“My little sister heard the ice cream truck,” a Beasley student told me over lunch on Wednesday, “and we all had to run like two miles until we found it.” I was asking the students at her table how they had spent the exceptionally warm days with which the week had begun. “I played with my dog outside,” another student answered. “I sledded in the grass and crashed at the bottom of the hill,” said another. Apparently sledding is advisable in February even under June conditions. “Did your whole family eat ice cream?” I asked the student who had chased down the truck. “Yes! It was delicious.”
The evening before, I had posed a similar question to our Middle and Upper School students in survey form. “Did you enjoy the unusually warm weather this week?” I asked. “If yes, what did you appreciate doing that you could not have done under normal winter conditions? If no, why didn’t you enjoy it?” As of Thursday evening I had received 172 responses, 84% of which were “yes.” Here are a randomly-selected few from that group:
“Baseball.” (ninth-grade student) • “Golf.” (11th-grade student) • “Playing outside with my dog and running around outside with my friends at recess and P.E.” (Lillian, eighth grade) • “Riding my bike.” (Ally, sixth grade) • “Driving with the windows open.” (10th-grade student) • “Taking walks.” (seventh-grade student) • “Horseback riding.” (sixth-grade student) • “Tennis.” (11th-grade student) • “I just liked walking outside from class to class.” (seventh-grade student) • “I loved going outside and playing catch with my family.” (Caleb, fifth grade) • “I really enjoyed going to rowing practice.” (Andrew, eighth grade) • “Going outside and playing with my dog.” (Cecilia, seventh grade) • “Ted Drewes.” (Parker, seventh grade) • “Eating lunch outside.” (11th-grade student) • “Playing football with my friends.” (seventh-grade student) • “Having field hockey and lacrosse practice and getting to go outside during advisory.” (seventh-grade student) • “Tennis and biking.” (10th-grade student) • “Riding my bike around the neighborhood and walking my dogs around the park.” (Rowan, ninth grade) • “Sitting outside during my free period to study with friends.” (12th-grade student)
For their part, here’s what a few of the students who responded “no”—whom I also selected at random from the larger group—had to say by way of explanation:
“I do not like hot weather. I am a cold weather type of guy.” (Paolo, eighth grade) • “By Tuesday, it was extremely humid for me at home. The sudden change was too quick for my body. Besides, the cold never bothered me anyway!” (Sireen, eighth grade) • “I honestly like cold weather.” (sixth-grade student) • “We skipped right over the nice 60-70 degree weather.” (12th-grade student) • “Global warming.” (11th-grade student) • “I like the cold so I can stay inside and play board games with my family by the fire.” (Bruce, sixth grade) • “I didn’t know it would get warm, so I was still wearing multiple layers and melted.” (eighth-grade student) • “I don’t like hot weather because there’s no easy way to cool down, and 80 degrees was a bit of a shock from the (MUCH) cooler temperatures the previous few weeks.” (Ana, 12th grade) • “Because it is a reminder that if we do not do anything, climate change will get worse.” (Rosie, sixth grade) • “While I love hot weather, I think it’s important to remember that the reason it’s been unusually warm is global warming… which is a bit depressing.” (Lilia, 10th grade) • “I love the cold, and it felt weird for the temp to rise so quickly while we are still in February” (10th-grade student)
While I was at it, I asked a follow-up question: “Have you been enjoying anything in particular at MICDS recently?” Here’s what another randomly-selected subgroup had to say:
“Art is fun, and I love all of my classes.” (Connor, sixth grade) • “Friends.” (seventh-grade student) • “Athletics.” (eighth-grade student) • “I like the Global Perspectives unit.” (seventh-grade student) • “The Real Story of Alice in Wonderland (seventh-/eighth-grade play).” (Tess, eighth grade) • “Science has been nice, but it’s always nice.” (Devin, eighth grade) • “I loved Winter Term. It was a really fun experience.” (sixth-grade student) • “Carbon project.” (Nicholas, 10th grade) • “Shout out to the Grounds crew for keeping our campus looking so nice all the time.” (Zoe, 12th grade) • “Recess and PE.” (seventh-grade student) • “I love everything about MICDS.” (Abhiram, 10th grade) • “I really enjoyed the visitor we had on Monday in orchestra. It was a lot of fun and really interesting.” (Annabel, sixth grade) • “Volleyball.” (Virginia, eighth grade) • “Planting plants in botany class.” (11th-grade student) • “My accelerated math class has been very fun.” (Rue, eighth grade) • “The maker science and science seminar classes.” (12th-grade student) • “Lacrosse with friends.” (seventh-grade student) • “I love computer science forever.” (11th-grade student) • “I am really excited to start soccer at MICDS. It is a great way to get to know more people.” (seventh-grade student) • “Baseball season is going to be fun.” (ninth-grade student) • “I have been enjoying my history class.” (Charlie, sixth grade) • “Outside time in advisory.” (Aaron, fifth grade) • “Girls basketball games!!!” (12th-grade student)
I will give the last word to Ayaan in seventh grade. “I am new to MICDS this year, and overall I am thoroughly enjoying it,” he wrote. “I love the rigorous academics, and I can tell that they will prepare us for Upper School and beyond. I also love how MICDS provides many opportunities based on your interests, during and after school. I am so glad I came here!” So are we, Ayaan.
I suppose this week’s letter is relatively straightforward compared to last week’s. No sentence diagrams! I hope you aren’t terribly disappointed.
Well, maybe just one sentence diagram.
Always reason, always compassion, always courage. My best wishes to you and your families for a restful and happy weekend.
Jay Rainey
Head of School
This week’s addition to the “Refrains for Rams” playlist: Alison by Elvis Costello from his debut studio effort, My Aim Is True (1977), which is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest albums ever recorded (Apple Music / Spotify)