As part of a nonfiction writing unit, fourth graders in Ms. Watson’s class explored the research and writing process by studying an invention of their choice and developing a well-structured five-paragraph essay. “They began by generating their own subtopics, thoughtfully organizing their ideas around key aspects, such as the inventor’s background, the problem the invention solved, how it works, and its impact on society,” said Ms. Watson. Students presented their work on a wide range of topics. Diego H. ’34, for example, covered the evolution of telephones and was able to articulate how telephones changed the world. Mia G. ’34 said she researched the Sony Walkman because “I was curious how people listened to music before iPhones and iPads.” Liana G. ’34 said she was interested in the topic of tap dancing because she’d recently begun taking lessons and then “learned the whole story behind it.” Alexis K. ’34 fully committed to her chosen invention of clocks by wearing a clock tower costume and presenting on the most primitive sundial clocks to the highly precise atomic clocks. Joseph Z. ’34, whose project was focused on cars, said he learned that it was “important to understand what is going on in the world.” In addition to practicing taking detailed research notes, peer editing and mentoring was an important part of the process, said Ms. Watson. She noted that in a great display of cross-divisional collaboration, her students got presentation tips from eighth graders, who’d recently completed their History Day Fair. “These lessons connect classroom learning to the real world by illustrating how problems inspire innovation and how individual ideas can shape history,” said Ms. Watson. Bravo to our future innovators for all their hard work!

D-E’s V-Day 2026, with the theme of “Rise for our Bodies, Our Future, Our Earth,” was a stunningly powerful event organized by the leaders of the Women of Color Affinity group, Amanda Santos ’26, Ripley Chang ’27, and Yaritza Menjivar ’27, under the guidance of Dra. Ericka Collado. “In line with the global movement One Billion Rising, V-Day aims to raise awareness of women's experiences,” said Dr. Collado, Upper School Spanish Teacher. “The performers, six Upper School faculty members, and nine students from the three divisions, presented original works of poetry, art, excerpts of books, and songs, woven into a story of shared struggles but filled with hope.” All proceeds will benefit the Women’s Rights Information Center in Englewood. Lil Corcoran, the center’s executive director, also spoke on the importance of this work. We’re grateful to all participants—our D-E citizens of the world—for their heartfelt contributions to such a meaningful annual campaign! Photo Credits: Eva Louro ‘28; Dra. Ericka Collado

The 3D Printing and Engineering Club (3D-E) recently hosted an engineering event in The Imperatore Library in honor of National Engineers Week, celebrated nationally this week. Innovation Coordinator Ms. Larionoff explained that the cross-divisional event is based on the Science Buddies Engineering Challenge, which involves “creative problem-solving.” She added that the 3D-E club has led the challenge for the past two of the seven years D-E has been hosting the event, providing a mentoring element to the experience. This year’s challenge was to design and build a paper ball run so that a ping pong ball takes as long as possible to reach the ground. Club leader Fred Bommer ’26 said the activity allowed Middle School and Upper School students to come together to engage in a building project using a few simple materials. “I think it’s a success if they make functioning designs, even if they don’t follow the instructions exactly,” remarked Fred. Well done to our young engineers!