QUEST EXPO
QUEST is a unique, interdisciplinary, collaborative endeavor designed to promote authentic student inquiry and understanding of the learning process while providing ongoing opportunities for reflection and revision. Both grade levels focus on creativity and critical thinking. Eighth grade also focuses on global citizenship through service.
On May 4, the students presented their year long projects to their fellow classmates and parents. Below are a few pictures of the event.
Native Courtyard Garden
   Want to breathe easier?
Want to help keep the world green?
Want to learn how to help save our own little corner of the world?
Better yet, like to play in dirt?
Students learned: how to plan a garden, how invasive plant species harm our environment in our area, the importance of native plants to our environment, improved research skills and better yet, WORKED IN DIRT.
Cooper Staff
Cooper staff pose for a picture wearing their QUEST tee shirts.
Calling All Authors
  Students wrote, illustrated, and produced a children’s book. Students with interests in drawing, writing, reading, and being creative were part of this QUEST group.
Tape Your Teacher to the Wall
  
Students charged $1 for a piece of tape and used it to tape Mr. Fecteau, math teacher, and Mr. Smith, US History teacher, to the wall. The money collected went to a service project called Pennies for Patients which benefited the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Design Your Own Quilt
 Students were able to see real world application of measurement and shapes through the design and creation of a quilt.
Cooper Jazz Students
The Cooper Jazz Band is performing as part of their QUEST project. The band also performed at various retirement homes in the community.
Create Your Own Sneaker Project
In this course, students designed their own sneaker inspired by a historical event, person, or movement of their choice. They analyzed the sneaker market, design elements and details, and the top collaborations to create their final product.
"YMCA"
  Teachers and students sang and danced to "YMCA" as part of an assembly at the end of the day.
Cooper Chorus
It is with pride and excitement to report that the Cooper
Middle School Chorus received a rating of ‘Superior’ at the Music In the Parks
Choral Festival. This is
an incredible accomplishment to receive the highest rating at this event!
The Cooper Chorus kids are truly amazing. Their
onstage professionalism and focus was something to admire (despite the
not-so-good-weather)!
Congratulations Cooper Chorus!
Click to edit this placeholder text.
Cooper Band
Congratulations
to the Cooper Symphonic Band on being invited to perform at the 2017 Virginia
Music Educators Association State Conference this November at The Homestead
Resort! As the representative
for all middle school bands, we will be performing a concert as staff
development for music educators from across the state. It is the highest
recognition a program and band can achieve in the state and is a tremendous
achievement for these students.
Beth Johnston
came in 2nd at the National Trumpet Competition! Below is the
explanation of the event.
The National Trumpet Competition is a competition for trumpet
players in the U.S. that is open to all players up through graduate
school. There are 5 divisions for solo competitors: the Junior
Division which is open for players up to age 15 and grade 9; a High School
Division for 10-12th graders, an Undergraduate Division, a Graduate Division
and a Jazz Division. There are also 2 divisions for large and small
trumpet ensembles from colleges/graduate schools. Players apply by
submitting a video of up to 8 minutes of a classical solo piece for trumpet and
piano. This year 10 players in the Junior Division made it to the live
performance stage in front of a panel of judges in Denver, Colorado. From
these 10 semi-finalists, the judges selected 3 finalists to perform their piece
live in front of a bigger panel of judges. After the live performance,
Beth came in 2nd in the Junior division playing Andante and Allegro by
Ropartz.
Minsong Kim, flute, competed in the Fairfax County Band
Directors Association Solo Competition this past weekend amongst 25 other
fantastic musicians and won 3rd place!
Congratulations to all of these Cooper students on their
extraordinary dedication and musicianship!
Odyssey of the Mind
The
Cooper Middle School team of Jackson Frankel (8), Lexie Gagnon (8), Colin
Montie (7), Sophia Montie (8), and Matthew Zheng (8) competed at the Odyssey of
the Mind World Finals tournament May 23-27 at Michigan State University.
Over 830 teams from 15 countries took part in the creative problem
solving competition. The Cooper team placed 14th out of 52 teams in their
age division competing in the technical challenge. The challenge required
the team to engineer a robot that could "learn" and replicate human
motions and include the robot in a humorous skit. The team could not use
any kits to build the robot and was limited to a $145 budget for their entire
presentation. The judges loved their creative use of used pizza boxes to
build their set and props and the pun-laden skit.
News from the Clinic
The school health room is
reminding parents and guardians that all medication stored in the health
room must be picked up no later than the student dismissal time on the last day
of school. Medication left in the health room after JUNE 23, 2017 @
12:15 PM, will be discarded. It is school policy that medications must be
picked up by the parent or guardian. Medication cannot be sent home with your
student. However, with parent or guardian permission, a high school student may
transport over-the-counter medications to and from the school health room.
Capital One Coders
Students and Capital One volunteers at the culmination event
for the 10 week long Capital One Coders program. Students showed off apps they
created during a multi week process and received awards for their hard work.
Crayon Initiative
As the school year draws to an end, many used and
unwanted school supplies are routinely thrown in the trash. For the second year, the Langley pyramid is
working together on a pyramid-wide service project to collect and recycle used
crayons for The Crayon Initiative. Last year, students from all schools in the
pyramid collected over 640 pounds of crayons which were recycled into more than
3,000 crayon packs that were provided to pediatric patients in children’s
hospitals all over the country. We want to collect even more crayons this year!
Please donate your used crayons from school classrooms as
well as any crayons you have at home.
Crayons will be collected from all the elementary schools and the middle
school in this pyramid. Langley High School students will sort and mail the
crayons to The Crayon Initiative as their first service project of the new
school year in August 2017.
Donation boxes will be set up at each school before the
final week of classes.
The Crayon Initiative was featured in a segment on the
Today Show which can be viewed by visiting
http://www.today.com/parents/crayon-initiative-brings-smiles-children-s-hospitals-through-reused-crayons-t89896
<http://www.today.com/parents/crayon-initiative-brings-smiles-children-s-hospitals-through-reused-crayons-t89896>
or visit The Crayon Initiative at http://thecrayoninitiative.org
<http://thecrayoninitiative.org/>.
Important Dates
6/7 7th grade Awards Ceremony at 2:30 pm in the cafeteria
6/7 Spring chorus concert @ 7 pm in the cafeteria
6/8 8th grade Awards Ceremony at 2:30 pm in the cafeteria
6/8 Spring band concert @ Langley HS
6/12 HeroCon for 7th grade @ 8:30 am
6/14 Finals for Block 1 & 2
6/15 Final for Block 3
6/16 Finals for Block 4 & 5
6/16 Drama banquet @ 6:00 pm in the cafeteria
6/19 Finals for Block 6 & 7
6/21 Field trips for 7th and 8th grades
6/22 8th grade party @ 12 noon at Cooper
6/22 Yearbook distribution
6/23 Field Day; 2 hour early release
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