May Day Sunday Details

May Day 5 p.m. Sunday

This year’s May Day ceremony will take place at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow, Sunday, May 4, at Lilly’s Field. Although the latest weather forecasts do not predict inclement weather at that time, please be advised of the steps that MICDS will follow should potentially unsafe conditions transpire. In the event of nearby thunder or lightning immediately before or during the May Day ceremony, all participants and spectators will be evacuated as quickly as possible from Lilly’s Field to the McDonnell Athletic Center (MAC). The technicians with whom MICDS contracts for audio-visual support at May Day require the immediate breakdown and removal of their equipment from any venue at which there is a threat of lightning. Should such a threat require the evacuation of Lilly’s Field, the ceremony will be delayed both to allow time for the inclement weather to clear and for our audio-visual contractors to reinstall their equipment. Safety is our highest priority at MICDS at all times. While we certainly hope that the current forecast holds and that there will be no rain or threat of lightning at the event, we wanted to be sure that you are informed in advance of the procedure we will follow should inclement weather affect the May Day ceremony. We appreciate your continuing patience with our planning efforts through this weekend’s uncertain weather conditions. We look forward to seeing you at tomorrow afternoon’s special event.

Learning the Skills to be the Best Babysitter

Story and photos by Gibson Walker ’30

I had the opportunity to go in a course called Best Babysitter here in the Middle School; this course was a part of our Winter Term. When I first walked into the babysitting class, the seventh and eighth-grade students were practicing songs they would theoretically sing to little kids. The teacher, Ms. Halverson, Middle School English Teacher, was guiding them through their songs. A few examples of the songs are Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle, and Old McDonald Had a Farm.

After they finished the songs, they moved to taste-testing baby foods. They had the option to taste it, touch it, or smell it. Ms. Halverson handed out the baby foods one at a time and allowed each student to use their senses to try and identify what was in the baby food. After they tasted them all, they had to guess what was in them, and if they were right, they got a point, and the person with the most points won. The flavors that they tasted were chicken apple, chicken noodle, spinach pea carrot, turkey rice, and strawberry banana apple.

Ms. Halverson said, “Many middle schoolers are starting to want jobs and make money, and I think babysitting is a great way for kids to do that. Family members have jobs, and they want one, too. It teaches them a way to make money and also teaches kids how to prepare food safely.” The students were taught a lot of different things about babysitting. Some of those things they were taught included mini-lessons such as things to do with kids of different ages, singing time (which is when they practiced the songs), interactive activities like making and playing with playdough, practicing read-aloud, and changing diapers.

While they were testing food, I asked some students a few questions to get a better understanding of what they thought of the class. I asked Noah Malik ’29 why he chose the class, and he said, “I wanted to be a better babysitter, and I want to learn different things about babysitting.” Brody Jones ’29 said, “I enjoy taste-testing food, and I enjoyed learning about babysitting things and learning CPR.” I enjoyed both of their responses to get a perspective on the class from someone experiencing it.