5th grade Math class budget expenses for a Thanksgiving dinner. Using Supermarket flyers, students determine the cost for individual dinner items.

Student of the Month
The following students were presented with Student of the Month Certificates for the month of November:
Gr. 8 - Cassidy Fortin and Colby Botelho
Gr. 7 - Madeline Glynn and Harrison Taraian
Gr. 6 - Jillian Ferrara and Thomas Zibrida
Gr. 5 - Jadyn Saunders and Nicholas Ware
Related Arts - Jillian Ross and Nicholas Ross

Geography Bee
Our annual Geography Bee will be held on Tuesday, January 19th. Congratulations to the top ten students who will be competing! Out of nearly 300 students the following 7th and 8th graders qualified to compete: Ricky Curtis, Megan Marie Reed, Lauren Gouveia, Devin Dembrow, Ryan Stewart, Jack Silva, Sean O’Brien, Jillian Diamond, Luke O’Brien, and Ariana DaConceicao.

The following students deserve a notable mention, as they were very close to placing in the top ten: Victor Diamond, Mason Mello, Julia Cannistraro, Grace Fagundes, and Colin O’Connell. We are looking forward to an exciting morning of geography!

Beckwith Community Service
Ms. Parella and more than 30 students visited Evergreen House Health Center on December 17th to sing carols and spread holiday cheer. The residents and staff were thrilled to have such merry visitors. Thank you to our Community Service Group for representing Beckwith Middle School in such a positive way.

BMS Represented at Regional Music Festival
Congratulations to chorus students Sarah Arnold, Grace Couto, Ashley Damon, Bella DeCilio, and Meghan Reed who were selected to represent D.L. Beckwith Middle School in the annual Southeastern Massachusetts Junior District Music Festival. These students auditioned against several middle and high school students from over ninety schools in Southeastern Massachusetts and were selected to participate in this two-day festival that will be held on March 4th and 5th at Taunton High School.

Robotics at Beckwith
This year the STEM program at Beckwith has greatly expanded the amount of time students spend learning how to build and program robots. Robotics instruction allows students to have fun while delving into science and technology; they learn design skills, sound engineering principles and how to work with a team towards a common goal. Robotics is helpful to students of all abilities and it demystifies a complex technology.

Starting in the 5th grade students will participate in the “Hour of Code” to introduce them to programming and how to “think like a computer.” As 6th graders they will build a basic LEGO robot and learn how to make it move using attached sensors. With this knowledge students will try to complete various challenges to see if they can get the robot to do what they want it to as they remember that, “A robot does not do what you want it to; it does what you tell it to do.”

In the 2014-2015 school year our ACE Robotics Club was formed. Due to overwhelming demand it was run two additional sessions that year. But students wanted even more. So this fall we started a Robotics Team… actually two teams. The ReHobos with Noah Ferreira, Jacob Supernard, Max Reuter, Thomas Zibrida, Ryan Callaghan, Josh Guarino, Ethan Cutler, Jacob Greenberg and Cormac Masterson and The Trash Slinging Slashers with Jordan Soufy, Izzy Brown, Mackenzie Morgenweck, Charleigh and Gianna Blackwell, Kelsie Couto, Mason Mello, Nathan Labrie, and Cory Delaplain.

Beckwith joined the FIRST LEGO League and our teams are working hard to design, build, program and test their robot as it tries to complete 13 missions in 2 ½ minutes. We will be competing against 20 other teams at an event in East Providence on January 9th. The event is free to the public. Come out and see the amazing things that these students can do. ACE Robotics will be back during the winter, opened to 5th and 6th graders who have not participated before. The Robotics Team will reconvene in the fall of 2016.

Winter Chorus and Band Concert
On Thursday, December 17th the DRRHS auditorium was filled with an audience of families, Beckwith staff, and friends for the annual Winter Chorus and Band Concert. Ms. Lopez and Ms. Gallant prepared 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students for a spectacular show of amazing music. The chorus and band performances were excellent and evidence of the hard work of the students, Ms. Lopez and Ms. Gallant. The students and families were excited and proud. It was a great showcase of the music program at Beckwith!

Spelling Team
Congratulations to the following students who have qualified for the 2016 Beckwith spelling team: Logan Caruthers, Ricky Curtis, Aidan Soliday, Connor Platt, Holly McEathron, Cory Delaplain, Mason Mello, Amber Richard, Tristan LaCourse, Mackenzie Morganweck, Aelyn Tougas, and Benjamin Horowitz.
More spellers are needed, so please see Mrs. Flatley before practices begin on January 4th if you would like to join the team.

Principal’s Message
Dear Families,

Last month we emphasized the importance of higher order thinking in and out of the classroom. Teachers developed prompts and activities that required students to think creatively, critically, and analytically in all content areas. As our core curriculum becomes more rigorous, it is important for our students to have a growth mindset that emphasizes effort and welcomes challenges. Individuals with a growth mindset believe that talent and ability is earned not innate. Growth mindset thinking challenges the idea that individuals are born with a natural ability to draw, play an instrument, be good at math, or write well. These skills are not awarded to individuals at birth but are practiced and developed into talent. Years of research by Stanford University’s Carol Dweck, Lisa Blackwell, and their colleagues support the idea that students with a growth mindset show greater motivation in school, have better grades, and have better scores on standardized assessments.

To develop a growth mindset for students, educators and parents must value effort, allow for risk taking, and consider failing as a First Attempt In Learning. Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs, Oprah, Stephen King, and many more “successful” individuals initially failed at what eventually made them famous. Adopting a mindset of “not yet” rather than “can’t” inspires the dedication required to be successful. As parents and educators it is important for us to value the learning process rather than the result. Pre-adolescents will make mistakes in and out of the classroom. We need to be there to pick our students back up and inspire them to try again.

Sincerely,
Joe Pirraglia