Letters from our teachers
Grade 8
May 2008
Classroom teacher: Mrs. Diane Faxon
As the Grade 8 teacher, I would like to commend St. Jerome class of 2008 for achieving their goals and desires. The 22 young men and women in the class have all been accepted to their first-choice high schools. This says a lot for the excellent education these students have received throughout their time at St. Jerome. I wish all of them the best of luck in their future endeavors.
End-of-year activities for the class of 2008 included a day trip to Boston, with a visit to Fenway Park, duck boat tour, lunch at the Prudential, a Boston Common swan boat cruise, and dinner and shopping at Faneuil Hall Marketplace. The best was saved for last — Blue Man Group. The students spent a fun-filled day together as a class.
Our next activity was the class retreat planned by Fr. Blaney. The students spent the day at Glastonbury Retreat Center in Hingham. The boys and girls found it to be a spirit-filled day to bond with each other and our Lord. Thank-you, Fr. Bob.
The final two events are a Spirit of Boston Cruise and a visit to Canobie Lake Park. Graduation is June 6. Congratulations, Grade 8, for a job well-done.
Science Grade 7: The class is currently exploring the human body. We have looked at ourselves inside and out! We have talked about bones, joints, muscles, nerves, the heart, and the lymphatic system. The students have spent a great deal of time with the structure of the heart and labeling the parts of the heart. We will finish the year looking at our brain and the brain of a sheep, and how they resemble one another. The science lab has an internal display of a frog. We will look at these organs and discover how similar they are to human organs.
Science Grade 6: The boys and girls in Grade 6 grew a Fungus garden. We planted potatoes, moss, and seeds of various kinds. Our garden is doing well, with a crop of potatoes being excavated in June. Grade 6 has discovered that scientists have placed all living things into five kingdoms. We’ve been working on a booklet that defines these five kingdoms. At present, we are looking at invertebrate species. Grade 6 will look at the internal organs of a frog to see how similar they are to human organs. Great job Grade 6 — you soared with the unit 20 test! The middle school’s final dissection will be a “Dog Shark.” Hurray for science!
Grade 8 achievements:
• Conquered algebra
• Maturity
• Responsibility
• Perseverance
• Confidence
• Honesty
• Compassion
• Prepared for high school
• Strengthened our faith
• Time efficiency
• Learned exciting new things such as using microscopes, scalpels, slides, and excavating dinosaurs
• Made many new friends
• Met wonderful teachers
• Became closer to God
• Became successful role models
• Gained acceptance into high school
• Became a unified class
• Embraced our freedom
• Achieved personal growth in subject areas
• Received hands-on experiences in science that we never had before, such as dissecting earthworms, a sheep’s brain, and mackerel
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Built an academic and spiritual foundation that will remain with us for the rest of our lives