True North Foundation
NEWSLETTER
January 2021 Vol. 1 Issue 5
A “Living Lab” Experiment Life is beautiful (Italian: La vita e bella) was a 1997 Italian comedy-drama film directed, and starred in, by Roberto Benigni. The movie was about the horrors of the Nazi concetration camps. And how - despite the atrocities experienced by so many - it is still possible to find beauty in life. The title - while perhaps becoming a catch phrase for some - captures a profound truth. Life is - beautiful!! At True North, we encourage our students to pursue those things that elicit an intellectual, emotional, even visceral response towards those “higher things.” We want our students to pursue beauty in all things. For nothing elevates the heart towards truth and goodness more powerfully than the beautiful.
the bottom of their critter cage (it’s a good thing they weren’t swept out with the old bedding). It was clear from that point on who the momma hamster was and who the daddy hamster was. Mom - who was clearly nursing her babies - while dad was busy doing his own thing. As soon as possible, dad was separated from mom, and mom was left to take care for her babies. It did not take long - three weeks - for the babies to “grow up” and become teenagers (pictured below), while being able to care for themselves. They are the cutest little things! They were taken to the vet and the gender was identified - in order to be able to separate and prevent them from having their own babies when mature. After all, the Science lab (and True North) does not want to be overrun by baby dwarf hamsters.
It is towards this end, that the Science department met at the end of last school year and discussed how it could bring beauty to Science - especially given the fact that True North would have a brand new, Science lab. The decision was made to create a “living lab experiment” filled with all sorts of critters, as a way to promote life and beauty.
However, another amazing thing happened. Last Friday (1/22), while packing up for the day, another litter of baby dwarf hamsters was discovered. Seven, new baby dwarf hamsters that looked even smaller than the first litter of three hamsters discovered. And so, as it turns out, mom got pregnant again during the Winter holidays!
At the start of the school year, the Science lab promoted it’s living lab, and not before too long, critter donations started coming in. The Science lab received two baby dwarf hamsters, leopard geckos, a yellow-crested gecko, and more. The students were immediately drawn in, filled with all sorts of questions: What is that? What is its name? Is it a boy or a girl? Can I hold it?
The students are thrilled. They are so excited by new life. They come into the lab each day and ask if the babies have been looked at, in order to make sure they are okay. They are eager to hold the hamsters with a look of sheer joy that comes over their faces as the hamsters scramble in the palms of their hands.
It did not take long for the students to get used to the “new life” around them. It wasn’t just them and the teacher occupying the space of the Science lab, but they had new friends of a different sort. They couln’t help but acknowledge the critters as they entered and left the Science lab. The students even got used to the sound of crickets chirping in the background, in dreadful anticipation of when they would be the next meal for one of our geckos.
And so the “living lab experiment” is working. Older students are curious again, filled - once again - with a sense of wonder that so easily tends to dissipate with age. The Science lab is not just teaching about Biology, as if it were some abstract science taught merely out of a textbook. Biology is teaching about life by its living example that fills the lab. When it’s time to teach about Mendelian genetics, all one has to do is hold up the parent dwarf hamsters and its babies, and its clear that the babies are a genetic mixture of the two (parents).
As with all attempts to create a “living lab,” we had some loss of life, which - in a way - is good for students to see the other end of life’s spectrum. But then, something amazing happened. Upon return from the Winter holidays, the Science lab was blessed with new life! Three baby dwarf hamsters were discovered at
This article started with the simple, yet profound truth: Life is beautiful (La vita e bella). Indeed, it is! Whatever the form, whatever the creature; whatever the situation. This is what we celebrate in the Science lab; this is what we celebrate at True North.
Pictures from...
...around true north!!
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few weeks ago, a call was made for pictures of our Mighty Titans, bustling around campus, engaging in aacedemics, arts, and sporting events. The call was answered by our faculty and families, who submited an overwhelming number of pictures to our shared folder. And while impossible to include all pictures for this publication, we haope you enjoy this small sampling, showcasing the wonderful things happening around True North: student having fun at the school-wide and grade-level parties for Give Miami Day, students working outside, playing sports, and our Dadeland spelling bee winners!
Wishing all of you a wonderful New Year., as we continue to show what is possible in education - despite the many challenges we are all facing today. May the road rise up to meet all of us as we travel this road together, in pursuit of the true, good, and beautiful!
Our science Scholars!
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rue North Science scholars enjoy working in our brand new, state-of-the-art Science lab. Our 8th-grade Honors Biology students work with our brand new compound light microscopes while looking at plant (onion root tip) and animal (fish) cells going through different stages of their life cycle. They were tasked with the job of finding cells in each phase and drawing a picutre of each. Students loved it.
dadeland campus update!
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s you can see, our Dadeland campus expansion project is well underway with the groundwork already being laid for our new Dadeland building. We anticipate the new building being completed and ready for occupancy by the next school year (2021-2022). The plan is to open with a K-5 configuration with approximately 375 students. Very exciting!
3rd order placed!
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ur 3rd order of bricks was just placed!
It will take approximately 5 weeks for the bricks to come in. Once they arrive, they will be installed either in the same square as the original two orders, or in the square right next to it. The exciting news is that we are just beginning to lay down our bricks in front of our brand new gym. There is still plenty of time and plenty of space to leave your legacy. The prices of bricks range from $125 for a 4x8 brick (text only) to $2,500 for a 16x16 array. Come check out the bricks so you can get an idea! Then, go to the following website to place your order: https://brickmarkersusa.com/donors/tnca.html
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Build a Dream True North would like to say “THANK YOU” to its generous donors to our “Build a Dream” Brick Campaign (*list represents bricks purchased through January 29) Please consider giving to our 2020-21 Brick Campaign https://brickmarkersusa.com/donors/tnca.html Abbas Family Abreu Family Aguerrebere Family Aguiar Family Alaya Family Aleman Family Alfonso Family Amador Family Amato Family Ammon Family Anguin Family Aragon Family Arencebia Family Arencibia Family Ariola Family Arrojo Family Ayala Family Baez Family Barrenechea Family Bejel Family Bell Family Benetiz Family Bileca Family Bishop Family Blaya Family Blissett Family Bolanos Family Bryan Family Buonassi Family Cabrera Family Calderon Family Camacho Family Cardwell Family Carothers Family Carrazana Family Carreno Family Cartaya Family Castenada Family Castrillon Family Castro Family Catlette Family Centeno Family Chin-You Family Chirini Family Chang Family Chavez Family Christian Family
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Annual Fund True North would like to say “THANK YOU� to its generous donors to our Annual Fund Campaign (*list represents donations made through January 29) This list does not include those who donated through Give Miami Day on Novermber 16-19, 2020
Please consider giving to our 2020-21 Annual Fund Campaign https://truenorthclassicalfoundation.givingfuel.com/annual-fund
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