Middle School Student Newsletter, 10/25/19

Boston Bound

Hello again, Quest community!

Middle School students have been very busy with many fun things happening. First was our amazing trip to Boston. The Middle School assembled at 7:35 in the morning to board a train at Wickford Junction and we arrived in Boston at 9:30. We spent the morning touring the Freedom Trail, visiting places like the Boston Massacre site, Phillis Wheatley's burial place, and Old City Hall, which is now a restaurant. As we traveled along the Freedom Trail, we learned about significant events during the Colonial and Revolutionary periods, the inequalities of the people living in those times, and even the way sites like Benjamin Franklin’s parents burial site have at times been promoted using false advertising to bring more people in to visit.

After a full morning of walking and learning, we ate lunch at Faneuil Hall and then moved on to Old South Meeting House. We had previously received characters to portray during our reenactment of the Tea Tax Meeting, and the time had come to read them out loud to the class. As the debate went on, we yelled ‘FIE’ when we didn’t support someone’s point, and ‘HUZZAH’ when we were we did. We portrayed Loyalists and Patriots who were really there and also heard points of view that were not represented back then, but should have been. We ended the debate with the statement “this meeting can do nothing more to save our country.” At this point in time at the real Tea Tax Meeting, a signal was given and the Sons of Liberty slipped out the door to pour 92,000 pounds of tea in the Boston Harbor in protest of the Tea Act. We left Boston with a better understanding of the lives and hardships of people back during the American Revolution.

Spirit Week

Another big event that week was planning for the upcoming Spirit Week! For Wednesday of spirit week, the Middle School had a fun surprise for Upper and Lower Elementary, which was a breakfast/brunch that we would prepare and serve! We designed a whole breakfast, thinking about shopping, dietary needs, and nutrition for the kids overall. We made decorations and shopping lists for the following week. The day before this Questaurant, a few of the Middle Schoolers took a trip down to the supermarket to grab our ingredients for breakfast while the rest of the class decorated and prepped. On Wednesday, most of us tried to come in as early as we possibly could to start cooking and baking immediately. We split up into groups to make waffle batter, fruit salad, apple compote and bacon, as well as setting up a buffet and dining table with cups and different stations. Since it was cozy day, everyone was in good spirits and Middle School provided entertainment with card tricks and a mock game show!

Clark Farms

On Friday of Spirit Week, we had a fairly normal morning, but everybody was showing their incredible Quest spirit by wearing Quest attire or blue and white. After lunch, Upper Elementary, Lower Elementary and Middle School all piled into a bus and headed over to Clark Farms where we split into four groups. Every three or four Middle Schoolers had a group of children that they led around Clark Farms, going through the corn maze (where I’m pretty sure 99.9% of the groups got lost), down the slide, around the go-kart track, to the corn cannon, and on the hay-ride. We also went to the little town, saw the goats and donkeys, and many more fun things that I’m sure everybody loved! After that we all got on the bus and headed back to school for our normal dismissal.