Write Night 2021

The Imperatore Library was thrilled to host Write Night physically in the library on November 9th for the first time in two years. Write Night is a chance for student and faculty writers to get together and spend an evening sharing and listening to student and faculty writing. It's the perfect chance for middle and upper school students to introduce their writing pieces to a supportive group of peers and teachers. Thanks to everyone that participated! Check out some photos of the event below and join us in April for Write Night: Poetry Edition.

Catalina, grade 12

Aarav, grade 8

Sianne, grade 8

Jason, grade 11

Darby, grade 11

Arsh, grade 11

Livia, grade 12

Mr. Meserole, faculty

Pumpkin Decorating in the Library

Middle and upper school students got their creativity going during Halloween week in the library. Using the theme of "Favorite Character" as inspiration, students decorated pumpkins with paint pens and other supplies. The lower school students got involved by voting on their favorite designs. Check out some action photos taken during the event and close-ups of the winning pumpkins below!

Middle School Winners

Leo G. - Among Us

Phillip H. - Pluto

Julia D. - Robot

Upper School Winners

Maiyisha U. - Coraline

Beatrice G. - Spiderman

Joe M. - Venom

Lilly T. - LillyPops

Thank you to everyone that participated! Have an idea for a library event? Reach out to Ms. Shaurette or Mr. Petkus with your ideas!

Domino Rally

Domino Rally has returned to the Imperatore Library due to popular demand. Middle and upper school students designed a complex domino landscape using bridges, rulers, library shelves, and even library books as supports. Before the final knockdown, they all had to work together to figure out how to connect all the pieces. It was a fun afternoon full of trial and error!

Check out some photos showing students in action and a video of highlights below.

Students do a little damage repair when a section gets knocked down early.

Daniela works on a complex domino pyramid structure.

Students realized they could spell out words with the dominoes!

Students come up with creative ways to span the bookshelves.

Spirals, and bridges, and patterns!

Students place gaps in the design to protect the table of dominoes from going down too early.

Max uses the domino staircase to bridge the height difference between the shelves and tables.

Here's the final knockdown video:

Celebrating Earth Week with the MS Environmental Club

Today is officially Earth Day, but DE has been celebrating for the past week. At the Middle School, we’ve taken part in an inspirational Assembly, a cool art competition, received wildflower seeds to plant, and also heard from Alumni doing some amazing things. All this wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work and dedication of DE’s Environmental club.

The Blimp recently caught up with 8th graders, Ben Gmyrek and Len Glozman, the leaders of the MS Environmental club, to chat about Earth Week as well as some ways the DE community can help the environment.

 

When did you start getting passionate about the environment?
 
Ben: Since the 3rd grade.

Len: For me, it was since I was in 2nd grade.

 

It’s an obvious question, as we should all be passionate

about the Earth, but why are you so passionate

about the environment?

Ben: I think the environment, in general, is a time-sensitive problem. It’s only going to get much worse, but it’s a scientific problem with a clear solution….so it needs to happen now.

 

Len: This environment is this shared space but it's time-sensitive like Ben said. A lot of the actions being taken now should have been taken 5 years ago, so we really need to get a move on, otherwise, there will be immense consequences, I mean there already have been immense consequences.

 

Can you talk about what the Environmental Club is doing throughout the year to address some of these problems?
 
Len: Mostly the focus has been composting and getting people to compost because there is so much food waste and the planet has been covered in trash that could be reusable. We started in the 6th grade with 3 tumblers and we now have 6 tumblers on campus.

 

 

Ben: We put signs over the compost buckets in the cafeteria encouraging students to compost.

How do you explain to the Middle School what composting is?
 
Len:  The simple version is that we put food that came from the earth like vegetables, fruit, rice, that decomposes in tumblers and that turns into nutrient-rich soil … the soil is used on DE’s campus.
 
For 6 months it rots and then we sift through the soil and then we use the soil on DE’s gardens. The gardens grow food like apples, eggplant, squash, tomatoes, raspberries, peppers.
 
Ben: Some of the food is used for classes, some for the cafeteria, and some we donate to the Center for Food Action.

What are the biggest challenges you face as leaders of the Environmental Club?
 
Ben: Throughout most of 6th and 7th grade, it was just me, Len, and Steven Cui. It was just us and we would occasionally have a member for 3 months and they would leave. But this year, we got 13 new members!
 
Wow, it definitely seems like more people are getting excited about doing something…so how do you encourage people to get more involved? How can DE take action?
 
Len:  Many people don’t realize is that you are the consumer and you have tremendous power over what you consume. So, if you choose to not eat meat one day a week, or eat organic, or buy products with labels that certify it as environmentally friendly, or use a reusable bag -- all this has a HUGE impact.

 

That’s interesting. Most people wouldn’t think that a simple action like not eating meat once a week or not using a plastic bag could be the key to saving the environment…

 

Ben: It’s the little things that add up. We try and educate the best we can.

 

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The Library team was so inspired by the work done by DE's Environmental clubs that we've decided to make some eco-friendly changes of our own. Ms. Mamdani will go meatless two days a week, Mr. Petkus will compost more in his garden, and Ms. Shaurette will read "One Earth: People of Color Protecting our Planet." What will you do? Comment below and let us know!

For more information on how you can get involved with the Environmental Club or explore other ways you can go green, please reach out to Ms. Urbanowski.

Also, if you haven’t received a packet of wildflower seeds yet, please stop by the Earth Day display in the Library.

 

 

Q&A: children's book author, Razil Fernandes '24

9th grader, Razil Fernandes, has published a children’s book! We were so impressed by Razil’s initiative and wanted to learn a little bit more about her inspiration and her process. You can purchase her book on Amazon. 

1. Can you tell us about the book? 

Doctors and their Medical Tools is about the tools of 5 different doctors that children would most commonly visit. This includes pediatricians, dentists, and ophthalmologists. There are fun facts included throughout the chapters, and games such as “Match the Doctor,” and word search to test readers’ understanding after they finish the book. It aims to inspire other young kids, especially girls, as seen in my last few pages, to pursue math and science subjects and keep their strong interest in STEM. This is important because there has consistently been a disproportionate number of men to women in the STEM field. 

 2. Speaking of the under-representation of women in STEM,

were you inspired to write this book because of this dynamic?

And is this book a way for you to help change that and encourage

more students, and young girls in particular to be interested in STEM?

 

Yes, I was inspired because of that dynamic, and the curiosity I remember

having about all these tools when I was in elementary and middle school.

This book is definitely a way for me to combat the issue and

encourage young girls and all genders to pursue their STEM interests. 

3. What inspired you to want to write a book and why a children's book in particular? 

I decided it would be best to write a children’s book because the

knowledge I wanted to share would not be too extensive and

further suitable for kids. I was inspired because of that dynamic,

and the curiosity I remember having about all these tools when

I was in elementary and middle school. An important theme of

my book is also gender inequality, so I wanted my target audience

to be younger individuals to spread awareness and encouragement.

This book is definitely a way for me to combat the issue and encourage

young girls and all genders to pursue their STEM interests. 

4. How did you choose your topic and

how long did it take you to write the book?

 

I set out to brainstorm ideas about what I wanted to write and

combined my interest in medicine with engineering to create

Doctors and their Medical Tools.It took me around 3 ½ months to formulate the idea, start writing,

finish adding images, and editing. Throughout this process, I had

a really fun time playing around with the features on Canva, which is what I

used for the graphics, and writing about tools that I had to do

some research on.

I used Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) to self-publish.

It was a simple process where I could upload my manuscript and choose

the cover style, margins, and size of the book. Since KDP is

linked to Amazon it uploads it there, available for anyone to purchase.

I recently ordered a copy, and it looks great!

5. What was the hardest part and the easiest part of

this whole process?

 

The hardest part of this book was deciding which publishing route

I would take and trying to understand the publishing method.

The easiest part of this entire process was definitely getting an audience to

read this book to. Ms. Mamdani directed me to Ms. Koteles,

a second-grade teacher, who I visited for a Book Q & A session. 

 

6. What advice do you have for other would-be authors?

 

My advice for other authors is that no matter how old or young you are,

you should write a book if you are interested. With the self-publishing route,

there really are no limits, and anyone can publish a book! I would

also suggest writing about something you are passionate about

or combining your interests. 

 

7. Any future plans for other books? Is there something

you are working on now?

 

I am currently working on brainstorming an idea for a future book,

which I am looking forward to writing because it should be an easier

process now that I fully understand how to go about the process.

I am also open to any suggestions in any genre.

Congratulations, Razil! We are looking forward to your next book!

Razil is a reporter for Spectrum and is also apart of the Red Cross Club, Science Olympiad,

and WISE (Women in Stem Education). 

If you’d like to learn more about Razil’s book or need advice on

getting your book published, feel free to reach out

to the librarians.

Is there a student, faculty, or staff member doing something interesting or special that 

you think we should feature our blog? 

Let us know!

Did You Know? Celebrating Innovators, Athletes, Scientists, and more!

Today's blog post was written in conjunction with DE's Black Affinity Group leaders. A special thanks to the students for putting together the content and for also organizing last month's Library Kahoot! 

While March is Women's History Month and we are focused on celebrating the achievements of women, we wanted to reflect back on the notable figures we learned about during African American History Month. 

Patricia Bath

Patricia Bath was an African American woman born and raised in Harlem New York. From a child, she had a fond love for science. Bath worked hard on her intellectual pursuits and, at the age of 16, became one of only a few students to attend a cancer research workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The program head, Dr. Robert Bernard, was so impressed with Bath's discoveries during the project that he incorporated her findings in a scientific paper he presented at a conference. The publicity surrounding her discoveries earned Bath the Mademoiselle magazine's Merit Award in 1960. In 1981, Bath began working on her most well-known invention: the Laserphaco Probe (1986). Harnessing laser technology, the device created a less painful and more precise treatment of cataracts.

Mary Van Brittan Brown

So I'm sure some of y'all are familiar with the security system, Ring. Well, you can thank Mary Van Brittan Brown. She grew up in a community where crime was heavy. This story is quite beautiful because her husband Albert Brown was an electronics technician and Mary Brown was a nurse. Because of the security problem together they worked on a two-way security system. 

Lewis Latimer

                                  

Most of us were taught that the light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison, which in some aspects is true. But what you don't know is that his light bulbs were pointless. Imagine how much money it would cost and how annoying it would be if you had to replace your lightbulbs every day. Well, thanks to Lewis Latimer, who perfected the filament in the light bulb, light bulbs now last months, or even years. So next time someone tells you Thomas Edison created the lightbulb don't be shy to tell them yes that's true but Lewis Latimer was working right alongside him and he was the one to change the game.

1968 

“BLACK POWER SALUTE” 

Below is a super short video about the iconic Black Power Salute at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico.

We'll end with a look back at the fastest woman of all time, Florence Griffith Joyner. Here is a video of Flo-Jo, as she was affectionately called, sprinting at the 1988 Olympic games in Seoul. By the way, that record still stands.

If you would like more information (or a list of sources), please contact DE's Black Affinity Group!

If you're part of a DE Student Group and are interested in being a guest contributor, please reach out to Ms. Mamdani.OLYPIC

Are you Biased?

Georgia's run-off elections take place today. Why are there two Senate elections happening? Who is running against whom? Why is this significant? This article from the Washington Post answers those questions and helps break down the significance of these elections. 

But you can't discuss politics without also discussing the Media. And chances are, where the Media is concerned, discussions of "bias" soon follow.  Below is a "Media Bias Chart" from AllSides that rates where most major news entities stand on the ideological spectrum. 

But what is Media Bias? Is it a journalist's job to be unbiased? Is that even possible? Can anyone claim to be unbiased? (hint: No). 

Here's a brief FAQ about that answers some of those questions:

What is Media Bias? 

Let's break it down. The Media is any and all forms of communication--digital, print, social, radio/podcast, television, etc. Bias is the inclination, tendency or prejudice for or against something -- a person, an idea, etc. Media Bias is the idea that the forms of communication we rely on to get our news information is not fair or accurate because it heavily favors one side over the other.  

How can you detect Bias in the Media?

The short answer is to read/watch/listen critically...for a detailed explanation on how to do this, check out this article from the media watchdog group, FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting). 

Is it a journalist's job to be unbiased?

Yes and no. A journalist's job is to gather all the relevant information on the story they are presenting. It is up to them to make sure they are accurately presenting both sides of the story. However, even with all of the fact-gathering, it is possible that one side will get "more air-time" than the other or that certain unconscious biases will leak into the reporting. 

Are you biased?

If you've read this far, you know that the answer to that is a resounding yes! However, bias is not always bad...it is inherently human. A big part of being an intelligent consumer of the media is to understand what your biases are and how you can protect against them. 

Want to see where you stand? Take this quiz and rate your bias. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below! 

Native American Heritage month

                                                                                                            Photo by: Alane Golden

November is Native American Heritage month...November is also when we celebrate Thanksgiving. 

But Thanksgiving wasn't always a national holiday. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed a resolution making Thanksgiving a federal holiday--320 years after the first feast between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe of the Americas. (FYI: It wasn't really a "thanks giving" meal either, it was a military exercise, so to speak, honoring a mutual-defense pact). 

So how did one meal become synonymous for the American experience of the Native American? This short video by the Smithsonian Museum discusses the "Invention of Thanksgiving" and helps answer that question. 

Below are five other facts about Native Americans (by the way, they've got nothing to do with Thanksgiving!):

Fact #1: Chances are you've probably heard of these Indigenous tribes: Navajo, Sioux, Lakota, but did you know there are hundreds of tribes across North America, each with its own culture? According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the government agency responsible for the administration of Native American affairs, there are 574 federally recognized Native American tribes. Of these, 231 are in Alaska. There are also an unknown number of tribes that are not federally recognized. (Here's a list of 26 states that were named by Native Americans).

Fact #2: Over 24,000 Native Americans served during World War II. You may have heard of the Navajo Code Talkers, a group of 29 Navajo men who were part of a top-secret communications network that could not be understood by the Germans and Axis Alliance. But did you know they created more than 200 new Navajo words for military terms? None of the original code talkers are alive today but a few of them were punished by teachers and others for speaking the Navajo language when they were children. 

Fact #3: Benjamin Franklin and the founding fathers modeled the constitution on the democratic constitution of the Iroquois confederacy. The Iroquois Constitution was also known as "The Great Law of Peace."

Fact #4: The first American to dance with the prestigious Paris Opera Ballet was Maria Tallchief, whose father was a member of the Osage nation. At 17, she moved to Manhattan to pursue ballet full-time but was often discriminated against because of her Osage heritage. She resisted calls to change her name and disavow her background and was recognized as one of the greatest ballet dancers in the world.

Fact #5: Between 1776 and 1887, the United States seized over 1.5 billion acres from America's Indigenous peoples. This interactive, time-lapsed map created by University of Georgia's Professor Claudio Saunt shows how forced treaties and executive orders took over an eighth of the planet.

Have any facts to share? Add it to the "Comments" section below. Remember to cite your source. 

If you would like to learn more about Indigenous American experiences, then come check out our library display!

Here are some books that your librarians recommend:

Ms. Mamdani recommends Crazy Brave: A Memoir (2012) by the current U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. Harjo describes how she survived abuse and abandonment and how her spiritual "visions" and intuitions helped guide her through a tumultuous early childhood and adulthood.

Mrs. Shaurette recommends The Marrow Thieves (2017) by Cherie Dimaline. "If you like Dystopian books," Mrs. Shaurette says, "then you will love this book which has an adventurous feel as Indigenous people are being hunted for their ability to dream in a world where all others can no longer dream and therefore have started to descend into a type of madness."

Mr. Petkus recommends War Dances (2009) by Sherman Alexie. Mr. Petkus says, "this stunning collection of short stories and brief, impactful poems followed on the heels of his National Book Award-winning YA novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007), which I also highly recommend. And, while we're talking about it, go ahead and check out Alexie's amazing debut novel (also described as a linked short-story collection), The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1992), which is by now a genuine classic."

Happy Reading!