Week of December 1, 2008

Word has it that the first-ever Man Over was a great success! As I was not invited, I shot these photos the next morning. Eric is still sound asleep while Ben is vacuuming the Meeting Hall. Meet new student, Michael Rozier. Our fearless chaperones, Dave and Tim, are seen alive and well the next day! The boys played video games for a couple of hours, then headed to the gym for 2 hours of ball sports, then back to the video games. According to Dave, things were quiet by around 1:00am. They all made it to homeroom the next morning...and to 1st period on time!

Since half of last week was spent on vacation, I have included a shot of our family soccer game. Thanksgiving was such a beautiful day that we came out to school and had a rousing game of soccer. The oldest player was my husband Greg at 61 and the youngest was our grandson Oliver at 5. The woman in the yellow sweater is my mom who came up from Florida. She wore her winter coat most of the week!

We will hit the ground running in the Upper School when we return from Thanksgiving vacation. This week, we will welcome 4th year Middle Schoolers and their parents for Risers' Night on Thursday, from 7:00-8:30. The Quaker N'Oats will be singing. There is also a home basketball game that night. Next Sunday is the CFS Visitors Day, from 2:00-4:00. The Upper School will offer a formal presentation at 2:30 in the Meeting Hall, with the QN's singing once again.

WINTER SERVICE DAYS

We have begun planning for our Winter Service Days on Wednesday and Thursday, December 17 & 18. During those days, all US staff and students will be working out in the community. More to come about these important days as we solidify our plans.

END OF YEAR PROGRAM

Sometime this week, students will be hearing about our End-of-Year Program offerings for this year. The freshman class will be the fifth group to go to Newton Grove to work with the Episcopal Farmworkers Ministry. Off-Campus experiences will include trips to Costa Rica, Lithuania, Utah & Colorado, Trinidad, the Adirondacks, and a Civil Rights trip to Selma, Montgomery, and Atlanta. Locally, we will offer an experience called Triangle Outdoors and a local service group that will work with Welcome Baby. On campus, we will have a group working on the Senior Banquet and Slide Show. In addition to experiences that are offered by our staff, students have the option of planning an internship for themselves. More specific information about all of these opportunities will be given to students in writing. They will sign up for their End-of-Year experience next week.

Have a great week!

Week of November 24, 2008

Welcome to Thanksgiving week! The energy around the Upper School has already begun to rise, and will continue to do so until we dismiss school at noon on Wednesday. I apologize if any of these photos have landed on top of one another. As you can imagine, I don't plan it that way...just the way of the blog that has a mind of its own. For that reason, I have included a number of shots of our fall symposium, in hopes that you get to see some or maybe even all of them. Please notice the amazing spread of yummy food for our potluck lunch, which was enjoyed by all. Thanks so much to all of you who contributed. Please remind your child to pick up and bowls, plates, or utensils. We still have some things left.

MORE PHOTOS

I included snapshots from three of our workshops: Marybeth Dugan and Jenny Rousseau are sharing letters from a soldier who served in Afghanistan. Our students were able to interview this soldier live through Skype--amazing! You can also see Ronen Plesser, Associate Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Duke, who is talking about string theory, dark matter, and dark energy--fascinating and engaging! Lastly, we were pleased to welcome back CFS grad John Richardson talking about sustainability and energy policies. John is a Sustainability Officer for the town of Chapel Hill. He did a great job of actively involving our students. At the top of the blog, I have highlighted our band class and the Quaker N'Oats. Of special note are our three soloists: Drew, Mariah, and Joseph. All in all, fall symposium was a great day. Many thanks to Bob Druhan and members of our Clerks Committee who planned and organized this important educational experience for our community.

END-OF-TERM REPORTS

It is Sunday afternoon, and I am not alone in the Upper School. Staff members are scattered around the building. They are finishing and copying their End-of-Term reports, which are due Monday morning at 8:30am. Reports will go in the mail on Wednesday.

ALL-SCHOOL MEETING FOR WORSHIP

On Tuesday morning at 10:35, the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools will join together in the gym for a meeting for worship. We will light 3 candles for our early schools who will be having a moment of silence in their respective locations. In response to a request by Middle School teacher Rachel Anderson, we will come together to experience meeting for worship as a whole school. Two Upper School juniors will be on hand with microphones so that shared messages may be heard by all. This will truly be a time to be grateful for all we have.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We will hit the ground running after we return from this short vacation. I am hopeful that we may all (myself included!) take time to slow down and enjoy our families. See you in December!

Week of November 17, 2008

Welcome to the winter term! As you can see, I have included many photos. I just couldn't resist our impressive student art. There are paintings above by Amelia's Drawing and Painting students, Tyson Douglass, Tony Durham, Spencer Mitchell-Schwartz, Emma Armstrong-Carter, Jessey Holmgren-Sidell, and Emily Reif. There is also an unsigned Holocaust project. I managed to get a couple of photos of students rehearsing for the winter dance concert. They are all working so hard. At the bottom, you can see Jamie, Elise, Dave, and (hidden) Susan who were presenting a session at the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools annual conference, which was held last Friday at Ravenscroft. As you know, Friday was a staff workday, a day that we use to begin writing End-of-Term reports. These Upper School staff members gave up important writing time in order to share with other schools what they do best. Our group offered three presentations: End of Year program, Senior Seminar, and the new Sophomore Curriculum. I was extremely proud of all of them.

Speaking of End-of-Term reports, they are due to be completed on Monday, November 24th and will be in the mail before we leave for Thanksgiving vacation. It's hard to believe that we are already one-third of the way through the year. As you know, our fall symposium will be held on Monday of this week. Our topic is Current Affairs, and we have excellent sessions planned for our students on a variety of contemporary topics. We will balance the serious learning with our potluck lunch, band and Quaker N'Oats performances, and an hour of fun activities. Parents are most welcome to join us for the musical performances, which should begin at 11:45am on the patio. Also on Monday, we have a group of 15 students travelling to Cary Academy for the Triangle Diversity Alliance annual conference.

The basketball and swimming seasons have begun. Our first basketball home games were last Friday night. I was happy to see so many fans cheering for our teams. The swim meets aren't as easy to get to, but I will do my best to keep you posted. As Thanksgiving vacation draws near, I hope we are all able to slow down a little and enjoy time with our families. When I write this blog next week, I will be preparing for a large family gathering that will include four generations. Until then, I hope you have a great week!

The Upper School goes to DC 11.07.08

What a beautiful day in Washington, DC! As you can see, we made it to many monuments and museums. We did a lot of walking--many sore legs by the end of the day. The Holocaust Museum touched our hearts. The Museum of Natural History educated us, especially in the new Hall of Oceans. Tours of the Capital and Supreme Court were awesome and enlightening. Our students were responsible and wonderful about staying with their groups and reporting to check-in times at the appointed hour...or earlier. Dinner at Union Station was fun. Our bus drivers met us at 7pm sharp and we headed for home. Thanks again, parents, for supporting this full community event. We had a great time!

Election Night Watch Party 11.04.08

Just some photo remembrances from our election watch party. The Meeting Hall was full of students, parents, siblings, friends, and staff members. Even Renee Prillaman, Head of Middle School, helped out by mopping the floor! Samantha Strom had prepared a Political Jeopardy game to warm the crowd up before returns started coming in. Bryce's Campaign '08 class prepared a party feast for all of us. Final stragglers finally headed for home at 11:30pm. You can see how tired Tony and Mariah were as they waited for rides home. What a great night!

Week of November 3, 2008

We have a very big week ahead in the Upper School. As you can see, I have included pictures from our Halloween celebration on Friday: A Jewish Santa Claus, Sarah Palin (who made a wonderful speech), and a set of Dominos. I was also able to get some shots of today's dress rehearsal for Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour, which will be performed on Thursday and Saturday at 7:30pm in the Meeting Hall. This is a serious play, which tackles the topics of rumors, lies, bullying, and gay/lesbian issues. Our all-female cast is hard at work with Susan, their director, preparing for this thought-provoking performance. There will also be an open dress rehearsal on Wednesday night. This play is appropriate for older Middle School and all Upper School students. We hope to see you there.

No Umbrella

In preparation for Tuesday's elections, we will show an award-winning documentary on Monday: "No Umbrella - An Election Day in Cleveland at its best, and at its worst." This 26-minute documentary offers an "unblinking look at the 2004 Election Day failures in one of Ohio's poorest neighborhoods. In the most hotly contested state in the country, gridlock at inner city polls ignites tempers and sets off charges of conspiracy. 'No Umbrella' drops us squarely into the chaos." I look forward to sharing this documentary with our students and to the discussions that will ensue.

Election Day

Tuesday night, Bryce's Campaign '08 class will host an election watch party in the Meeting Hall beginning at 7pm. We will have network coverage on our big screen. Food will be provided by Bryce's class. Senior Samantha Strom has organized this event. All students and families are welcome to attend.

Washington, DC

The busses will depart sharply at 5:30am on Friday morning. Students should aim to arrive at 5:15. They are welcome to bring pillows and blankets, and are encouraged to bring a bag breakfast...and lunch, if they so desire. According to the weather channel, the temperature should be around 60 degrees, no rain in sight. Students have completed their museum/tour forms and have been placed in morning and afternoon supervised groups. 3-5pm is free time. During free time, students must be in groups and may visit any museum on the Mall. All staff members will be available to join with groups on a random basis. The only students who have permission to leave the Mall are those who have signed up ahead of time to go with Tim O'Hara to a rally against genocide that one of our students, Sarah Nydick Cheshire, has organized. During the day, we have 3 check-in times when we will all meet to count heads. Most of our staff members will have cell phones and all students will have a map of the Mall and staff cell phone numbers. At 5:00, we will walk to Union Station for dinner. We are scheduled to depart at 7:00. As we near home, students will call parents to let you know when we will arrive. We are expecting to arrive in Durham around 11:30-12:00. Please be ready to pick up your child at that time. Last year, some staff members waited an extra 45 minutes for students to be picked up. That was painful! We are looking forward to another great experience in Washington, DC. Thanks so much for your support.

Book Fair

The annual CFS Book Fair is November 7-9 at the Regulator Book Shop on 9th Street in Durham. The Upper School reading time is from 2-3 on Saturday afternoon. Old 86, and Upper School band, and the Quaker N'Oats will perform. We hope to have some readers as well. Hope to see you there!

Yes, it's looking like a very full week ahead. We hope to see you at one of these events. Have a great week. Get out and vote. Enjoy the fall colors.