The Danger of a Single Story

After watching Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s famous speech, “The Danger of a Single Story,” 7th Graders gathered in small groups to discuss how Adichie addressed the idea that single narratives for people, or groups of people, are limiting and incomplete. In this Humanities lesson – which dovetails with the social-emotional lessons (SEL) they are engaged in during Advisory – students are learning that a “balance of stories” is necessary in order to form well-rounded opinions about other people, groups, and places. 

Park City Composting Program #1 (Intro to Composting)

Every Monday Unquowa 8th graders are participating in a hands-on environmental educational program with the organization known as Park City Composting. Students will gain an understanding on how to properly compost as well as learn about its beneficial effects; not only is it important for people but the environment too! In the first visit students were able to see the different materials that are compostable, as well as items that aren’t suitable for the compost pile and then we all got a first hand look at soil samples that were the product of composting! Park City Composting even brought an updated tumbler to help properly produce compost which will be incorporated into future seminars, and eventually into the school composting program.

Student Literary and Art Magazine – Pen & Paper, Volume 12

The editorial staff of Pen & Paper is incredibly proud to present the twelfth edition of our student literary and art magazine. As in years past, these published poems, short stories, photographs, and artwork from students in Grades 5-8 are incredible examples of the creativity, passion, and craftsmanship of Unquowa’s Upper School student body. We are so proud to share this with you, and we hope you enjoy this year’s edition, which we have entitled, “How The Light Gets In.” Click Here To View The Full Issue

Unquowazine Volume 4!

View Unquowazine Volume 4 – HERE

It has been such a pleasure working with the Lower School Art and Literary Club members on Unquowazine Volume 4. They have worked tirelessly on various stages of magazine development. This year they have included more original content in the form of book reviews, comics, and a Lower School survey. Together with their staff, Alex, Maxim, and Denny reviewed much of the work themselves. They did an amazing job of being mindful of each student’s work while honoring its authenticity. As their advisors, we guided them and gave them structure and support. Kudos to all of their hard work and dedication! Mrs. Engelke and Mr. Casey.

EMPOWER Field Trip with 5th and 6th Grade

After seeing how much fun and camaraderie the 7th and 8th Grade students have on their annual rafting trip each year, we decided that our 5th and 6th Grade students should have a similar opportunity to cap off a whirlwind first week back to school.

This year, we enlisted the team-building experts at EMPOWER to help us offer the youngest Upper School students at Unquowa an incredible half-day filled with exciting group-based challenges. To set things up, Dan, Destin, and Dylan, our guides and leadership coaches, split everyone into teams and got us warmed up with an interactive, relay version of charades called FFEACH, an acronym for Fast Food, Electrical Appliances, and Cartoon Heroes. That made it easy to figure out a category for charade topics, but the guessing was all up to our actors’ hard work…

Next, 6th Graders were off across the field to play two games in three teams: a large-scale version of the Memory game many of us have played, and another game where students were tasked with getting a golf ball from one end of the field to another using only their wits, some PVC pipe sections, and some tricky footwork!

Meanwhile, our 5th Graders worked on their communication skills as they attempted to cross the field while being connected to one another (via some foam squares) before completing GIANT jigsaw puzzles that were all the same color!

And last but not least, each team had to work together to balance tennis balls on crates as they carried them across the field and oh-so-carefully deposited them in a bucket. 5th and 6th Graders had to work separated at first, but then cheered each other on and were SO excited when their partner teams finished and we all got to eat a well-earned lunch.

Today was a FANTASTIC day for overcoming obstacles, working on communication, and helping one another succeed – and we did it all with the unafraid Unquowa spirit! Huzzah!

Poetry Celebration

On April 24th, Unquowa held its first ever whole school poetry celebration. 7th and 8th graders planned and led a variety of poetry sessions for the rest of the school. Students traveled in small groups and worked collaboratively with students from other grades in each workshop. The goal of this event was to have students be exposed to a variety of poetic forms and devices, including new and fun ways to make poetry. Sessions included “Found Poetry,” “Haiku Station,” “Music and Poetry,” “Spine Poetry” and various listening stations, where students enjoyed classics as well as new voices. We concluded our celebration with an open mic session inviting all students to share their writing. We loved seeing the incredible creativity and fluent delivery of powerful pieces from all grade levels! We hope students have been inspired by this very special day.