Category: Middle School

A long tradition of the Saklan Middle School has been to start the year with a three-day, two-night field experience called the “Advance.” We call it the Advance because we want to advance into the new school year in a positive, proactive way that helps these young adolescents flourish into self-confident young adults.  

During the Advance, students engage in different activities that build relationships between students and their teachers. Navigating ropes courses, completing blindfolded trust walks, and playing team-building games facilitate positive interactions and friendships. Students are asked to take risks together, creating bonds that will carry them through the school year. Not only does this help solidify their sense of belonging, but it also allows for better collaboration, trust, and academic focus. 

This afternoon,  the students and teachers will return from the Advance. They will come back as a slightly different group than when they left Wednesday morning. They will have formed or solidified friendships, built a new community, and have a renewed sense of confidence (as well as be a bit tired from all the fun and activities). But most importantly, students will return ready to thrive and grow during their middle school experience. 

#SaklanConnected #SaklanConfident

On Wednesday morning, we honored and celebrated The Saklan School’s Graduating Class of 2022. It was a heartfelt ceremony, in which the middle school teachers introduced the graduates, and the graduates shared short speeches with their parents, teachers and fellow students. 

One of the highlights of the ceremony was a speech by Saklan Alumna, Kylie Choi. Kylie graduated from Saklan in 2017, and just completed her first year at University of San Diego. The wisdom Kylie shared with the graduates on making the most of their path forward while remembering that Saklan is always here for them was inspiring. 

If you were not able to join us for the ceremony, you can view the graduation here.

Each year we create a slideshow that highlights the memories of our graduates from their first years all the way through the last week of 8th grade. Take a moment to watch this video and relive their journey.

There are several people that made the graduation events possible this year. We would like to extend a special thank you to Geri Buhl and Katy Debasa for helping to organize the graduation dinner. It takes a lot of planning and coordination, but the dinner was beautifully orchestrated. Additionally, a special shout-out goes to Kim Parks, Shay Sager, Emoke Veres, Emily Williamson and Javier Yacarini for all their behind-the-scenes work handling the logistics of the graduation dinner and ceremony.

#SaklanClassof2022 #SaklanCourageous

The 6th grade has been learning about heat transfer around our planet, especially in regards to radiant energy from the sun. They spent time learning about the different types of wavelengths the sun gives off (the electromagnetic spectrum) and how each provides a different kind of energy. The students then looked at the sun’s potential. They saw how solar power works to excite electrons on a solar panel by creating solar panel wave machines.  And then they created solar ovens, where they used the sun’s energy and a mirrored cone to cook cookies!

The solar ovens worked so well that a few cookies got a little too done!

#SaklanHandsOn

The eighth grade’s culminating physics project was to design and create a roller coaster for a marble. Each coaster needed to: utilize the forces the students learned about in class, have enough momentum to fulfill a loop, and have a slow-down stop.

Students got inspiration for their coasters by going to Physics Day at Great America, where they experienced the need for gravitational pull to power the coasters, centripetal force and air resistance to provide thrills, and of course friction to stop safely! 

Working together in groups, the students used their creativity, math skills and knowledge of the scientific method to design, redesign, and eventually create their coasters. You can see their amazing designs below! 

Ms. O was extremely impressed with their efforts on this project!”

#SaklanHandsOn #SaklanFieldExperience

Last week, Saklan’s seventh graders traveled to the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. During their time in the globally recognized destination, the students distinguished themselves from the multitude of travelers by their mission: to learn about the cultural and biological evolution of the Hawaiian Islands. In Waimea Falls, the staff that handed the students their lifejackets were impressed to hear about the class itinerary and what they had already learned about the beautiful island of Oahu. One lifelong Hawaiian was particularly impressed that the students were visiting the Iolani Palace, as he had never visited himself. The 7th graders snorkeled among hundreds of brightly colored fish that call Hanuma Bay home while watching their adaptations at work for their survival.

The students spent a long and interactive afternoon at the Polynesian Cultural Center, where they learned how the Polynesian people valued the natural world and how they used the resources around them.

The students enjoyed themselves so much that they would like to open a sister school in Hawaii to continue their education!

#SaklanFieldExperience 

In March, Saklan’s eighth grade students took part in a service-learning field experience in Puerto Rico in which they helped rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Maria. Check out the student blog post from the final two days of the trip below.

March 28 & 29, 2022

We’ve never had an experience like we had in Puerto Rico. To start off the day yesterday, we woke up to a delicious breakfast of pancakes and sausage. We then hiked to a river in a luscious rainforest called Vereda Angelito, where we swam and jumped between rocks watching the water flow between our feet. After that, we went to an amazing shopping center where we dined on fish, chicken, and plantains. The class also shopped for small treats and souvenirs in that area. After shopping, we arrived at the beautiful hotel we would be staying at for the last day in Puerto Rico. At the end of the day, we kayaked at night through the stunning Bahia Bioluminiscente Las Croabas Fajardo bay. The bay is covered with bioluminescent plankton. This means if you stick your hand in the water, it will light up. Navigating a kayak in the dark was hard. There were some bumps and shenanigans that happened while kayaking, but overall, the eighth grade class did really well. Today we’re leaving Puerto Rico, and I can definitely say it was worth it.

-Ari and Milo

Thank you, Ari and Milo, for sharing your experience with us.

#SaklanFieldExperience

In March, Saklan’s eighth grade students took part in a service-learning field experience in Puerto Rico in which they helped rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Maria. Check out the blog post from the fourth day of the trip below.

March 27, 2022

Today we went to a different work site than the other days. We went to Bryan’s house and met up with William, Angel, and the team. We all had different tasks. One was shoveling sand and rocks into a wheelbarrow for Mr. Javier to take down to the cement mixer. Other people shoveled cement into buckets and then took them up to where the cement was being poured. After we did our job, we went to Maria’s house and ate a scrumptious lunch. While at Maria’s house, we reflected on our work from the past three days. William and Angel spoke about how grateful they were for us and how our work has helped their community. After we said goodbye and hopped on the bus, we went to the beach and washed away the concrete from our skin. Once we were back at the BYH (Big Yellow House), we journaled and got ready for dinner with the community. We enjoyed the food, and said our last goodbyes. Before William left, he gave out bracelets to show his appreciation and so we will never forget this experience.

-Evie, Cassidy, Thomas

Thank you Evie, Cassidy and Thomas, for sharing your experience with us.

#SaklanFieldExperience

In March, Saklan’s eighth grade students took part in a service-learning field experience in Puerto Rico. While there, the students took turns writing daily blog posts. Check out the blog post from the third day of the trip below.

March 26, 2022

In the morning, we woke up, got ready, had breakfast then went on the bus. We took the bus to go to the worksite and help out with rebuilding a house that had fallen due to the hurricane. There was a very nice dog there. While we were at the house, we helped make cement. The 12 of us were divided into groups of 6, one for rocks and one for the sand. We non-stop shoveled sand and rocks into buckets where the adults proceeded to place them in the mixer. If our bucket fell in the mixer and we reached in, it could take your hand off (Si nuestro balde se bajo en el batidora, se puede sacar tu mano!), so the adults took on that responsibility. After we mixed the concrete over 10 times, we had filled the hole where the septic tank was being built. After that, we went back to the Big Yellow House to get ready for a nice few hours at the beach. We found a cracked Go-Pro in a bed of seaweed, but unfortunately it stuck to the ground and could not be retrieved. After refreshing a bit, we went on a walk to a nearby island close to the place we were swimming in, where we took pictures. There were crashing waves and nice sand on our feet, with palm trees swaying around us. After that we had a nice walk back, where the water was warm, and there were fishermen near the shoreline catching a ton of crabs! We soon came back to the Big Yellow House where we had (Virgin) Pina Coladas prepared by one of our tour guides, Annika. Later that night, we had pasta with a choice of marinara or alfredo sauce. Lastly, we had games and the two teams competing were “Los Pollos Hermanos” and “yes, YES!”. The games ended in a tie because everyone is a winner at The Saklan School! We had a very nice day and we can’t wait for tomorrow!

– By Zoe and Alessandro

Thank you Zoe and Alessandro for sharing your experience with us.

#SaklanFieldExperience