STEAM at The Country School

Full STEAM Ahead with Turn the Tide! From AWARENESS to ACTION,  TCS students are making a difference. September 2019    9/9/19 Madison Selectman pass ordinance to eliminate plastic bags in Madison. "T his morning the 5 member Board of Selectmen for the Town of Madison  unanimously passed a Hybrid Plastic Bag Ban. Still waiting for the exact date for it to be in effect, but if all proceeds as planned, the ban and paper bag fee shall be in effect by the end of 2019 at the latest (3 months after this approval)."  (Fran Brady BYO Madison President) A special shout out to seventh grade students at The Country School, Michaela and Cooper for speaking at the Madison town meeting in front of the 5 selectman to tell them about our Turn the Tide on plastic campaign here on the TCS campus for the last year. They were poised and confident and really impressed the adults in attendance!

Carton 2 Garden The  Country School Collaborators  sure were proud to receive the STEM award for the national Carton2Garden Contest this year!  Mr. and Mrs. Wade from Wade's Dairy came to present the award and check.   Bag It Thank You all who supported our "Bag It" film evening on May 22nd. It was a very informative and eye opening event!  Let's all work together to "Turn the Tide on plastic"!  If you have not seen the film and are interested, please contact us at shari.lariviere@thecountryschool.org or louise.jackson@thecountryschool.org

The Country School first, fourth and eighth grade students collaborated on a project in which they used recycled milk and orange juice cartons to create a mini greenhouse for the school garden. Fourth grade student, Chloe made this amazing submission video.  Click on the link below to view it. Carton 2 Garden 2019 TCS

Robert's Food Center and The Country School  Partnering together to Turn The Tide on Plastic Robert's has agreed to give back 10%  on all TCS shopping receipts!   from 2/8, this Friday through 2/14  (next Thursday, Valentine's Day)!  TCS LOVE OUR LOCAL  Robert's Food Center Feb 8- Feb 14!! TCS LOVE THE ENVIRONMENT  (Bring Reusable Shopping Bags) Bring all receipts back to classroom teacher or advisor from Robert's with date 2/8-2/14 and Robert's will give us 10% of all receipts!! Thank you for supporting The Country School!

The Country School partners with Robert's Food Center and the Town of Madison to  Turn the Tide on Plastic ! Stay tuned for more information...

DECEMBER STEAM Challenge!! Only 20 Tote bags left! Give the environment a gift for the holiday!! Please purchase your very own TCS cloth bag for $5 to support our Eliminating and Repurposing Plastic Initiative. You will get one personal dress down pass per customer. (:   $3 of the $5 will cover the cost of the bag and $2 per bag will be donated to Breast Cancer (per the student led committee that designed the bags). These bags will be great to bring your gym clothes or lunch to school or parents, terrific for a light shop!!

November STEAM Challenge!! Please purchase your very own TCS cloth bag for $5 to support our Eliminating and Repurposing Plastic Initiative!! You will get one personal dress down pass per customer. (:   $3 of the $5 will cover the cost of the bag and $2 per bag will be donated to Breast Cancer (per the student led committee that designed the bags). These bags will be great to bring your gym clothes or lunch to school or parents, terrific for a light shop!! (See picture below: 6th graders from left to right, Michaela Troy,  Rosie Liu, and Tanner Weiss)  Bags will be sold at back parking lot during pick up on Wednesday.

Madison’s Country School eliminates plastics Published 12:00 am EDT, Thursday, October 11, 2018 Photo: Louise Jackson / Contributed Photo ...

Welcome Back Country School! We are excited to dive back in to our STEAM initiatives, continuing our emphasis on the environment.  Our school-wide mission this year is: We will continue to raise awareness of the plastic overuse in our world. We will also begin to eliminate and re-purpose plastics and improve our recycling efforts. Projects are already underway with discussions of water stations at TCS, recycling stations, and elimination of single use plastic bags, straws, and plastic water bottles on campus. Our long term goal is to have a positive impact and create awareness in the greater community and to partner specifically with Madison Chamber of Commerce to Turn The Tide on Plastic. Be on the lookout for our student designed scarecrow in downtown Madison! Take the the TCS monthly challenge! October We would like all TCS students to watch the video from the All School Meeting with their families and click the "FOLLOW" button or comment on our blog after ...

The Country School's  STEAM  program for young learners is designed with a   unique twist;  it is first literature based and then infused with " ST EAM ".  When people see the "A" in STEAM they often think of the visual arts but there is so much more.   Art includes: literature, music, sculpture, architecture, dance, photography, digital, performing arts;  the list goes on and on.  This is evident in our classrooms, hallways and all over The Country School campus.                                    I love this quote from author  Lisa Marder   "There is no one universal definition of art but there is general consensus that art is the conscious creation of something beautiful or meaningful using skill and imagination." Our  STEAM  objective at TCS is to invoke the imagination of each child through th...

Click on the link:  http://lowerschoolsteam.blogspot.com/2017/12/got-minute.html?m=1

Good luck to our two robotics teams! The Wise Guys and Archimedes Owls teams are competing today in the First LEGO League robotics competition at Lyme-Old Lyme High School. They've been practicing all fall, and at All School Meeting yesterday, they gave us a preview of some of their research. This year's theme is finding a solution to the world's water challenges, and members of the Archimedes team shared a skit about creating potable water from salt water. Members of the Wis e Guys team talked about the interview they conducted with a water specialist at the Connecticut Department of Health and how they decided they could contribute by creating a fuel efficient car that runs on a resource we have plenty of: salt water. Using a copper sheet, salt water, a rubber insulator, and an aluminum can, they demonstrated how power can be generated simply and without using fossil fuels. "Think about it," one team member said. "Instead of buying expensive...