Middle School

Water, music, football & gummy bears: it’s science fair time!

Congratulations to all of Friends School’s middle school scientists who showcased their science fair projects to our community on Tuesday afternoon. Thank you to all of our students for their hard work, dedication and research on some incredible topics, to science teacher Kevin Nugent for his inspirational leadership, and to the middle school staff whose help had a big impact. Please join us in congratulating all of our student scientists who presented the following topics. Those marked with (*) will go on to compete at the Denver Metro Regional Science and Engineering Fair in Denver on February 24 and 25 with the chance to compete at the Colorado Science and Engineering Fair (CSEF) in March on the CSU campus in Ft. Collins.

• Water/H2O:  Designing a Device for Drinking Water While S.C.U.B.A. Diving – Josie (*) 
• “Swish n’ Swab”:  The relationship between time and bacteria growth – Ilanah & Jasmine (*) 
• “The Heart of Music” The Relationship Between BPM and Music Heart Rate – Rowan & Madden (*) 
• “How to Find a Doodyful Dog” The Relationship Between Tone of Voice and Dog Reaction – Mason
• “I Can’t Recall” The Relationship Between Memory and How Students Take in Content – Sofia & Fiona (*) 
• “Don’t Brand Me” The Relationship Between Brand and Perceived Quality – Ella & Teya (*) 
• “Catnip or Cat-nap” The Relationship Between Form of Catnip and Feline Heart Rate – Danny & Evan (*) 
• “The Dungeon of Creativity” The Relationship Between What Role is Played in Dungeons and Dragons and Creativity – Judah (*) 
• “Smokey Mamba” The Relationship Between different types of sugar and size of the snake – Asher & Charlie (*) 
• “I Forgot” The Relationship Between Fidgit and Memory- Gwyneth & Zailey (*) 
• “Eggs go weeee” the relationship between state of a chicken egg and how far the egg will fly-Evan & Matthew (*) 
• “Meat me in the middle.” The relationship between taste and smell- Addison (*) 
• “Weight A minute”. The relationship between weight and speed- Brandon & Lucas 
• “Give me a break.” The relationship between break pad material and stopping distance- Charlie & AJ (*) 
•  “Run Faster”: The Difference Between Types of Encouragement and Running Speed- Pearce (*) 
• “Buff Plants!”: The relationship between type of liquid and the amount the plant grew- Campbell
• “The Smiley Project”: The relationship between the participants mouth and the amount of bacterial growth- Willow
•  “Imagine That”: The relationship between the use of mental imagery and brain waves- Gryffin (*) 
•  “Enchanted Sand”: Engineering a device to change sand into a liquid- Benjamin & Dominic (*) 
• “Taste of Color”: The Relationship Between Color and Perceived Taste- Soraya & Quincy (*) 
• “Sweet or Sour??” : How Does the Power of Suggestion Affect the Tate of Sweet and Sour- Amit
• “Inflategate”: The Relationship Between PSI and How Far a Football Travels-Lazlo
• “Your Killin’ Me Smalls” The Relationship Between Material of Bat and Distance Ball Travels”-Shane
• “Gotta Grow!” : The Relationship Between Shared Surfaces and Bacterial Growth-Beckett (*) 
• “Can’t Bear It!”: The Relationship Between Gummi Bear Taste and Bias- Esme & Clare (*) 
• “Ice, Ice, Baby!” The Relationship Between Type of Liquid and Melt Time- Lennon

Additional photos can be found on our Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Yay! Science!

Huge congratulations to middle school student scientists for their outstanding performance at CSEF, the Colorado Science and Engineering Fair, held on the Colorado State University Campus in Ft Collins April 7th and 8th.

Friends Scientists Take Home Awards

The Denver Metro Science and Engineering Fair (DMSEF) results are in and Friends middle school scientists took home some amazing awards.

It’s science fair season

Friends middle school scientists have spent the last several months researching and working on their science fair projects and will be presenting them soon!

Visiting Artists Share Their Inspiration

Last week was full of extraordinary opportunities for Friends School’s young artists, with three visiting artists and organizations coming in to share their work and processes with us.

Meet the Staff: Steve Fragleasso

K-8 PE Teacher, Steve Fragleasso (pr: frag-lee-AH-so) joined the Friends School team in January this year, bringing the joy of outdoor education to our students. Learn a little bit more about him in this brief interview.

Where are you from and where do you live now? 

I was born and raised in Golden, Co. Its proximity to trails and mountains shaped my future. Since then, I have bounced around the Colorado area a little, spending about two years in Lakewood and the past 9 years in Boulder. I just moved to Lafayette with my partner, Megan, where we bought a house.

Personal stats (family): 

I have one younger sister who has a 1 and 4 year old that I take on adventures often. My father still lives in my childhood home in Golden. 

What did you do before working at Friends School?

Before coming to Friends School I worked with a handful of organizations that got kids outside learning about camping, climbing, biking and other outdoor activities. One of those organizations is Avid4 Adventure and it is where I plan to continue to spend my summers.

What do you think will be interesting, fun or challenging about your job at Friends School?

When guiding and working with summer camps, I only get to spend about a week with the same kids before they are on to the next thing. I’m very excited to get the opportunity to work with students for longer periods of time. 

What’s an interesting fact about you? 

When I was 26, I attempted to hike the Colorado Trail solo only a few months after being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. I overcame a large learning curve and I hiked from Denver to Gunnision in 18 days. In Gunnision I had to end my hike because of early winter storms.

What’s your favorite kind of music, favorite band, book, movie, food – you pick?

My favorite food is coconut lemongrass green curry.

Celebrating the 19th Amendment

This year marks the 100th anniversary of women earning the constitutional right to vote. Four of our 6th grade students accepted the challenge set forth by their Humanities teacher, Diane Bramble, to research and present the Nineteenth Amendment to their classmates.

Friends Together, Friends Apart

Friends Board Chair, Jenny Donovan shares excerpts from Honor and our three division directors about all the exceptional things that have been happening at Friends School since remote learning began.

Science Fair Season

The middle school science fair projects are just about to be released and the topics are fascinating. Kevin Nugent describes all that goes into these projects, the “new” scientific process, and the importance of “failing forward”.

Friends Vision in Action

There are so many amazing things happening all around Friends School. Our 4 division directors recently shared the highlights in preschool, elementary, middle school and the Teacher Preparation Program.

What’s Your Impact?

Middle school science teacher Kevin Nugent does his part to lessen his carbon footprint. For one, he commutes by bike from Denver to Boulder every day. While it can be overwhelming for our students to tackle climate issues, Kevin showed them with one project they can lessen our impact on the world.

Friends…the school and the people

By Honor Taft, Head of School

On a recent Friday, while visiting with our middle school students, I witnessed something unique that I believe captures some of the magic of our school. As part of the daily welcome, middle school science teacher Kevin Nugent prompted the students to share one or two things they are grateful for. As this traveled around the group of nearly forty students, and as students expressed gratitude for pets and food and family, at least 6 of them included “Friends School” on the short list of things that they are grateful for. One student went further, saying “I am grateful for friends, and just to be clear, I mean the school and the people.”  

If you haven’t spent much time around middle school age students, this may not seem noteworthy. But if you have (or when you do), you will know that for a middle school student to be so bold and proud as to speak up and compliment their school in front of their peers is something truly special. Students at our school are not only being challenged in their classes, they are seen, known and valued for who they are and they feel this to their very core. 

As a parent remarked to me at the close of graduation in May, Friends School sent a class of students into the world having loved middle school and that is an accomplishment to be proud of. How many of us as children loved our own middle school experience? I can’t say that I loved mine like our students love Friends.

This is the power of Friends School – cultivating a love of learning and a secure view of self that results in empowered, thoughtful and skilled people who know what community feels like and who do and will have a positive impact on our world. 

We are honored to provide this experience and environment for our littlest preschoolers all the way through to our 8th graders. And we are grateful to be part of this remarkable community…the school and the people.