Dr. Moreno’s Blog
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From the Middle School Principal, Marilyn Moreno
April 1, 2013
A Busy Winter Trimester
Middle
School students are truly growing in all aspects of their lives at Bullis, and
some of our second trimester activities are great examples: Geography Bee (the
winner advanced to the state level), MS Activity night, a Diversity Conference for
independent schools at Sandy Spring Friends School, a basketball tournament (Bullis
MS won first place), a cross-divisional Festival of Gods Activity in 6th
grade Latin, the phenomenal MS musical “Honk”, Community Day and the District
Choir Festival for 8th grade (receiving a II excellent rating).
Among
all these events, you may ask what Community Day is and how does it help adolescent
growth? Community Day is a day of learning beyond the four walls of the
classroom. It’s a day of surprise when regularly
scheduled classes are replaced with an inspirational speaker, team building
exercises, case study discussions and games. It’s a day devoted to student
reflection of self, community and total acceptance of every middle school
member.
This
year, Community Day began with a surprise breakfast upon arrival to
school. The surprises continued as the
renowned speaker Mawi Asgedom, author of the award-winning book Of Beetles
and Angels joined us. He shared his life story from his birth in Ethiopia, his
life in a refugee camp in Sudan to avoid war to his new life in the United
States at the age of 7 when he had to leave his country behind. In the U.S., Mawi overcame language and
cultural barriers to eventually graduate with top honors and give the
commencement address at Harvard University. He was a guest on Oprah Winfrey’s show, and is considered one of the 100
most inspirational speakers for youth in the United States.
During Mawi’s presentation, three major points
Mawi were stressed:
- Embrace
differences as positives. We are all unique.It is our uniqueness that makes us special and adds to the communities
in which we live.
- Don’t
allow community members to feel invisible. Student leaders are encouraged to reach out to others so all feel welcomed
and included.
- Push
your power button. We all are in control of our actions and efforts.No one can push the power button for you but
you.Once pushed all buttons lead to
success.
As we enter the last trimester of the school year,
the calendar is full of additional activities, academic challenges and
recognitions. Bullis is a great place to be!
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