Today is a staff workday. The Upper School is empty, except for a few errant staff members who are grading exams, reading papers, evaluating final projects, and writing reports. I have been walking around the building in search of some final projects to show you. The painting on the left was created by our amazingly talented Hannah K. She is depicting a child soldier for her Holocaust class. I wish I had been in her class for her presentation. Clearly Hannah feels deeply the sadness of the dire conditions faced by child soldiers in various parts of our world.
The title of this poster is Josef Mengele: The Angel of Death.
A series of reading responses, papers, and projects from Jon's American Fiction class. The circles are made of home-made paper that Mickey and Ariel made from some of the fiction they read.
I wish you could see this face up close. The face is actually a collage of photographs about the Holocaust. The white around the face, eyes, nose, and mouth is made of names of people who died in the Holocaust. The quote in larger print is by Voltaire: No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.
You have heard of Johnny Appleseed? Well, we have Frances Brindle! Frances and her students are planting an orchard. After installing the fence and preparing the land, they were able to plant the seedlings last week. Frances was one of the happiest people around when we got all the rain of last week. She says it was great for her orchard. And now we wait...
FALL SYMPOSIUM
As you might imagine, I am very excited about our Fall Symposium on Monday. Our theme is the Middle East. Our presenters are ready to share their knowledge in a series of workshops that include Understanding Islam, Farsi, Climate Change and Middle East Security, Belly Dancing, and Brit Tzedek v'Shalom & JStreet, just to name a few. We will show the documentary, Afghan Star. We will have three cooking workshops where students will cook lunch for the masses. A group of students will make prayer flags for the Upper School. After lunch, students will enjoy a rousing game of Capture the Flag. Then Bob will lead students in a town meeting discussion. This symposium promises to be a wonderful educational experience for all.
BAGEL TUESDAYS
The date is past due for getting forms in for Winter Term. That said, I'm sure our Bagel moms will accept late forms this week. The new round of Bagel Tuesdays will begin on this Tuesday.
BEAR NIGHT #2
We will host our second Bear Night on Friday, November 20th, after the basketball games. We expect Bear to start at around 8:30. The best idea for students will be to attend the basketball games (5:30 and 7:00) and then head to the Upper School for Bear. The cost is $5. The money raised will contribute to a self-defense class for girls.
EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE
On Friday during Advisee time, we will all watch a documentary from the Equal Justice Initiative on the sentencing of 13- and 14-year-old children to life in prison. This documentary tells the personal stories of actual teens who have been sentenced to life in prison. Most of the sentences imposed on these children were mandatory. The court could not give any consideration to the child's age or life history. This film is being brought to our attention by Susan's Civil Rights class. The viewing will be followed by small group discussions, which will be led by members of Susan's class.
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