WE'RE OFF! (...in more ways than one...)

As I’m sure you’ve heard, we’re in the midst of that creative chaos known as “The Production!” In its initial stages, the brainstorming sessions and collaborative interactions that kick off our third term focus of envisioning and then realizing our very own full-length feature film are happily messy. The girls necessarily call upon all of the team-building expertise that they honed in their M2M crews as they come together as “Team 8th Grade” to craft a concept for their video’s theme – one that they each feel they can live with for the next ten weeks! This year the general theme or the “umbrella” as we call it came together in record time: some forty-five minutes (as compared to three to ten days!) The brainstorming sessions so far have spawned some rather grandiose – might I say “high flying” ideas! We’re still at the “dreaming the video” stage, but will hopefully begin to settle in to “what does it take to make this happe”n stage soon which will tether us somewhat!

To that end, we’ve begun to examine the fundamentals of screenwriting, using William Peck’s short story “Pricilla and the Wimps” as our practice platform. (Be sure to ask your 8th grader to share this two-page piece of literary cleverness with you if you’re not familiar with the story.) Once we’ve all mastered the general screenwriting format, we’ll dive into writing the various vignettes as well as over-arching theme that will ultimately become our Production.

While I’m sure that the girls would love nothing more than Production 24/7 (as they’re apt to put it)…we have successfully maintained a modicum of routine. WOD remains ubiquitous, as do the GAOC weekly submissions, if not the oral reports. 8th graders continue to work on their “The Mission Continues” / Women’s History packets as well, reading and analyzing literature, viewing and critiquing film, seeking out engaging spoken word pieces, sharing moving music, and finally writing a reflection on a woman’s quote that particularly resonates with them – all pertaining to some aspect of women’s experience. (My favorite quote would have to be Rebecca West’s : “I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.”) Due date: Monday, April 2nd. We’re progressing with our Grand Engineering Challenge essay as well; the girls have honed their twenty-five ideas down to five, which they further explored through five descriptive paragraphs. From there they chose two which they feel they could actually formulate, and now they’re researching these two to determine what exactly has been done in the given field before selecting one to actually elaborate.

Finally, on Friday of last week a dedicated team of eleven girls, cheered on by the rest of the class, successfully completed this year’s SGS yearbook and electronically submitted it for publication! This was no small feat, given the sporadic tech issues that plagued their progress and the complete lack of any tangible adult assistance or intervention! I think you’ll be impressed with their final product.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE: Kudos to all 8th graders and especially our inspired/inspiring Art teacher/mentor, Trina Smith, on a very impressive Art Show. The creative product, not to mention organic process that Trina awakens in her students never ceases to amaze and impress me. Our girls literally become artists under Trina’s tutelage. Brava!!