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2014-2015 Preliminary Calendar Now Available
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Drama Club Presents: Hansel & Gretel, Feb. 21, 7pm
All are invited to The Independence School Drama Club's production of, "Hansel & Gretel." Please join us on Friday, February 21, at 7:00pm for this special production by our students. We will be offering a pizza party to the grade level with the highest attendance...plus door prizes! Please feel welcome to invite your friends. There is no charge for this evening of fun and entertainment.
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Odyssey of the Mind: A Spontaneous, Snowy Saturday
On a snowy Saturday morning, three Odyssey of the Mind teams practiced different types of spontaneous problems in preparation for the regional competition on March 1. Solving a spontaneous problem is one portion of the total score for each team at competition. As the name suggests, teams do not know what their problem will be before they enter the competition room. For this reason, teams spend hours practicing different types of spontaneous problems so they are prepared for competition day. Experienced judges were on hand to give valuable feedback to the teams.
This is an example of one of the problems the teams solved during practice.
Creative Bridge
In 6 minutes the team must build as many bridges as possible between two tables, with the materials given. The longer the bridge span, the more points awarded to the team. Teams are also given points for the creativity of their solution and how well the team worked together to solve the problem.
3rd Grade Team members: Coaches:
Max Comer Mrs. Sugalski
Mia Gattuso Mr. Urbanek
Tara Kedda
Riley Slowik
Molly Sugalski
Holly Urbanek
Kamille Watkins
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4th Grade Team members: Coaches:
Anna Casarino Mrs. Casarino
Noelle Czerwinski Mr. Czerwinski
Olivia MacMillan
Erin Sentman
Charis Suh
Kali Watkins
Gabby Zaher
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Division II Team Members: Coaches:
Archit Kambhamettu Mrs. Kambhamettu
Hita Kambhamettu Mrs. Sweeney
Kimberly Shi
Sonia Srikanth
Andrew Sweeney
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Living Our School Mission by Learning to Serve Others
An Independence education is much more than just the academics. Central to the school mission is the goal to inspire students to "possess an exceptional spirit for learning, leadership, and citizenship."
Creating opportunities for our students to provide service to others is therefore an essential component of living our mission. These opportunities begin for young children in Early Childhood with our "Kindness Kids," and continue through all levels.
Recently, all Middle School students dedicated a morning class period to engage in more than a dozen helpful projects. These ranged from making fleece blankets for children at A.I. DuPont Hospital, to creating winter crafts for area retirement homes, to designing greeting cards for soldiers. Students even helped within the school community by sorting the extensive lost and found, playing games with younger students, and helping to organize the supplies in the STEM Lab/Innovation Station.
Service projects also have been developed related to curriculum. Seventh grade students, in connection with their reading of A Christmas Carol, collaborated in groups to research, propose, and complete service projects that would help spread the message that Charles Dickens conveys in the novel. Their projects focused on demonstrating kindness to others by helping with tasks, raising money for charity, and donating items for those less fortunate.
Middle School students continue to focus on service through conversations in their advisee groups and in the completion of their required community service hours.
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Photo Gallery Preview of "Hansel & Gretel" - Show Tonight at 7pm
All are welcome to the Independence drama club's production of "Hansel & Gretel," tonight - February 21 - at 7:00pm. Check out the photo gallery preview. Door prizes and a pizza party for the grade with the highest percentage of attendance. The cast and crew look forward to seeing you in the audience!
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Two Indy Odyssey of the Mind Teams Advance to State Tournament
Three Indy Odyssey of the Mind teams competed at the River Region Tournament on Saturday, March 1. Each team had a meaningful experience and performed quite respectably.
The middle school team, made up of Andrew Sweeney, Hita and Archit Kambhamettu, Sonia Srikanth, and Kimberly Shi placed 2nd in problem 1, Divison II. They will move on to the State tournament on Saturday, March 22nd.
The fourth grade team, with Noelle Czerwinski, Anna Casarino, Olivia MacMillan, Erin Sentman, Charis Suh, Kali Watkins, and Gabby Zaher placed 1st in problem 5, Division 1, and will also move on to the State Tournament on March 22nd. Olivia Macmillan was recognized with an Omer Award for her leadership on her team.
The third grade team, Molly Sugalski, Holly Urbanek, Max Comer, Mia Gattuso, Tara Kedda, Kamille Watkins, and Riley Slowik placed 6th, scoring well for a new team with coaches and families new to the program.
Congratulations to all the participants and their coaches.
(Pictured below: 4th Grade Team at River Road Tournament)
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Independence School Teacher Honored As Teacher of the Year by VFW
Mrs. Debbie Grothaus, third grade teacher at The Independence School, was presented with the VFW Teacher of the Year Award for both the VFW Post 838 and District 2. The presentation of a plaque and a monetary award was made at the school on February 28 by Mr. Joseph Copes, Commander of the VFW Post 838 in Port Penn.
Mrs. Grothaus was nominated for the award by Mrs. Bernadette Gilmore, Head of Lower School at The Independence School. Each year, Mrs. Grothaus directs the third grade in a program called, “America, A Proud Nation.” It originated during Desert Storm to support our troops. It was such a success that after Desert Storm had passed Mrs. Grothaus continued this fine performance.
In the nomination essay, Mrs. Gilmore wrote, “Thanks to Mrs. Grothaus, this program is now a school tradition as a way to honor our nation and the men and women who serve. Students sing more than 20 songs and recite selections of important historical speeches from Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Anna Julia Cooper, and more. Through the process of learning the music, she teaches values that promote our shared American history, our brave military, and an awareness of the struggles that have made us such a unique and strong country. To extend the experience she has brought in speakers including a recent recipient of US citizenship, a general in the National Guard, and volunteer leaders serving Americans in need. Her students write to men and women serving overseas and practice philanthropy by collecting items to be sent to servicemen or to organizations like Camp Cope.”
The founders of the Independence School articulated civic goals for the school including devotion to our heritage of democracy and loyalty to the ideals of America and a conscientious participation in the political process of our republic. “Mrs. Grothaus has wholeheartedly embraced these goals and does a marvelous job of developing in elementary students a knowledge, passion, and pride in our country along with a strong sense of responsibility for keeping its ideals and traditions alive while promoting service to others,” the nomination essay stated.
In presenting the award, Mr. Copes commended Debbie for her dedication to ensuring that love of country - patriotism, citizenship, and service - continues to be a focus for young students. In addition to being Commander of VFW Post 838, Mr. Copes is retired military with 20 years of service in the Marine Corps and the Army, having served in Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia.
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4th Grade Focus on Independence Core Values
This year, the students in Mrs. Roach's 4th grade class have worked on bringing the Independence core values of respect, responsibility, and integrity to life. During the first trimester students presented skits about respect to the 1st graders. During the second trimester a reading unit on folktales, fables, and trickster tales, prompted the students to write fables about responsibility, which they then read to 2nd grade students. This gave the 4th grade students additional public speaking practice, while the 2nd grade students were asked to make illustrations to show responsibility. Together, the 4th and 2nd grade students made a "Responsibility Quilt." We'll look forward to the third trimester when Mrs. Roach's class will focus on integrity and will present to 3rd grade students.
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St. Mark's High School Students Visit Early Childhood Classes
On Wednesday, March 12, five members of St. Mark’s High School Future Educators of America club came to Independence to celebrate Dr. Suess’s birthday with two of our Early Childhood classes. The St. Mark’s students read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish to Mrs. Principe’s ECI class and Mrs. Larocco’s ECII class and then did a coloring activity with the children. St. Mark’s students who participated in the activity were: Lindsey Bair ’10, Corryn Burlew, Christina Danberg, Chloe Hunter, Brighid Minemier and Kylie Stigler ’10, along with their moderator Mrs. Michelle Delle Cave. Both EC students and high school students enjoyed the morning!
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Science Olympiad Team Places 4th in Statewide Competition
The 7th/8th grade Science Olympiad team competed in the state competition on March 15th at Delaware State University. They placed 4th in the state! There were 59 teams competing in 24 different events. Every team member received a medal, and many were double and triple winners. They worked very hard for several months to design and build devices and research facts for their events. Some of the events were; Anatomy, Crime Busters, Boomilever, Wheeled Vehicle, Entomology, Helicopter, Robo-Cross, Water Quality, and Shock Value.
The team members are: Tara Balu, Connor Barrett, Abel Chen, Meera Garg, Grace Gong, Pooja Kaji, Lewis MacMillan, Ashish Mahuli, Karna Nagalla, Sanath Patil, Atreya Saha, Rishi Sreekanth, Jacob Wang and Michelle Zheng
Congratulations to everyone on the team for their hard work and impressive showing.
More more information on Science Olympiad, visit: http://www.soinc.org/
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Quiz Bowl Teams Achieve Great Results At Charter Challenge Competition
The Independence School entered eight teams for the Charter Middle School Challenge quiz bowl competition on Saturday, March 8th. The 8th grade A Team took top honors in the Varsity division, defeating Longfellow Middle School ( Falls Church, VA) in the semis and Middlesex Middle School (CT) in the final. Our 8th grade B Team placed fourth. Our first 7th grade team tied for fifth place. In the JV division, our 6th grade A and B teams placed second and third. The 5th grade team had a fantastic showing winning six games and finishing second in their bracket. This was the first time an Independence 5th grade team competed. Both 8th grade teams and the top 7th grade team have qualified for the Middle School National Championship tournament to be held in Atlanta (May 9-11). These students and their coaches are to be congratulated for their consistent effort and dedication to Quiz Bowl at The Independence School.
Participating students are:
8th Grade: Grace Gong, Pooja Kaji, Ryan Law, Maggie Myers, Karna Nagalla, Ashish Mahuli, Sohan Shah, Anna Witherspoon, Michelle Zheng
7th Grade: Tara Balu, Abel Chen, Riley DeBaecke, Lewis MacMillan, Kushal Patel, Abhishek Raval, Maddy Singh, Rishi Sreekanth, Maggie Tsao, Jacob Wang.
6th Grade: Neel Anand, Varun Dhir, Thanvi Dola, Max D'Souza Dylan Evans, Dustin Fang, Raghav Garg, Sophia Shah, Andrew Shi, Aman Singh, Neel Sortur, Rishi Subbaraya, Stephanie Sullivan, Dylan Yin, Alex Zhu.
5th Grade: Anisha Mahuli, Krish Malhotra, Rohit Mathur, Rohan Patil, Richard Wang
A few Independence team members display their trophies...
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Math Counts Team Places 3rd In State Meet
On March 10th, The Independence School Math Counts team participated in the Statewide meet. Congratulations to the eighth grade team for achieving 3rd Place in the State. Members of the eighth grade team are: Meera Garg, Grace Gong, Sohan Shah, and Michelle Zheng. Two Independence students, Michelle Zheng and Connor Barrett (7th), scored in the top 10, qualifying them to participate in the Countdown Round. Four seventh grade students (Connor Barrett, Abel Chen, Andrew He, and Jacob Wang) competed as individuals. We congratulate these students for their effort and accomplishments.
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Indy Voices at DACDA Children's Honor Choir
Each year, the Delaware American Choral Directors Association hosts Children’s Honor Choir. This annual event offers a wonderful opportunity for students in grades 4-6 from throughout the state of Delaware. Nineteen enthusiastic singers from Independence took part this year. Judging by their smiles, it was a great event!
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Bravo to The Independence School's All-State Junior Chorus Members
Bravo to Rebecca Hollomon, Grace Gong, Esha Mishra, and Sydney Kenton, who were selected to participate in the All-State Junior Chorus concert in late February. 
The intense two and a half day rehearsal resulted in a spectacular concert at the end. The students had a wonderful experience singing with the best of the best in Delaware!
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Independence to Host STEMfest, Featuring MTU "Mind Trekkers"
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The Independence School STEMfest (Thursday, April 24 6:00pm-8:30pm) will combine the excitement of the nationally-renowned science and engineering roadshow, “Mind Trekkers,” with presentations by two of the area’s leading experts in science and technology. The event is free and open to the public.
The Mind Trekkers STEM Road Show brings the “WOW” of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to the hands and minds of K-12 students. The group consists of Michigan Technological University (MTU) students who guide younger students as they explore the excitement of STEM.
Mind Trekkers will bring their hands-on, high-energy STEM activities to The Independence School STEMfest as they travel to appear at the 3rd National USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, DC. The group will offer more than 40 STEM activities involving principles of physics, chemistry, and engineering, with demonstrations promising to appeal to both elementary and middle school students. Mind Trekkers offer solutions to questions like: “Can you walk on water? Make ice cream in 60 seconds? Make a magnet float in mid-air, no strings attached?”
The appearance of Mind Trekkers at The Independence School is being sponsored in part by Christiana Care Health Systems/Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, Radiation Oncologists P.A., and First State Orthopaedics.
Concurrent with the Mind Trekkers activities will be two nationally prominent guest speakers who will address a high school and adult audience. Dr. Nicholas Petrelli, Director of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, will present on “The current state of cancer care in Delaware and future directions.” Dr. Vijay Kumar, the Deputy Dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering, will be speaking about “Robots that fly…and Cooperate.”
Registration for STEMfest will be available beginning April 1 via the website. Learn more about the Mind Trekkers at www.mindtrekkers.mtu.edu.
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Second & Third Grades Mark 100th Day with Food Bank Donations
For young students, the 100th day of school is always a reason to do something special at Independence. This year, in keeping with the goal of giving back to our local community, the second and third grade classes were challenged to bring in a non-perishable item to be donated to The Food Bank of Delaware. The goal was for each grade to collect 100 items to be donated by the 100th day of school. The students were so inspired that through their combined efforts, the second and third grade brought in over 400 items! All involved were very excited that they were able to make a difference on this special day.
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Online Registration for The Independence School STEMfest Now Available!
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Congratulations- Math League State Champions!
Congratulations to The Independence School 8th Grade Math League team for the incredible achievement of finishing in First Place at the state championship, "Math League Invitational." The competition took place in Dover on April 1.
Ninety-two schools from all over the state competed at The Modern Maturity Center in Dover. There are 12 Math League regions in the state. Two or three school teams from each region were invited. The Independence 8th grade team, consisting of Meera Garg, Grace Gong, Ashish Mahuli, Sohan Shah, and Michelle Zheng, finished first. There were 4 perfect scorers at the Invitational and two of them were from Independence: Michelle Zheng and Sohan Shah.
Thank you to middle school math teacher and Math League coach, Mrs. Diane Finocchiaro, for her leadership.
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Eighth Grade Student, Sohan Shah, Wins State Geography Bee
Congratulations to Independence 8th grader, Sohan Shah, for winning the Delaware State Geographic Bee. Sohan advances to the National competition to be held in Washington, D.C. in May.
Read more here.
Read more here.
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Independence Appoints Two New Trustees
The Independence School Board of Trustees has appointed two new members. Peggy Eddens is an Executive Vice President and Chief Human Capital Officer at WSFS Bank. With a strong background in human resources, Peggy is a valuable addition to the Board. Bianca Fraser-Johnson, whose son is enrolled in the Early Childhood program, is a Senior Vice President at Bank of America. She is also a very active community volunteer, particularly with the Multiple Sclerosis Society and Easter Seals. In 2011, Bianca received Bank of America's Delaware Community Volunteer award.
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