Mario Kart Tournament

Last Wednesday, the OLS Student Ambassadors sponsored a unique fundraiser for the missions: a Mario Kart Tournament. It was a huge success! (For our non-video game readers, Mario Kart is a series of go-kart-style racing video games created by Nintendo.)

The 5th-8th grade students were invited to form teams of four and enter the contest for a small fee. Four teams competed against each other, and the races were closely contested.  The winners of Wednesday's tournament were Clayton, Amy, Connor and Dylan. All the gamers gave the event two thumbs up!

Kudos to Ambassadors Vincent, Jack, George, and Ben who spearheaded this activity and did all of the organizing and planning.

Building Bridges

In fourth grade, the students were given a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) challenge to build a bridge.  The class discussed the elements of bridges and studied some examples.  After their discussion, they were given the criteria and materials to build their own bridge.  They worked in groups and followed the steps of the design process: Imagine, Design and Draw, Create and Build, Test and Improve.  It looks like we have some engineers in the making!

STEM Family Night

On Tuesday evening, OLS students and their families gathered for a STEM night.  STEM studies, which refer to science, technology, engineering, and math subject areas, are a key component of the OLS curriculum.  This family-centered STEM activity allowed parents to see the hands-on approach favored by our faculty and gave families a chance to try their hands at some STEM challenges.

An engaging event for all who attended, we'd like to thank our faculty and Mrs. Gieseke and Dr. Wicks of the STEM Trackers Program who made the evening possible!

Hands-On Science: Pig Hearts

Mrs. Sitner's visit to OLS.

Last week, the 7th and 8th graders took a field trip to St. Louis University for a hands-on lesson on the heart.  To prepare for their trip, Mrs. Sitner, an OLS parent and heart transplant coordinator RN, presented a detailed lesson on the structures of the human heart.  The students learned a great deal from Mrs. Sitner and then applied her lesson to the pig hearts they dissected at SLU.

Working in the lab at St. Louis University.

The SLU trip was hosted by their AIMS program: Adventures in Medicine and Science.  Through this program, OLS students saw the structures of a pig heart firsthand.  The SLU instructors guided them through the dissection process and informed them of the similarities between the pig heart and the human heart.

It was a tremendous day and an experience that the students will not soon forget.  Thank you to Mrs. Sitner, the OLS junior high faculty, and St. Louis University for making this lesson and trip possible!

Jan Brett Month

During the months of December and January, Mrs. Hodgson's class studied beloved children's author and illustrator, Jan Brett. In addition to the stories in their reader, they also read many Jan Brett books including her most famous book, The Mitten, The Wild Christmas Reindeer, Hedgie's Surprise, and many more.

As part of their studies, the students watched a program on their Smartboard where they got to see Jan Brett.  She told about her life, how she came to be an artist and author, and she even showed them how to draw a hedgehog, her favorite animal. (There is almost always a hedgehog in Jan Brett's stories!) The first graders tried their hand at writing a story and making a hedgehog.  Soon the students will read their original stories to another class!

A Day in 8th Grade

Social hour: the 8th graders take a break from their studies to enjoy lunch together.

Follow an OLS eighth grader for a day, and you will find them working in small groups in science, playing in the school band, studying and researching independently in the computer lab, performing various jobs throughout the school, and socializing as a large group at lunch.  These students lead the rest of the student body by their example, and what a fine example they provide!

Superhero Stories

 In English class, the sixth graders have been working on a creative writing assignment.  They've been charged with the task of creating a story about superheroes.  Last week, they headed to the computer lab to get their creative juices flowing.

Stay tuned: we'll post an excerpt or two from the stories when they are completed later this quarter!

Primary Math

Mrs. McGrath shows her primary math groups that numbers can be fun!  After a week of hard work, her first, second, and third graders often celebrate on Friday by playing math games on the SmartBoard.

Eagerly waiting their turn at the SmartBoard.

Daily Sentence Editing

The 4th grade students have been working very hard on their grammar and punctuation skills by using Daily Sentence Editing.  The students compose sentences that are incorrectly written on the SMARTboard and then write them correctly in their notebooks. Volunteers go to the SMARTboard to "fix" the sentences.

Putting technology to work: students edit sentences on the SmartBoard.