Wingspan

March 2024

A Month of Seasonal Transition and Activities at Overlook

March A Busy Time For Staff and Students

The struggle between winter and spring came into full focus during March with variable days of colder and milder weather keeping everyone on their toes. What did not vary was the commitment to fun and meaningful events across the Overlook community. For many eighth graders, the annual Monty Tech interviews were conducted for those vying for a coveted spot there next year. The Student Council hosted a luau themed evening dance that was fun for the whole school. Students enjoyed dressing up and channeling their Hawaiian vibes. The "Wear Green Day" got students excited for St. Patrick's Day celebrations over the weekend. Overlook spent a full week participating in the See Something Say Something program. Additional information is located later in this issue. MCAS has also arrived and will continue over the next two months. The month concluded with a fun NCAA College Day for students to show off their favorite swag. It is hard to believe that we are only a few months from summer. Keep flying high Eagles!

A Week of Activities Promotes Community

By- Wingspan Staff

The Say Something program teaches students how to recognize warning signs and threats of someone who may be at-risk of hurting themselves or others and to “say something” to a Trusted Adult before a tragedy can occur. We are continuing our efforts to encourage students to be an Upstander. An Upstander is: A person who speaks or acts in support of an individual cause, particularly someone who intervenes on behalf of a person being attacked or bullied.

To take it one step further, students who learn the three Say Something steps: Also intervene when another student is at risk of harming themselves or others. The program teaches students the following three steps to be an Upstander:

Recognize Warning Signs and Threats
Learn what warning signs and threats are and where they are likely to be found.
Act Immediately; Take it Seriously
Learn strategies to take action when warning signs and threats are observed as well as how to be an Upstander rather than a bystander.
Say Something
Learn how to tell a trusted adult when warning signs and threats are observed.

During the week of March 18-22nd, 2024, students took part in Say

Something Week at Overlook Middle School. We discussed how to

recognize warning signs and threats of potential violence and the

importance of telling a trusted adult.

It can be hard for adults to know how the children in their lives are feeling.

Today, many teens and adolescents turn to online channels to express

themselves, their thoughts and hopes, and their anxieties and personal

feelings. Some even go as far as hinting they want to hurt themselves or

someone else. Their friends and peers are the eyes and ears of a school

community and may observe these communications but not always

understand or know what to do with that information. Say Something

teaches all of this. The 30-minute training worked through the 3 steps-1)

Look for warning signs and threats, 2) Act immediately, take it seriously; 3)

Say Something to a trusted adult.

We encourage you to talk to your students about how important it is to

Say Something and encourage them to share what they are learning. Not

only will this conversation help you to recognize any signs in your own

student’s expressions, but it also demonstrates to them that you take this

subject seriously and can be one of the trusted adults they turn to if they

suspect someone may need help.

We know that schools are meant to be safe places. Say Something will help

equip our young people to do their part to keep our school community

safe. For more information on Say Something, please visit:

www.sandyhookpromise.org/saysomething.

Women’s History Month

By-Autumn Ellia

Introduction

During Women’s History Month, we celebrate the many successful women of the world. From Frida Kahlo to Marie Curie, we congratulate these powerful people.

Margherita Hack

Born in Florence, Italy, Margherita always had an interest in outer space. From asteroids to satellites, to the evolution of stellar atmospheres, she was absolutely extraordinary. She had taken only one college class on literature before she switched her major to physics.She even said that some of her eBay friends were stars. Their names were Tauri, Zeta Her, Omega Tau, Eta Boo, and 55 Cygni. In Margherita’s opinion, being a scientist means that you are basing your research on the facts in the natural world, and that you are passionate and curious about your studies. “The stars are not very different from us. They are born, they grow old, and they die.” -Margherita Hack

Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama was an inspirational character for many women in the nation. From a young age, Michelle was a very talented person. By kindergarten, she had already learned how to read. By the age of four, she was already an adept piano player. She took advanced classes in middle school, and went to M. Young Magnet High School, a very prestigious school with high standards. She grew up to be the first lady of the United States, an author, a lawyer, and she married the 44th president, Barrack Obama. “When someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level. No, our motto is, ‘When they go low, we go high.” ~Michelle Obama

Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafazi is an activist in Pakistan who openly spoke out against the Taliban, a group of terrorists, took control of her home and banned women from getting an education. She had thought this was unfair, and voiced her opinion many times online. She loved her education, so much so as she once said on TV, “Education is power for women. The Taliban are closing girls’ schools because they don’t want women to be powerful.” She has overcome many obstacles, and still fights for young girls’ education in Pakistan. She is truly an inspiring activist. “When the whole world becomes silent, even one voice becomes powerful.” ~Malala Yousafazi

Hypatia of Alexandria

Hypatia was a teacher born around 370 CE. She wrote many scrolls, (since books didn’t actually exist yet), and taught geometry and arithmetic at the Library of Alexandria, once the largest library in the world, and even created the astrolabe, an instrument used for calculating the position of the Sun, the Moon, and stars at any given time. When the Library of Alexandria burned down, all of her scrolls and studies were lost in the fire. Through this, her teachings were passed around and talked about for centuries. “Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better not thinking at all.” ~Hypatia of Alexandra

St. Patrick's Day History

By Ella Cerasuolo and Gemma Bergeron-Wigglesworth

Saint Patrick, who lived during the fifth century, is the patron saint of Ireland and its national apostle. Born in Roman Britain, he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave at 16. He later escaped, but returned to Ireland and was credited with bringing Christianity to its people. In the centuries following Patrick’s death (believed to have been on March 17, 461), the mythology surrounding his life became ever more ingrained in the Irish culture: Perhaps the most well-known legend of St. Patrick is that he explained the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) using the three leaves of a native Irish clover, the shamrock. Since around the ninth or 10th century, people in Ireland have been observing the Roman Catholic feast day of St. Patrick on March 17. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place not in Ireland but in America. Records show that a St. Patrick’s Day parade was held on March 17, 1601 in a Spanish colony in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. The parade, and a St. Patrick’s Day celebration a year earlier were organized by the Spanish Colonies Irish vicar Ricardo Artur.

More than a century later, homesick Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched in New York City on March 17, 1772 to honor the Irish patron saint. Enthusiasm for the St. Patrick's Day parades in New York City, Boston and other early American cities only grew from there.

Over the next 35 years, Irish patriotism among American immigrants flourished, prompting the rise of so-called “Irish Aid” societies like the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick and the Hibernian Society. Each group would hold annual parades featuring bagpipes (which actually first became popular in the Scottish and British armies) and drums.

Even today, people of all backgrounds celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, especially throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. Although North America is home to the largest productions, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated around the world in locations far from Ireland, including Japan, Singapore and Russia. Popular St. Patrick’s Day recipes include Irish soda bread, corned beef and cabbage and champ. In the United States, people often wear green on St. Patrick’s Day. In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day has traditionally been a spiritual and religious occasion. In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17. Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish government began a national campaign to use interest in St. Patrick’s Day to drive tourism and showcase Ireland and Irish culture to the rest of the world.