Sloan Kaczynski has always loved to write. So when the annual writing contest for middle school students came around, the then fifth-grader jumped at the chance to put her ideas to paper. “I always thought expressing myself through writing was a great way to deal with whatever I’m going through, whatever my thoughts are,” she said. Now, two years later, seventh grader Kaczynski is a published writer of The Gold Rush, A Story Filled with Family Love & Personal Perseverance.

The historic FRA varsity golf season came to a dramatic end on Tuesday as the girls team repeated as TSSAA Division II-A State Champions and the boys team finished third in the state. 

Senior Angelina Chan won her second individual state title, and sophomore Tzunami Polito finished as state runner up for the second time. Senior Josh Holtschlag finished his incredible season as state runner up on the boys side as he led the young Panther squad to its top-three finish. 

Chan and Holstchlag are two of the most decorated golfers in FRA history. 

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We all know a young reluctant reader - one who views reading analogous to getting a tooth pulled at the dentist’s office. As a middle school English teacher, I encounter several of these students each year, most of whom openly admit their detestation and avoidance of reading. In today’s world of advanced technology, however, this isn’t surprising news. To many kids, Fortnite and Snapchat are much more appealing and exciting than a so-called “boring” book. Plus, reading requires something that many kids like to avoid if at all possible: effort.

As my oldest son is entering the tween years, I find that one of the more difficult challenges of parenting is realizing that you do not always know what your children are thinking and feeling. While we all do our best to raise our children with a sound moral compass, empathy, and coping skills, we may still find ourselves wondering when do the typical ups and downs of adolescence become something to worry about. 

Congratulations to senior Ben Spicer, who has been recognized as a semifinalist by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Each year, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation names 16,000 students from across the nation as semifinalists, meaning they have the highest PSAT/NMSQU Selection Index Scores (calculated by doubling the sum of the Reading, Writing and Language, and Math Test Scores) in their states.

Spicer will advance to the finalist selection later this year. 

Our lower school teachers provided a math morning meeting called “Sum It Up," where each grade level met with parents and shared the benefits and differentiating features of our math program at FRA. Parents learned that accuracy and math fluency are important, but our main goal for students is to develop a deep conceptual understanding of the mathematical concepts behind the numbers. 

By Allison Hammat, Upper School Counselor

As my oldest son is entering the tween years, I find that one of the more difficult challenges of parenting is realizing that you do not always know what your children are thinking and feeling. While we all do our best to raise our children with a sound moral compass, empathy, and coping skills, we may still find ourselves wondering when do the typical ups and downs of adolescence become something to worry about. 

While every parent would like to believe that suicide is not relevant to them or their family or friends, current statistics suggest that it is all too relevant. 

"The world is changing a lot, and what is demanded of these kids in the working world is the ability to create and the ability to collaborate effectively on teams, and sometimes you need something bigger than a classroom for that. Our hope for the lab is that it opens up new areas of thinking for our kids and really lets them run with their gifts.”

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