Daily Life in the Middle School

Middle School Sample Schedule
8:30–9:40 am First class
9:40–10:50 am Second class
10:50–11:10 am Break
11:10 am–12:20 pm Third class
12:20–1:05 pm Lunch
1:05–2:15 pm Fourth class 
2:15–3:15 pm Community time
(advisory, clubs, assemblies, etc.)

Curriculum

Meet the Faculty

Middle School Stories in Fine Print Magazine

Three Rowland Hall seventh graders work on an invasive species bug trap.

Utah has seen an influx of new residents in recent years—and not all of them have been welcomed with open arms.

Balsam woolly adelgids, fox squirrels, field bindweed, quagga mussels, and other invasive species have found comfortable homes in the state, and in some cases have made life difficult for native species by competing with them for limited resources. It’s a real problem, and it recently presented a perfect project-based learning opportunity for students in the seventh grade. Science teacher Lindsay Mackintosh challenged her students to use skills from across the curriculum to find a solution and put it into action—and maybe even impress scientists working in the field.

“The students designed and built traps to capture invasive insect species, and help ecosystems be more biodiverse by limiting their impact,” said Lindsay. “This required them to explore engineering concepts to research, build, and revise their traps.”

Engineering helps students become problem solvers and think critically..—Lindsay Mackintosh, seventh-grade science teacher

Engineering may appear to be an advanced topic for seventh graders, but these kids were up to the challenge. It all comes down to problem solving in a methodical way, while at the same time considering numerous possibilities. That’s why increasing engineering opportunities is expressly mentioned in the school’s strategic priorities.

“In making these traps they had to consider some constraints but also had freedom to be creative,” Lindsay said. “Engineering helps students become problem solvers and think critically.”

Research was the first order of business for the students, as all bugs can’t be caught the same way. “We had to do a lot of research so we could engineer the trap around the bug,” said seventh grader Atticus P., whose group chose the elm seed bug as their target. “We had to figure out, What does it eat? Where does it live?, and other things like that so we could catch it.”

The design and build process came next, with students doing multiple concept sketches and revisions before building their first prototype. There were lots of different factors to consider when coming up with designs. Students only had ten dollars total to spend on materials for their traps, and that wasn’t the only practical concern facing them.

A group of Rowland Hall middle schoolers collaborate on their invasive bug trap project.


“We had to think about where we would put it,” said seventh grader Ben D. “We had to think about how it would be sustainable so the wind or rain wouldn’t destroy it. We had to think about so many different things when creating a good and effective trap.”

Once the first prototypes were built most students found themselves going back to the drawing board. While that may have been frustrating for some, it was a valuable lesson that engineering is not a linear process. “Some groups had to make drastic changes when they saw their first prototype,” said Lindsay. “It was interesting to see them walk through this process and decide what changes they want to make.”

We took our mistakes, and we turned it into something better.—Harper J., class of 2029

“Our prototype was trash. It was really bad,” said seventh grader Harper J., who was in a group chasing down Japanese beetles. “We used Saran wrap to keep them from getting out, but it was too sticky, so we switched that out to mesh. We took our mistakes, and we turned it into something better.”

Students started their bug studies at the beginning of the school year, perfecting them by mid-November. Then it was time to present their inventions to scientists from the University of Utah who study invasive species. This is when they learned that you can have a great idea, but that might not matter if you don’t know how to communicate it. Presentation preparation built upon lessons the students had already learned as part of their writing curriculum, and seventh-grade English teacher Jill Gerber helped them apply those skills to the science realm.“We talk a lot about task, audience, and purpose in class,” said Jill. “That’s what they had to do here. Identify their key points and have a clear idea and message going into the presentations so their audience would come away understanding their content.”

This shift from focusing on their content to focusing on how the audience received it meant the students had to change the way they viewed the project. While they had a wealth of information about their bugs, the invasive species problem, and their design and construction process, all of that data could now be a hindrance to clearly and succinctly communicating their message.

“Our goal was to tell everyone how the trap worked, and what the purpose of the trap was, and how we would get the bugs to the trap,” said seventh grader Stella O. “We had to take a lot of information about the bugs out because the main purpose of the presentation was talking about the trap.”

In the end the presentations were successful, and the students not only got to show off their work, but also interact with working scientists. Additionally, they got a deeper understanding of how all learning is connected and, when used together, is greater than the sum of its parts: problem-solving skills learned in the science classroom can be applied to other subjects, and communication skills from English can be used to get messages across in any field. It’s a kind of understanding that’s already gone far beyond this fall project, continuing to benefit students in the second half of the year—and will undoubtedly continue to do so beyond seventh grade.

“Layering skills and concepts is something I know we all try to do,” said Lindsay. “That way we are giving students skills that are transferable and can be used across the curriculum and outside the classroom.”

It all adds up to creating people the world needs, whether they are building bug traps to combat invasive species or shaping solutions to the world’s hardest problems.

Authentic Learning

Students Reflect on Creation of AI-Inspired Dance Concert, ‘Integrated’

In preparation for this year’s dance concert, Integrated, middle and upper school students researched topics related to technology, AI, and how we as humans relate to these machines in our everyday lives. Students thought critically about their personal experiences with tech and created pieces inspired by their findings and curiosities. Their works explore how we can utilize AI as a resource moving forward, while also giving space to the many moral and existential questions that come along with developing non-human intelligence. Two Upper School students, Hayley Trockman and Mattie Sulivan, reflected on their own processes and interviewed peers to give the audience an inside look into the complex questions underlying this year’s concert.


Reflecting on Process: Dance Students’ Voices on Integrated

By Hayley Trockman, Class of 2024, and Mattie Sullivan, Class of 2025

During the summer workshop our dance teachers, Sophia Cutrubus ’18 and Grace Riter ’18, presented us with the question: how can we express our thoughts about the advancement of technology through dance? At first, we were unaware of just how many different paths we could take to explore this growing industry. But as we dove deeper, we discovered that this topic left us with endless questions and conversations to have. Both our Intermediate and Advanced Dance Ensembles classes endeavored to answer these questions with open minds and a willingness to delve into our movement explorations.

How can we express our thoughts about the advancement of technology through dance?

Junior Mattie Sullivan decided to ruminate on their individual relationship to transforming technologies, using their piece to uncover a duality that often comes with spending huge amounts of time online.

“When I was presented with the theme of this year's dance concert I felt excited, overwhelmed, and honestly scared,” said Mattie. “Walking into dance class this year, I was full of ideas but really struggling to articulate them. Even a couple of days ago I was reminded of our initial question: can you really express all of these feelings through dance? But in the few weeks leading up to the concert, I feel confident that our relationships with AI and technology have and will continue to be voiced.”

They continued, “The Internet has been my primary form of communication with those I care about and my main source of entertainment. On the flip side, I have observed the detrimental effects an Internet addiction can have on a person. For my piece, I focused on both of these aspects of Internet usage. By manipulating the energy qualities of my movement I was able to portray both loneliness and connection. In our creative processes, we dove into the complexities of using the Internet and AI, and through movement we have been able to tell our unique stories.”

In Mattie’s work with the Iron Lions robotics team captain, junior Evan Weinstein, they discussed how technology has a different kind of intelligence than humans do. Evan highlighted that we don’t need to fear AI; rather, we should focus on how we set boundaries around its use.

He said, “AI is incredibly important because as we learn to harness the power of computing, technological strides become more accessible. When we don’t need to worry about spending time regulating budgets and doing mundane tasks, the future workforce will be able to put our collective energy towards doing new things while AI can maintain what we already know. Additionally, AI will be able to pick up on patterns that humans can’t. This level of pattern recognition can also help us predict and regulate our response to relevant social and environmental issues.”

While neural networks and AI are incredible tools, they are just that—tools. We can learn to use them as innovators and problem solvers, but at the end of the day they can only perform as well as we teach them.

Evan also pointed out, “While neural networks and AI are incredible tools, they are just that—tools. We can learn to use them as innovators and problem solvers, but at the end of the day they can only perform as well as we teach them. AI is an advancement that we need to understand and accept. I urge the support of AI and hope that we can help learn within our communities to set our generation up for success.”

Senior Hayley Trockman gave a look into what her process looked like as she learned about how AI-generated images are created.

“I believe in integrating technology into our lives with human intelligence guiding its role,” said Hayley. “I began the process of choreographing a piece that specifically looked into the ways that AI-produced images are created from our insecurities and unrealistic beauty standards. However, after speaking with Rowland Hall staff member Ashley Atwood, her advice of ‘accepting the new and upcoming’ resonated with me. I realized that we can’t put all of the blame on technology—because we are actually the ones feeding it the ideal body image through our engagement with social media. Whether it be likes and positive reactions, or critical comments, AI recognizes this trend in data and takes that information to generate its own images. My piece is a commentary on that process. The use of mirrors as props represents how AI-generated images become both reflections and distortions of our own insecurities.”

Senior Lauren Bates pivoted the conversation in a new direction, with her inspiration coming from the increase in the use of AI to help process grief.

“My initial idea dealt with how AI does not feel or process grief the same way that we do,” said Lauren. “However, as I did more research, I found a number of articles talking about ‘Grief Tech.’ I learned that there is already technology that allows people to feed information from their loved ones who have passed into AI chatbots. Subsequently, the software can recreate their personality and identity. This has brought up a lot of ethical and psychological concerns, along with questions about if this is a healthy way to process grief. I was initially inspired to create this piece after listening to Kendrick Lamar’s ‘United In Grief’ and applying its meaning to dance. For me, dance has always been a way to express ideas that are too difficult to express with words.”

I hope that our audience will resonate with both our fear and love of technology, and spend a minute thinking about their own relationships, both on and off the screens.

As we have reflected on the past months of choreographing, researching, and critically evaluating our relationship with tech and AI, we hope that the concert encourages our audience to turn inward and think about how they relate to technology in their own lives. As Mattie Sullivan said, “I hope that our audience will resonate with both our fear and love of technology, and spend a minute thinking about their own relationships, both on and off the screens.”  We want this moment in time to allow viewers to take pause and evaluate where we are and how we want to move forward.

Student Voices

Photo Gallery: Weavers and Dreamers 2024, A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This year, the Rowland Hall community honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy with Weavers and Dreamers: Leading the Beloved Community, a time to imagine a beloved community where everyone can be themselves in multifaceted ways alongside local Black storytellers, artists, and musicians.

Weavers and Dreamers - Leading the Beloved Community

This year’s event kicked off on Thursday, January 11, with a tribute to Reverend France A. Davis, a longstanding Rowland Hall board member, community trailblazer, and civil rights activist. Rev. Davis’ tribute was followed by a performance by alum Micah Willis ’14 and his band and a storytelling program presented by Charlotte Starks and Ashley Finley, members of the Nubian Storytellers of Utah Leadership (NSOUL).

On Friday, January 12, middle and upper school faculty and staff gathered for a professional learning opportunity, and then a special daylong program was held for students in grades 6–12. Students engaged in conversations about building a beloved community; participated in activities featuring musicians, poetry, and storytelling; and reflected on the connection between our imaginations and questions of belonging and inclusion, as well as storytelling as a crucial leadership skill that can help us imagine different and better futures. Alum Micah Willis and NSOUL storytellers also joined this gathering.

On Monday, January 15, Rowland Hall students and their families honored the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday by coming together for a day of community engagement. Volunteers planted wildflower seeds and built greenhouse benches with the Jordan River Nature Center in the morning, and then community members were invited to join an afternoon march, organized by the University of Utah’s MLK Week Committee, from East High School to the University of Utah.

The celebration continued on Tuesday, January 16, when Charlotte Starks of NSOUL gathered with Beginning School students to read a story and speak about Dr. King. The Lower School then came together for a Changemaker Chapel, where students heard from two guest speakers, Micah Willis and Charlotte Starks, and engaged in the division’s annual tradition of creating an artifact and marching around the quad to demonstrate how they can see themselves as future changemakers. This gathering allows our younger students to express what they need to feel belonging and how they might imagine a world where everyone feels included and valued.
 
We invite you to enjoy the linked Weavers and Dreamers photo gallery.

Community

Rowland Hall middle schoolers stand in front of their mural in Salt Lake City.

Most middle school–aged students aren’t yet driving cars—but at Rowland Hall, some of them are already flying planes.

That’s because aviation is just one of the opportunities available to seventh and eighth graders as part of Rowland Hall’s expansive electives curriculum. And while some may think of electives as classes meant to give students downtime, or pad out schedules, nothing could be further from the truth.

“Electives not only enrich the core subjects students are taking, they also introduce new areas of study and interest,” said Middle School Principal Pam Smith. “Students can dive deeper into subjects they find interesting and discover passions they never knew they had.”

Middle School students use elective classes to look at the world and the skills they are learning in new and different ways. They discover competencies, and how to put them to work to become people the world needs.

Students use these classes to look at the world and the skills they are learning in new and different ways. They discover competencies, and how to put them to work to become people the world needs. Currently, seventh- and eighth-grade students have dozens of options to choose from when it comes to electives. Topics range from guitar to app design, and cover a range of diverse fields of study including fine arts, multimedia production, climate science, and public art and discourse. (Sixth graders, while not eligible for elective classes, are introduced to many of the concepts in their foundation classes with subjects like computer science, music, and debate.)

“Electives give students more of a voice and choice in the curriculum,” said Pam. “When they choose a class, it often leads to a greater investment in what’s being taught, as well as incorporates concepts they are learning in their other classes.”

Some of the electives offered are direct offshoots of core curriculum. Math teacher Jen Schones, for example, decided to start teaching personal finance as a Middle School elective after being told by several people that they wished they had learned about money management in school. Now she is helping students use addition, subtraction, percentages, and other math skills to discuss concepts like budgeting, investing, building credit, and taxes—skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives.

“The thing I stress to students a lot is that every decision you make with money has a consequence—both good and bad,” Jen said. “We do simulations looking at various choices like career, location, living expenses, and potential financial emergencies, and then students decide if they are willing to live with those choices, or if they would have done something different.”

The class also walks students through financial matters they are currently facing or will face in the near future. Paying for college is a topic of conversation, as is how to set a budget and save for a goal that is weeks, or even months, into the future. Guest speakers come in to talk about investment opportunities students could engage in now, including apps that allow them to buy stocks or money market accounts.

“I actually had one student ask their parents for a custodial IRA for Christmas after hearing about it in class,” said Jen. “Students are really responding well to the course, and not only learning skills for later, but putting some skills into action right now.”

Elective courses not only give students the opportunity to use skills they are learning in different ways, but also awaken them to aptitudes they didn’t know they had.

“There’s this misconception that you are either creative or you are not,” said visual art teacher Anne Wolfer. “I really try to help the kids push through and get to the mindset that we are all creative and that it just takes time, dedication, and a lot of hard work.”

In the public art elective, students unlock their creative minds by learning the many ways that art is created in communities, how a piece goes from an idea to a finished work, and the benefits of art in community spaces. It’s a great way for students to feel further connected to the community around them and to see themselves as contributors to a shared community. If you are walking through Salt Lake City’s 9th and 9th neighborhood, stop to take a look at the large mural that now graces the side of the Tower Theatre. The sweeping mountains, flowers, and a butterfly were all painted by Rowland Hall students. “It feels like we have a bigger connection to 9th and 9th now,” said eighth grader Callie L. “It’s like we are leaving a piece of ourselves there.”

Middle School artists pose in front of a mural they created in Salt Lake City, October 2023.

“The kids are really putting themselves out there with this mural,” added Anne. “And in doing so they are gaining confidence in their abilities and preparing themselves to move on to bigger and even more expansive projects.”

Students aren’t the only ones given the opportunity to take on more expansive projects in electives; teachers do as well. Bill Tatomer was teaching math and American studies at Rowland Hall when he decided to put his 20-plus years as a Navy pilot to use for the benefit of the students. He now teaches three different aviation courses in the Middle School, covering everything from basic principles of flight, aerospace science, and aviation design to engineering, careers in aviation, and flight training. During the course of the program, some students even earn their drone TRUST certification, while others take their first steps to getting their private pilot’s license.

“The exposure these classes create, especially as a Middle School student, is truly incredible,” said Bill. “Additionally, when I see students have fun and thrive in the environments created by these classes, whether they continue in aviation or not, my heart is full. I love what I do, and I so love sharing this passion with Rowland Hall students.”

I wanted to be a pilot for as long as I can remember, and the classes I took from Mr. Tatomer really gave me a leg up. I still use the information I learned today, and I utilize some of the lessons in my own teaching as well.—Davis Kahler ’17

The students love it too. Now-ninth grader Alexa Tracey admits she was a bit nervous when she found herself at the controls of a plane at the age of 14, but she knew she was ready for it because of all she had learned in Bill’s class. “It was nice to be able to know that I knew what was going on and that I was somewhat qualified to fly,” she said. “I would love to be a pilot someday, and taking this class made me realize getting my pilot’s license is an attainable goal.”

Alexa wouldn’t be the first Rowland Hall student to have found a career path thanks to the Middle School electives program. Alumnus Davis Kahler ’17 got his pilot’s license and is now working towards his hours as a commercial airline pilot while also teaching flying in Dallas.

“I wanted to be a pilot for as long as I can remember, and the classes I took from Mr. Tatomer really gave me a leg up,” said Davis. “I still use the information I learned today, and I utilize some of the lessons in my own teaching as well.”

The elective courses at Rowland Hall give students the opportunity to differentiate themselves as individuals while deepening their understanding of core subjects through additional knowledge. They allow them to explore and learn new things and develop lifelong interests in subjects they otherwise may have missed out on. They also are a lot of fun.

Electives allow students to take flight.


Banner: Students in the Middle School's metal arts class, another elective option, working on a project in spring 2023.

Authentic Learning