The Mabry Middle School Band was invited to audition for The Midwest Clinic, an international band and orchestra conference which is certainly one of the most prestigious school music honors in the United States. Performance at the conference is by invitation only. Our band students and teachers work very hard and are among the very best middle school bands in the country. Congratulations to them for earning this distinguished honor.

This first podcasts from their recent recording session is a recording of their performance of Among the Clouds. These podcasts are among the recordings included in their audition package. To listen to each podcast in your browser, simply click on each link.

Congratulations students and teachers. We are very proud of you!

The Mabry Middle School Band was invited to audition for The Midwest Clinic, an international band and orchestra conference which is certainly one of the most prestigious school music honors in the United States. Performance at the conference is by invitation only. Our band students and teachers work very hard and are among the very best middle school bands in the country. Congratulations to them for earning this distinguished honor.

This second podcast from their recent recording session is a recording of their performance of Miss Liberty. These podcasts are among the recordings included in their audition package. To listen to each podcast in your browser, simply click on each link.

Congratulations students and teachers. We are very proud of you!

Recently I visited one of our feeder elementary schools, Davis Elementary, who was just named a Georgia School of Excellence. I was delighted to have the opportunity to be on their campus as this exciting honor was announced to their students, staff, and community. While on the campus, I was incredibly impressed with the level of technology integration in their curriculum--even in the kindergarten classes!

I asked Davis' principal, Mrs. Brink, if I could return with a middle school film crew to create a podcast of the amazing work these teachers and children are doing as they prepare for Mabry Middle School. This podcast is the product of that visit. Special thanks to Rebecca, Grant, and Chandler, the three Mabry students who filmed and edited this project.

On February 1, 2007, Mabry Middle School was honored to welcome our State Superintendent of Schools, Cathy Cox, with guests from the British Council, including the Director of Bilateral Programmes, Rosalind Morton, as well members of the Georgia State Department of Education. Cobb County School District Superintended, Fred Sanderson, and Area 4 Assistant Superintendent, Lynda Martin, also joined us for a presentation of ways Mabry Middle School leverages meaningfulness and significance through technology implementation in our classes.

This podcast features a short greeting from Cathy Cox and Rosalind Morton as well as their impressions of their visit to our school.

Our seventh grade Life Science students have learned about transgenics: the process of extracting genetic material from one organism and inserting it into another. In this podcast they clearly describe the scientific process of this experiment in which they extracted a DNA plasmid from a jellyfish and inserted it into the DNA of a bacteria. They grew this new microorganism in the lab, designing a new species of bacteria which manufactures a protein that fluoresces under UV light, indicating that the new DNA had been successfully inserted into the DNA of the bacteria.

Our students are getting an authentic look at how genetic scientists are using new technologies to create treatments (and hopefully someday even cures) for diseases such as diabetes, hemophilia, and sickle cell anemia to name a few.

Did you learn this in your 7th grade science curriculum?!

Seventh grade Life Science students have been busy studying body systems and anatomy. This podcast by Mrs. Larkin and her students shows her students highly engaged in learning.

Students in Mrs. Kaplan's 8th grade Language Arts class studied a collection of works by Edgar Allan Poe. In this student podcast, Thomas' opening sentence sums up the quality of this student project: "Welcome to Mrs. Kaplan's class' literary theatre..."

And theatre it is!

We post this podcast now as a celebration of the author's birthday, which happens to be in just 2 days: Friday, January 19, 1809.

Student producers: Collin and Kyle

Student readers: Kaitlyn, Jillian, Kristen, Kyle, and Vance

Student Narrator: Thomas

Mrs. Miceli is one of Mabry's sixth grade Social Studies teachers. Her sister and her husband (Karen & Paul Whitley) are missionaries who work in Peru. They have actively been working to raise funds to help build an orphanage in San Francisco, Peru. Before they left for their most recent trip back to Peru, Mrs. Whitley asked Mrs. Miceli if her classes would like to collect crayons and coloring books for the orphans, which are of Incan decent. As Mabry 6th grade students will be studying about Peru and the Incans, Mrs. Miceli thought this would be a great project for her students to accept, giving her students a firsthand experience with the people of Peru.

Mrs. Miceli is so proud of her students. Their response was wonderful. They got to make a direct contribution to the people in a country they will study. And, for them to give up their Halloween candy for the orphans was an added bonus. This podcast features several Mabry students' reflections on what they saw and learned as a result of their contribution.

Mabry 7th grade Language Arts teachers sponsor a book chat in which students and parents read the same books and then enjoy being in class together experiencing a variety of activities based on their reading. During the book chat "coffee house" parents and students complete a guided discussion about the book they have read and even get to meet the author personally, ask him questions, and just savor reading and learning.

This podcast features author Brett Hodus talking about his day at Mabry and the writing process. You will hear from Mabry's 7th grade Language Arts teachers and see pictures taken during the event.

My Howard's students completed this clever little 1 minute enhanced podcast about Mabry Middle School. Enjoy!