Week of September 29, 2008

Welcome to the last week of September and first week of October. The pictures above were taken at the Farmworkers Festival last weekend in Newton Grove. You can see Tim and Susan, our fearless leaders, with part of the group. Alicia, our Bolivian intern, is hanging out with Jonas and Ariel. Alicia had a great time meeting new friends, speaking Spanish, and making her way to the dance floor. Sarah can be seen above with new farmworker family friends. At the top, you can see most of our group with our beloved Father Tony. Our students raised $270, which they donated to Father Tony's soccer tournament prize fund. We look forward to returning to Newton Grove in December during our winter service days. Susan also has a group of sophomores who have adopted a work camp. They will raise money that will help support the farmworkers at this camp. Through this work with Father Tony, our students have learned important lessons about immigration, inclusivity, and what it means to be a global citizen.

We had a successful Advisee Half-day on Friday. After a morning of classes, it didn't take long for groups to clear out at noon. Some groups went out to lunch, for Indian food or to The Loop. One group had a picnic lunch at Umstead Park before an afternoon of canoeing on a lake. One group did community service on campus by mulching the area outside the student store and placing stepping stones along the path. Another community service plan included stream clean-up, followed by board games. A number of groups went bowling. One group went swimming at the quarry while another went ice skating. A couple of groups had sleepovers. The main goal of the day was for groups to bond, to get to know one another better. Our advisee groups form the solid base from which we create and develop our sense of community. These days are an important part of teaching to the whole child.

Beginning on Monday of this week, students will be registering for Winter and Spring term classes. We are happy to welcome guest teachers who will offer exciting opportunities for our students. Bill Friedman ( former parent) will teach Genesis: a close reading of the narrative text. In this class, Bill plans to investigate the origins of the written story; explore the gaps and conflicting accounts within the text/ and examine important variations in our English translations of the Bible. This course will include lectures, class discussion, and a visit to a local synagogue to examine the hand written Hebrew scroll (Torah). (8th period, Winter) Philip Gary (father of freshman, Annie) will offer Profiles in Courage, which will focus on Civil Rights through the study of the lives of significant people in history, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Harriet Tubman, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Philip plans to invite speakers to share their stories with students. (8th, Spring) Our new math teacher, Gus, is offering Introduction to Logic and Puzzle Solving. This course will introduce logic techniques such as Double Negation, Or-Form, De Morgans Laws, Contrapositive, and more. These techniques will stimulate students' thinking and help them determine the validity of any argument. (8th period, Winter) These are just a few of the new classes that will be offered. Be sure to ask about other new classes, such as Eastern Philosophy and Spirituality, Marketing, Organizational Behavior, and Sports and Politics. Very exciting!

We hope to see many of you at Back to School Night this Thursday, October 2nd. You are invited to a social time from 6:30-7:00 in the Meeting Hall. Our program will begin promptly at 7:00 and will end at 9:00 sharp, or even a little sooner so we can all see the Vice Presidential debate, which will begin at 9:00. See you then!