Week of April 28

We arrived at school on Friday morning to this beach scene provided by the seniors as part of their senior prank. Elise enoyed a cup of coffee in her sand-filled office. A giant whale hung above the copying machine in Willy's office with the sign "Free Willy." Live fish swam in one of the kiddie pools. Furniture from a number of classrooms was piled in a pyramid of tables and chairs in front of the big steps. Music of the Beach Boys rang through the trees as seniors danced and squirted arriving students with water pistols. The senior prank is an unsanctioned, traditional, annual event when the seniors work together to surprise the Upper School in a positive, fun way. The unwritten rule is, "You make a mess, you clean it up." Consequently, we had some mighty tired seniors returning furniture to the buildings, sweeping sand, and taking down beach umbrellas throughout the day.

With 2 weeks to go in the spring term, advisee groups are ready for our advisee day on Monday. Dave's group left for Lake Wiley on Sunday afternoon. Willy's group is headed for the open seas as Weston Clemmons takes them for a sail off of the coast of Wilmington. Most groups are staying in the area, going to Duke Gardens or a movie, playing laser tag or heading to a staff member's house to cook a meal together. During this time of year, it is not easy to give up class time in order to make this day possible. Staff members refuse eliminate advsiee day in the belief that building and maintaining a strong sense of community is as imortant as math and science.

UPPER SCHOOL ARTS UNLIMITED THURSDAY 6-8pm

We hope you have already marked your calendar and will find a way to join us for a very fun celebration of the arts in the Upper School on Thursday evening. We are asking parents to provide a salad, main dish or dessert to share with other parents. The US will provide a cookout for all attending students. Our Barbecue class will do the cooking. In addition to US families, we have invited MS Riser families to join us as we welcome them to the US community.

The art show and art auction will be held in the Meeting Hall from 6-7:45. On the patio, beginning at 7:00, bands will play, Quaker N'Oats will sing, and students will read poetry. COME CELEBRATE THE ARTS, WELCOME OUR NEW RISER FAMILIES, AND ENJOY A FUN COMMUNITY GATHERING!!

On Friday, returning students will complete a form that lets us know if they wish to remain in their current advisee group or change advisors next year. If they decide to change advisors, they will make their new advisor selection in the fall.

The Prom will be held Saturday, May 3, from 9-1, in the Meeting Hall. The theme is Murder at the Masquerade. Sounds very mysterious! Blues guitarist John Dee Holeman will play from 10:00-11:00. During the rest of the evening, CFS grad Ian Hayes will be our DJ.

CONGRATULATIONS TO SUSAN AND HER CAST & CREW OF MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING ON THEIR HIGHLY ENTERTAINING SHOW!!

Week of April 21, 2008

I'm taking a break from a wonderful weekend with my grandchildren in order to get my blog out for this week. I thought some sunny pictures on the US steps would get everyone in the mood for spring. With 3 weeks left in the spring term, and PROM right around the corner, life in the US is bustling with activity. Here's what's coming up...

Monday night, April 21, we are hosting an exciting event at 7:30pm in the Meeting Hall: Conversations About Peace. Representatives of the 3 leading candidates to represent us in the U.S. Senate will speak about how they would bring Peace to a war-weary world. Speakers will include Lindsey Neas, military advisor to Senator Elizabeth Dole; Chip Hagan, representing his wife, Kay Hagan, candidate for U.S. Seanate; and Jim Neal, candidate for U.S. Senate. The candidates will respond to 6 key questions put forward by 23 local organizations.

Our US spring production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing will be presented Friday and Saturday, April 25-26 at 7:30pm in the Center. There will be an open dress rehearsal on Thursday at 7:30, as well. Co-directed by Susan Kincaid and senior Jes Downing, this delightful, family-friendly comedy will challenge us to think about romance, rumor, trust, betrayal, and of course love. Set in 1920's New England, our actors will entertain you with their Charleston and Tango. Come and enjoy!

Our US Advisee Day is Monday, April 28. You should be hearing from your child's advisor about their group's plans.

Just a reminder about Grocery Scrip. Parents are always available to sell them to you. Please contact parent Karen Davis, if you have any questions.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR OUR ARTS UNLIMITED EVENING ON THURSDAY, MAY 1, FROM 6-8: ART SHOW AND AUCTION, BANDS PLAYING, QUAKER N'OATS SINGING, POETRY READING. POT LUCK FOR PARENTS AND A COOKOUT FOR STUDENTS. MS RISERS AND THEIR PARENTS ARE INVITED.

Have a great week!

Week of April 14, 2008

When it comes to this blog, I need you to know a couple of things. I have no control over where the pictures end up. I put them one place, and when the blog is published, they end up elsewhere. Also, when I type this blog, I always put spaces between paragraphs, for ease of reading. When the blog is published, the spaces disappear. I'll keep working to get better, but I'm just excited that I can do this blog at all! With that in mind, the pictures above include all of our French visitors and their hosts (moments before a water spraying incident broke out), one of our bands playing on the deck during Friday's cookout, and Susan's Literature of War class's Refugee Camp. Through the experiences of the French visit and the Refugee Camp, we learned a lot. As always, what we did learn was not necessarily what we expected to learn. Such is the story of education with teenagers.

With 4 weeks left in the spring term, the pace is picking up, which is not at all surprising. Compared to last week, this week with be relatively quiet. Juniors will head off to their junior retreat with Elise, Jamie, and Bob on Tuesday at 3:30. After spending the night at Quaker Lake, they will return by noon on Wednesday. At noon on Wednesday, all students will be dismissed so that staff members can attend our final staff development for this school year. We will be tying up lose ends from our yearlong self-study.

Wednesday will also mark the start of the FEEN Conference, which is being hosted by CFS. Many Quaker schools are sending 4th year middle schoolers and staff members to attend workshops related to the environment. Since the focus for this conference is on middle school, we will not experience much disruption in the US.

Wednesday is a big day, next week! Please remember the Community Potluck at 5:30 in the Quaker Dome. The potluck will last until 6:45. As a part of the community read of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, the potluck will be followed by a panel discussion at 7pm: Why Local? Hope to see you there.

I will be sending a detailed letter to parents this week, which will cover spring End-of-Term reports, our May 1st Arts Festival, Advisee Day, Much Ado About Nothing, registration for fall term classes, and Prom. I hope you are enjoying the start of spring. That brief rain on Saturday offered a welcomed break from the blanket of pollen that has covered us. Have a great week!

Week of April 7, 2008

I have no idea if you are able to see these 4 photos or if they have appeared on top of one another. If possible, I wanted to give you an idea of what went on at the fabulous all-girl sleepover. With 60 girls present and the brave Susan and Elise, it sounds like the evening could not have been better. They played games, ate great snacks, talked late into the night, and got little sleep. I arrived to help with pancakes in the morning...and heard many wonderful stories. When it came time for discussion, senior leaders had the rest of the girls write questions anonymously that related to body image, relationships, sex, and the CFS community. They then worked through as many of the questions as they could, confidentially and honestly responding and discussing. A lot of discussion focused on body image and beauty. One of the exercises involved going around the circle (no passing!) and completing the following prompt: I feel beautiful when... I have so much appreciation for the senior girls who planned and led our first ever all-girls sleepover--a very important event. They provided excellent leadership and set profound examples for our younger students.

MOMS: IF THEY CAN DO IT, CAN WE? I have a challenge for you mothers out there. (Sorry, dads, this is a female thing.) MOMS, Complete the sentence: I feel beautiful when...and email your responses to me. I will share them anonymously with your daughters. When I first thought about this prompt, my immediate reaction was an inability to come up with a response. After thinking about it, however, I DO have an answer. Since I would not ask you to do something that I'm unwilling to do myself...I feel beautiful when I am physically active--dancing, walking, swimming, doing yoga. OK, MOMS, now it's your turn. I look forward to hearing from you.

Meanwhile, our French visitors are here and we are very much enjoying their presence in the Upper School. During the early part of this week, they have plans to visit Duke, UNC (Sorry about Saturday night, tarheels.), museums in Raleigh, and the beach. On Wednesday, all of our visitors and hosts will trek to the zoo. For Friday, we have planned an all-US cookout and music jam to celebrate their last day with us. Thanks again to Ken Mitchell for planning this wonderful event.

On Thursday, Susan's Literature of War class will experience their 24-hour refugee camp. Each participant will arrive at 7am carrying only 5 things. They will be on the patio for 24 hours, hoping that caring individuals will help them out with food, some sort of shelter, and something to keep them warm. Susan has extended an invitation to MS and LS classes to visit the camp. She and her students will teach age-approprate lessons about the need for this type of camp. For those of you in Chapel Hill, we are looking forward to an article in the CH section of the N&O this week about Susan's class project by sophomore Sarah Nydick Cheshire.

The soccer team has home games on Wednesday and Friday. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. We continue to work hard to keep a lid on spring fever energy in the Upper School. We are still in school!