MSN and MSS eighth grade orchestras put on a truly splendid performance Nov. 21 at the Vernon Hills High School Eighth Grade Orchestra Festival! Former VHHS Orchestra Director, Frank Lestina, was featured as a guest conductor and led the students through impressive pieces, such as Symphony No. 5 by Schubert. Thank you so much to Samantha May and Jennifer Greenwell for their hard work and for making this possible!

Eighth grade students at Middle School South went on a VR trip to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum today via the Google Expeditions app. Students were able to see a wide assortment of areas, including the Memorial Hall, the Center Passage, Foundation Hall, the “In Memoriam” Wall, and the three part September 11, 2001 Exhibit. The Google Viewers were made possible through a grant from the Key to 73 Foundation.

Cook Library District recently announced the winners of the 13^th Annual Creative Writing Contest. This year the contest had over 150 entries. Winning students and their families will attend a special event at the Aspen Drive Library to receive their certificates and copies of the library’s 10^th edition of a journal with the winning entries. The winning students at Hawthorn Middle School South are as follows:

Colette K.: Aeternum
Orlando J.: Virginia, My New Home
Tyler P.: Five Minutes
Clara S.: The Sound of a New World
Aanya G.: A Second Chance for Humankind

Monday was a dress rehearsal for Middle School South’s production of “Getting to Know…Oklahoma”. Everyone helped each other as the performers put on makeup and got their hair in the right style. It was all smiles as students brought their characters to life on stage.

Directed by Samantha May, Middle School South’s sixth-grade orchestra practiced several pieces including the exhilarating piece, “Crystal Moon”. They sounded great. They will perform at the Middle School South Open House on May 16.

During Friday’s Advisory, students at Middle School South participated in different activities across grade levels to build self management skills.  Sixth grade discussed how social media affects their daily lives and worked on strategies to connect with others in safe and appropriate ways.   Seventh grade discussed peer pressure and demonstrated strategies on how to resist it through role playing activities.  Eighth grade watched Vernon Hills High School VIP (Voices in Prevention) students perform skits that addressed common problems that arise in high school.  Students were also able to ask questions related to transitioning to high school at the end of the presentation.