Week of January 26, 2009

Dear blog visitors,

As you might be able to guess, I am sitting in the Meeting Hall, listening to the pounding techno "music", trying not to get dizzy in response to the strobe lights, and generally enjoying a good old fashioned Upper School dance. The pictures above should tell the story of setting up the room...the first few guests arrive...the floor begins to fill with jumping dancers. If jumping up and down is the sign of having a good time, then a good time is being had by most of our guests. Willy didn't think I would be able to set my computer up in the midst of all of this chaos, but so far so good. (I guess I spoke too soon. The fog machine just set off the fire alarm, so we had a great fire drill. The kids evacuated the building very quickly and waited on the front steps while we cleared the fog out of the room. Never a dull moment!)

MIDDLE SCHOOL ADOLESCENT ISSUES FORUM

The Middle School's annual Adolescent Issues Forum will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. Their theme for this year is Stepping Up and Stepping Out. As we do every year, the Upper School will offer a workshop. Our students will share ways in which one can Step Up and Step Out in the Upper School. The following topics will be covered: Freshman trip to Newton Grove, Staff-Student Discipline Committee, Clerks Committee, Head Teacher Committee, School Store, Prom Committee, service and technical assistance. Upper School students of all ages will share the many ways that they take leadership roles in the life of the school. Taking part in this Middle School activity is one of the ways that we hope to de-mystify the Upper School for younger students.

IMPROV SHOW

Our Improv class, which is taught by senior Sam Schopler, will perform on Thursday and Saturday nights at 7:30 in the Meeting Hall. Sam assures me that this performance will be appropriate for older Middle School and all Upper School students and their parents. The class, which is supervised by Guillermo, is 90% boys, so there is a lot of boy energy. Sam and two of his students visited the Middle School last week and played some Improv games with Middle Schoolers who reported that they had a great time. Historically, these Improv shows are quite funny, so if you need a good laugh, please join us for this show.

FAMILY HISTORY PAPERS

If you are the parent of a junior who is in Bryce's US History class, then you are well aware that Family History papers have just been completed. For those of you who have yet to experience this phenomenon, the students must interview as many relatives as possible and research their parents, grandparents, and great grandparents, delving into a detailed account of their own family history, complete with photos, genealogy maps, and a minimum of 10 pages of information. Many students get so involved in and fascinated by the history of their families, that they far surpass Bryce's minimum, often writing 30, 40, and 50 pages. This year's record (although this is NOT a competition) was 148 pages! These Family History papers offer a meaningful research experience for our students and a wonderful gift for their families. I love reading them!

FOOTLOOSE WARNING

You may have heard about our week-long audition for Footloose. Annie, Susan, and I have worked very hard to agree on a cast. Over 40 students auditioned for this show, which is both exciting and difficult, as we just could't accommodate all of them. So much wonderful talent! We wish we could have given roles to all of them, but that just wasn't possible. We are sorry about students who will be disappointed and hope that they won't get discouraged.

The pounding is still going on, the crowd has thinned, some dancers are still jumping, and we still have an hour to go. I hope you all have a great weekend.