Hyla grads often talk about the game of gaga ball as a metaphor for Hyla, friendship, and even life. But this year the gaga pit itself is a shining metaphor for creative possibility in the face of hardship. Shakespeare is never a light undertaking with 6th graders, but add a pandemic, masks, and countless protocols and you have quite a challenge. But Chris knows that what it takes to perform Shakespeare in 6th grade – trust, responsibility, and courage – is exactly what it takes to keep tradition alive during COVID. And so, thanks to resourcefulness, determination, and…
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8th graders are studying the arc of Washington state history, starting with what scholars understand from 10,000 years ago and continuing into our region’s 21st-century leadership as a global player in technology. In this unit, which satisfies the state’s high school graduation requirement, students read through Washington’s History: The People, Land, and Events of the Far Northwest by Harry Ritter and write analytical summaries of each chapter. Students learn about the native peoples who lived in this land as well as European fur traders, Catholic missionaries, Black pioneers, Chinese laborers, and imperial explorers. As students understand…
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Digging in the dirt is a rite of passage for all Hyla students. Divided into groups and sworn to secrecy, 6th grade Humanities students invent an imaginary culture (in secrecy!), create artifacts (also in secrecy!), and bury the artifacts for classmates in another group to unearth. And so begins this annual tradition of inquiry and analysis known as “the dig”. As archaeologists, students take on the roles of a real dig: crew chief, recorder, measurer, washer-bagger, and dirt sifter. Using scientific methods and techniques, students excavate artifacts, record observations, and begin to piece together what each…
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What’s great about disc golf? Just ask students! They’ll tell you: Everybody is super chill. While it’s a physical sport, there’s a lot of deliberation and strategy, and you can always get better at it. I do it because it’s fun. Dozens of Hyla students from all grades gather twice a week on the upper field to play disc golf. Similar to Ultimate Frisbee, it’s an inclusive sport in several ways. First, it’s free to play at local public parks throughout Kitsap County, including Battle Point Park, making for a great family activity. It’s also a…
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To the whole, wide Hyla community: Today we write to the entire Hyla community to thank you for the resounding, collective YES you brought to Hyla through your generosity! A healthy Annual Fund is always something to celebrate, and a successful Capital Campaign is a milestone accomplishment in the life of any organization; but when both happen in a pandemic year, it is breathtaking. We are profoundly humbled by your support, encouragement, and enthusiasm for the important work that happens at Hyla. Our students, the children in our care, are our purpose. They are the reason we…
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Each year Hyla hosts nationally recognized speakers as part of our parent education series called Hyla Parent University. As a learning community, we provide this service to parents to support their work during the adolescent years. We are proud to open these events to the surrounding community, and we invite all parents to come learn with us, at no cost. We recently partnered with Montessori Country School (MCS) on February 2nd to host diversity practitioner Ralinda Watts for a webinar on “Parenting with Race in Mind”. Both of our schools are committed to diversity, equity, inclusion…
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Every Hyla student knows the drill: they peer into a big bowl of brightly colored beads and make an important choice. We welcome new students to Hyla with the bead ceremony to begin a process of belonging and start a conversation about individual and collective identity. Students choose a bead that best reflects some characteristic or attribute they are especially proud to bring to the Hyla community. As they share their beads and thoughts with classmates, they get to know each other in new ways, and they begin to assert their own identity in new ways.…
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In English class with Emelio, students learn that poems are about more than structure, form, rhythm, and symbolism. Poems also connect human beings through aspirational ideas and images. One powerful example is the way that a poem written by Langston Hughes in 1941, “I Dream a World,” helped shape the historic “I Have a Dream” speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963. Last week, Emelio introduced 7th grade students to NPR’s most recent poetry challenge, Honor MLK By Describing How You Dream a World, which explains the influence of the Langston Hughes poem on Dr.…
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Interplanetary travel? Chromosomes in cancer cells? This winter at Hyla, science teacher Alex has been leading 6th grade and 8th grade students through units that examine the small and large, microscopic and Mars, and many sizes of questions in between. Hyla students research facts and implement concepts with hands-on projects, and they also explore questions of philosophy and ethics with broader scope and impact. Hyla prepares students to become scientists and global citizens who can think critically about current events and innovate with agility across disciplines. Through a STEAM approach in both Science and HyLab classes,…
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Hyla’s 7th and 8th grade History classes examine global perspectives through thematic units, preparing students to become analytical citizens of a complex and connected world. History teacher David encourages middle schoolers to evaluate historical patterns and relationships through time. Starting the year with the theme of origin stories, the 7th graders have now moved on to the theme of borders and identities. Borders define our existence, helping us know who we are, yet they are human-made and change over time. How have borders been defined in the past and how are they defined today? David points…
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