Fantastic Fifth Grade! The OMPH School Fifth Grade class, under the direction of teacher Miss Boyd, has been busy working on deepening their understanding of fractions, learning about the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia, writing and editing articles they wrote for the first issue of their classroom newspaper, and completing a novel study of The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies. During Catholic Schools Week, Fifth Grader Mary Sheakley was named OMPH’s Spelling Bee Champion and Fifth Grader Maysen Wenger was named OMPH’s Geography Bee Champion! Both students will compete at the Diocesan competitions in March. Recently, the Fifth Grade had the opportunity to walk down to the OMPH Parish Food Bank to restock the pantry shelves with the food that was collected during Catholic Schools Week. During the month of February, the Fifth and Sixth Grade students have teamed up to participate in the Science Buddies Engineering Challenge. Teams are trying to build a tool that will retrieve a ping pong ball from as far away as possible. Their materials are restricted to paper, tape, string and paper clips. “Using the engineering design process, students will brainstorm, plan a design, build and test the design, evaluate, and then improve it,” explained Middle School Science and Math Teacher, Mrs. DiNovis.
Super Sixth Grade! The Sixth Grade has been learning about the culture and history of Brazil. They have researched and presented interesting facts/city attractions about various cities in the area. This project will also include their traditional "Culture Day" at the end of the unit, where they will sample different cuisines affiliated with the country. They have also been discussing God's covenant and being created in His image. This has been done by creating a "Spiritual Hike" to Heaven. “This incorporates first-aid skills for spiritual hurts and virtues plus good habits to take along with them,” said Middle School Religion and Social Studies Teacher, Miss Peters. During ILA class, Sixth Grade is currently reading Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien. While reading the novel, they are studying the physical and personality characteristics of the main characters. “We will also be looking at possible themes of the story,” explained Middle School ILA Teacher, Mrs. Pickett. The Sixth Grade students recently finished writing their How-To Articles, and are beginning to present their demonstrations to their classmates.