Dear Bancroft Friends, As I walk across campus, I see our students crafting experiments and embracing experiences in learning. From PreK to Grade 12, we are all working to learn with one another. This symbiotic relationship can be seen most clearly as our students and teachers move fluidly between the roles of performer and audience member -- and benefitting as active participants in both roles. With this dynamic, our students and our faculty are able to give and receive feedback and ultimately grow as learners and as active citizens. At Bancroft, these authentic audiences can be found in both the large and small moments. For the Upper School Robodogs and Speech Team, the audience is clearly defined during their competitions. Yet the larger, conspicuous success these teams earn at competitions is a direct result of the smaller moments and audiences -- during practices and rehearsals as they challenge and encourage each other. For the 8th grade play, this audience sits prominently in the seats of our Harrington Theater, but the long hours of rehearsal, set-building and running lines in the back rooms of the theater provide critical time for feedback from an audience of follow students and teachers. For the Lower School, our families were the audience at a recent Friday Share, where students shared and practiced the value of kindness. But during the hours, days, and weeks after, students found smaller audiences to practice their compassion at lunch tables, in classrooms and on the athletic fields. Through these moments, our students are able to see their impact beyond their classroom -- all sparked from interacting with authentic audiences developed in our learning laboratory. Over the coming weeks, our community has many more opportunities to join those audiences. For the second installment of our partnership with our friends at Cinema-Worcester, our students have been behind the scenes creating promotional posters and videos. This event will showcase the documentary Maiden, the story of Tracy Edwards' fight for the first ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World race in 1989. The film will be shown in our Harrington Theater tonight, and you can find more information and secure tickets here. As we look back over our first few months of school, it is clear we have much to be thankful for, and I am particularly grateful for your support for our community each and every day. Best, Trey Cassidy Head of School At Bancroft, students strive to redefine what success and failure mean to them -- occasionally pushing back on traditional definitions. A couple weekends ago, however, the Robodogs and Speechies achieved success by pretty much any definition, with absolutely impressive results. Specifically, the Robodogs and Speech Team each faced tough competition at the Framingham VEX qualifying event and the Gracia Burkhill Memorial Tournament, respectively. As a collective and as individuals, both of these powerhouses took home victories in various categories -- from Programmed Oral Interpretation to programming robots. The Robodogs picked up right where they left off last year with a dominant performance capturing the Tournament Finalist Award and qualifying both Team 2442-A and Team 2442-B for the Southern New England Regionals. Team 2442-B took home the coveted VEX Excellence Award for having the best robot at the event for the 2nd consecutive tournament. "I'm really excited both by the number of first time members who decided to join this year and by my more experienced team. They came into this year with defined goals, and they are reaching those goals -- and even reaching beyond those goals," reflects Elisa Heinricher, the coach of the Robodogs. "But at the same time, they're very collaborative -- everyone is. They help each other and they work together," she adds. The Speechies didn't show any signs of rust as they took home 4 awards, including a 1st place finish in Programmed Oral Interpretation for senior Chloe Selavka. "This year the speech team has grown in size and scope, driven by our large number of new members who joined the team this year (almost 40%). Our three captains, Chloe Selavka, Aryan Chaudhary, and Ayah Yusuf, have been busy helping them prepare as well as guiding the novices through the tournament day during competitions," coaches Pam and Chris Sheldon comment. "Our hope for this year is to help more students get qualified for national tournaments and for all students to succeed in finding their voice and growing more confident -- our favorite part of speech." We can't wait to see what these teams accomplish next! What Do the Art of NFL Helmets, Circus Arts, and Photojournalism All Have in Common? Answer: they were all options Middle School students could participate in during Arts Day! Throughout the day, students had 16 incredible and varied choices from which to select, and two different workshops to explore their interests. The Middle Schoolers customized and owned their learning as they picked activities they are passionate about -- whether that was knitting, comic books, or ukulele. Between workshops, the entire division gathered for an African drumming performance by Crocodile River Music, a group that performs and shares African music, art and dance. Their lively and impressive performance got the students up and out of their seats -- and even dancing (no small feat for Middle Schoolers!). The positive feedback from the students was overwhelming; students loved their energy, instruments, and creativity. In response to what he liked about the performance, one student even proclaimed, "Everything. I would pay any amount of money to see them again." In the afternoon, students participated in a variety of community service projects in and around our community. After a day revolving around choice, creativity, and learning, it's safe to say that Arts Day had a successful inaugural year -- and Abby Church, who coordinated the event, can already see its impact. "I am so impressed with the enthusiasm of the students and already see the ways our Arts morning is impacting our Middle School Clubs program," she comments. "I was happy to see the community inspired, coming together to create beautiful art and to help others." IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE! IT'S ARTHUR.... More specifically, it's an anthropomorphic gallery pedestal -- Arthur -- zooming into a Friday Share on a remote-controlled electric skateboard. Arthur visited the Lower School with the help of Cory Shepherd, Lower School Art Teacher, to help these students understand that sharing and kindness are central to Art. Each student was then given their own miniature Arthur -- complete with a smaller version of Arthur's giant googly eye! The students then decorated their Arthurs with words of kindness and different ways they could be kind to one another. This exercise represents a continuation of the Lower School's work on World Kindness Day, but Beth Beckmann, Head of the Lower and Middle Schools, is clear that kindness isn't just relegated to its national holiday. "One of the most important things we emphasize is kindness -- kindness to yourself, to others and to our environment. Our kindness initiatives take many forms in the Lower School," Beckmann reflects. And quite literally, the Lower School kindness initiatives take many forms -- from planting tulip bulbs to beautify the campus, to hanging paper chains decorated with words of kindness around the Lower School, to an anthropomorphic gallery pedestal. Thrilling victories, heartbreaking losses, injuries, obstacles, and memories. Just like that, the Fall sports season is in the books and came to a formal close at the annual awards ceremony on Monday, November 18th. The Bulldogs fought valiantly all season and represented Bancroft with dignity and class. Below are the team award winners for the 2019 Fall Sports season. Congratulations to all our student-athletes. BRING ON WINTER SPORTS! GO BULLDOGS! BANCROFT SCHOOL PRESENTS 1984 BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU! 👀 Bancroft School Presents 1984: the intense story based on George Orwell's famous and important book about freedom, government, and personal choice. Don't miss Bancroft's annual Upper School drama at the Harrington Theater! 🗓 Dec 12th 2019, 7:30 PM 🗓 Dec 13th 2019, 7:30 PM 🗓 Dec 14th 2019, 7:30 PM 🎟 http://bit.ly/bancroft1984 Shop With Scrip! Buy Gift Cards and Bancroft PFA Programs Benefit! Purchase full value gift cards and a percentage (2-20%) of your purchase goes to the Bancroft PFA. The money raised is crucial to help fund the Family Events and the Humanities Series that the PFA sponsors. There are over 750 participating vendors, including groceries, gas and your favorite retailers! Use the cards yourself or give as gifts! To get started, go to the ShopWithScrip website and create an account. Our enrollment code is 17C1BFL737853. You can place orders for eCards anytime, but if you want physical cards, the PFA places orders throughout the year. The first deadline to return order forms and payment is Wednesday, November 13, 2019. You can pick up order forms from Rhonda in the Main Office.
Questions? Check out the Scrip FAQ page or send an email to pfapres@bancroftschool.org. Shorelines is produced by the Marketing and Communications Office at Bancroft. If you have questions or story ideas please contact dmercurio@bancroftschool.org.
Bancroft School
110 Shore Drive • Worcester, MA 01605 • (508) 853-2640 |