6-8 Graders Put On a Fun Spring Concert

Spring Concert & Art Exhibition

The 6-8 grade students in the Performing Arts and Visual Arts Enrichment block displayed their talent and hard work preparing all Trimester 2 to perform for the community on the MTS stage. The evening included a showcase including Chorus, Scene Study, Dance Ensembles, Guitar Ensemble, and African Drum Ensemble, as well as slideshow and video presentations from Enrichment classes including digital photography and video. Artwork from the Visual Arts Enrichment class, inspired by the Impressionist artist, Claude Monet, is on display in Summit Hall, and was also showcased in a digital presentation with music.

The African Drum Ensemble featured a medley of South African traditional rhythms, the MTS Chorus sang “Guadeamus Hodie,” and an especially heartfelt “Hallelujah,” and the Guitar Ensemble played “Time of My Life” by Green Day. Scene studies included performances of “The Umbrella,” “Above It All,” and a spirited skit from “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” In the final performance of the evening, students hammed it up in the ‘70’s inspired Dance Ensemble, “Risk It All” Game Show, featuring dancing to music by Rose Royce, Kool & the Gang, and Earth Wind, and Fire.

Watch selected scenes from the show. (Find videos of each performance in full at the bottom of the webpage.)

6th grader Kailan created a drone video of the School as part of Dave Baker’s Digital Video Enrichment course with help from Oliver in flying the drone during shooting.

Monet-inspired paintings (acrylic on paper ) by Visual Arts Enrichment students from Trimester 2.

Photos by students in the Digital Photography Enrichment course can be found here.

Watch the following performances in their entirety below:
African Drum Ensemble
The Umbrella Scene Study
MTS Chorus
Above It All Scene Study
Guitar Ensemble
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Game Show Skit & Dance Ensemble

5th Grade Girls Basketball Red Team Wins Championship Game!

The 5th grade girls basketball Red Team won the CYO championship game this weekend! They played against St. Rita at St. Vincent’s Boys School in San Rafael on Sunday.

The Red Team, seeded #4 , previously beat their fellow MTS Blue Team seeded #1 in an exciting game last weekend.

It has been quite the season. Congratulations, girls! You did it again!

Digital Photography Enrichment Class

During Trimester 2, students in Andrew’s Digital Photography Enrichment course learned about photography techniques and practiced focusing on different types of subjects including movement, macro, and shapes. They are truly developing artistic eyes! See a selection of student photographs below.

Entrepreneurship Class Craft Sale

7th graders sold their handmade products to Kindergarteners and 1st graders during the Entrepreneurship Class Craft Sale this morning. The lower school students were given an allotted number of “chips” to purchase the various items on sale, and 7th graders marketed their products to attract interest. It was a lively morning!

5th Grade Girls Basketball Teams Head to CYO Tournament

It's official. Our 5th grade girls A and B basketball teams are playing against each other in the first round of the CYO tournament this weekend! Coach Gerry is calling in reinforcements since he coaches both teams, so Cathal is going to jump in to help.

The Red team started 0-2, but finished 5-3 to secure the 4th seed. The Blue team won their division and the #1 seed with a 7-1 record. There were 19 teams in the league this year, and we are TWO of the final EIGHT teams!

Come join and support the girls at the game! Saturday, 3/9, 1:30 PM at St. Vincent.

Go Bears!!

MTS Persian Cultural Day

The MTS Persian Cultural Day last week gave students a fantastic opportunity to learn about and explore the Persian culture through authentic performances, art projects, folktales, poetry, cultural artifacts, music, and Persian cuisine!

Introduction and Performances

The day started with a keynote slideshow presentation with an introduction to Persia put together by MTS teacher, Rob Potter. Next the Niosha Dance Academy based in San Francisco performed both traditional and contemporary dances from the Iranian/Persian cultural world. The dance was followed by musicians, Nariman Assadi, Ahmad Rezazadeh, Ameen Rouhani, and Negin Bastani, showcasing traditional Persian musical instruments including the tombak, daf, oud, tar, and setar. MTS students then came on stage to read quotes from the famous Persian poet, Rumi. After the performances, students enjoyed Persian food catered by the Maykadeh Restaurant.

In the morning, lower school students learned about the history of Persian rugs and then worked together to create their own designs and patterns. During the afternoon program, middle school students rotated through 6 workshops and presentations.

Workshops

Treasures, Tea, and Treats. MTS parents Kathy Zare and Oggi Kashi and MTS student Ryka presented interesting treasures and artifacts from Iran. Students also enjoyed a taste of Lajijan, a black tea from Northern Iran, as well as a sweet Persian treats from Jasmine Market in San Rafael including puff pastries, chickpea cookie-noon, and nokhochi.

Persian Tile. MTS Art teachers, Tyler Bewley and Evy Packer, taught students basic techniques in design to create their own Persian tiles. Students learned about the different ways tiles can be used in art - as a mosaic or Ghlami - a technique where several colors are painted onto one tile with a brush.

Modern Persia & Nowruz. MTS parents, Pooneh Yamini and Atissa Manshouri introduced students to Modern day Iran and the tradition of Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

Musical Instruments. Guest musicians, Nariman Assadi, Negin Bastani, and Don Baker, gave a demonstration of several Persian instruments, and students learned a rhythm pattern to accompany the combined final dance in the finale.

Persian Dance. Dancers from the Niosha Dance Academy taught students short dance sequences, which were performed in the combined finale at the end of the day by all 6th-8th graders.

Persian Calligraphy. MTS parents, Matt Yamini, Parizan Ehsan, and grandparent, Shahla Motamedi, introduced students to the art of Persian calligraphy.

Finale. The day culminated with students in grades 6-8 performing the dance sequence that was learned in the dance workshop accompanied by a group of student percussionists from the musical instruments workshop.

Enjoy selected videos from the day below.

MTS Alumni Sports News!

MTS '16 Alums, Connor Maas and Tucker Sennett, play basketball for the Branson Bulls. The Bulls took down the Fortuna High School Huskies over the weekend to capture the North Coast Section Division 4 title. They move on to the Northern California Championships and the road to the State Champs. The legendary Branson School coach is also the dad of two MTS alums (Rachel '99 and Isaiah '03)! Learn more in the Marin IJ article about the game: https://www.marinij.com/2019/02/22/branson-wins-third-straight-ncs-title-with-rout-of-fortuna/.

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Meanwhile, Jasper Mercy '16 was on the winning Marin Academy Soccer team, clinching the North Coast Section Division 5  title over University on Saturday.  https://www.marinij.com/2019/02/23/ncs-boys-soccer-marin-academy-defeats-rival-to-claim-section-crown/

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Liesl Anderson '17 won the $3,000 JR Jumper 1.20m Classic at 2019 Desert Circuit over the weekend in Coachella.

Darius Yamini '17 plays on the UHS varsity team. On February 8th, Darius scored the winning penalty kick for the BCL-W league final championship game when UHS and MA were tied 3-3 at penalty kicks!

Coding Awbie in Kindergarten

CODING AWBIE IN KINDERGARTEN!

In computer class for the past month, kindergarten students have had the opportunity to explore the basics of coding with one of our wonderful STEM programs called Coding Awbie. By using physical tiles, they give Awbie commands to help him solve problems on the iPad. 

Students Put On a Fantastic Winter Recital

Students put on a fantastic Winter Recital last night, showcasing their talents on piano, cello, violin, ukulele, flute and saxophone with a highlight guitar and vocal performance by 8th grader, Logan. Logan played songs by Cage The Elephant and Nirvana, accompanied by Trevor Marcom. View photos, and watch video excerpts below.

Volunteering at GLIDE

Second graders and their families recently joined together to volunteer at GLIDE, a community organization whose mission is focused on addressing homelessness, poverty, and social justice in San Francisco. GLIDE has been serving between 1,800 to 2,500 meals every day, 3x/day for 364 days, every single year for more than 50 years. The second grade families found it to be a transformative experience working with this amazing, enthusiastic, and welcoming non-profit. Students spent several hours learning about the merits of citizenship, honor, respect, inclusion, community, and kindness through a discussion group followed by the preparation and service of food to those who came through for lunch.

Service Learning is an important part of the curriculum at Mount Tamalpais School, and projects like this are organized for every grade. See our Service Learning webpage for more information about the program.

Gravity Cruisers

5th graders combine their knowledge of energy, gravity, and levers, to build “Gravity Cruisers” in STEM class. Let the testing begin!

Bringing Math Home

Making Math an Integral Part of Your Family Life

Math is fun! Math is everywhere!  Math is a subject for curiosity, discussion, and growth. Creating opportunities to connect with math at home is important to help foster a relaxed dialogue about math, to provide real-life math experiences, and to decrease math anxiety for children and adults. Here are some links to ideas to help make math an integral part of your family life:

Bedtime Math - Bedtime Math was created to help make math a part of the family routine. The website includes a daily math fact and riddle, bedtime math stories, and more.

Math Read Alouds - This website lists books by mathematical content.

Puzzles - Logic Puzzles, Sudoku, Number Puzzles or Dots and Boxes

Cooking - Cooks of All Ages: How Kids Can Help in the Kitchen

Board Games - Here are some links to Amazon for grade appropriate games.

K+
Ghost Blitz Board Game
Grades 2-4
Tower of Hanoi Logic Puzzle 
SET: The Family Game of Visual Perception(also great for older - including adults)
Shape Logic Board Game
Chocolate Fix
Senet Game - An Ancient Egyptian Board Game
Any age:
Dimension: The Spherical Stackable Fast Paced Puzzle Game
Geometiles 3D Building Set for Learning Math
Magnetic Go Game Set
Battle Sheep Game 

Bike Bash Was a Blast

We had so much fun at the MTS Campus Bike Bash on Sunday! Thanks to everyone who made it out. Special thanks to Beeline Bikes for providing bike demos to those interested. We are planning to host another one in the spring and again in the fall, so if you missed this one, come around next time!

Outstanding Performance of Annie

Leapin’ Lizards, 4th and 5th graders put on an outstanding performance of Annie last week for the annual Mount Tamalpais School Winter Play! Annie, played by Yasmin, sang beautifully, and the portrayal of Miss Hannigan by Fionnula was particularly spirited and memorable, along with her cohorts playing Rooster Hannigan (Joshua) and Lily St. Regis (Coco). Everyone pulled out the stops for a truly enjoyable show - congratulations performers!

*****

Synopsis: In this popular and beloved musical, Annie is a spunky, depression era orphan determined to find her parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City orphanage run by a cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan. For a young girl living a “hard knock life” in a children’s orphanage, things may seem pretty bad, especially at Christmas. Against all odds, feisty Annie carries a song in her heart and hope in her locket, the only thing she has left from her parents. One day, fed up with the dastardly Miss Hannigan, Annie escapes the run-down orphanage determined to find her mom and dad. Her adventure takes her from the cold, mean street of New York to the warm, comforting arms of bighearted billionaire, Oliver Warbucks, with plenty of mischief and music in between!

MTS News Student Magazine

The “MTS News” Fall Magazine has just come out! Students in the Journalism Club worked hard all trimester to put together an impressive publication filled with interviews, opinion pieces, advice, photography, and more.

The magazine includes an Art Gallery section featuring photos from Andrew’s Photography Enrichment class. The students are really developing artistic eyes!

Kindergarteners Visit Muir Woods

Kindergarteners on a recent field trip to Muir Woods. They loved counting the rings of a Redwood, doing leaf rubbings, sketching what they saw, looking at exposed roots of Redwood trees, and watching the leaves fall off the trees like snow.

Fall Concert Delights

During the Fall Concert, students from the Performing Arts Enrichment delighted the audience from the MTS stage featuring chorus, cabaret ensemble, scene studies, dance ensembles, and jazz band. Highlights from the evening were the African drumming ensemble and the final act “Under the Big Top,” a musical medley. The show also included a digital presentation of photos from the Digital Photography Enrichment Class, as well as Frank Stella inspired artwork created by the Visual Arts Enrichment Class. Enjoy selected photos from the event.

STEM Fest 2018

We all had so much fun at our inaugural STEM Fest 2018! Children from preschool to third grades explored Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math stations in different rooms across campus. From looking at the moon through a telescope in the observatory to programming robots, there was something for everyone. Students filled up their event “Passports” and received STEM Toolkits to continue their explorations at home. Many thanks to everyone who came out and to the MTS staff and volunteers who made it happen! Enjoy a brief overview of the STEM activity stations and photos from the event below.

Science

Students looked closely at microscopic life, explored optical illusions, and learned how to make homemade harmonicas.

Technology

Our technology stations allowed students to experience the fundamentals of programming through problem solving and logic. Students created sequences of commands using Osmo Coding with iPads and physical blocks to run computer games and direct robots’ movements.

Engineering

Students were given engineering challenges to experience the design process.

Math

What better way to learn math than making it fun through games? We set up a variety of games to engage students with math. Many of these games can be done at home as well. Here is short video that introduces “Pig,” a dice game that is popular in MTS math classes. You can make it more complex by playing with two dice, multiplying the two numbers rolled, and adding it to the previous number. We have also put together a list of commercially available games that develop mathematical thinking and are fun for the whole family.

Doing the Monster Mash

The Pumpkin Patch has been a long-standing tradition that our youngest students enjoy every year. Students have an opportunity to pick out a pumpkin, dance to the Pumpkin Patch Polka, eat cookies, and listen to a spooky story. Parent volunteers and our performing arts guru, Lindsay, make this a very fun and cute event!

A Spectacular Grandparents Tea

We had a record turn out and gorgeous weather for this year’s Grandparents and Special Friends Tea. This year, we started the morning with classroom visits, which were a highlight for many. Afterward, everyone moved into the gym for student performances, a talk by Head of School, Andrew Davis, and a light lunch and tea on the lawn. Thank you to all the families who joined us from near and far for this wonderful, time-honored tradition!