Friday, April 29, 2011

Prom...Ethics Bowl...Bye Bye Birdie!

Here is our beautiful girls soccer team on senior day--their last home game. At today's ceremony, we honor our four seniors (Becca, Kathryn, Molly, and Katie) who have played together since Middle School. Congratulations to all of our players on a great season!







Meanwhile, it's time to get your tickets for Bye Bye Birdie. We will have an open dress rehearsal on Wednesday at 7:30pm. Performances are Thursday and Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30. Tickets are on sale through Willy Rotella (x-226).


Susan dressed up for the royal wedding!










Here are a few pictures from junior retreat--a very successful evening! We celebrated Frances's birthday during dinner, and enjoyed a talk about Creative Entrepreneurship from Carl Nordgren. Our juniors came up with many great ideas for coming year.The students in this bottom photo give you an excellent idea of the level of energy and enthusiasm that we shared. They are ready!









PROM
The Prom is Saturday from 9-12 at Rigsbee Hall in downtown Durham. Students should have already purchased tickets, as they are not available at the door. Once students arrive, they must stay until they are ready to leave for the night. Students will not be allowed to leave the Prom and return later. We talked with students today about having good, clean fun. All school rules apply during this school-sponsored event. No drugs or alcohol. If we expect that anyone has arrived under the influence of a substance, we will call that child's parents. We want everyone to have a great time and be safe.

CELEBRATION OF THE ARTS
Just a reminder that our annual Celebration of the Arts will be held Thursday, May 5, from 5-7. All US families are invited. We have also invited our MS riser families. We will have a potluck to share while we enjoy music from the Quaker N'Oats and school bands, and dance performances on the patio. Art work will be on display. Selected art and t-shirts will be on sale. We invite you to enjoy a full evening of entertainment by coming to the Celebration of the Arts and then head down to the Center to see Bye Bye Birdie!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Senior Surprise

Here are some photographic highlights of a little senior surprise that occurred last week. We had an alien invasion, complete with a motorcycle in the girls bathroom and a love letter to Susan. A fun surprise that was full of creativity. What a group!







Sunday, April 17, 2011

Week of April 18, 2011

As many of you know, we had a very, VERY full week in the US last week. Our honored guest for the week was Connie Toverud, former US staff member who came to visit us from Norway. Connie spent the week visiting classes, meeting with teachers and students, and participating in all of our US events. On Saturday, we hosted a brunch for Connie and many other former CFS staff members and students. Below, you can see Mike stopping at Connie's table. Other important people at this table were Bill and Hilda Chapel (former school accountant and secretary), Martha Klopfer, Lisa Fishbeck (school parent and former staff member), and Willy.

On Wednesday, we welcomed two fascinating visitors: Phil Grabsky, a film maker who was in town for the preview of his documentary, The Boy Mir, and Peter Lems, program director from the American Friends Service Committee. Below, you can see Jamie introducing our guests to the community.














Meanwhile, we had some fun in Guillermo's Advanced Spanish class. Guillermo's students wrote a screenplay for a movie. In these photos, you can see camera woman Jessye filming a scene with Bob, Willy, and Guillermo. Bob and Willy are very seriously studying their lines. I also included a photo of students watching this scene. It was very funny!

On Thursday evening, we hosted a potluck dinner in honor of our visitors from France. Here you can see members of Old 86 performing for the crowd. On Friday, the group visited the Lemur Center and then went to a Durham Bulls game. Thanks to careful planning by French teacher Ken, we enjoyed a wonderful week with this group of students and their teachers. Bon Voyage!

ADVISEE HALF-DAY
This coming Friday, April 22, advisee groups will spend the afternoon together in a variety of activities. Some groups will remain on campus while others are venturing off. Unless parents hear otherwise from their child's advisor, groups will return by 3:15.

JUNIOR RETREAT
Each year at this time, we gather the junior class together for a retreat as we begin to look ahead to next year. (Yikes!) It is always fun each year when we first gather this group, as we did this past week. We look around the room and say, You are next year's leaders. Very exciting. This year's evening retreat will take place at the Murphey School on Thursday, April 28, from 6-10pm. We will begin the evening by sharing a banquet together. Following the banquet, former US parent and Duke professor, Carl Nordgren will help our juniors begin to look ahead through the lens of Creative Entrepreneurship. We will conclude our meeting by sharing ideas that students have about their Senior Retreat in August and ways they hope to lead us through the coming year. Junior Retreat is a big step in US community life.

PROM
Yes, it's that time of year! The Prom will be held at Rigsbee Hall in downtown Durham on Saturday, April 30th, from 9-12. Tickets are $20/person. All US students are invited to attend. Many of our students get together in groups to enjoy a dinner together before coming to the Prom. Some come with dates, some come alone, others come with a group of friends. We encourage all of our students to come to the Prom. Students from the New Gardens Friends School will join us as well. Former Art teacher/substitute Harrison Haynes will be our DJ.

CARRIE AWAY
I wanted to let you know that I will be away from school Thursday/Friday of this week and Monday/Tuesday of next week. At the end of this week, I will be at the Aqueduct Center in Chapel Hill at a 2-day Head Teacher Retreat. Head Teachers of all the units will work together to plan our fall staff retreat. On Saturday, I leave for Los Angeles where I will visit the Oakwood School and learn about their student-centered self-study process. I am very excited about and most appreciative for the opportunity to take part in each of these learning experiences. At the same time, it's a busy time to be away from school. I will stay in touch.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK. ENJOY THE BEAUTIFUL COLORS OF SPRING.