Monthly Archives: May 2015

We Had an Informational Lunch!

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Today we had a pizza (and cookie/cupcake/chocolate/soda) lunch for 8th Grade students interested in joining the yearbook (Medallion) and the literary magazine (The Glass Knife) when they return to school next year as Country Day Freshmen.

Students not only got their fill of carbohydrates and sugar, but learned a lot about a couple of our beloved school publications. Jaspreet, Zomonster B., Jacob, and Jenny all shared their experiences with these publications, answered some great questions, and hopefully convinced a few (or all!) of the 8th Grade folks to partake in the litmag and yearbook fun for the 2015-2016 school year.

Last Book Club Before Summer!

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Today we sent out the school year in style with our final book club. There were many lively discussions as the brownies and iced tea were passed around—primarily discussions about strong female characters in literature.

Avi brought up one of the protagonists in the new Mad Max film as a strong female character; Shriya mentioned the Warrior Princess novel having strong lady companions, and Anny said that Alli Carter often writes very strong female characters as well. This led Mrs. Nellis to pose the question: was everyone raised to believe that girls and boys were equal?

The responses varied; some mentioned cousins getting married at 16 or having arranged marriages; some talked about parents struggling with having strong, independent daughters; some had boldly feminist parents; and some parents even used Law and Order: SVU to teach their daughters that they never had to stay in abusive relationships like the ones depicted on the show.

As for the books, Ms. Melinson said she was planning to read some of the Alex Awards books over summer, and others were excited to read books like Game of Thrones and the Mortal Instruments series.

For a complete list of titles recommended during this (and all previous!) book clubs, check out our GoodReads list here.

The Evolution of Matthews Library (with photos!)

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Jmelbaisl

Earlier this week we were delighted to attend a BAISL (Bay Area Independent School Librarians) meeting, hosted at the San Francisco Friends School. Ms. Melinson gave a presentation with Jason Stone (Learning Commons Coordinator at SF Friends School). The topic was all about planning/designing a new library space. And there was candy!

We decided to share the presentation photos, as well as other photos from the remodel of the library here.

Some Really Pretty Photos From Ms. Monahan’s Photography Class

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This was Alexa’s favorite shot of the day because it seemed very “old fashioned.” We agree!
Gabi chose this photo to showcase because it represents more than just the fully-bloomed roses of Spring, but shows the beauty of the fallen rose as well.
Shemar really loved the color combinations in this photo. We agree!
Hannah took this great photo of a charming little duck family. Look at ’em go!
Téa-Carla shared this photo because she loved the composition, the sharp focus, and the contrast of the petals.
Blake chose to take a photo of this beautiful duck because his brother loves them.
Anna nominated this photo because she loved the angle versus the shape of the flower.
Briana loves this photo because the quality is crisp and draws the eye from the edges of the flower to inward. Nice!
Ava’s favorite part of this photo is the focal point of the main flower; also the colors are just gorgeous.
Ava also wanted to share this photo that really captures the spirit of the photography class adventure.

Ms. Monahan’s photography class took a trip to McKinley Park last week to practice their skills in nature photography. We’re delighted to share these awesome photos with you, just try not to get too jealous about their adventures in the beautiful sunshine.

P.S. Be sure to click on each photo to see it in full-size (and with captions!).