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Inside Billings
January 30, 2025
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🎒 What's Happening at Billings? 📚 | |
All this cold weather has us thinking fondly ahead for summer - and with the summer comes Summer @ Billings! Our two-week program consists of multi-day overnight camping adventures as well as on-campus workshops! Read on for information on our overnights. We will be releasing information about the on-campus classes in the coming weeks. | |
Billings is thrilled to announce the launch of our summer trips, designed to offer your child an unforgettable week full of adventure, learning, and fun! This year we have three different experiences with an overnight component. If you would like to secure a spot for your child, please fill out this Google Form. Becca will reach out to finalize your registration. Each experience is open to up to 10 students. Limited financial assistance is available.
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Gone Fishing
Cost: $850
Dates: June 16-19 (overnight component June 18-19th)
Learn all the secrets of casting and fishing in the Pacific Northwest! This four day camp has both a local and an overnight component. On the first day students will be on campus learning the basics of gear and casting, with day two spent at Green Lake to practice. On Wednesday, June 18, they will depart on a two-day, one night overnight where they will put their skills to the test in a more remote setting.
Max Capacity: 10 students
Field Journal Road Trip
Cost: $1200
Dates: June 16-20
If you love art, science, nature, and camping silliness outside with your classmates, this is the summer course for you! Learning about history, geology, ecology, and ethnobotany along the way, students will go on a five day road trip camping each night. On their journey, they will create a field journal full of nature-based art pieces and notes about their observations as they explore a new forest, mountain, river, and coastal ecosystem each day. Potential art mediums include: watercolors, science illustrations, natural cordage & weaving, nature-printmaking, cyanotype prints, burn bowls, natural pigments, and natural beadwork. No prior experience in art or camping necessary.
Max Capacity: 10 students
Backpacking: Olympic National Forest
Cost: $1200
Dates: June 23-27
Come join us for a five-day trip into the rugged backcountry of Olympic National Forest! This trip is an opportunity to further your basic backpacking skills: how to pack, filter water, travel as a group, use backcountry camping & kitchen gear, and practice decision-making. For students who are interested in challenging themselves physically and becoming a confident leader while exploring remote nature, this is the trip for you!
Max Capacity: 10 students
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Mike on the Mic 🎤
I am very happy to be back this week. I’ve immediately felt the power of community and connection amongst our students and staff. There are so many joyful things happening, whether that’s a chemical reaction in the classroom, a lively creative writing piece, a powerful upcoming guest speaker, a sunny sledding day, or a Winter Olympics Curling-inspired contest in All School Meeting.
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Thank you for your continued appreciation of our faculty – the coffee cart yesterday was an amazing gift.
In the vein of community building, I’m thankful for our Annual Celebration and Fundraiser Dinner Co-Chairs Molly Countryman and Laurie Alexander. Molly and Laurie are crafting such a wonderful community building, and inspiring not-to-be missed event here at Billings on Friday, April 4th! The next big phase in planning is procurement of a variety of experiences and items for the fundraising portion. These experiences truly build connection and I am thankful in advance to our entire community for chipping in to make this celebration a great success.
Finally, I want to remind families that our highest priority is to create a safe and inclusive environment for your children, where they are known and nurtured as well as stretched, supported, and inspired to learn and grow. In the wake of recent federal executive orders, we remain steadfast in our commitment to fostering an inclusive and affirming community. We continue to support our LGBTQIA+ students, families, and faculty with intentional policies and practices. Among other safety practices, our school policies do not permit federal immigration authorities, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), access to our school or information, and all interactions must be approved by our school attorney.
Thank you for being a part of creating a school where every child is celebrated and where we hope every member of our community knows they belong.
With appreciation,
Mike
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🌱 Philanthropy at Billings🪴 | |
The adventure awaits... our Billings Base Camp Celebration and Fundraising Dinner is just around the corner! Ticket sales will open next week on Tuesday, February 4th, so get ready for a night of fun, community, and giving!
This event is a chance to come together and celebrate the amazing Billings community, while supporting the heart of our school.
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The funds raised through this event help us provide a thriving academic program that includes the arts, STEAM, outdoor education, and experiential learning. It also allows us to provide generous financial aid as well as support other critical needs that directly impact our students and staff.
Each year we invite parents to support our procurement efforts to secure exciting items to put in our live auction! Each week we will highlight different types of items we are seeking to fill out our live items. What type of items are we looking for this week? Think, experiential getaways!
Vacation Getaway:
- Donations of vacation homes, timeshares, or hotel stays
- Airline miles or travel vouchers to help create the perfect getaway
- Awesome pre-planned trips
Adventure and relaxation:
- Boat trips, fishing charters, or sailing adventures
- Beachside picnics or waterfront dining experiences
- A day at the spa
We can’t wait to see you there and celebrate all of the amazing ways we make Billings an exceptional place to learn and grow!
If you have an item or experience you'd like to contribute or if you have connections that could help us secure such items, please reach out to Koby for a procurement letter template and procurement item form. Your support is invaluable, and we are grateful for each and every contribution.
Billings Base Camp Sponsor
A huge thanks to Greenwood Ohlund, a community business, for their support and donations!
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We're gearing up for Student Visit Day here at Billings. Thanks to our community for supporting Billings admissions. Special thanks go out to our Student Ambassadors for kind welcome letters they wrote to prospective students. | |
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Upcoming Events: 📅
- [NO SCHOOL] Prospective Student Visit Day: Friday, 1/31
- 8th Grade Winter Immersion Trip: Thurs, 2/13 - Fri, 2/14
- [NO SCHOOL] Mid-Winter Break: Monday, 2/17- Friday, 2/21
- Nut-Brown Girl: March 28-29 - see full calendar for times!
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During our all-grade meeting this week, 6th graders watched two short videos about the discovery of mirror neurons and their importance to the evolution of neuroscience and psychology. Mirror neurons are a type of brain cell that respond equally when we perform an action and when we witness someone else perform the same action. They are foundational to our language development, sense of empathy, and desire for community. We will continue discussing their implications for social behavior and self-awareness during future meetings. We also enjoyed a mini-celebration of Lunar New Year today! As of yesterday, it is the year of the snake; the same animal associated with the birth year of many 6th graders. Ask your child about what else they learned about Lunar New Year, the small traditional gifts they received, and the foods they tried. | |
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7th grade students had a fantastic time on Friday, frolicking in the snow, testing their snowshoeing skills, and building some cozy creations out of snow! We were excited to have almost everyone back on Tuesday morning for our class meeting! Students gave thoughtful shoutouts to each other and participated in a variation of dodgeball that tested their ability to communicate clearly, problem-solve, and take action in a high-pressure environment!
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8th graders had the opportunity to snowshoe and sled at Hyak last week. They hiked the loop quickly (such pros!) and enjoyed the blue sky and sunshine. Students wanted to show their skills on the bumpy and ungroomed sledding hill while also completing timed runs for their physics lesson.
Are you ready for i-Ready?! All Billings students are taking their Math i-Ready diagnostic this week. This is the second of three total diagnostics they will take throughout the course of the school year. The math team is excited to see the progress the students have made over the Fall term.
This week, 6th graders finished the first part of the “Weather and Climate” unit and took a weather quiz in Science. Students will go over the results of the quiz next week. We are starting to discuss climate and environmental science next week in class.
7th grade has finished wrapping up their “Science Behind Climate Change” unit and ended with a quiz to practice their test-taking strategies, utilizing their resources, and new knowledge around climate change and reading graphs! Students worked hard prepping for this quiz and it paid off! Later this week, students will be beginning their new unit on Environmental Justice & Emotionality with discussions on how the science of climate change impacts their everyday lives and the full-range of emotions that often come up when we talk about climate change.
8th graders have been hard at work applying what they are learning in Physics to real life. Students are investigating how forces such as gravity and friction impact motion. Students collected data during our last snowshoeing day at Hyak, and graphed their sledding speeds when we returned to class. They also completed questions to determine how different variables affected their speed during sledding. Now we are moving on to our next project: Egg Car Crash simulations!
6th grade ELA students are beginning to plan their compare and contrast essays after finishing Amal Unbound. Students are focusing on comparing and contrasting characters and finding text evidence to support their claims. 7th grade students finished reading My Name Is Not Easy, and are beginning to write their literary analysis essays, examining different themes from the novel. Students will also be creating their own wearable posters communicating information from their essays for an in-class “fashion show.” 7th graders are currently making revisions and edits as they self and peer-edit their creative writing mystery stories.
8th grade Social Studies students are wrapping up their lessons on forms of government and presenting skits. We will begin our unit of Holocaust studies with readings, vocabulary and a legacy speaker next Wednesday. 7th graders will present their creation myths on Thursday before starting a new unit, in conjunction with Science class, studying the ship canal and the Ballard Locks. 6th graders are wrapping up their epic stories this week. Our next adventure is law and justice in Hammurabi’s Code. Students will be exploring and debating - is it “justice”?
The weather has been cold, but beautifully bright and sunny! During a recent PE/GO class, 6th graders enjoyed their second walk to a nearby community garden. We visited in September, as summer transitioned to fall, and saw the garden in full bloom. This time, our theme was observing the beauty of decay and appreciating its vital role in the growth cycle. It was a lovely walk, and there was more life and color in the garden than we expected.
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From the BFA:
Bowling with Billings
Thanks to all families who spent their "spare" time with us at the UW Bowling Night. It was a huge hit with the kids - or should we say a "strike"?!
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Appreciation Messages for Staff
We are in the midst of Mid-Winter Faculty Appreciation, a month-long series of events designed to buoy faculty morale during these gloomy winter weeks. The campaign will end on Wednesday, February 12th with the delivery of staff valentines featuring messages of appreciation from families.
Please take a couple minutes to contribute a compliment or short note of gratitude to a faculty member who is making a difference in your family’s lives. You can complete the survey as many times as you like and provide messages to as many (or as few) faculty as you like. Thank you!
Join Us for BFA Meeting Next Friday 2/7
The February BFA meeting will be next Friday 2/7 from 8:30-9:30am. You can check out the agenda here. Come by to learn about upcoming events, meet fellow parents and caregivers, or get involved!
Help Guide Neurodiversity Affinity Group’s Next Steps
We are seeking input on what activities would be most useful for this group’s many members. Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts via this short survey.
Parenting Resources
Confident Conversations: Guiding Kids Through Puberty and Adolescence, with Julie Metzger, founder of Great Conversations, and Peter Metzger, pediatrician
February 5, 2025, 7–8 pm
Register here for this webinar from ParentMap
Tools for Effective Communication with Adolescents, facilitated by Lilach Geppert-Shapira, an a group leader for PEPS’ Program for Parents of Adolescents and Teens (PAT)
February 6, 2025, 11:30am - 12:30pm
Register here for this free virtual workshop from PEPS
Re-orienting to The Difficult Moments of Parenting - Abundant Opportunities for Mindful Connection and Growth with Taylor Ross
February 6th, 2025, 6-7pm
Register here for this webinar from the Millennium School
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Crafting
We are looking for VOLUNTEERS! If you happen to be a sewist or builder, you are more than welcome to let Gillian and Sabrina know right away! If you are neither of these but have a lot of newspapers lying around, you can bring them to the Front Desk to be used for the sets and props. We pride ourselves on the Winter Production being an all-school event, and that includes the families and wider community! Your inclusion means so much to us and shows the students what a community really can do when it comes together.
Resources
Do you know of a local (or global) organization/person who is doing amazing work in the environmental field (science and/or activism)? Please send their info to Amira to have them featured on the list of possible research topics for the 7th Grade Environmental Justice Final Research Project.
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Check out these ParentMap articles:
For more support and resources surrounding the youth mental health crisis, screen time and social media, and the importance of play, visit ParentMap’s Antidote for the Anxious Generation page.
Speaker links
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Executive Function Workout!
💡 New Year, New Day!💡
We are switching to Wednesday mornings for our winter EF Workouts!
Join me (Greg: Director of The Learning Center at Billings) for a regular morning EF workout from 8:30am to 9:30am on Wednesdays. Developing EF, or Executive Function, requires the exercise of the brain in specific ways. Drop in on any Wednesday morning to share stories and explore strategies for strengthening our EF muscles and by extension, that of our students.
Think of EF (Executive Function) as the CEO of the brain, helping us improve our self-regulation and aid our ability to make both short and long-term plans that enhance our performance in many aspects of our life. At a middle school pragmatic level this includes things like: doing your nightly HW, working on long term projects, or doing chores around the house. This is not a class. This is an opportunity to share collective wisdom. While 30 plus years as a middle school educator has certainly allowed me to garner some wisdom, I am really a facilitator on Wednesday mornings. Regular attendance is not a prerequisite. I don't need advanced notice. Drop in as you are able.
We will be meeting in person in Mercury during advisory and the beginning of first period. If you do not want to attend in person and prefer Zoom, let me know and I will send you a recurring Zoom link. Masks are not required but can be provided upon request.
And if Wednesday mornings are not a viable option for you but you want to learn more, don't hesitate to e-mail me, and let's find time to chat 1-1.
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