Category: Middle School

Written by Guest Blogger, Saklan 8th Grader, Evie

During the latest session of Learning By Doing (LBD) classes, I was part of the class that learned about British baking/cooking. We learned about some of the different strategies, measurement sizes, and flavors in British cooking. We were making foods in the three general courses served for British afternoon tea. British afternoon tea is a tea-related ritual introduced in Britain in the early 1840’s. At British afternoon tea, you have three courses of small portions of food.

You start with something savory, which is usually finger sandwiches. However, we made sausage rolls as well as cheese and onion pinwheels. The second serving is scones with jam and cream. We made the dough for the scones and cut them. After they are cooked, you cut them horizontally and serve with jam and fresh clotted cream. The last serving is sweets. It can be variations of different sweet treats, such as cake, macaroons, biscuits, and more. We made a basic cake base and added our own ingredients to make our cakes unique.

A huge thank you to Saklan parent and chef, Donna Pickthall, for leading this delicious, hands-on class, and to Evie for sharing her experience.

#SaklanHandsOn

The eighth graders have been learning about the periodic table. From researching what all the symbols mean, to understanding what the atomic number and atomic mass tell us about each element, they have become very knowledgeable about the periodic table!

Each student picked one element they wanted to learn more about. After completing research on their element, they designed a shirt to showcase the special properties of their element. Check out the atomic attire the eighth graders created and modeled below!

#SaklanAcademic

In their Service Learning class, the eighth graders have been learning about food insecurity. They studied what food insecurity is and why it can occur in all areas of our world, including in our own communities. The eighth graders heard from two experts in the field who shared that those in need are mostly seniors on fixed incomes, working poor, and children. 

In order to give back to the community, the eighth graders are going to be engaging in some activities around hunger in the coming month. On campus, the students will be leading a family group activity where they will teach the first through seventh graders what they have learned about food insecurity. Additionally, the eighth graders will be helping the 10,000 Lunches organization to make approximately 50 lunches for the homeless, and will be hosting a canned food drive for the Monument Crisis Center. They invite you to join them in giving to those facing food insecurity by donating to the food drive.

Since many families have been struggling with food insecurity during the pandemic and need help, the 8th graders decided that donated food would be the most practical way to help them. There will be large bins in the breezeway near the main office starting early next week, November 8th, and ending on Friday, December 10th. The following food items are requested: peanut butter, tuna, canned food (including soup, stew, vegetables, etc.), dry pasta, cereal, and rice. If your family does not want to donate food but still wants to help out, please click here to make a monetary donation. Thank you for showing compassion to our local community!

#SaklanCompassion

The seventh graders have been learning about cell processes. Before beginning their study of heredity, the students learned the importance of DNA. They began by discovering the double helix design, noting the matching base pairs, and then moved on to understanding how DNA gives us all the information we need to build eyeballs, hair, and every organ in our body. 

Next, the students extracted DNA from strawberries, and observed clumps of DNA strands.  Realizing that our food has DNA was quite fascinating to the seventh graders!

In the coming weeks, the seventh graders will use all that they have learned about DNA, and how it recombines to give us our traits, to help them understand the processes of mitosis, meiosis and heredity.

#SaklanAcademic #SaklanHandsOnLearning

Last week, the 6th graders participated in the first overnight field experience we have been able to offer in 18 months. They attended Westminster Woods, an environmental education and character development program, nestled in 200 acres of redwood forest in Sonoma County. Students hiked through the redwood forest, scoured the Dutch Bill Creek, took part in many team building challenges and ventured through an incredible high-ropes challenge course under the redwood canopy.

Students not only learned about ecology, teamwork and the natural environment, but they got to learn more about each other as well. Here are some of highlights from the experience:

“I think Saklan has us go on these field experiences to learn about ourselves and our class. We now feel like we are all friends.”

James

“I faced some of my biggest fears (heights) on this experience. And trusting my classmates made that easier.”

Kori

“I think these trips are important because it makes you try new things. I was scared when I left home about what the week might be like, but then I was so happy I went!”

Kiran

“I feel like I am more connected to my class after this week. I feel this way because we learned more about each other. So many people have such interesting traits, I thought it was cool to get to know more about them.”

Eleanor

“I felt really connected to my class after the ropes course. We had to work together to get through the activities.”

Mori

“Something I will never forget is taking my blindfold off and finding we were at the top of a hill and had an amazing view of a valley, that was cool!”

Ada

Miss O and Mr. Zippin joined the students for the week at Westminster Woods. Upon returning to campus, they shared that they loved seeing how the students were are to able bond through the experience and how compassionate they were to each other. The week was filled with moments where the students were lending a hand to each other when they needed it and encouraging people they only met 3 weeks ago as if they had known each other for years.

It was a great week!

#SaklanFieldExperience #SaklanCompassionate

In chemistry, the eighth graders created hot air balloons to test the ideas of buoyancy and Archimedes’ principle, along with Charles’ law and thermal expansion. Using paper, glue and tape, the students worked in teams to engineer balloons that would create the largest lift when filled with heated air.  

In the church parking lot, the students worked together to fill their balloons and create lift. Some balloons went higher than others, but all took off!  Some groups had to make alterations on the fly, and some tried adding different amounts of air or waiting for wind gusts, but they finally got lift off!

While flying their hot air balloons, and with the help of the wind, the students noticed how fluids move in and push matter. Additionally, the engineering process was in full effect with the eighth graders as they attempted to fly their balloons. When hitting snags in their designs or having environmental challenges, the students were able to problem solve and determine changes they could make to their designs or process to get their balloons off the ground!

#SaklanAcademic #SaklanHandsOn