NEW EDITION – Pen & Paper – Volume 16 – Skies Askew
Posted by Eric SnowDear Unquowa Community,
The next volume of our back-to-back-to-back Gold Crown-winning literary and art magazine, Pen & Paper, is here!
Congratulations to everyone who was published! Please look for your name and work in the table of contents!
Happy reading!
Eric Snow
Pen & Paper Advisor
Matilda Jr!
Posted by Patty CarverPresenting Unquowa’s Spring Musical, 2026, Matilda!
After months of rehearsal and hard work, the 6th, 7th & 8th grade cast and crew delivered an amazing production! Every student involved should be proud. Congratulations to all!
When History Speaks: Meeting a Hiroshima Survivor
Posted by Ariel Warshaw
As a culmination of our 8th grade Humanities unit on World War II, our students had the profound privilege of meeting Mr. Tamiyuki Okahara — a hibakusha (被爆者), or survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima — via Zoom. Mr. Okahara-san generously shared his family’s deeply personal story of survival, and our students responded with thoughtful, heartfelt questions that sparked a rich conversation touching on nuclear deterrence and disarmament.
There are fewer than 100,000 hibakusha still living today. To hear history speak in a living voice — and to bear witness to it together — is a rare and humbling gift. We are so grateful to Mr. Okahara-san for his time, his courage, and his trust in our community.
Holocaust Survivor Endre Sarkany
Posted by Ariel Warshaw
Humanities 7th and 8th grade students and parents had the privilege of hearing from Holocaust survivor Endre Sarkany, whose powerful testimony brought meaningful depth to our courses of study.
Confronting hard history and bearing witness to survivor stories is essential to honoring the promise of “Never Again”. Experiences like this remind us of the vital role honest education plays in helping students understand the past to shape a more just future.
Our Foreign Language Speakers Accolades!
Posted by Carina Blackwell
Each year the Connecticut Council of Language Teachers (CTCOLT) organizes a virtual poetry competition that invites students in grades 7 through 12 from across Connecticut to recite poems via Zoom in the languages they study.
This year, ten students from Unquowa participated, representing Spanish, Mandarin, Portuguese, Hebrew, and Hindi among more than 400 language learners from independent and public schools. Students were assigned age appropriate poems, and teachers provided support to clarify meaning. During each recitation, students presented to a virtual audience and were evaluated on fluency, body language, and comprehension.
We are pleased to announce five Unquowa students placed in the top three across three languages: Sophia – 1st Place Gold, Middle School Heritage, Portuguese; Avery – 1st Place Gold, Middle School Heritage, Hebrew; Maxim – 2nd Place Silver, Middle School Level 2, Mandarin; William- 2nd Place Silver, Middle School Heritage, Portuguese; and Salma – 3rd Place Bronze, Middle School Heritage, Spanish. Congratulations to all participants for their dedication and excellent work. We are so proud and impressed of their success!
Voices of the Future: The 8th Grade Speech Showcase
Posted by Eric SnowIt’s been a marathon year for our eighth graders, but they’ve officially crossed one particular finish line with eloquence, courage, and a whole lot of heart. Their capstone speeches create a vibrant mosaic of unique perspectives, personal passions, and the hard-earned wisdom. From poignant reflections to witty insights, these community-wide missives capture important moments in their individual journeys as they prepare to take the next step into high school. The best part? Each of these is what a particular student wanted to share with the entire Unquowa community.
As we did each week this year in Assembly, we invite you to quiet down, turn up the volume, and pay attention with your ears and your heart to these brilliant (and funny) students as share. As always, the full showcase is hosted on Vimeo.
