Student Standouts: Giokas ’25, Hamilton ’25, Harris ’25, Krivonak ’25, Orsan ’25, Wright ’25, and Tan ’31
Faculty Feature: K. Jones and Maurer
Congratulations to this week’s standouts below. Way to go #RamNation! And as always, if you have a story to share, please email weeklynews@micds.org.
Four Seniors Share Thoughts with NPR on Upcoming Presidential Election
St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum interviewed four MICDS students on his Politically Speaking podcast last week. Clare Giokas ’25, Reagan Hamilton ’25, Alyssa Harris ’25, and Zach Krivonak ’25 spoke about the upcoming presidential election and about the state of American politics. Listen to the Politically Speaking podcast from September 6 at the minute marks 19:55 to 26:40 to hear their thoughts. Or read their thoughts in this St. Louis Public Radio article.
A Record-Setting Field Goal by Malik Orsan '25
At the football game last weekend, Malik Orsan ’25 set a school record for the longest field goal at 53 yards! Watch the impressive kick on Gateway Sports Venue here! Incredible job, Malik!
Senior Shines in Engineering Pursuits, Earning $1,000 for Ramifications Robotics Team
Norah Wright ’25 is tirelessly working toward a career in engineering. She attended engineering camps at Missouri S&T and Purdue over the summer to get a taste of engineering classes and projects at the college level. During the Purdue Summer Top Engineering Prospects (STEP) weeklong seminar, she and her team had top points in the roller coaster competition and won “Best Presentation.” Norah also wrote her first scientific grant application under the guidance of Travis Menghini, Upper School Math and Science Teacher, and Brian Purlee, Upper School Fine Arts, Maker and Robotics Coordinator, & Science Teacher. She was awarded the grant and received $1,000 from the POWER Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit endowed by POWER Engineers, Inc. that supports science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) education, to go towards FTC team #5155 Ramifications. A special thank you to MICDS alumnus and parent Rett Oesch ’98, P’29 of POWER Engineers, Inc., for his full support and guidance in mentoring Norah as a next-generation engineer.
Tan ‘31 Scores at Nationally-Rated Horse Show
Faculty Feature: Teacher Selected as Struggly Classroom Ambassador
Did you know that there is a program called “Struggly” and that our very own Kristina Jones, Middle School Math Teacher, is a ’24-’25 Struggly Classroom Ambassador? Neuroscience and growth mindset research says that the best time for our brains to learn and grow is when we struggle! The Struggly program is all about supporting teachers and students to embrace struggle as an exciting and integral part of the learning process.
Struggly pairs visual, creative, and conceptual math tasks with an irresistible game-like pull and growth mindset messaging for students in grades K-8. The program is modeled after Dr. Jo Boaler’s Mathematical Mindset approach to math teaching and learning. After applying, Jones was selected as one of 15 ambassadors throughout the world for the program. She’ll be doing small things throughout the year to share Struggly with others. “The students will also use Struggly to practice number sense and basic computation skills utilizing different modalities to better reinforce their understanding,” she said. “As an ambassador, I’ll be representing Struggly at conferences, workshops, on social media, and beyond—working to help educators foster a growth mindset in their math students.” Embrace the struggle learning, Rams!
P.E. Teacher's State Championship-Winning Volleyball Team Inducted into Kirkwood High School Hall of Fame
