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!