Middle School News
![Canstructure Creation with Ellie Pat B.]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1553028782/manayunk/fodrycy7wouuaqnk7os2/canstructure.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1553028782/manayunk/fodrycy7wouuaqnk7os2/canstructure.jpg","width":320}])
Congratulations to 6th Grader Ellie Pat B. who collected cans of food at AIM over the past month and worked with her soccer teammates in Reading's Canstructure competition on March 16 to benefit the Greater Berks Food Bank. Her team's "fan favorite" Women's World Cup soccer-themed sculpture was mentioned in the Reading Eagle newspaper.
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Congratulations to our FTC Middle School Robotics team on their 4th place overall finish in the Eastern Pennsylvania Regional Qualifying Event at Wissahickon Middle School on Saturday, November 18.
Visitors to Chestnut Hill's popular Harry Potter Festival on October 21st enjoyed a day of all things wizardry and magic including a magnificent performance by AIM 8th grade magician, The Amazing Jackson.
This week, in preparation for the first novel study of the school year, AIM seventh graders developed background knowledge related to Fever 1793 by Lisa Halse Anderson. Students worked together to construct mosquito traps that they placed on window sills and near plants outside on the AIM patio. In the days leading up to the "reveal", students have made predictions about the contents of their traps and plausibility of methods such as these for preventing exposure to yellow fever (the epidemic featured in this book based in Philadelphia in 1793). The traps project is one of the many alternative questioning method Language Arts teachers are using to guide students toward answering questions related to the novel such as: "Was the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 avoidable?" and "What methods of prevention were available to the citizens of 1793 Philadelphia?"
With a school campus located directly along the Schuylkill River Trail, avid cyclists among its faculty, a mission that is rooted in research, and a population of diverse learners, AIM Academy was a perfect candidate to receive a Riding for Focus grant from the Specialized Foundation last year. Program Champion and AIM Academy Teacher Anne Rock recently completed AIM's first year introducing this new curriculum and helping Middle Schoolers discover the joy of riding. The student's experience was chronicled in a brief video created by Middle School Media Arts students.
AIM Academy Middle School Science Teacher Chrissy Mellon has been selected by the Philadelphia Phillies as one of their Top 10 Teacher All Stars for 2017. Mellon, who was nominated by an AIM parent, will be honored along with nine other Teacher All Stars in a pre-game ceremony prior to the Friday, May 5 Teacher Appreciation Night game. The nomination letter written by the parent of one of Mellon's current students highlights the focus and education the teacher herself undertook to find the best way to connect with a child with a specific hurdle that impeded being able to learn: "Chrissy Mellon embodies AIM Academy's vision - innovative teaching driven by fearless dedication in the teacher."