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Inside Billings
February 6, 2025
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🎒 What's Happening at Billings? 📚 | |
We hope our students enjoyed their first snow day of the year! While the winter wonderland persists, we'll remind families planning ahead for summer to check out 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.
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
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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 🎤
Thank you for your patience with the winter weather this week. I get up very early every morning to analyze the weather conditions and forecasts using a variety of sources hyper-locally around Billings and throughout the region where families and staff live. Although safety is always our top priority, we know children learn best in-person and we make every effort to have students on campus. I try very hard to send out alerts by 6:00am and no later than 6:30am.
This is a great time to check in with families on the BrightArrow alert system. A phone call, text, and email were sent out regarding the weather today and yesterday. If you did not receive a text message, please send "YES" to 79041, and you should receive a confirmation. If you did not receive a phone call and/or an email, reach out to the Front Desk to let Becca know and we will update our system.
Although we had some fun with the snow on and around campus today, we are very hopeful for an amazing snowshoeing day for 6th and 8th grade tomorrow!
Thank you for your support,
Mike
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🌱 Philanthropy at Billings🪴 | |
We are having a Ball at Billings Base Camp!
Don’t forget to register for our Annual Celebration and Fundraising Dinner! We have officially launched ticket sales and we can’t wait to celebrate with everyone on April 4th.
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Join us for:
- Cocktail Hour with Silent Auction & Buy-Ins
- Buffet Dinner
- Live Auction & Raise the Paddle
- Dessert Dash
Tickets are $95 each and space is limited, so get your tickets today!
We can’t wait to see you there!
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The Billings community extends a very warm welcome to our new students and their families! Joining Grade 6 are Ella and Sawyer, and in Grade 7, Jackson. We are thrilled to have their families as part of the greater Billings community.
Ella Schneider, Grade 6 (right)
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Jackson Rhoades, Grade 7 (right) | |
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Upcoming Events: 📅
- 8th Grade Winter Immersion Trip: Thurs, 2/13 - Fri, 2/14
- [NO SCHOOL] Mid-Winter Break: Monday, 2/17- Friday, 2/21
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Nut-Brown Girl: March 28-29 - see full calendar for times!
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Billings Base Camp: Annual Celebration and Fundraising Dinner - Friday, April 4th from 5:30pm - 9:00pm
[purchase tickets here]
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During all-grade meeting this week, 6th grade students continued to discuss mirror neurons and their role in our social- and self-awareness. As we push through the last leg of winter, our 6th grade class is grounding themselves in an awareness and appreciation of others. To celebrate this gratitude, the 6th grade will be participating in our second annual Valentine’s Day appreciation exchange. Beginning Thursday in advisory, students will work to create a card expressing appreciation for a randomly assigned classmate. Our goal is to spend time noticing and appreciating all of our classmates and recognizing the many incredible people that make this grade what it is! | |
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7th graders have been preparing for their field trip to Heron’s Nest, where students will be helping with stewardship in the greater community! Due to the delayed start today this trip will be rescheduled, and the students are using the time to build up snow skills at North Acres Park.
8th Graders will return to the snow this Friday for another day of snowshoeing and developing other snow-related skills, such as shelters and snow anchors. We are also prepping for our Winter Immersion trip to Lake Wenatchee on February 13th and 14th! As usual, students are focusing on self-care and group care out in the snow, but we are also thinking about generosity, teamwork, and building each other up!
6th graders recently studied unit rates in Math by analyzing bulk food prices and calculating the price per one item. We enjoyed a discussion on how most business models don’t follow accurate ratio math as the price per item often decreases if you buy a greater number at once!
7th grade Washington State History students have started their unit on ways people have altered the environment around Seattle. Today, students are working on stewardship and a restoration project near the Duwamish Longhouse. As we continue with this history unit, students will learn about historical projects like the regrades, Harbor Island, and the Ship Canal.
6th grade Social Studies is taking a critical look at the Code of Hammurabi this week and will prepare cases to present before the Court! Students will be challenged to weigh in and decide for themselves what they believe is just, right, and fair.
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8th grade students have begun learning background information for our unit on Fascism, Propaganda, and Holocaust Studies. Next Monday students will host a Legacy Speaker from the Holocaust Center for Humanity. They recently presented to their peers about differing governing systems. | |
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Vocals students have been hard at work selecting their songs for the Winter Production of Nut-Brown Girl, the Band is coming together, and if you’ve popped into Christine’s art room you’ll see that the Props are well on their way. We’re very excited for families to experience this unique school-wide collaboration in March!
6th grade Spanish has begun a unit on different foods and meals. 7th grade Spanish has started watching a telenovela to analyze plot and characters, and 8th grade Spanish has begun reading and discussing vocabulary in a short book called “Pobre Ana”.
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From the BFA:
Join Us for BFA Meeting Tomorrow Friday 2/7
The February BFA meeting will be tomorrow 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!
Seeking Valentine Messages for Faculty!
We will wrap up Mid-Winter Faculty Appreciation next week 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!
Snackulty Faculty Signup
We are looking for parents/caregivers to bring snacks and treats for the staff meeting on March 12th and beyond. You can sign up and view additional slots here.
Admissions Help with School Reviews
Admissions decisions are coming out shortly, and your review of Billings can help prospective families understand what’s so special about our school. Sharing a brief paragraph about why you chose Billings or how your child has grown makes a huge difference to applicant families. Please take a few minutes to submit a review to Niche, Great Schools, and Private School Review. You can submit the same review to all three!
Parenting Resources
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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