List of 5 items.

• Middle School Olympiad | Grades 5–8

  Ellis students flex their creative, intellectual, and physical muscles once a year when they take part in the annual Middle School Olympiad. The Olympiad brings together grades 5 through 8 for an event-packed day full of fun, friendly competition, and teamwork. For a full day, students participate in a rotation of challenges and tests that vary from trivia to design as they strive to take home the gold medal and bragging rights as Olympiad champions. Modeled on the real Olympics, complete with team names, banners, uniforms, opening and closing ceremonies, and awards, students enjoy a day of healthy competition. Olympiad unites students across grade levels and gives them a chance to meet new friends, exhibit different skill sets, and take on leadership responsibilities. This spirited pause from the normal routine lets students unleash their creative energy in a positive, joyful learning environment. The celebration of teamwork and sports(wo)manship encourages students to work together, compromise, and think outside the box.

• Ellis Earthkeeping Experience | Grade 5

  In the Ellis Earthkeeping Experience, students develop an awareness of their importance to the environment. They explore the basic tenet of environmental sustainability: becoming more green and less wasteful. Grade 5 students combine current events, history, environmental science, and business in this unique experience. Trips include visits to an apple orchard and a water treatment facility. Students recognize their potential to better care for the environment through a personal commitment.

• Medieval Faire | Grade 6

  To give students a taste of life during the middle ages, faculty present Medieval Faire, a two-day immersion that combines pieces of the history and English curricula in a unique, interdisciplinary way. Girls build and launch catapults; partake in a jousting competition; and hold an authentic Medieval feast complete with costumes, entertainment, and peasants who only get to eat if the nobility leave them leftovers.

• Global Pittsburgh | Grade 7

  The seventh grade capstone project, Global Pittsburgh, is designed for students to explore how people are interconnected through neighborhoods, the city of Pittsburgh, and the larger world. The project highlights the Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning, Teeny Harris’ photography, and Pittsburgh’s attic at the Heinz History Center. Students work in small groups to research how immigration to Pittsburgh has shaped our city from the 1800s to current trends, and they hear from a variety of guest speakers, including refugee caseworkers. The culminating experience is attending the naturalization ceremony of new U.S. citizens.

• Toy Car Challenge | Grade 8

  A culmination of the Middle School experience, this capstone project challenges grade 8 students to synthesize their skills across a multitude of disciplines to develop and deliver prototypes of electric gear-driven toys. In the final week of the school year, students apply the engineering design process to meet a specific set of design requirements. They conduct consumer interviews, draw sketches, work with models, calculate gear ratios, write proposals, and present their prototypes to a panel of judges. This deep dive assignment not only teaches students to manage their time and workload, but bolsters their presentation and public speaking skills as they prepare for the final project presentation. This interdisciplinary project strengthens the intellectual, technical, and social abilities students assimilate throughout Middle School. Grade 8 students research, analyze, and define challenges and work within constraints while honing leadership, collaboration, and communication skills.