Ninth Grade
Freshman Technology Orientation Class Dates
All rising ninth graders and all new students to KCD upper school are required to attend one three-hour class in the summer before the start of school. All classes will be held in room 160 of the Upper School. There is a limit of ten per class.
- Tuesday, June 8: 8-11:00 am or 1:30-3:30 pm
- Friday, June 11: 8-11:00 am or 1:30-3:30 pm
- Monday, June 21: 8-11:00 am or 1:30-3:30 pm
- Wednesday, June 23: 8-11:00 am or 1:30-3:30 pm
- Monday, June 28: 8-11:00 am or 1:30-3:30 pm
- Wednesday, June 30: 8-11:00 am or 1:30-3:30 pm
- Monday, July 12: 8-11:00 am or 1:30-3:30 pm
- Wednesday, July 14: 8-11:00 am or 1:30-3:30 pm
- Monday, July 19: 8-11:00 am or 1:30-3:30 pm
- Wednesday, July 21: 8-11:00 am or 1:30-3:30 pm
- Tuesday, August 10: 8-11:00 am or 1:30-3:30 pm
- Thursday, August 12: 8-11:00 am or 1:30-3:30 pm
- Monday, August 16: 8-11:00 am or 1:30-3:30 pm
- Wednesday, August 18: 1:30-3:30 pm
As soon as possible, please email your class choice, date, and time to laptop coordinator Roger Basham at roger.basham@kcd.org. The subject line of the email should read TECH CLASS CHOICE.
Please send your first and second choices for dates and times. Mr. Basham will confirm your date with your. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Basham at the email address above or at 502-814-4369 or 502-489-4484.
Class dates may change due to unforseen issues.
History students stage mock trial
Last Friday, Patrick Mulloy’s ninth grade world history students used a mock trial format to explore the moral issues at stake in the atomic bombing that ended World War II.
On trial was Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, the leader of the team that developed the atomic bomb. Students acted as defense, prosecution, and jury as they deliberated “whether or not guilt can be assessed to the architect of the world’s first atomic weapon for the devastation that weapon caused at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945."
Thanks to librarian Paul Amick, who acted as Dr. Oppenheimer. According to Mr. Mulloy, Mr. Amick's knowledge of the Second World War and Oppenheimer's biography was astounding.
Following the jury’s vote, Dr. Oppenheimer was found innocent. A clip from the questioning is below.
Ninth graders enjoy the great outdoors
On Friday, April 23, the ninth graders had a glorious day of activities at Bernheim Forest. The goal of this day was to enjoy the outdoors, discuss the upcoming exam schedule, and look back at the challenges of the ninth grade year. Students enjoyed a digital scavenger hunt across the camp grounds, a great lunch, some intense kickball, and a valuable discussion of how to manage stress from our upper school counselor, Lauren Purcell.
Physics students create roller coasters
Students in Dr. Endicott’s ninth grade advanced physics class recently completed a project in which they designed a roller coaster. Students built and model of their coaster and used the physics they had been studying to calculate the g-forces of their ride, verify its safety, and choose the track shape to maximize thrills.
Dr. Endicott’s photo set on Flickr
Kindergartners and freshmen team up for geometry project
Ninth graders in Jenni Williams’ Advanced Geometry class have been discussing ratios and studying the proportions of the human body. Freshmen visited several kindergarten classrooms in order to get some help gathering information: students teamed up to measure height, arm span, and more!
Ninth graders hit the slopes at Perfect North
The ninth grade class journeyed to Perfect North on Thursday, February 4, to spend a day as a class relaxing on the slopes. The students had an absolute blast skiing and snowboarding in the morning. After enjoying a hearty lunch, the students journeyed back to the slopes or took on the tubing park. A great time was had by all.
Ninth grade physics students compete in egg drop competition
On Tuesday, ninth graders in Kent Martin's physics class participated in the class’ “Egg Drop” competition. The students used their inventiveness to create protective containers for their eggs, then tested their creation by dropping it from a height of five meters. Thirty-two teams competed in the class competition, and nineteen teams’ eggs survived. The goal was to create an egg carriage that had the smallest mass, fell to the ground the fastest, and allowed the egg to be visible. An equation incorporating those factors was used to rank the teams. The winners were Emily Scinta and Khaleel Wilson. Second place went to Caroline Green and Meredith Brown.
Freshmen team up with third graders for world religions project
This week, ninth graders in Mr. Mulloy's history classes got to share their world religions projects with several groups of inquisitive third graders. Freshmen have been working for several weeks on their projects, which cover the six major world religions. Because third graders will soon start a unit on world cultures, the meeting was a perfect fit!
Lower schoolers visited stations covering each religion, where they could meet the older students, ask questions, and enjoy a snack. Congratulations to Mr. Mulloy and the third grade teachers for bringing these students together to learn from each other!
Freshmen actors appear in Stage One production
Kudos to freshmen Connor Lohman and Cat Gallagher, who are performing in the Stage One production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at the Kentucky Center for the Arts.
The play is presented by Stage One, Louisville's nationally acclaimed professional theater for young audiences. Connor and Cat's performances are Saturday, December 5, at 2 pm and Saturday, December 12, at 5 pm.
Upper school students launch their creativity in physics class
Science teachers Mark Endicott and Kent Martin organized a rocket contest in all of their physics classes. The rockets were water rockets in two- liter bottles powered by air. Students could use their creativity to make any modification they wanted to the bottles. After a week spent preparing the rockets, the competition was held on Monday, November 16. The winners were Ben Rice and Arun Raghavan, whose rockets stayed in the air for 34 seconds. (The average air time of the rockets in the competition around six seconds.)
