CSN VEX Robotics Teams Compete at RoboSlam 

On Saturday, January 27, a group of 22 Upper, Middle and Lower School students traveled to Miami to compete at the invitation-only VEX RoboSlam Tournament with 100+ robots.  Ten US students were part of the group. Team 94X (Michael Foiani ‘19, Neo Yu ’20, and Jack Carlsen ‘20) advanced to the quarterfinal round, and Team 94W (Jordan Hochman ‘21) advanced to the semifinals. Jordan’s 7th place alliance amazingly defeated the 2nd place alliance in an exciting match up! This win advanced his robot to the semifinal round, finishing in the top 15 of 60 robots. Congratulations Jordan! 

Ten MS students also battled it out in qualification matches.  Congratulations to Team 94A (Jonah Findlay McDougall ’23 and Lucan Keyser ‘23) who made it to the finals, finishing the day in 10th place overall (of 50 robots).  Great job Team 94A!

From the LS, Emily Kaplan ’25 and Lucas Barakett ‘25, on robot 94E, finished 6th place overall against over 30 robots.   Congratulations to Team 94E!

Buddy Day

CSN fifth graders were assigned an activity on Tuesday in which they received a visually interesting picture, and with their ninth grade buddies had to collaboratively work on a story using the picture as inspiration.  This was their second Buddy Day of the school year.  Their first meeting was just an introduction, when the students interviewed each other with a list of questions, such as “If you could be any animal what would you choose and why?”   

CSN Buddy Day takes place four times a year, when each LS student, PreK3-5, is paired with a student from the US (grades 9-12).  The LS students eagerly anticipate meeting with their US buddies as they have someone to look up to and emulate. These days help eliminate the “mysterious” nature of the US for the younger students and allow them to see the commonalities between them and their older buddies.  Buddy Days are especially meaningful this year as the school theme is “community.”  The activities allow even the youngest children to participate in a whole-school project.

CSN's Buddy Day tradition goes back to 1997 when then Student Council President Emily Doyle ’99 felt that having all grades on one campus was something to celebrate. US students often saw the LS students walking around campus, on the playground, and sometimes at sporting events (the campus was so much smaller then).  It made their day when they saw someone they knew (i.e. a sibling, someone they babysat for, etc.).  From that, the idea was born to join the two ages together for activities during the school day. 

In addition to having the US students serve as role models for the younger ones, the idea was also to provide each US student with some kind of “leadership” practice.   Over the years we have seen that many of the US students enjoyed the experience as much, if not more than the younger students!  It’s fun to have the current US students who have been at CSN since the younger grades serve as the older buddies now.

Eighth Grade Pathfinders Trip

Last week, eighth graders spent three days at Pathfinders learning how to make positive choices and work together as a group. They completed the high ropes course, learned how to make a fire in the woods and use it to boil water, and went canoeing down the Alafia River. A great couple of days with a great group of kids!

ESTEEM

Fifteen of the members of the US ESTEEM team participated in the Science Olympiad at Florida Southwestern University on January 20. The ESTEEM team is dedicated to Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering, Essays, and Mathematics. This was only the club’s second time participating in the Southwest Florida Regional qualifier, and despite its infancy, the CSN ESTEEM team was awarded second place overall and an opportunity to continue on to the state level! The participating students were Jack Ciabaton ’18, Davis Elder ’18, Leaf Kalikow ’18, Eli Melnick ’18, Sophia Cabellon ’19, Stephen Casey ’19, Anabella Maria Galang ’19, Sebastian Haedelt ’19, Cameron Hochman ’19, Harrison Rogers ’20, Savannah Zettler ’19, Ashley Cruz ’20, Jordan Hochman ’20, Gabriella On-Cuen ’20, and Bradley Verhelle ’20. The events assessed students’ understanding of scientific topics through tests ranging from Anatomy and Physiology to Rocks and Minerals. Additionally, events like Hovercraft and Towers tested the students’ abilities to engineer solutions to presented problems. 

Numerous CSN teams earned gold, silver and bronze medals:

Gold medals were awarded to teams for Astronomy (Jack Ciabaton and Eli Melnick), Herpetology (Harrison Rogers and Davis Elder), and Material Science (Sophia Cabellon and Jack Ciabaton).

Silver medals were awarded to teams for Anatomy and Physiology (Anabella Maria Galang and Savannah Zettler), Hovercraft (Jordan Hochman and Cameron Hochman), and Write It Do It (Ashley Cruz and Brad Verhelle).

Bronze medals were awarded to teams for Chemistry Lab (Eli Melnick and Leaf Kalikow), Microbe Mission (Anabella Maria Galang, Leaf Kalikow, and Savannah Zettler), Optics (Sophia Cabellon and Stephen Casey), and Rocks and Minerals (Jack Ciabaton and Davis Elder). 

The ESTEEM team looks forward to competing at the Florida State Science Olympiad at the University of Central Florida in March.  (Written by Anabella Galang ’19)

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Junior Science, Engineering, and Humanities Symposium (JSEHS)

Twelve US students recently had the incredible opportunity to travel to the University of Florida at Gainesville, chaperoned by Ms. Serrin Boys and Mr. Brooks Fleming. Over the course of three days, the students were exposed to an elevated level of research on everything from quantum mechanics to contaminated water to autism in developing countries. They attended specialized labs in the fields of computer science, microbiology, and anthropology to name a few; asked thoughtful questions to poster presenters; heard from a wind engineer, and made unforgettable memories that will remain a pivotal experience of their high school career. The symposium showcased the amount of dedication and energy that goes into such outstanding research exhibitions. The students returned to CSN excited about surpassing their own research expectations in the years to come!  (Written by Ashley Cruz ’20)

Gong Xi Fa Chai!

On February 6, the students in the US Orchestra and the Chinese program presented to US and MS students and faculty a fantastic cultural performance to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Anabella Maria Galang ‘19, John Neumann ‘19, Mitchell Verhelle ‘20 and Siena Worland ‘22 hosted the program. A rich variety of Chinese culture, including traditional folk songs, popular songs, Beijing Opera and Tai Chi Kungfu fan dance, was offered. The response from the audience was tremendous! We are so proud of these students and their fantastic performance. Hao ji le!

Photo and Video Credits: Dr. Ken Galang (Anabella '19)

The Academic Quiz Team Rolls! 

CSN’s Academic Quiz Team, the reigning A-Team Challenge champions, took another step toward becoming repeat champions! Our quiz students were much stronger for our competitors from FSW Charlotte. After two rounds FSW scored just 50 points to CSN’s 270. This match had a strong focus on history, geography, and current events, which allowed our two social studies specialists Captain John Neumann ’19 and Thomas Kralik ’21 to lead the way with 90 and 80 points respectively. Science and math specialist Jack Ciabaton ’18, and literature and classical music specialist Bridget Denzer ‘19 each scored 50 points. Alternate Sebastian Haedelt ’19 helped in the exciting 60-second lightning round, which made the final score 310-70. As we get deeper into the tournament the level of competition will heat up. Let’s hope our Quiz Team can take the next match against a strong team from Charlotte HS!   

Writers Week: February 12-16

Writers Week 2018, sponsored by the English Department and the Conch Chapter of the National English Honor Society, will spotlight the creative written work of CSN students in the Middle and Upper Schools, and will emphasize the central importance of clearly written communication. The week-long celebration of the written word begins Monday with the CSN Faculty Writers Forum, and ends on Friday with our Open Mic Day, which is an opportunity for students to read their poems, essays, stories, and speeches to their classmates. In between these bookend events are the Poetry Out Loud finals, a songwriting workshop (led by the Wordsmiths Writing Club), the Conch Storytelling Contest, and our sidewalk chalk event.  Special guest include Mr. Richard LeBer, the CEO of Harry Chapin Food Bank; Ed Grace, an aerospace engineer who worked on the Apollo Space Program; Cristela Guerra, a reporter with the Boston Globe; and Jeremy Price (CSN 2011), a New York City-based writer for Heleo and a number of online forums.   

The LS is also celebrating Writers Week, and will be welcoming three authors to campus. All of the visiting authors had books nominated for last year’s LS Lawrence Sipe Award: Ruth Chan “Where’s the Party,” Tom Sullivan “I Used To Be a Fish,” and Heidi Schulz “Giraffe’s Ruin Everything.” LS students will participate in writing workshop sessions with the authors and also enjoy presentations on becoming an author and learning the art of illustration.  

US String Orchestra "Live for Music" Project

On February 9th, our Upper School Strings students went to perform at Physicians Regional Collier as part of an ongoing series for the Live for Music project, founded by CSN's own Bridget Denzer ('19). In the wake of many studies indicating the benefit of music for people going through adverse times, Live for Music seeks out hospices around the area and arranges for these students to go perform for the patients in an effort to lift spirits and provide a creative ambiance. 

Ms. Si-Cheng Liu, the teacher for the US Strings class, could not be prouder of these students' great work and amazing hearts, and the amount of effort they have put into this mission. They are amazing human beings and represent the hopeful future of our community.

Renowned Author Rosalind Wiseman to Speak at CSN

Poetry Out Loud Finals

On Tuesday, the US kicked off Writers Week with the Poetry Out Loud finals. Each English class held competitions in mid-January, from which 40 semifinalists were chosen.  The finalists then had to recite their poems again for a panel of judges from the English Department. From there, 14 finalists emerged. Those students then had two weeks to memorize and present a second poem.

• The school Champion, Bridget Denzer '19 - "Mr. Darcy" by Victoria Chang & "Virtuosi" by Lisel Mueller
• Runner-up, Jack Ciabaton '18 -“Harold and the Purple Crayon” by D. Gilson & “Song of Myself: 35” by Walt Whitman
• 3rd place, Leaf Kalikow '18 - "Cartoon Physics, part 1" by Nick Flynn & "Another Feeling" by Ruth Stone

Jack Ciabaton will represent CSN at the State Poetry Out Loud Championship in Tampa, FL on March 10th. Congratulations to the winners and Ms. Kasye Beza who successfully lead the Poetry Out Loud contest.

AQT at Johns Hopkins University Winter Quizbowl

CSN’s Academic Quiz Team recently attended a major quiz tournament at Johns Hopkins University. Our two teams represented CSN very well. There were 22 top teams from Maryland alone, which is a hotbed of nationally ranked quiz teams. CSN’s two teams each went 4-1 in the preliminary round. That placed them both in the top playoff bracket! By the end of the tournament, CSN-A Team finished in 5^th place, while the B Team finished in 8^th place.  The only losses suffered by the A-Team were from teams currently ranked 9^th, 10^th, 35^th and 38^th in the nation!  You can be assured that the teams in Maryland know now that CSN has quiz teams to be reckoned with. Bridget Denzer ‘19 captained our A-Team, with teammates John Neumann ’19, Jack Ciabaton ’18, and Graham Murphey ’20. The B Team captain, Gabriella On-Cuen ’20, was joined by her teammates Thomas Kralik ’21, Leaf Kalikow, ’18, and Bradley Verhelle ’20.

Renowned Author Rosalind Wiseman to Speak at CSN

Writers Week 2018

This past week, the whole school participated in CSN’s annual Writers Week.  The LS celebrated all week, beginning on Monday with Ruth Chan, author and illustrator of Where’s The Party and Georgie’s Best Bad Day, who spoke to students about how she switched careers from being a Wellesley and Harvard educated teacher to a full-time illustrator and author.  She showed them her illustrations and talked about the importance of practice and perseverance when writing.  Her books are based on her own pets, Georgie and Feta.  

On Tuesday, Tom Sullivan, author of Blue vs. Yellow and I Used to be a Fish, showed our LS students how he made his illustrations using the process of layering.  Mr. Sullivan also demonstrated how to transform simple shapes into characters by giving them life-like characteristics, like hands and faces, which then became the main characters in short stories that he wrote with the students.  On Wednesday, classes participated in a Drop Everything and Write activity.  Then on Thursday, students from kindergarten to fifth grade attended our Open Mic, which allowed students the opportunity to share their favorite writing pieces.  

Finally, author Heidi Schulz wrapped up Writers Week LS activities on Friday.  Students loved her writing workshop where they were given a piece of chocolate to learn how to use all of their senses when writing stories.  All students had the opportunity to have books signed by each author, a great way to remember this memorable week. 

From plays to short stories to poetry, MS students spent Writers Week immersed in words.  Each grade level worked on different types of writing activities in English classes throughout the week. For example, Mr. Lindner’s sixth graders had the opportunity to write, rehearse, and perform an original play all in one class period.  Mrs. Coleman’s seventh graders flexed their creative writing muscles through writing varied-perspective short stories and poems.  Dr. Beagle’s eighth graders produced a gallery of visual literacy projects which combined imagery and words, such as mind-maps and paintings with poetry.  

On Tuesday, the US kicked off Writers Week with the Poetry Out Loud finals.  Each English class had held competitions in mid-January, from which 40 semifinalists were chosen.  The finalists then had to recite their poems again for a panel of judges from the English Department. From there, 14 finalists emerged. Those students then had two weeks to memorize and present a second poem.

• The school Champion, Bridget Denzer '19 - "Mr. Darcy" by Victoria Chang & "Virtuosi" by Lisel Mueller
• Runner-up, Jack Ciabaton '18 -“Harold and the Purple Crayon” by D. Gilson & “Song of Myself: 35” by Walt Whitman
• 3rd place, Leaf Kalikow '18 - "Cartoon Physics, part 1" by Nick Flynn & "Another Feeling" by Ruth Stone

Jack Ciabaton will represent CSN at the State Poetry Out Loud Championship in Tampa, FL on March 10th. 

The US also hosted several guests during the week, beginning on Tuesday with Richard LeBer, the President and CEO of the Harry Chapin Food Bank, who focused his presentation on the importance of clear written communication using the Food Bank's mission statement to illustrate his point.  After talking about how the leadership team at Harry Chapin crafted their new mission, Mr. LeBer then put students to work by asking them to draft their own mission statements for known not-for-profit organizations in Southwest Florida.  Students volunteered to share their missions, which Mr. LeBer and the rest of the students analyzed for strengths and opportunities for improvement.  This fun, practical activity demonstrated the relevance of every English teacher's expression--"Every Word Counts"--in a real-world context.  

Naples resident Ed Grace spoke with MS and US students all day on Wednesday.  He recounted his experiences as a recent college graduate and MIT engineer involved with the design of the Inertial Navigation System used for Command and Lunar Modules on all Apollo missions.  With the aid of his presentation, Mr. Grace illustrated the concept of using the earth’s, moon’s and sun’s orbits like a constantly moving roadmap in space.  Mr. Grace gave our students a first-hand, behind-the-scene look at Houston Mission Control for the Apollo 13 flight, the mission during which NASA had to devise a strategy to return the astronauts to earth safely after their spacecraft suffered massive internal damage.  

In anticipation of the visit from Ed Grace, several eighth grade students had produced a multi-media presentation to inform MS students about the history of the Apollo program and the Apollo 13 mission.  Brent Bartholomew, Alaina Bellamy, Katherine Carr, Charlie Davis, Brian Moes, and Evan Perry completed the research and developed informative slides on the information.  For the opening slide of the presentation, Ella Hollingsworth painted a symbolic representation of the meaning behind the mission: the koi stands for perseverance, the fluorite crystal stands for protection, and the gears within the fish’s design stand for teamwork.  Lauren DeHaan developed a related team-building activity that students completed with their advisory groups.  After Mr. Grace’s presentation at Wednesday’s MS assembly, Dr. Beagle invited those students involved to meet Mr. Grace and share a little about their project.

During a break in the day, MS and US students participated in “Sidewalk Chalk,” writing love poems for Valentine’s Day on large sheets of paper stretching clear across the campus from the LS flagpole to the Student Union! 

On Thursday, blogger Jeremy Price (CSN ’12) and Cristela Guerra, a journalist with the Boston Globe, visited US English classes throughout the day.  During their sessions, Mr. Price and Ms. Guerra interacted with each other and the students, discussing the similarities and differences between digital and print media.  They talked about the importance of finding a “voice” through which the writer is most comfortable so that their storytelling flows unhindered. While the voice in digital media is somewhat laid-back, print media is only slowly changing toward being less formal.  Ms. Guerra predicted that in the coming few years, all media will be digital, and newspaper journalists will have to adopt a more casual tone in their writing.

Also on Thursday were the finals of the “Conch Storytelling” contest.  All US students had written short stories over the past several weeks, and three finalists were chosen by the English Department faculty to read theirs out loud.  Loren Brown ’21 was the winner, with Bridget Denzer '19 and Brad Verhelle ’20 as the other two finalists.  Congratulations to all three budding writers!

Writers Week wrapped up on Friday for the MS and US with Open Mic sessions held in various locations.  LS students had already enjoyed their Open Mic readings on Thursday in the Shea Amphitheater.  It was a week packed with exciting events and opportunities for the whole school! 

Renowned Author Rosalind Wiseman to Speak at CSN

You may purchase Ms. Wiseman’s books prior to the event. They are Masterminds and Wingmen: Helping Our Boys Cope with Schoolyard Power, Locker-Room Tests, Girlfriends, and the New Rules of Boy World; and Queen Bees and Wannabes, 3rd Edition: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boys, and the New Realities of Girl World.  Please click on the button below to order your books in advance. Purchased books will be available for pick up in the library after February 28 and autographing after the event. 

 The Academic Quiz Team Marches On 

CSN’s Academic Quiz Team recently played two matches as they march forth in the hopes of being repeat A-Team Challenge champions. The Seahawks first faced off against Charlotte HS, but the competition was no match for our quiz kids. With each question worth ten points, CSN led 120-20 after the first round. In the second round our team poured it on, finishing up 260-20. The match finished with the 60-second Lightening Round, where alternates Gabriella On-Cuen ’20 and Sebastian Haedelt ’19 helped secure the victory with a final score of CSN 310, Charlotte 90. The long-time coach of the Charlotte team told the CSN coach Mr. Harvey that CSN’s team was the best quiz team he had ever seen, and thanked our students for their great sportsmanship. This match had more science and history questions than the norm, allowing our science specialist Jack Ciabaton ‘18 to star with 120 points, followed by John Neumann ’19 with 70 and Thomas Kralik ’21 with 50. The team is captained Bridget Denzer ’19.

Just a few days later our quiz kids played in a quarterfinal match versus Golden Gate HS. As we get deeper into the tournament the competition gets tougher, but again our quiz team stars were not to be stopped! The first round score had CSN ahead 110-50. This score was the closest round we had this year! The team realized they had to put this match away, and by the end of the second round CSN was ahead 280-50. The final score was 330-90. Jack was again the high scorer followed by Captain Bridget, Thomas, and in his first start, Sebastian. Gabriella starred in the Lightening Round. The team will now compete in the semifinals with the next match against Palmetto Ridge, perhaps the strongest team in the tournament. If the CSN team is victorious it will play in the finals for the Championship. Stay tuned!

CSN Students in the UN

Diane Medina Batista '20, Adora Terezi '19, Elyse Yun '19, Sebastian Askar '20, Gargi Shukla '20, Ryan Toth '20, and Sam Goodwich '20, accompanied by Ms. Herting and Dr. Watson, went to New York this week to participate in the 2018 UNIS-UN conference. These students were chosen for their interest in politics or are participating in CSN's Global Scholars program.

The first ever UNIS-UN conference was held in 1977 and was attended by approximately 70-80 seniors from the United Nations International School (UNIS). As one of the student founders explained: "We were all the children of people from the United Nations, yet we knew so little about what it did and what issues it faced." Their mission today is to provide an educational and intellectual experience for international student peers while promoting globalism and cross-cultural exchange.

Preparations for the conference begin a year in advance and include: finding and researching a contemporary global issue; selecting and inviting speakers; and inviting several hundred students from national and international schools around the world, including CSN. 

This year’s conference topic was “Under CTRL: Technology, Innovation and the Future of Work.” The students explored innovations and their possible social and political implications. They investigated how our increasing use of technology may also be a risk to our privacy, and the profound social and political effects the rapid rise in automation may have on future generations of workers. These issues will have the greatest impact on our students’ future, and therefore it is critical that they develop a deeper understanding of these issues and how to address them properly.

CSN Wins 2nd Place in FL State Robotics Competition

On Sunday, February 18th, CSN MS robots battled it out at Florida's biggest robotics competition, the Florida State VEX Robotics Championship. Eighth grade EDR-League robots (94M and 94N) were represented by Lucca Gaddini, Corbin Kukk, Gabs Katz, Ben Ouaou, Ben Heidel, Max Myers, and Anadi Shukla. Sixth grade IQ-League robot 94D was represented by Austin Zimm and Megan Headrick. 

Congratulations to robots 94M and 94N, finishing the qualifying matches in 3rd and 4th places respectively, among the best of Florida's middle school teams. Both robots advanced to the exciting final rounds where 94N finished in 2nd place in the state, earning the "Tournament Finalists” trophy. Way to go CSN Robotics!

Special Olympians

Over Winter Break, 21 CSN US students worked with Special Olympics athletes on our campus. Activities included cycling, soccer, and various track and field sports.  The event was sponsored by Key Club after being introduced to them by Mike Binkowski ’20, and many other US students participated as volunteers. We hope to invite these Special Olympians back to our campus sometime soon for another event!

Moving Forward with Retreats

On Tuesday of this week, the freshman class and select senior leaders participated in Youth Frontier's day-long Respect Retreat in the Moe Kent Family Field House. They joined in team-building exercises designed to get the students to step out of their comfort zone and collaborate in a respectful manner. The purpose was to help the students feel empowered to respect themselves and stand up for the values that are integral to the school. 

Wednesday was the seventh grade Courage Retreat, led by members of the junior class. Students spent the day participating in different group exercises designed to empower the kids to be themselves, and to take positive risks that make a healthy difference for themselves, their peers and their school. The day ended in a fierce game of dodgeball, pitting the seventh graders against their eleventh grade facilitators. 

Fourth grade students spent Thursday with sophomore leaders in a Kindness Retreat. The students learned how to be "everyday heroes" by using kindness as a tool to include others, and to create a positive school environment. 

Each set of students ended their day sharing experiences and ideas about their respective retreats. According to Youth Frontiers’ website, “After the Respect Retreat, students show more respect for others who may not share their views,” “Students reported a reduction in bullying after the Courage Retreat,” and “After the Kindness Retreat, fourth graders are more confident to help someone who is being picked on.”