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The Vietnam War is an integral part of the history curriculum for eighth graders at Suffern Middle School. And to make this monumental moment in history more relatable for students, eighth grade teachers went straight to the source: local veterans who spent part of their teens and early 20s in country.

Suffern Middle School teachers Russ Rice and K.C. Davan are fans of both history and amusement parks so it’s only natural that they would come up with a #PBL that marries both interests. Eighth graders in Davan’s class created a park that had four different lands based off of historical events that happened in the 1920s with clever names like Politics Plaza and Depression Drive. They also used ChatGPT to create super realistic images of their theme parks. (Creating the images and coming up with the rides was the most fun part, students told us. Creating the website was the most difficult.)

Last year, bestselling YA author Adam Gidwitz visited Suffern Middle School to speak to sixth and seventh graders about his book "Max in the House of Spies." The visit was made possible when SMS won a contest that librarian, Mrs. Speechley had entered. Mr. Gidwitz was so impressed with the students and staff at SMS, that he offered to come back again (at no charge) to promote his second book in the series, "Max in the Land of Lies."

Spring arrives on Thursday, and it won't be long until plant life begins to bloom again. In preparation for the warmer weather, and hopefully lots of time spent outdoors, 12 members of SMS's Green Team spent their Saturday morning cleaning up the Sloatsburg Community Fields. The team removed six bags of trash and two bags of recyclables, along with a lot of debris, metal, and even an old garden statue! Thank you for keeping our parks beautiful, Green Team!
 

Typically in creative writing units, students are asked to add more descriptive words, elaborate on their ideas and provide as much detail as possible. But today, 22 middle school students are being celebrated for their short works of art, after winning a nationwide writing contest from @youngwritersusa .

The hallways of Suffern Middle School have gotten a bit of a makeover recently in the form of brightly colored street signs and flags lining the walls. Intersecting hallways have been renamed Mission Street, Proactive Pkwy or Win Win Way, a nod to the Leader In Me's "7 Habits,” which are woven throughout the curriculum. "We use this language in our Leader in Me lessons and it's a nice reminder for the students to see it every day as they walk to class," says Assistant Principal Jennie Narcisco.