Stages of butterfly metamorphosis through pasta.

Teacher Colleen Blumer taught metamorphosis through pasta. Think about that the next time your egg-like pastina morphs into a caterpillar-spiraling rotinni and then becomes a chrysalis-like pipette rigate…all to make one glorious butterfly!

A sampling of music from upcoming orchestra concert.

Please join us in celebrating the music of TNSM’s orchestra, during their concert at 7PM on Thursday, May 14 in TNSM’s Growing Room. We are thrilled to have Melissa Robinson, former NKU director of strings and TNSM parent, leading our orchestra program as she challenges and engages the children in their music. This video shows TNSM’s advanced strings group practicing for their portion of the program. They will be joined by the beginning strings on the night of the performance.

Appreciating differences and learning about prosthetics

Civics teacher Johnnye White covers many interesting topics with her elementary students and invites a variety of speakers throughout the year to expand students’ empathy and understanding of issues facing members in our community. Prosthetist Mark Bondurant and his client Michael Ruehl (an electrician) shared exciting information about how prosthetics work and how they can renew a person’s independence. Mark has worked in prosthetics for 38 years and met Johnnye when her sister Marie received physical therapy and prosthetics at Buckeye Orthopedics. Michael’s injury began with a sore on his foot and resulted in an amputation below the knee this January. Once healed, Michael learned almost instantly how to walk …

Elementary students compose their own music on Orff insturments.

6th level students asked their teacher, Andrea Rosenthal Warnken, if they could write their own compositions on the Orff instruments. Andrea gave them requirements for their pieces, asking students to include elements of sustained pedal tone, bordun and rhythmic ostinato. Andrea said she noticed how well the students listened to each others’ ideas and resolved their disputes to determine a unified approach to their compositions. Next the students want to create more original compositions using our percussion instruments.

Crocheting plastic bags to make sleeping mats for the homeless

TNSM teacher Johnnye White invited Candice Moxley to speak with elementary students during their civics and appreciating differences class. Candice helps the homeless in her area by making sleeping mats for them. She uses plastic strips cut from multiple colors of reused grocery bags and ties them together to make what she calls plarn. She then crochets the plarn row by row to create a rug. Candice likes to keep her hands busy helping others and learned how to make these mats by watching a  Youtube video. To make one row requires 8 bags, and it took nearly a year for Candice to complete a …