Imagine being the first person in 1700 years to gaze upon the image of a Roman emperor! Think of what it is like to hold a coin actually used by an ancient Roman person!

In this project sponsored by Ancient Coins for Education, Inc., students from middle and upper school Latin classes clean and identify Roman coins. The classroom has become a laboratory for young archaeologists who are learning the following skills:

• weighing and measuring with scales and calipers
• soaking and cleaning with jars, distilled water, and brushes
• examining the newly uncovered features with magnifying glasses and bright lamps.

Students consult web sites to determine the attribution of their coins and communicate with experts in the field of numismatics to verify their attribution.

The 7th grade spends the morning at the D-Day Museum on a guided tour and then watches “Saving Private Ryan” in the afternoon. This event is coordinated to link the classroom coverage of World War Two to a more in-depth understanding of both the complexity of those years as well as the extreme violence involved in war. Additionally, the D-Day museum offers students a look at the local connection to the war effort.

On a Friday in February, Middle School students spent the afternoon dancing, singing, performing skits, eating good food, and having an all-around great time. They weren’t goofing off; they are students of French, Spanish and Latin, and the event was the annual International Festival, just one of many ways that Newman students learn about, and celebrate, cultures other than their own. In the International Festival, the students share with their classmates the languages, history, art and architecture, customs, music, dance and food of French, Spanish and Latin cultures through musical, dance and dramatic performance. “The students applaud their classmates enthusiastically and eagerly discuss the presentations, finding that they can often understand the skits in the languages foreign to them,” says Latin teacher Bee Smith.

Appreciation and exploration of other cultures begins for Newman Students, though, long before the International Festival, which ties their learning to the languages they study

The purpose of the seventh grade trip is to provide an opportunity for learning and growth outside the traditional classroom setting. While there, students will participate in a variety of activities designed to promote cooperation and teamwork with their classmates and establish a stronger sense of community within the seventh grade.

For nearly thirty years the Newman eighth grade class has ventured outdoors, beginning with the YO Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, to unusual or remote outdoor settings that enrich their educational experience beyond a traditional academic setting. At the Mountain Trail Outdoor School (MTOS) students will have compelling experiences and participate in lessons that cannot be taught in any classroom. Students will be confronted with a variety of personal, physical, and mental challenges, many of which occur within a single activity. This could be rafting down the French Broad River or properly organizing equipment for a three-day hiking trip—then accomplishing the hike. The MTOS also provides an authentic setting for students to practice cooperative learning, with very real challenges that can only be realized through the efforts of the entire group, such as preparing meals and erecting shelter in the backcountry. The goal of the trip is for nearly every student to return from the MTOS experience with a sense of personal accomplishment and satisfaction, not to mention with newfound friends and a greater respect for all of their classmates. For many, the trip will be the highlight of middle school, and it will be remembered for many years to come.