Week of May 19

If I could get them in the right order, the pictures above would tell the story of this past week: students taking final exams, teachers grading exams, teachers writing reports, and happy students on the deck...their exams behind them. Today is Friday, and End-of-Term reports are due in teachers' boxes by 3:00 today. I don't think I have to tell you about the suffering that is going on around here at the moment--It's brutal! Willy and I plan to get reports in the mail early next week.

Our End-of-Year program officially begins next Tuesday. The first trip, however, will leave tomorrow. Here is the schedule of departures for EOY trips:

Saturday El Salvador (Website: www.elsalvadortrip.weebly.com)

Sunday Trinidad

Tuesday Costa Rica

Wednesday West trip and Appalachia

The freshmen will work in the fields and sleep at home Wednesday/Thursday. They will pack the busses on Friday and leave for Newton Grove on Sunday, May 25.

All on-campus and local experiences will begin at 9am on Tuesday morning.

ABC's of Service and Senior Banquet will work on campus.

Another service group will be working at the Ronald McDonald House.

Women Who Rock will be traveling in the area during the first week and attending a Women Rock and Politics Conference in Athens, GA, during the second weekend.

I will keep you posted about all these experiences as much as possible through this blog. As we send these student groups out into the world, I keep my fingers crossed that all of the hard work and planning will pay off, and that groups won't have to face any unforseen problems. Our EOY program is designed to give students and teachers a learning environment that goes beyond the classroom. It was originally created so that students would have the opportunity to explore in-depth subjects that are field-based and could include service, travel, physical activity, and cultural awareness. We hope to help students learn how to participate as global citizens in an every-changing, dynamic world. Beyond the learning and community-building, these experiences are meant to be fun--and they are!

One of our graduates just stopped by to say hello. She graduated from UNC last weekend. She told me that she talked about her Upper School EOY experiences to her college friends many times. For her, they continue to be her most vivid memories of her time at CFS. That kind of comment is music to my ears.