Mr. Anderson's room was abuzz with action Friday. Bottle caps became wheels and science theory became tested as students designed and built their own race cars.

Any lesson that involves power tools is a good one in my book, but another thing Mr Anderson's lesson highlights is how a teacher enriches students learning when they bring their own strengths and passions into the classroom and that happens in the 7th grade teamwide on the regular. (Looking at you, George, Hagerman, Milligan, Egnot, Ciambrone, Potter,...) What a beautiful thing to see Mr Anderson's gift with building (and expertise from the Lego Store!) being shared with the students toward mastery of their curriculum.

Thanks for setting up these work stations and offering this experience for our students. What a great follow-up to the NASCAR engineering lesson earlier this year. (scroll to the last Twitter link below for video of that 7th grade special event with a Piedmont Alum as teacher)

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At Piedmont we are big proponents of experiential learning. from recreating (safely) wars and revolutions in individuals and socieities classes, to walking field trips of Uptown historic and modern business sites,  Piedmont students learn by doing. In math they don't just study prisms, they build them, blow them up and go inside. In science, they don't just study heat and geothermal activity on the earth, they make smores to exerience it. 

Here are a few recent examples of special events our teachers created for their students:

Thanks to Ms. Styles and Mr. Reddig, the 8th graders spent the days before Winter break learning about a topic that will help them for the rest of their lives. The teachers arranged a two day participatory experiential lesson in finance from the experts at Wells Fargo.  Students learned about timelines, what you can and can't control,  how quickly money goes when you are an adult, and how to guard yourself from unexpectd setbacks. 

Thanks to Ms. Swift and 6th grade math team for inviting in a Piedmont parent and finance expert to be a guest speaker to 6th graders. Money math in real life, and a good lesson about the way debt can spiral out of control. Here are a few photos from that event. 

Thanks to Mr. Chandler, Ms. Hash, and Ms Tapia for the Titanic in the Gym event where 6th graders used their knowledge of math and reading to stay afloat. I heard only a few survived but everyone enjoyed the chance to compete and cooperate in the multi-class  simulation!

Thanks to Ms. Kryszak and the 6th grade team for organizing a trip to see the new release film of the summer reading blockbuster novel Wonder.  Students enjoyed seeing the book come to life on the big screen almost as much as the popcorn and having the theater to ourselves! They were able to cheer for the heros and boo the villains together and also learn a little about the importance of empathy for those who are different from ourselves.

Thanks to Mr. Carpenter, students were able to go with their Career and Technical Education classmates to the 2017 Geek Fest. Students loved being on a college campus. They attended lectures on Minecraft and Movie Making, toured a high tech automotive center, and particpated in hands on tech sessions like:

I don't have photos of this year's leadership trip to Queen's University, or drama's trip to see the high school play, so please understand this is only a small slice of the work teachers here to do make learning real every day.

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Genius Hour, Passion Project, 20 percent time...whatever you call it it's about the Love of Learning. At Piedmont we call it LOL and it happens every spring.
For the 4th year in a row, 6th graders showcased the information and skills they gleaned from their 6th block independent study time to their classmates, families, and teachers and once again we were amazed at the talent, dedication, creativity and diversity of interests of our class.
Thank you to the sixth grade teachers who each year braves the messiness that comes with student-driven learning. Thank you to the sixth grade students who shared with open arms just a little of what they love. You can tell it was all worth it when you see the proud and happy smiles in this video.

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Even prior competition, we were proud of Mr. Ciambrone and the Piedmont Science Olympiad team. Fellow Piedmont students and staff sent them off to Wright State University with a parade to celebrate and now that they're back, we still couldn't be prouder of their 7th place national finish.

The Science Olympiad National Tournament consists of multiple science tasks. Piedmont Crimebusters, Dynamic Planet, and Hovercraft teams each scored 1st in the nation -and the Food Science team placed 2nd.  It's such a pleasure to watch these students work and work hard they did, not just at the tournaments, but at practices and at home, too!

After their steller sciencing was done, the team found time to relax at Kings Island before heading back home with all their medals. 

 from the official Press release:

Piedmont IB Middle school from Charlotte was one of the top US Middle schools  to compete and place in the top ten category at the prestigious 2017 Science Olympiad National Tournament held at Wright State University, Dayton, OH on May 19th – 20th. The highly talented team won 8 medals which include 3 Golds and 1 Silver medal in STEM subjects such as Hovercraft, Dynamic Planet, Crime busters and Food science to name a few out of 23 subjects. After placing first at both the Regional Tournament held at UNC Charlotte on March 11th and the State Tournament held at NC State university, Raleigh, on April 23rd, Piedmont IB middle school advanced to represent North Carolina at the National Tournament and placed 7th overall. This is the 4th year in a row that Piedmont IB middle school has won the Regional and State Championship in North Carolina.
 "We are so proud of our entire team and how hard they've worked this entire year! 7th place at nationals is a amazing accomplishment!“  said Jackie Barone, the principal of Piedmont IB middle school. 
“We encourage them to champion excellence in everything they do remembering that they are One Team, and they did that 100% all season!" Said Coach Corina Mota who also won the  Coaching Excellence award at the National Tournament.
One of the nation’s most prestigious science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions, Science Olympiad brings together 120 top middle school and high school teams advancing from state-level competitions. Rigorous hands-on and lab events led by experts from government agencies, top universities, industry and Science Olympiad state chapters cover topics in robotics, physics, epidemiology, astronomy, chemistry, meteorology, coding and engineering. “These winning teams exemplify the best America has to offer in science, technology, engineering and math,” said Gerard Putz, Science Olympiad president and co-founder. “We are proud of their incredible achievements and know their schools and communities will welcome them home like champions.”
Please see the official Press release from the National Tournament at this link:https://www.soinc.org/sites/default/files/uploaded_files/2017NatlTournPreRelease.pdf

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Mr Egnot in Action:
Read about his Mock Presidential Electionhttp://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/a-new-president-of-the-usa
Mr Egnot wins another award at: piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/a-surprise-for-mr-egnot
See the Living History Museum: piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/7th-grade-brings-history-to-life
Watch the "Trench Warfare" http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/7th-grade-video-stars
See the Industrial Revolution Prep http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/piedmont-teachers-gamify-social-studies
See the Indutrial Revolution http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/you-say-you-want-an-industrial-revolution