Finishing Strong

Can you believe it? We are in our third and final semester at The Cooper School. Your students have packed in quite a lot of learning and growing since August 2021. We hope that you have enjoyed hearing about what your children have learned in all the content and special areas that they have been a part of in middle school. Your students know that the finish line is in sight, so we will need to make sure they know the importance of finishing strong. “What kind of competitor sees the finish line and slows down…always finish strong!” — Gary Ryan Blair

The History Behind Women’s History Month

Women’s History Month is a celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture and society and has been observed annually in the month of March in the United States since 1987.

The National Women’s History Alliance designates a yearly theme for Women’s History Month. The 2022 theme is “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope.”

The actual celebration of Women’s History Month grew out of a weeklong celebration of women’s contributions to culture, history and society organized by the school district of Sonoma, California, in 1978. Presentations were given at dozens of schools, hundreds of students participated in a “Real Woman” essay contest and a parade was held in downtown Santa Rosa.

A few years later, the idea had caught on within communities, school districts and organizations across the country. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week. The U.S. Congress followed suit the next year, passing a resolution establishing a national celebration. Six years later, the National Women’s History Project successfully petitioned Congress to expand the event to the entire month of March.

Special thanks to History.com Editors. (2018, August 21). Women’s History Month. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/womens-history-month for this information.

Here’s a look at what is happening in each of the classes:

What’s happening in Science:

Seventh Grade students explored political boundaries, Russian history, and NATO this week! They studied the fall of the czarist government in 1917, followed by the birth of the USSR, and its fall. The Seventh Graders also contemplated the importance of NATO and their opinion on whether Ukraine should be a part of the treaty. Of course, they also had to learn and understand Eastern geography of the past and the present to visualize the invasion of Russia into Ukraine. Next week, they will investigate how the war is impacting the Ukrainian people, as well as Europe both socially and economically. 

What’s up in Math?

Students are working with linear equations and their equations. They are able to analyze both the slope and y-intercept and how that relates to the graph. They are able to create tables and graphs from equations. Next week, we will look at solutions of linear equations and how to interpret those values in real-life contexts. We will wrap up our Linear Equation Unit next Tuesday. We will have two days of review and complete an assessment just in time for Spring Break! 

What’s happening in ELA:

Parents, your Seventh Graders are reading historical fiction. As a class, we read a book entitled Patrol, An American Soldier in Vietnam. Your students are reading their own historical fiction books for their book clubs. The books are: The Truth About Sparrows, Moon Over Manifest, and Feathers.  Please ask your child about what is happening in their stories. Seventh Graders are also in Lesson 9 of their vocabulary workbook.

Important Dates:

March 28-April 1: Spring Break