AroundCampus

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Convocation

Tatnall students, faculty, and staff gathered to celebrate the start of our school year. We welcomed gorgeous weather, mask-free faces, and a renewed appreciation of normalcy.

Student remarks are always the highlight of Tatnall events, and this year was no different. Our student speakers provided such enlightened and thoughtful reflections about our school-wide values: curiosity, perseverance, and citizenship.

Everyone across campus came together as we listened to (and sang) our school song, received a warm welcome from Head of School Dr. Martire, and celebrated a strong start to our wonderful school year.

Lower School Math Spirit Week

A mid-October week was filled with daily math-emphasized activities that totaled a greater-than-normal amount of fun. The week kicked off with a challenging round of “Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader,” in which the Hornet tried to prove they were smarter than our smartypants students. Throughout the week, students and faculty answered some really tough questions like would you rather eat cake or ice cream? Or would you rather sleep in a haunted house or a graveyard? The answers they collected were then charted on a graph with stickers and used to calculate the data based on how many stickers were placed. Additionally, students participated in an unplugged coding activity that emphasized the importance of logical, ordered thinking and steps in coding. Our fifth-grade students could even teach this activity to their friends in first-grade. Math + Friends always = a good time!

Peer Leaders

Tatnall offers a Peer Leadership program that allows our seniors to work with freshmen as mentors. Students work to help the incoming ninth-grade students transition to high school, introduce them to Upper School extracurricular and social opportunities, and discuss any issues they might experience along the way.

Our Peer Leadership program aims to provide a vehicle for our seniors to model and cultivate positive character traits while accepting a certain level of responsibility and accountability. Peer Leaders could also become representatives at different events throughout the school year.

This summer, ten Tatnall senior Peer Leaders immersed themselves in team bonding, leadership training, and freshman advisory planning during a one-day on-campus and one-day off-campus training at Echo Hill in Maryland. After their training and preparation period, our Peer Leaders welcomed and led the freshman class on September 6 during an off-campus retreat also at Echo Hill.

Tatnall Continues to Put the Pieces Together

Through our COVID era, means of entertainment outside electronics became popular! Jigsaw puzzles have made a major comeback, and their charm has continued to bewitch our Tatnall community. On any given day, if you come into the library in Beekley, you can find students, teachers, and staff gathered around any selection of our puzzles. Our local Tatnall dissectologists have completed a vast array of puzzles ranging in difficulty and subject. As of today, Tatnall has completed at least 25 puzzles. Why is it so popular? Some theorize that puzzling is both meditative and engrossing. It is a way to experience mental stimulation with friends in a purely positive environment. Much like life, a puzzle-related obstacle can feel insurmountable, but with fresh eyes and some time away, a solution eventually presents itself.