ACADEMICS

Grade 4 and 5 Celebrate National Poetry Month

BALDWIN HOSTS HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR PETER GOROG

In April, Baldwin hosted Holocaust survivor Peter Gorog for a special virtual assembly for Middle and Upper School students. Mr. Gorog is a volunteer at the Unitzes Holocaust Museum and devotes time to sharing his first-hand recollection of Holocaust events. The students were engaged and asked thoughtful questions about his experience, current life and hopes for the future. If you are interested in viewing the presentation, visit https://bit.ly/3ijB2eC.

Ellen Hagan To celebrate National Poetry Month in April, author and poet Ellen Hagan spoke virtually with Baldwin’s 4th and 5th graders. She began the assembly with some interactive warm-ups to get the students’ bodies and minds ready, and she shared some poems from her new book Reckless, Glorious, Girl, followed by a Q & A. Ms. Hagan also encouraged the students to write their own poetry and several of them bravely and boldly shared their very inspirational “I Come From” poems with the entire assembly.

Kacey Kendrick ’29 shares her poem “I Am Made of Me.” I Am Made of Me I am made of games and plays, with some complaints. I like joking, silly poking and no smoking. I like to go to the beach, I sometimes teach and dislike peach To eat, maybe not leak and be sleek. Fries, maybe not pies, I am sly Most of all I love, all above and the dove. I respect, maybe peck, sometimes a wreck. I want a pet, don’t have a net, but I let. I am made of me, that’s what I see and I let that be.

History Students Collaborate with The Royal School in the U.K.

Baldwin students in the U.S. Politics senior elective course taught by History Teacher Dr. Athan Biss collaborated with British politics students at The Royal School. The exchange was formed around a common “big” question that all students could tackle: “How democratic is the American/British political system?” Each student had to identify one problem within their country’s political system and propose their own reform. The exchange program will continue between the schools in 2021-22 and may expand to other subjects as well. In addition, Dr. Biss and Harriet Pagnamenta, the ASTRONOMY STUDENTS STUDY EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE Head of History at Science Teacher Dr. Jeff Goldader’s junior and senior astronomy elective focused The Royal School, on the possibility of the existence and consequences of the discovery of intelligent presented “Politics extraterrestrial life. Many teachers collaborated with the astronomy class. History Across the Pond: Department Chair Dr. Matthew Bunn used the conflict between the Aztec empire and Cultural Exchange

Cortez as an example of what happens when civilizations with very different levels in the Age of of technology encounter each other. Art teacher Kenny Delio showed how to use art COVID” at the to communicate without words. English teacher Dr. Sherry Forste-Grupp discussed how to “share your story” with other National Coalition cultures using episodes from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” to prompt discussion of stories that transcend cultures. of Girls’ Schools

Languages Department Chair Josiane Mariette talked about common features of human languages and Upper School 2021 conference Director Christie Reed, who was a long-time biology teacher at Baldwin, visited to talk about early life on Earth. in June.

Kindergarten Studies Dinosaurs

Kindergarten students were deeply immersed in their interdisciplinary study of dinosaurs earlier this year. Starting from a place of wondering how the geography and climate of the earth impacted dinosaurs, how dinosaurs’ bodies protected (or didn’t protect) them and how dinosaurs became extinct, the girls jumped into conducting research Olivia Buglia ’33 created a dinosaur on dinosaurs and their lives. Students from recyclable materials. became experts on specific dinosaurs and created reference pages for a class book. In Science class, students explored fossils and the field of paleontology, took a virtual field trip to the Academy of Natural Sciences and had a Zoom visit with a female paleontologist and natural history conservator, Dr. Mariana Di Giacomo from the Yale Peabody Museum.

Amelia Wright ’33 and Lyla Burnett ’33 show off their paleontology gear.

Seniors Experience Externships

In May, Baldwin’s Class of 2021 embarked on their senior externships — a time for each senior to Kristen June ’21 Tessa Pearlstein ’21 Ava Jolie Sill ’21 Rhea Jain ’21 Ashling O’Dwyer ’21 Yasmin Yaghi ’21 explore an area of interest outside of school and learn about an organization’s day-to-day operations or to participate in an extended service opportunity. At the end of the three weeks, each senior made a presentation about what they learned personally as well as professionally about the subject of their externship. Some highlights included Kristen June ’21 and Tessa Pearlstein ’21 working on a farm, learning how injured horses are rehabilitated and how retired horses still play an important role supporting other horses on the farm; Ava Jolie Sill ’21 working with Carepoint Medical Solutions, which is a small business that specializes in pneumatic compression pumps to help patients who suffer from lymphedema and lymphatic disorders; and Rhea Jain ’21, Ashling O’Dwyer ’21 and Yasmin Yaghi ’21 working at the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, learning about animals in the different exhibits and then communicating basic facts about each animal to the zoo’s visitors. They also learned about the role of zoos in the conservation of endangered species.

GRADE 7 STUDIES FISH DISSECTION

After learning about body systems during the second semester, it was especially fun for Grade 7 students to dissect fish. They discovered the heart, gills and different organs in the digestive system. The students loved exploring from head to tail, carefully extracting the lens to expanding the dorsal fin and seeing the spinal cord.

GRADE 8 STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN NCGS CONFERENCE

Three Grade 8 students, Lulu Goldenberg ’25, Sana Goyal ’25 and Grace Harvey ’25, participated in the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools’ Empowering Female Voices Civic Ambassadors Program. In February, these students attended virtual sessions with other eighth graders from around the world where they deliberated about current topics including racial injustice, education equity, environmental justice, etc. In addition, the students worked in small groups to examine case studies on pathways for change and Lulu Goldenberg ’25 Sana Goyal ’25 Grace Harvey ’25 how to bring civil engagement in their school communities. “I really enjoyed the deliberation,” said Lulu Goldenberg. “We talked about our opinions and worked together to come up with solutions. I also liked the root cause analysis, where we came up with ‘symptoms’ and ‘roots’ for what we were talking about in the deliberation.” Sana Goyal explained that it helped them realize the bigger root causes instead of just focusing on the effects of various problems. “In my specific groups, we discussed women who inspired us,” said Grace Harvey. “We also picked a topic of interest and discussed it with an advisor and other girls. I chose environmental justice because it is something I am passionate about. We learned about many different issues and things happening in our world today.”