Chesapeake Academy's Athletic Director, Ian York, and his team of coaches announced Chesapeake Academy's Winter Athletics Awards at a special school assembly. For the 2015-16 winter athletics season, certificates were awarded to all interscholastic athletes, and special awards were given for the most improved players, coach's award, and most valuable players on each team.

The Most Improved Player(MIP) goes to the player who has shown the most improvement from the first practice to the last game. The Coach's Award goes to the player who works the hardest every day in practice and in games, shows a strong desire to get better, and who leads his or her teammates. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) goes to the player who was the most valuable to the team's success. 

Chesapeake Academy prioritizes athletic character and sportsmanship. Every Chesapeake Academy player is expected to:

Lower Schoolers trekked off to explore the local history of the Steamboat Era at the Irvington Steamboat Era Museum as preparation for their choral performance in this spring's Artstravaganza. E stablished in 2004, The Steamboat Museum tells the story  of the steamboats and how they altered  the lives of everyone along the  Chesapeake Bay.  The steamboats provided an economic  lifeline. The cities of Norfolk and, more  predominately, Baltimore, acted as  gateways to the world beyond.  The cities  provided the markets, the towns provided the goods, and the steamboats provided  a means to both. Students enjoyed seeing the  era brought to life with models,  artifacts, and photos.

Products available in the Steamboat Era intrigue museum visitors!

Seventh and eighth grade history students departed campus at the crack of dawn and headed to Alexandria for  National  History  Day, a themed history competition that's been around since 1974. Students selected a  historical topic following the theme of Exploration, Encounter, and Exchange and developed a project ( historical paper, exhibit, website, performance, or documentary) that would push past the antiquated view of history as mere facts and dates and drill down into historical content to develop perspective and understanding.  A tall order!  But armed with experience from last year's event, Ms. Dynia's students tackled the challenge.

Fourth Graders PBL Project on Space Is Out of this World!

Spaceships, space stations, and aliens! Fourth graders are wearing new hats in science this marking period as scientists, engineers, and architects.  Each role was tasked with a challenge specific to our curriculum about space. The scientists are researching information about each new planet, learning new facts daily! The engineers are designing spaceships crafted to complete rescue and exploration missions using 3-D shapes and nets.  Our architects are laying out the specs for the perfect space station, paying close attention to the area and perimeter of each room.  

This Project Based Learning (PBL) activity has combined the study of the universe with science, math, reading, writing, research skills, technology, creativity, collaboration, and problem solving skills. They are currently in the last stages of their tasks and can't wait to display their projects.   

Sixth graders have been studying Greek and Roman mythology in literature and Latin. As a part of the Greek section of their studies, they explored Marilyn Singer's book  Echo, Echo, a clever book that showcased reverso poems. Reverso poems may be read from either direction, and often showcase something different from different directions. Each mythology enthusiast chose a god or goddess and researched that deity's specific mythology. The Olympians' next task was to write reverso poems of their own, which required them to think carefully about diction and punctuation. And to conclude, the gods and goddesses made an appearance, shared their poems, and feasted on nectar (sparkling cider) and ambrosia (honey) on Mt. Olympus (Room 102). It was a morning of epic proportions!

Hillary Smith has been taking a five-week online course through Facing History and Ourselves titled Teaching To Kill a Mockingbird.  The course focused on using the novel as a part of broader historical and moral studies in addition to meeting literature goals. The course brought together 29 educators from across the United States to closely study the novel, examine primary sources, and generate discussions to deepen classroom usage of the classic text. One of the more fascinating parts of the study involved working with sections from a 1914 textbook chapter on Eugenics and seeing how the effects of this societal framework influenced the characterization of the Ewells in 1930s Maycomb. 

In addition to gaining much from the experience, Mrs. Smith was able to share some of the more innovative lessons on the novel here at Chesapeake Academy, including one titled "Atticus: Believer in Equality, Classism, or Kipling?" that brings together multiple primary and secondary texts, in addition to the novel itself, to explore how Atticus Finch is both an upstander and a product of his time period.

CAPPA Countdown

Monday, March 14 will be the basketball play day for grades four and five. This event will start at 2 p.m. and last until 4 p.m. This play day will give the students an opportunity to practice the game of basketball, have fun, and compete.  Fourth and fifth graders should wear Chesapeake Academy PE clothing.  Just as in the Fall, the eighth graders will be helping to run concessions, officiate the games, and coach the teams. Please come out and support the students!

3/16 Middle School Richmond Symphony, dress uniform for MS