Spring Semester Roundup

Combining their learnings and artwork from humanities, art, and music, the 5^th grade class invited family, friends, and the broader SGS community to gather in a celebration of “home.” This spring, students learned about the original inhabitants and caretakers of the land where SGS was built—the Duwamish and Coast Salish—and the significance of acknowledging Indigenous and Native peoples. During the culmination event held at SGS’s new home, students gave a land acknowledgement, presented original art, and performed the song “Home” by Phillip Phillips.

To cap off the spring semester, the 6^th grade class spent three days biking and camping around Lopez Island—an annual SGS trip filled with camaraderie and connection. During the trip students biked to various island farms, where they did service projects and learned about the local agriculture. The grade was broken into different groups of students that cooked, cleaned, and ate together, and even dug for clams together on the beach, creating more opportunities for bonding.

In the Pay It Forward culmination, the 7^th Grade class explored the root causes of issues important to them and created action plans for positive change. SGS student activists showcased their issue tree posters, compelling editorials, and illustrated children’s books highlighting the importance of their issues, which included homelessness, climate change, mental health challenges, and sexual assault. Students were also surprised with a “mystery activity” where they facilitated discussions to reach consensus about a set of solutions that tackle root causes.

In their last culmination at SGS, the 8^th grade class debuted three films they teamed up to write, edit, and produce. “This culmination is named ‘Production’ because the process of completing the film is just as important as the final product,” explains Performance and Media Arts teacher Ms. Lu. Students put all they learned at SGS about flexibility, communication, and teamwork into practice making their films as three different teams embodying the 8^th grade team, Alone we go fast, together we go far. You can watch the trailers to Insta-Glitch, Reunion, and There’s No Escape here!

One of the many ways SGS celebrates Pride is through its annual Alphabet Panel, a special event with the whole student body that aims to raise awareness about the spectrum of gender and sexual identities. This event reveals, as one of our students put it, “what the world is like being an LGBTQ+ member of the community.” Panelists talked about their experiences in finding themselves and becoming comfortable in their identities, as well as how they came out to their friends and families. Students and panelists then held a discussion about the challenges and positives of being a part of their respective communities.

Congratulations to our graduating 8^th grade class! This group of resilient students persevered through a very trying time for young people all over the world. We are incredibly proud of their growth and leadership, and we wish them the best in their future adventures and endeavors.