麻豆社

9th graders in the Integrated Science, History and English program presented their completed TED Talk videos on 'what is the meaning of life?' Finished videos were filmed at Lighthouse Studio, the completed videos were shared with the class as part of the final exam. Check out the TED talks of a few students who gave their permission for us to share them - .

On Thursday night, 8th graders, their families, and Middle School teachers and administrators gathered in the Community Hall to celebrate this unique and talented group as they make the transition to high school. 8th grade teachers spoke about each 8th grader in turn, highlighting their accomplishments and unique personality traits and sharing favorite memories from Middle School with each of them. Their words were full of heart and humor and showed how well each 8th grader was known by their teachers and advisors. The celebration continued in the Pavilion with cake and lemonade.

• Rookie of the Year Award - Kemaan M
• Amy Strand Award - Miles G
• Community Service Award - Talia P
• Community Consciousness Award - Georgia C
• William & Mary Leadership Award - Fletcher L
• UVA Leadership Award - Elisabeth S
• Duncan Alling Scholar Athlete Award - Hayes B
• Sportsperson of the Year Award - Maeve M & Jack B
• Aslan Mozelle Award - Nati Y
• Science Award - Jack J
• French Award - Madeline M
• Latin Award - John B
• Spanish Award - Jude G
• English Award - Catriona S
• History Award - Tyler B
• Math Award - Zeke L
• Art Award - Zella L
• T. Michael Seawell Music Award - Van Wagley
• Drama Award - Fletcher L
• Head of School's Award - Jack J
• Seniors who Received an Honors Grade on Senior Projects - Luna B, Oscar D, Claire G, Kavi M, Avery M, Elijah M, Will M, Owen S, Gabriel S, Sofia S, Alex S, Addie T

Seven Tandem sophomores - Claire D, Ruthie W, Lila P, Emory S, Dhruvi G, Elle M, and Derion G - spent last weekend in Washington, DC to attend a Junior Elisabeth S returned as a junior staff member for HOBY after attending last year. With Athletic Director Dave Levy as their leader (Dave has a long history with HOBY and is the corporate board president for the DC area), these students attended the HOBY Leadership Seminar - the seminars are hosted by each state for nominated sophomores from 5000 schools in the country. Nationally, is "a non-profit organization committed to inspiring and developing our global community of youth and volunteers to a life dedicated to leadership, service, and innovation." HOBY seeks sophomores who are "outstanding communicators, critical thinkers, creative problem-solvers, strong decision-makers" and more. During a HOBY Leadership Seminar, leaders from business, education, government, and other professions will talk about the changing world and the challenges future leaders will confront. The program helps students develop critical thinking skills by actively involving them in discussions and informal debate. Participants are challenged to undertake a community service project(s) involving at least 100 hours during the year after their seminar, to make a difference where they see a need. The seminar provides three days and two nights of leadership activities, games, and speakers. This year, students also performed four hours of service for Bread for the City, DC's largest food pantry. Students should return with the "knowledge and passion needed to make a positive impact on the world around them." 

Our seminar attendees spent the first two days of their Emphasis (since Friday would be spent at HOBY) performing service work in the community, with leaders Dave Levy and Chloe Wilson. They spent time at (provides needed items for families with children under the age of three) and the (community garden network for refugees and new Americans).

• The Board Games group started by playing ancient two-person games from around the world, worked through lots of classic 20th Century games, then took on more complicated role-playing games.
• The Baseball group learned the history of baseball and attended three games in three days: Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds, Triple-A Norfolk Tides and Major League Baltimore Orioles. 
• The Birding group made bird journals and birdfeeders, visited the Ivy Creek Natural area for birding, the Wildlife Center of VA, Sherando Lake for birding, and Walnut Creek for birding.
• The Cultural Immersion group toured the Black History Museum in Richmond, explored Carytown, volunteered at Mountainview Elementary School, and took a private tour of the Great Dismal Swamp to discover its history with formerly enslaved people.
• The Dungeons & Dragons group collaborated, created and crafted their own complex worlds in this table-top role-playing game.
• The Design a Character group created a dynamic original character, and then shared its story. They visited The Scrappy Elephant for inspiration and supplies, sketched book cover art, made charm jewelry, took a nature hike, and more.
• The Make It, Break It, Escape It group worked together to break out of local escape rooms, create their own BreakOut-style box puzzles, develop basic survival skills, play a massive Capture the Flag game and learn basic self-defense, fire starting, knot tying, and how to carry an incapacitated companion.
• The Meals to Make group learned knife and measuring skills, cooked Italian food, explored meal etiquette and extravagant foods, and put together their perfect picnic.
• The Ganongathon hikers braved humid days to backpack over 30 miles, going from Bear Rocks Trail to Lions Head to Forks, and working together on basic survival skills. 
• The Great Outdoors group hiked Humpback Rocks, hiked to Reed’s gap and set up overnight camp, hiked to Hanging Rocks and back to camp, and enjoyed time cooling off in the Tye river.
• The Goat Farming group learned how to make products from goats (including goat cheese), spin/dye mohair, and care for goats from diet to vaccines. They took baby goats to a Montessori school as a service project! There was a culminating baby goat Olympics.
• The Waterfalls group hiked some great treks to breathtaking views and cool water at White Rock Falls, Jones Run/Doyle’s Falls and White Oak Canyon.
• The Filmmaking group divided into teams, then each wrote, cast, filmed and edited a film to completion at LightHouse. They held a final film screening at Vinegar Hill.
• The Wheels & Rocks group explored Charlottesville and environs on bike via the Rivanna Trail, taking on paved city streets, gravel, and single-track dirt trails, creeks and more, logging around 25 miles. They also enjoyed time at Rocky Top Climbing Gym. Along the way they found fun, refreshment, and increased biking skills.
• The Sugoi group studied Japanese culture through hands-on activities, including a visit to the Morven Japanese Garden and House for a traditional tea ceremony, anime, kawaii art, ikebana, and cosplay. They also explored concepts like wabi-sabi, Shintoism, and ikigai. They even made sushi for lunch today.
• The Rock Climbing group trekked to the New River Gorge to camp and spend two days climbing outdoors under the guidance of certified rock climbing instructors.
• The Serenity and Snacks group cultivated well-being and savored yoga, line dancing, spa days, comfort food, cozy blankets with a singalong movie, painting to music, pools on the quad and more.
• The Sports Mania group tried out venues that included kung fu, bowling, wall climbing, escape rooms, and Top Golf, and played some fun outdoor games on campus. 
• The HOBY Leadership group performed two days of community service work locally, then headed to Washington, DC for a weekend-long HOBY Leadership Seminar.

7th grade students of teacher Anne Deane used popsicle sticks, binder clips, rubber bands, a spoon, and 15 minutes to design and test mini catapults. They then used them to attempt to launch cotton balls. Congratulations to Team Erican, who catapulted their cotton ball down the science room hallway in only 9 launches!

Anne Deane's 8th grade science students completed their stury of the periodic table by working in groups of three or four to create a playable board game that taught facts about the periodic table. One of their 'final' assignments was to host a game-playing event for 7th graders, using their board games to teach 7th graders about the periodic table. Their designs ranged from simple to complex, and some were extremely lively and colorful. Check out some photos.

The third trimester 7th grade drama and Middle School music classes shared the third 7th grade 'artstravaganza' of the year with the entire Middle School and many parents. 5th grade music students, with Kent Raine and student intern Fletcher L leading, opened the performance with a great performance of 'House of Gold' by 21 Pilots. 7th grade music students played two great songs - 'What's Goin' On' by Elio Mei and 'Paint It Black' by the Rolling Stones. Then the 7th grade drama class, with Edwina Herring as their director, took over with their production of Cafe 007 - aseries of clever, self-created and well-acted skits including: a skit about Goldilocks and three 'ops' set to Jaws music; a murderer who turned out to be a baby and a tornado; an influencer and his groupies; a roast-off that ended in a murder after a sword fight, and more. What fun!

9th graders in the Integrated Science, History and English program spent their exam periods this week completing two hands-on projects. They presented their completed TED Talk videos on 'what is the meaning of life?' Finished videos were shared with the class one by one, and after each,  the class discussed what was shared, techniques used, research cited, and things they liked about each video. The other project they completed was their Boat Design tests. Students had to build a sail-powered boat based on design techniques they studied. The testing was fun and every boat was a winner. Good work, Integrated Science I students! Check out some photos.

As their final exam, Engineering & Design I students had an hour to score at least 25 points firing a tennis ball at targets at a range of 50-100 feet and then 5 minutes to demonstrate that their trebuchet could launch the ball beyond the fence at the end of the basketball court to earn a bonus multiplier. Owen S from the E&D 2 class assisted me in conducting the tests by setting up the targets and helping to judge hits on targets. The majority of trebuchets earned the minimum points and had scores under 50 points. However, Jack J and Peter W earned a record-high score of 249 points with their device between consistently hitting high point-value targets and earning the bonus multiplier. Check out some testing photos.

8th grade Latin students with teacher Mag Davis look forward each year to one special day - Gladiator Day! After studying that aspect of ancient Roman culture, students spend some class time making themselves swords, shields and armor out of cardboard, and then taking each other on in 'combat.' In a single elimination tournament of short rounds, this year's battle took place on the outdoor basketball court, and other students were invited to serve as spectators, who also help determine the outcome of each gladiator pair's battle with cheering and an occasional thumbs up. This year's Gladiator Day champ was William DA (his sister Maeve won two years ago, so a Gladiator Day dynasty has been created). Bravo!

8th grade English students with teacher Carolyn Warhaftig have been reading the classic Harper Lee novel To Kill a Mockingbird in class. Yesterday, they met in the Community Hall to debate this question: 'Is Atticus Finch a symbol of moral integrity? Would you call him a hero?' Students were divided almost evenly in their pro/con stance, and sat on opposite sides of the Community Hall during the debate, taking turns to stand and share for one minute, using quotes from the book as the basis for some of their statements. Debate judges included Mara Kennedy, Meg Davis and Tiffany Norman. The 'agree' side won, naming Atticus a hero. Check out some photos.

The Class of 2026’s 32 college-bound students were admitted to 105 colleges in 34 states + DC + Canadian provinces with over 4.5 million dollars in merit aid offered. 

Many members of the Class of 2026 posed recently in front of the main building wearing t-shirts featuring their college/post-Tandem plans.

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Tandem seniors have had a many years tradition of taking a late Spring class period to both decorate and inspire the campus and its inhabitants with quotes from favorite books read while here. This week, with English teacher Tucker Winter, they took on the task of sharing what enlightened, moved, amused or gave them pause to think. Our sidewalks are covered with those words - check out some of their favorite quotes.

On Tuesday, students, faculty, family members teammates and friends gathered in the Community Hall as we celebrated four Tandem senior student athletes as they officially signed to play college sports. Congratulations to Jack B, cross country for Denison University; Sin F, basketball for Cheney University of Pennsylvania; Quis T, basketball for Wheeling University; and, Sean T, basketball for Virginia Wesleyan University (soon to be Batten University). It was wonderful to listen to their coaches and to Athletic Director Dave Levy recount the amazing careers and stats they built up at Tandem as well as honor their deep commitment and dedication to their sports. Well done, Badgers!

Life Science 7th graders in Anne Deane's class have each "adopted" an endangered species this quarter. They introduced their species to the class, outlined the threats facing them, and described what is being done to protect them. This week they added a creative and competitive element to their study by taking on the , hosted by the Endangered Species Coalition. To honor Endangered Species Day (May 15th), their nationwide, all-ages chalk art competition "raises awareness of the importance of endangered wildlife. The competition runs May 1 to May 17th. Chalk art entries (photo submission) must feature at least one threatened or endangered plant or animal species. Students did a little preplanning in class, then headed outside to create their works. Check out some of their creations!

Our Emphasis groups got together during Community Time today to meet their fellow group members and leaders and discuss their upcoming adventures in learning. Watch for emails from Emphasis leaders about important details such as forms that might be needed, lunch and snack plans, or special gear or clothing needs.

Last week, the Upper School held Student Senate officer elections for the 2026-2027 school year (grade representatives are elected at the start of the school year). Fifteen interested candidates gave rousing speeches during Community Time, and then students completed their ballots. Congratuations to the newly elected 2026-2027 Student Senate officers:

• Communications: Ana Salazar-Gil and Emory Shallenberger
• Secretary: Sophie McCaughey
• Treasurer: Peter Dumars
• Vice President: Seth Raffinan
• President: Madeline Mondschein

Our 8th grade Latin class held a Roman Election on Tuesday. Catiline, Julius Caesar and Cicero ran against each other, gave rousing speeches and whipped the 7th grade students, who were voting, into quite a frenzy. The ultimate victor was Marcus Tullius Cicero…because of some back alley bribery via dum dum lollipops. All in all, democracy prevailed (slightly) and much fun was had by all! Check out photos of our speech givers.

Teachers and staff members so enjoyed every day of this wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week planned and executed by our overwhelmingly thoughtful and generous Parent Community. From start to finish, there was something every day to warm the heart, tease the tastebuds or just make you feel appreciated. Many thanks for (click on the headline for photos of each day's offerings):

• Make your own flower arrangements on Monday
• Coffee bar and barista service on the quad on Tuesday
• Ice cream treats and raffle tickets on Wednesday
• Amazing gift basket raffle wins and beatiful handmade bookmarks (thanks to students Mareana and Luna B) on Thursday
• Delicious breakfast buffet on Friday

Wow! What a wonderful week of indulgence. Many thanks to Parent Community leaders and volunteers Rachael Ayers, Stephanie Gatewood and Kristyn Irwin and all who contributed food, flowers, gift items or time to make this memorable week happen.

6th grade science students have been busily building bird houses as part of their bird habitat studies. This week they began painting them in bright colors. Once they have completed them, these colorful creations will be installed around the Tandem campus so that students can research the types of birds that inhabit Charlottesville and adapt the birdhouses to suit specific species. Check out lots of photos.

9th graders in Robert Schuster's English class have been reading Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. This week, they reached Act III and performed some staged readings of the assassination scene on the front lawn. Et tu Brute? Check out some photos from their reenactments.

Math teacher Trefor Davies and a crew of his Upper School math students have been meeting on Sunday mornings and working calculus problems every Sunday since spring break in preparation for the AP Calculus exam. They sit around and eat bagels while they talk about and solve calculus problems for a couple of hours. They even worked in a Friday morning session today as the exam happens on Monday. Good luck to these intrepid Calculus students and their generous teacher who have gone the extra mile in pursuit of academic excellence.

A couple of weeks ago, Tandem juniors Nati Y and Ethan P competed as a team representing Tandem at the UVA High School Programming Competition (HSPC). UVA's HSPC is one of the largest that takes place annually in the Mid-Atlantic region. This year, there were 22 teams in Nati and Ethan's division from all over Virginia. They finished in 7th place - congratulations on doing so well in a highly competitive event.  

10th graders continue their study of neuroscience with teacher Casey Reed. Dr. David Lyman (parent of sophomore Hazel) came to the 10th grade classes to talk about his work as a radiologist and neurovascular surgeon. He brought simulators so students could get a feel for procedures he performs to treat strokes and aneurysms. Students were very engaged!

The History Bowl National Championship tournament (held last weekend in Washington, DC by International Academic Competitions) featured 96 Varsity teams from 21 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Tandem's team (Henry A, Alex S, Zeke L and Hudson L), played teams from California to New Hampshire and lots of places in between.  As the tournament unfolded, it turned out that we ended up playing teams that finished 2nd and 20th. It was a long but fun day and we hope to qualify for a return trip next year. 

Tandem sophomores have completed their months-long research projects, presented their work to their classmates over a two-week period, then completed the final stage of their Sophomore Seminar academic rite of passage with an evening Sophomore Seminar Capstone event on Wednesday night. The community was invited to come and hear about their research, and each sophomore set up an information station complete with tri-fold display, then answered questions from anyone who stopped by to chat. There were even cookies! Students spent part of first and most of second semester researching and writing a 15+ page academic paper on a subject of their choosing. Completed papers include detailed footnotes and bibliographies; topics/papers are argumentative, so students had to make some sort of defensible argument about their topic. They provided some really interesting insights into their topics and displayed their academic maturity over the course of the year. Well done, sophomores! Check out a list of their impressive and interesting topics below as well as some photos from their Capstone Night.

• Stigmas and treatments of major mental illnesses.
• How do humans affect animal extinction rates and once an animal does go extinct how does that affect its environment?
• How will AI affect our jobs and future generations?
• How do people get the help they need when arrested because of a mental illness, and can we improve how people help those with a mental health challenge?
• Were psychological hospitals/asylums in the past or present harmful rather than helpful?
• How has media impacted marine keystone species?
• Can Animals Understand Human Emotion?
• How do memories affect humans' lives?
• Cellphone design and its effects on mental health.
• Possibilities of mass transit and high speed rail in the USA vs. other countries.
• Why do people fear nuclear power and should it be more implemented?
• What are the main causes that cause global warming besides fossil fuels, and ways to combat it?
• Changes in and effects of the rules of basketball
• Can humans implement techniques and strategies that ants use in a colony to work better together?
• Racial profiling in the USA
• How do People Suffer from the Effects of Wrongful Convictions?
• Sexism and innovation by women in the sciences in history and today.
• Why does society try to control women's bodies?
• How are women dismissed in medical settings?
• American folklore and its effects on modern culture/storytelling
• How did music, film, and literature reflect or shape public perception of war?
• What is happiness?
• How does social media affect teens' mental health?
• How did bringing horses change the culture and lives of indigenous people in the New World?
• How is AI affecting our life, and what problems does it cause?
• How has American intervention in other nations affected world politics?
• How do sports affect your mental health?
• What motivates espionage and how can it be prevented?

This week, 8th grade history students of Ned Fischer held a debate on whether or not the use of the atomic bomb against Japan in World War II was justified. 8th graders worked in teams to prepare and had to be ready to debate either side - pro or con. Ned explains the project: "The idea for the debate came three years ago when I was reading the Szilard Petition- a petition signed by 70 high-level scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project urging President Truman not to use the atomic bomb. Beyond the destruction and loss of life, the Petition argued that the United States would lose its moral high ground and could no longer be a standard bearer of righteousness on the world's stage. The petition never made it in front of the President.

On Tuesday, April 21, the Class of 2026 felt a collective lightness of being as their Senior Project Night came to a close. This capstone event put the final checkmark for most in the completion box for their Senior Projects. Students and attendees gathered in the Pavilion with cookies and lemonade as seniors first introduced their projects to the audience individually, then left to set up in a space in the Math/Science Building. Attendees strolled through the top-floor classrooms to learn about each project by asking questions of each senior. Seniors did a wonderful job presenting their topics and sharing both their passion and their knowledge. Congratulations, Class of 2026, on a terrific season of projects!

Junior Nati Y attended the National Academic Quiz Tournament's (NAQT) 2026 Individual Player National Championship Tournament (IPNCT), held at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare Chicago in Rosemont, Illinois (near Chicago) on April 12. He scored in the top 200 of students in attendance (there were over 300), and he scored in the top 30 students among STEM questions. That's pretty impressive considering he was competing in rounds with 10 players apiece, all jockeying for the fastest correct answer. Well done, Nati!

The 10th grade integrated program is currently tackling the essential question of "Why do we do what we do?" In science class, students have been exploring this question through topics in Neuroscience, including questions about the subjectivity of human perception and the varying levels of control we have over our nervous system. On Wednesday, two students from UVA, one a PhD candidate in Neuroscience and one a student of Psychology, came to visit the 10th grade science classes to share about their work. They gave a lesson on neurons and neuroscience, and talked about their fields of study, academic paths, and neuroscience careers. Students were able to engage with a demo about how the brain sends motor signals to our muscles via electricity, and they also had the option to see some real preserved brains, intact and in cross sections. Students were very engaged with the topics and demonstrations.

Tandem 麻豆社 Upper School Latin students of teacher Tim Brannelly earned some wonderful results on the 2026 National Latin Exam (NLE), including six gold medals.

• Latin II: gold medals and summa cum laude for Henry R and Emory B; silver medal and maxima cum laude for Hattie H

• Latin III: gold medal and summa cum laude for Asher; silver medal and maxima cum laude for Maeve; cum laude certificate for Graham S and Ana S-G

• AP Latin: gold medals and summa cum laude for Owen S, John B, and Elijah M

Last Saturday, Tandem's Geeky Girls, Upper School girls who volunteer their time to create fun science learning days for elementary school aged girls, held another event at Tandem. This month's theme was “Animals” and the science learning/activity stations included:

• Making Elephant Toothpaste (a classic chemical reaction)
• Building a DNA Model
• Build-an-Insect
• Slime Making
• Chemical Weathering Station

Spanish 2 students in Sonia Brandon's class have been learning recently how to describe each other and their items of clothing and accessories. They had fun walking the catwalk in their Desfile de moda (fashion show) today while their classmates described them and what they were wearing.   

The Tandem 麻豆社 Art for Charity group, a student-led organization dedicated to making a difference in their community, brought indoor and outdoor fun and enrichment activities to Jefferson School YMCA youngsters yesterday. Senior Sofia S, who started Art for Charity, and senior Sin F, one of a number of student athletes who came to lead outdoor activities, took a break from the fun to talk to Channel 19 reporters about why art, community and service matter at Tandem and to them. Check out the story . The Art for Charity students worked with kids from preK up doing art activities, while the student athletes who participated led outdoor activities. There were some activities they did all together, including a danceoff that was fun for everyone, and there were plenty of rubber duckies involved. The youngsters and the Tandem students all had a great time having fun and spending time together. 

In 6th grade Spanish, students read and watched a story about a dog who wants to play with a cat that is tired all the time but the dog gets the brilliant idea to feed him coffee. Chaos ensues. After learning how to talk about their own hobbies and interests and apply vocabulary to the story, students designed board games to play with one another and review phrases from the story. 

This week, Sarah Donelson's 6th grade social studies students completed their unit on Islam and their look at the Medieval Muslim World by creating board games based on Ibn Battuta’s travels in the 14th century. This week, they played all of the games with the entire grade during long block. There were some amazingly colorful and creative submissions.

9th grade world history students always go all out for the annual extra credit creative challenge by teacher Melissa Winder to create a diorama depicting a famous historical event using marshmallow Peeps, an Easter candy favorite. Some students even work the name Peeps into the titles of their creative works. We always look forward to these colorful and fun history tableaux. Check out this year's projects, which include: PEEPsgiving, Destruction of the Jewish PEEPle's 2nd Temple, Hoover Dam, Sinking of the PEEPtanic, Artists, Homosapiens, The Radium PEEPs, Marie Antoinette, Columbus, and Paul Re-PEEP's Midnight Ride! They are on display in the Alling Room.

In the Upper School, all students prepared for conferences and 9th-11th graders began the process of course selection for next year. 9th graders will be bringing in their fun PEEPS projects next week. Sophomores seminar drafts are being read and reviewed. Juniors will begin reading The Things They Carried next week. Seniors have been practicing their Senior Project presentations with their advisors as presentations begin next week. The cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee heads into tech week next week - reserve your free tickets here for next weekend’s performances.

The annual March Madness Heads Up Tournament has been going on in 7th and 8th grade English with teacher Carolyn Warhaftig. Using teams of two, competing pairs move through the brackets like in basketball. Similar to "Heads Up," students must give their partner a definition and the partner must guess the word from the class list of over 50 vocabulary words. The most correct words in a minute wins. Teams play several rounds to get to the Final Four! After some lively final rounds, the champion teams for each grade were declared.  Congratulations to our final four teams (eventual champs in bold): 7th grade finalists: Clara L/Freya D, Lucien D/Hattie I/Mae T, Jane M/Eric C, Lucy S/Emma R - 8th grade finalists: Dylan K/Henry W, Zoey T/Levi L, Raquel ML/Arden W, Maddy M/Chloe R! If you're wondering how you would do, check out some of the words - 7th grade words included gesticulate, ostensibly, pejorative, and nascent; 8th grade words included pernicious, surreptitious, apoplectic and magnanimity.

Tandem is proud to announce that Music teacher Mark Goldstein has been named our 2026 recipient of a Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching. Mark began teaching Upper School Music at Tandem in 2014, leading Jazz, Rock and Acoustic bands, teaching a variety of other music classes as desired, pulling off the annual Winter Concert, adding in the 8th grade Rock band, and so much more. An extremely talented musician himself, Mark brings great passion and energy to his classroom, as well as an encyclopedic knowledge of music and musicians. He is also responsible for helping students plan and run the annual Mother's Day Music Festival. Check out a CBS-19 report about this year's nominees.

Golden Apple Awards are presented each year by sponsor Richard L. Nunley (Better Living Building Supply and Cabinetry) to honor outstanding teachers in our community's schools. The awards are presented to teachers from both public and private schools (VAIS members) in Albemarle County and the city of Charlottesville. One winner is selected from each school, based upon parent and student nominations (thanks to all who participated), which were solicited via form all winter. In addition to receiving a Golden Apple, each recipient also earns a grant of $500, which can be used for classroom materials or to support professional development. Golden Apple Award recipients will be honored in person in a ceremony in May. Congratulations, Mark!

Freshman Jon D represented Tandem at the Piedmont Virginia Regional Science Fair held yesterday at PVCC. He earned a 2nd place medal in the Energy and Transportation category for his project testing rollercoaster design elements. Jon's project studied how energy transformation can be applied to things like a roller coaster and he built two representations. The Z coaster he built turned potential gravitational energy into kinetic energy. The U coaster turned potential energy into kinetic energy to propel a ball up the other side of the coaster, causing it to renew its potential gravitational energy. Congratulations and well done, Jon!

Today, Tandem junior Hayes B ran in the New Balance Nationals Indoor Track Invitational in Boston in the 3200M/2-mile race. Hayes ran against the top high schoolers from across the US in this most elite invitational high school meet in the country. The event was livestreamed on the New Balance Nationals website and many students and faculty gathered in the Blue Room (and other classrooms) to watch his heat run at 12:19pm during lunch. The crowd assembled neared 40 at its peak. Hayes ran in the first heat (there were 9 heats in the 2-mile event). The entire room was cheering and coach Jason was calling out his times as he completed each of his 16 laps. Hayes finished 7th in his heat with a time of 9:26.72, just one second off of his PR. Way to go, Hayes! We're so proud of you! to watch a couple of videos from the Blue Room viewing. to check out footage on the New Balance Invitational site. Click on the headline for more photos.

Tandem junior Hayes B has qualified to compete in the Indoor Track Invitational in Boston for a chance at a national title in the 3200M/2-mile race on Friday, March 13th (estimated race time may change but now listed as 11:38am). Hayes will be running against the top high schoolers from across the US in this most elite invitational high school meet in the county. His victory and incredible time of 9:25 at the Liberty Invitational qualified him for this exclusive event! Hayes currently holds 4 individual state titles. In Cross Country, he has won back-to-back individual titles at the VISAA Division III Championships at Panorama Farms. Additionally, Hayes won gold in the 2025 VISAA 3200 Meter Outdoor Track and Field Championships last spring and again in the 3200 Meter Indoor Track and Field Championships this winter! Hayes has served as captain for the 麻豆社 cross country team, which has not only been Division III VISAA State Champions for three straight years, but last fall also beat the Division I & Division II winners, making them the fastest VISAA team in the state in all divisions. Go Hayes - can't wait to see you perform at this national level. The event should be on the New Balance Nationals website.

hits Tandem every year at this time! Students in some Middle School classes are researching March Mammal Madness animals and using the information learned to make their brackets. They will all be entered in the tournament through Arizona State University. Some Upper School classes will be following March Mammal Madness as well and there is a friendly community competition. To learn more about March Mammal Madness, which pits animals against each other like teams in the NCAA tourney, to watch about this year's tournament, or find more detailed information on the way the whole tournament works . According to Upper School Science teacher Casey Reed, "the categories this year are fascinating! There's a whole division of extinct animals, one for "library legends," one for animals that appear on currency, and one called "That's so Metal" that includes a whole bunch of terrifying creatures." If you would like to participate along with your students, please . The first battles begin on Monday night (March 9th) with the Wild Card round. You can also follow the educational fun on the March Mammal Madness .

In Ronda Hewitt's Public Speaking class, students have been working on the Greenlight Project, where they worked in groups to create movie pitch presentations to greenlight a new film idea to movie executives. Pitches are presented in class with each student working on the group project taking on roles of Screenwriter, Project Manager, Director, Producer and Production Designer and each presenting their focused area to pitch the idea. In the shared photo, the pitch was for a new film in the Harry Potter world called Draco's Return by this group in class.

The second trimester 7th grade drama and Middle School music classes shared the second 7th grade 'artstravaganza' of the year with the entire Middle School and many parents. 5th grade music students, with Kent Raine and student intern Fletcher L leading, opened the performance with a great song with percussion that included audience participation. 7th grade music students played two great songs - 'Where is my Mind' by The Pixies and 'Linger' by The Cranberries.  Then the 7th grade drama class, with Edwina Herring as their director, took over with their production of Cafe 00-Legendary, a series of clever, self-created and well-acted skits including: gods and goddesses having a banquet; Lewis and Clark lost; food service workers learning how to keep things 'clean'; a dangerous spore on the loose; kids at home with horror movies and a scary babysitter while mom and dad go out; Ariel the mermaid looking for love; two guys slap fighting and dance battling; Hedgehog scouts on a camping trip that takes a ghoulish turn; a glass factory inspection going wrong; and, conspiracy theorists dining at Wendy's. What fun!

In the Upper School, Science Olympiad team TFS Emerald earned 2nd overall in the tournament on Saturday, and our three Upper School teams produced 16 medal-winning projects to win a trip to the state tournament (details and photos below). 9th graders continue their civilization project and are reading The Interpreter of Maladies. 10th graders are creating a recipe for a revolution. Juniors are deep into the world of The Great Gatsby. Seniors talked about racial literacy and today, turned in their Senior Project synopses. Upper School Community Time today was spent in an Open Meeting, one of the longest-standing Tandem student traditions.

During today's Upper School Morning Meeting, senior John B was recognized by Upper School Director Russell Combs as a National Merit Scholarship Finalist and presented with a certificate to honor that distinction. From an original pool of 1.3 million students who took the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT) as Juniors, only 15,000 make it to this finalist stage. Approximately 6,700 National Merit Scholarships will be awarded; only the 15,000 finalists like John remain eligible. Earlier this winter, fellow seniors Will M and Owen S were recognized as National Merit Scholarship Commended Students, while John was named a semifinalist, one of only nine area students (public and private school) who achieved that distinction. Congratulations, John!

Finally, the results yesterday continued to demonstrate the strength of the TFSSO program in the physical, Earth/space, and engineering/technical sciences. The Division B team won 3/4 of the events in each of the physical and Earth/space science categories and won all of the engineering/technical events. In Division C, TFS Alabaster, a team of first time 9th and 10th grade students, had an impressive performance beating 53% of teams in physical science events and 83% of teams in engineering/technical science events. Our veteran TFS Emerald team beat 80% of competing teams in physical science events, 85% of competing teams in Earth/space science events, and 95% of competing teams in engineering/technical science events. 

After studying the Haudenosaunee and their use of Wampum Belts, 5th graders made their own versions, depicting something that was meaningful to them.

The Upper School enjoyed a great Speaker Series today given by current Tandem parent Greg Buppert, a senior attorney at . Greg shared stories about his work there on energy justice, particularly his focus on energy and how the grid has been and needs to evolve. He was a part of the litigation to stop the Atlantic Coast Pipeline that was planned to run through Nelson County. This case went all of the way to the Supreme Court and as a result of this cancellation, Dominion Power elected to invest some $8 million in off-shore wind energy. He also shared a bit about how he came to be an environmental justice lawyer and encouraged students to think for themselves and follow their interests

Seniors in Tucker Winter's American Lit class (juniors) started their work on Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby today with what should be a cool Reader's Theater activity: The room will be set up with desks divided into East and West Egg (the affluent Long Island towns representing old and new money), with desks for main characters Nick, Jordan, Tom and Daisy in the center. East Egg students get candy just for existing, as do the main characters. West Egg students have to earn theirs by turning in notes at the end of class (in reality, all students will turn in daily notes). The kids who choose to sit at the desks for the main characters will read their lines in Chapter 1, with Nick reading all of the narration. East and West Eggers are each assigned a specific main character to observe in detail and they have a form for taking notes about them with some specific questions for each. This interactive activity should increase engagement from the start of the novel and help break down the toughest chapter in the book for students in an accessible way.

Fifth graders have been learning about Snowsnakes, a game played by the Haudenosaunee and other Indigenous peoples of the Northeast and upper Midwest, as part of their Social Studies class with Sarah Donelson. When the ice was finally manageable enough, they got to build a track on the basketball court and play with their own snowsnake! 

In my 5th grade Spanish class, students created a story together in Spanish about Sphynx, a cat who is one-month old and loves to cuddle. She travels to different Spanish-speaking countries in search of a friend and finally finds a chihuahua, Pickles, who says he will be her friend! Students wrote the story, then had the opportunity to act out the story together! 

Sixth graders in Sarah Donelson's Social Studies classes are wrapping up their Medieval unit with a project. They chose to either build a Medieval castle and write a scenario of a day in the life of someone who lived there, write an essay on the history of Illuminated Manuscripts and then illustrate and illuminate it in a historically accurate way, or write the history of a political event in the style of a Viking Saga.
 
Sixth grade English students with teacher Christina Davis are working on a project where they are conducting research on a person who they feel has made a positive impact on society. Acting as junior editors of a national news magazine, students will be tasked with persuading their managing editors to feature their chosen person as the magazine's Person of the Year.

7th grade math students with teacher Miriah Dudley have been learning about evaluating expressions. Students have been rolling dice to provide a value for given variables to help their mastery. Check out more photos.

On Wednesday, February 4, Tandem students accompanied by art teacher Amanda Nelsen journeyed to the state capitol to participate in Lobby Day. This annual event gives our students a chance to meet and speak with their Delegates and Senators (or members of their staff). Attending this year were Will M, Laurel S, Nati Y, Sean T, and Seamus B. Will spoke about data center regulations and involving communities in placement/land use permits. Laurel lobbied for giving veterans and those in Americorp free admission to our State Parks. Nati lobbied for rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and developing Small Nuclear Reactors (SMR) to scale. Sean spoke about banning polystyrene food containers. Seamus lobbied for investment in and improvement of public transit. The group also got to sit in on a session of the House of Delegates and witnessed voice voting, voting on record, and many exchanges between the delegates led by Speaker Don Scott. While walking through the Capital building, they stopped by the old House chambers and the Lego replica.

Tandem counselor Monica Quarles, also a Tandem alum (TFS '04) and one of the strongest women in the world, has been named one of Charlottesville's Distinguished Dozen by The Daily Progress. In a published on January 20 ("For Strongwoman Monica Quarles, it's not about what she Lifts but who she Lifts Up"), Monica is honored for both her 7th place finish in the recent international Official Strongman Games, and for the strength she helps others develop as a counselor to our students. Twelve Distinguished Dozen honorees from Central Virginia are selected for how much they give of themselves and to their community - all considered by The Daily Progress to be 'movers and shakers, history makers and everyday heroes.' It's great to see Monica recognized for what she puts into her training and her work, and how she models self care and inner strength. We are so proud of Monica for her accomplishments as a former student, as a person, as a counselor and as an internationally ranked strong woman.

Following their unit on working conditions in the early 1900s, 8th graders held their annual Job Fair. Students started the assignment by corresponding via email with a professional in a chosen field. From there, students conducted Google Meet interviews to learn more about the intricacies of the career, then completed their own research on typical salaries, education requirements, benefits, and more. Students created job brochures for their chosen professions, which included firefighter, professional soccer player, Director of Marketing and Communications, restaurant owner, architect, veterinarian, sports doctor, real estate agent, investment banker, college coach, and many more. Ultimately, students welcomed the 7th grade (as well as some of the professionals themselves) and spoke about the career and answered questions surrounding it.

• Rona Lisa Peretti — Alanah R
• Chip Tolentino — F 
• Logainne “Schwartzy” SchwartzandGrubenniere — Lucie Q
• Leaf Coneybear — Wren K
• William Barfee — Hudson L 
• Marcy Park — Lily Y
• Olive Ostrovsky — Ana S-G
• Vice Principal Donna Panch — Georgia C
• Michelle Mahoney — Nina I
• Logainne’s Two Moms (Carla/Danica) — Cora R and Laurel A
• Leaf’s Mom — Lucie Quist
• Leaf’s Sister — Lily Y 
• Leaf’s Dad — Hudson L
• Jesus Christ — Fletcher L
• Olive's Mom – Alanah R
• Olive's Dad – Fletcher L

• Production Stage Manager: Madeline M
• Assistant Director: Henry A
• Music Director: Tara Scott
• Choreographer: Robin Hyer
• Lighting Designer: Jon D
• Costume Designers: Julie Bowersett and Georgia C 
• Director & Producer: Ronda Hewitt 

Below is the breakdown of the medal results from the tournament for each TFSSO team. Full tournament results can be found . The photos and videos I was able to take can be found .

TFS Emerald

- Astronomy (Madeline M, Owen S): 4
- Boomilever (Eli C, Sofia S/John B as a testing sub): 1
- Chemistry Lab (Oscar D, Owen S): 4
- Circuit Lab (Hayes B, Oscar D): 4
- Codebusters (John B, Eli C, Otis H as a sub): 4
- Dynamic Planet (John B, Eli C): 3
- Electric Vehicle (Owen S, Peter W): 1
- Engineering CAD (Jack J, Kavi M): 3
- Helicopter (Luna B, Addie T): 1
- Hovercraft (Jack J, Lucy L): 1
- Machines (Eli C, Jack J): 2
- Robot Tour (John B, Owen S): 2
- Rocks and Minerals (Nina I, Kavi M as a sub): 6
- Water Quality (Lucy L, Peter W): 4

TFS Alabaster

- Forensics (Emory B, Annie R): 4
- Hovercraft (Jon D, Sean T): 5
- Materials Science (Emory B, Annie R): 5

5th grade science students with teacher Nemanja Cetic recently observed and compared the buoyancy of different objects in water and dish soap. Now those students are designing, constructing, and evaluating a model cargo boat to determine its maximum load capacity. Nemanja's 6th grade scientists are constructing sailboats to investigate the concept of unprocessed energy, with the objective being to demonstrate how wind energy can be harnessed to propel a sailboat. Check out some photos of their efforts.

Sixth grade English students worked on creating blackout poetry this week in class. This "found" poetry style uses a previously written text as a base. The poet then selects certain words on the page to highlight, while redacting others. It is through this process of deconstructing that a new text emerges. Check out some photos of their work.

In the Upper School, the Rocketry Club had a bake sale. 9th graders are working on their interdisciplinary Civilization project and are reading The Samurai’s Garden. 10th graders spent today in the UVA libraries to learn about and begin Sophomore Seminar research (details below). AP US History students are studying Reconstruction. Seniors are jumping back into the Senior Projects with grit and determination. Our varsity teams held a home double header with double wins last night to leap back into the season and are at Quantico this afternoon. A large group of Upper School Science Olympiad students boarded a bus this afternoon to head to the competition in Fairfax this weekend. We wish them lots of luck!

This week, Tandem sophomores spent a day at UVA's Shannon Library with faculty Robert Schuster, Casey Reed, Melissa Winder, Russell Combs, Tina Goode and Heidi Passino, all people who will support them throughout their Sophomore Seminar research and writing process. Currently, students have completed Sophomore Seminar topic brainstorming and preliminary research and have received preliminary feedback on their Pre-Outlines. This week, they did some additional structuring of their Pre-Outlines, and then took a deep dive into academic research via their all-day visit to the UVA library! Students enjoyed a lecture and interactive session run by UVA Research Librarians. They got a tour of Clemons Library before being given time to conduct some of their research. They enjoyed lunch on The Corner. Students worked really hard all day and were excited about giving their topics due diligence! For the next three months, they will each dive into deep learning about their chosen topics, developing their skills as researchers, writers, and presenters. By semester's end, they will have completed a full research paper, made a presentation on their topic to their classmates, and shared their work with the community during the Sophomore Seminar Capstone night scheduled for April 29. Check out some photos!