Talent Show 2010

It was touch and go for this year's talent show when snow arrived the day before our scheduled performance. We didn't know whether we would have school on Friday or not. As it turned out, we had a one-hour delay, and school started at 9:30am. We had barely enough time to set up and get the show started by 10:30. We were off and running. Our trusty MC's, Alyssa and Miles, did a great job of keeping us on schedule. With a noon dismissal looming in the distance, we wanted to be sure to fit in every act. Here, you can see Nick playing his own beautiful arrangement for guitar of Fields of Gold by Sting.







The swim team performed a special Dry Land Tutorial. Freshmen, Isabella and Elisabeth sang a beautiful song.













Miles, Marnie, and Mariah did the Hippo Song, complete with helium balloons.









Emma and Lenore serenaded Willy. Daniel sang an a cappella version of a Pete Seeger song.





The grand finale was a musical revue by a large group of seniors who were led by Daniel, Joseph, Joe, and Neal. The talent was impressive (these were just some of the highlights) and the show ended at 12:15. We have great hope for our Cabaret, which is scheduled for March 26th. Be sure to mark your calendars!

Thursday, December 15, 2010 (snow day!)

This year's dance concert was a triumph! The theme was Change, Transformation, and Impermanence. I believe these pictures say it all. Enjoy!
















































































During this gray day filled with ice and snow, I hope our students are getting some well-earned rest. I do hope to see them tomorrow for our final half-day before vacation...and the talent show! Hopefully, I will have more photos to share.

The Aussies are here!

Two high school basketball teams are visiting CFS from Australia today and tomorrow. They arrived at CFS yesterday evening after attending the women's basketball game at NC State. Our families provided a wonderful potluck dinner for the group. Here, you can see some of the Australian players with our students. This afternoon (Monday), we will host two basketball games against the Australian teams. Our girl's varsity team will play at 4:00 and the boys will play at 5:30. All are invited to come out to cheer all of the teams--our visitors as well as our own.

Week of December 6, 2010

Having finished our Upper School Service Days and enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving vacation, we have settled back into school life. Above, you can see some work that was just completed by Amelia's Clay and Sculpture students. On Friday, they welcomed little ones from Campus Early School to help them make gifts for their parents. It was a wonderful morning filled with Upper Schoolers and Early Schoolers working together. Also on Friday, Bryce welcomed Duke grad student Kara Leimberger to his Human Evolution class (along with Frances's Advanced Biology class) to share her research on Brown Mouse Lemurs. Kara walked our students through her research process, from her beginning questions to her methods to her results. This truly was a lesson in the research process, with fascinating information about Madagascar and the brown mouse lemur.

Here, you can see Bob challenging his Physics students to work through a problem.

Amelia is helping students with their clay. Carson and Lucas work on the potters wheel. Below, Jon took his Geography class outside to talk about the water content in the soil. As the core of our freshman curriculum, all freshmen take Foundations of Literature, Geography, and Biology. Each term their studies focus on a joint theme. In the fall, their theme was water. For the winter term, they are focusing on land. In Foundations right now, they are reading Of Mice and Men.

IMPORTANT SCHEDULE CHANGE

The Clerks Committee (student government) in cooperation with the Environmental Club held a town meeting with all students last week to discuss stewardship around campus. Students are working to help other students to remember to take ownership of our campus. With this in mind, we have made a small switch in our schedule. We have moved the 10-minute clean-up time from 3:05 to 2:15 on Monday and Wednesday. 6th period will now follow the clean-up time, which means that 6th period will now end at 3:15 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (No change for Friday). Our school day has always ended at 3:15, so the exact end of the day has not changed. We have merely adjusted the schedule.

SENIOR FORUM

Philip Gary's Senior Forum class traveled to Washington, DC, on November 19th. With Philip's expert guidance, this class is studying entrepreneurship and sustainability. Their first stop was to visit Peace Corps Headquarters. Members of the Peace Corps staff shared PC philosophies and goals with the group. Their second stop was with Creative Associates, a highly respected social consulting firm started by two very progressive and socially committeed women to address the educational, health and developing needs in developing societies. The firm's Chief of Staff discussed the firm's ongoing project in Colombia, where they are helping farmers substitute high value cash crops in place of coca...the plant which is used to produce cocaine. The last visit was to Louis Berger and Associates, a mega consulting firm. The Chief Ethics Officer discussed the relationship of the firm to the communities in which it serves, its massive projects in physical development, its work to support the US commitments in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and its vigilance in support of ethical practices both in the US and abroad. After a very full day, the group went to Capitol Hill for a pizza dinner with Washington CFS alumni.

US DANCE CONCERT

Our annual dance concert, under the leadership of Annie Dwyer, will be presented on Thursday and Friday, December 9 and 10 at 8pm in the Center. There will be an open dress rehearsal on Wednesday at 7:30pm. The dancers will also do a show for Lower and Middle School students Tuesday afternoon. The theme for this year's concert is Change and Impermanence. Ten of our students are choreographing dances along with CFS grad, Leah Wilkes, and Killian Manning.

US Service Days

As we prepare to leave for Thanksgiving vacation and wonderful time with family, I wanted to share photos from our two days of service. During Monday and Tuesday, our students were actively involved in service projects for more than dozen organizations in the Durham and Chapel Hill area. They did everything from cooking to cleaning to building to organizing and more. Some of the work was "boring but important." Most of the work was inspiring, educational, and memorable. Staff members noted the importance of spending this type of non-classroom time with students, getting to know them better in different settings. These first pictures were taken at the Duke Lemur Center. As you can see, our students were able to get up close and personal with the lemurs!

Jamie's group worked with the Durham Land Turstees to build a retaining wall.

Here is Miles holding a tarantula at the Food Bank Learning Center

I asked staff members to give me a brief summary of what their service groups did. I am happy to share these updates with you.

FRANCES (LEMUR CENTER)

Our group worked to blaze a new trail through one of the several acre enclosures at the Lemur Center. This path will help the keepers to lead the lemurs through the forest to and from their feeders. We then worked on weeding and regravelling the outdoor cages of one of the larger lemur living quarters, a job that is redone twice a year. We worked hard, but were rewarded by Coqueral shifakas and ring-tailed lemurs coming from the forest to watch us working in their cages! The work was valuable to the Lemur Center and we were more than rewarded with experiences provided by these wonderful creatures.

JAMIE (DURHAM COMMUNITY LAND TRUSTEES)

Six students worked to build a retaining wall in West End Community neighborhood in Durham. The DCLT renovates houses in the West End Community and sells them to individuals at an affordable price. Our students have worked with them and their construction foreman Carl for over 15 years. Our group not only constructed the 30 x 5-foot wall out of pieces of cement block, we also cut back the slope in preparation for the wall, broke slabs of concrete to the right size, hauled all the blocks in place, and dug a drainage ditch above the wall. We did 2 days of very hard physical labor. The effort of our team was very rewarding and nothing short of heroic. (!)

BOB (SEEDS AND FOOD BANK)

At Seeds, we pulled weeds, mulched around new seedlings, and raked leaves. At the Food Bank, we went through boxes of discarded canned goods, decided if they were still ok to eat, and then relabeled and boxed the good ones. We set up an assembly line and worked very efficiently. We talked about all the wasted food, the really good work being done to get food to people who would otherwise go hungry, and what it would be like to work on an assembly line for 10 hours a day and 6 days a week for all of your adult life.

GUSTAVO (URBAN MINISTRIES)

We organized clothing donations by separating and shelving pants, shirts, and shoes. Another group organized the food and helped with preparing lunch. The entire group served over 100 meals for lunch.

BRYCE AND JON (CAROLINA TIGER RESCUE)

We had a lovely warm Indian summer day and were first assigned to clear brush from a corner of the property in order to improve visibility for the staff into a wooded area where several tigers are already in large enclosures. Clearing required innovative use of our miscellaneous tools...and even some tree-climbing to cut the large vines free. The area we cleaned will be used when 6 new animals (3 tigers and 3 lions) are given room at the facility. After lots of weeding, hacking, yanking, and chopping, were got to see the animals, including the amazing tigers!

WILLY (ON-CAMPUS WORK)

All of the basketball team members spent their days on campus doing a lot of work, which included scrubbing floors, preparing mailings, baking brownies for Caring House, moving textbooks into storage, taking old computers to be recycled, cleaning the computer lab, raking leaves, cleaning the staff room, and beautifying the campus. We appreciate their hard work!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Week of November 15, 2010

As we conclude the fall term, I thought I would share some photo highlights of our beautiful fall. Above, you can see the cross country team at their final meet. I am happy to note that all four of our fall athletic teams competed in state tournament competition this year--a CFS first! (One of the Man Over pictures slipped in by the cross country team. Sumo wrestling and X-boxing)Below, you can see Ken's Car Control class taking apart an engine at Niel Becker's Volvo shop, which they visited three times during the term. Ken's students worked on staff vehicles, checking tire pressure, changing oil and break pads. By the end of the term, they had a solid understanding of the necessity of car maintenance. We believe that this is such an important class for our students and are appreciative of Ken's knowledge of cars.

More shots from the highly successful Man Over. Many happy CFS men! Suiting up for Sumo.

Here is our Emma lighting the candles at the all-school meeting for worship. We have one of these meetings in the gym each term. It is always a special time when we can all be together.

For the last day of the term, Sherri led the entire freshman class in Yoga. It was quite something to see all 40 of the freshmen doing yoga together. Thank you, Sherri!

FALL SYMPOSIUM

Our fall symposium will be held on Monday, with the theme Current Events. In addition to our keynote speaker (Connie Walker from WUNC), we will also welcome graduate students from Duke who will make a presentation on the Bonobos. We are looking forward to welcoming our many workshop presenters. This symposium promises to be both informative and fun. We will share in a potluck lunch with entertainment by CFS bands and the Quaker N'Oats.

PARENT/STUDENT FORUM

Just a reminder about our forum on Tuesday from 7-9pm in the Meeting Hall. The topic is sexuality and communication. We will watch a documentary called Let's Talk About Sex. Senior Dan Jubelirer will lead the follow-up discussion with parents and students.

CARRIE HAS BEEN SUSPENDED!

My staff surprised me this week (and I do mean SURPRISED!!) with a trip to California to see my dad in Los Angeles and then my grandchildren in San Francisco. I'm still in shock AND I'm getting ready to pack. Hopefully, my next blog will include photos of this wonderful trip. Until then, have a great week. I hope you can get outside and take a walk in this beautiful weather.

Week of November 8, 2010 Last week of fall term...

Congratulations to the cast and crew of Lysistrata on a great production. Above, you can see the women of Greece pouring cold water on the men. Below, Lysistrata (played by Tasha) is explaining her plan to the women. Meanwhile, the men look concerned. Bravo to everyone who took part in this play. Special thanks to CFS alum Leah Wilks who assisted Susan and the cast with movement, physicality, warm-ups, and general enthusiastic support.















It's hard to believe that we are entering the final week of the fall term. Amazing! We have already made the switch from fall to winter sports. The basketball teams are preparing for their opening home games on November 15th and then a tournament in Asheville on the 19th. Our seniors are busy with college applications. Some of them applied early decision with a November 1 deadline. I am happy to announce our Governor's School nominees for this year: Owen, Xixi, Jessye, and Emily. Governor's School is a statewide summer residential program for academically or intellectually gifted high school students. Congratulations to these fine students!

BOOK FAIR
We hope you can find time to come to the Regulator Book Shop on Friday between 6-8pm to enjoy the Upper School "reading." This evening always proves to be a lively and entertaining event. In addition to student readings, we will also have performances by the Quaker N'Oats, senior Reut Ringel, our senior jazz trio, and Old 86. Come out, support the Book Fair AND join in a great community event.

ALL-SCHOOL MEETING FOR WORSHIP
This Wednesday, the entire CFS community will gather in the gym for an all-school meeting for worship. With candles at our center, the Lower School students are surrounded by Middle School and finally Upper School. Two US students bring microphones to those who are moved to speak so that we can all hear the messages. It's not easy to get everyone together at once, but we have agreed that it feels important to remind ourselves that we are all a part of a wider community.

WINTER TERM BAGEL/PIZZA ORDER FORMS ARE DUE TO WILLY BY THURSDAY

I hope you all enjoy what looks to be a beautiful-fall-weather week. Remember that Friday is a staff workday. Time for the kids to catch up on their sleep. Enjoy!

Mid-week blog!

Here are some great shots from last night's rehearsal of Lysistrata. Just a reminder that there is an open dress rehearsal tonight (Wednesday) at 7:30pm in the Meeting Hall. Performances will be Thursday and Saturday also at 7:30pm. Due to mature subject matter, we have given this show a PG-14 rating. The amazingly beautiful set was designed by Xixi and built by Dylan's tech theatre class. Emily, Jessye, Owen, and Andrew helped with the painting. Very impressive!
Crispin...Miles...Erin

Madeline and Lydia

Maria and Audrey

What a FUNdraiser! Willy and Bob were the celebrity scoopers at TCBY Tuesday afternoon to raise money for the yearbook. Below, you can see happy frozen yogurt eaters.

Life is full in the Upper School. As I write this blog, the entire freshman class is headed to the Waste Water Treatment Plant. Students are registering for their winter and spring term classes.
More to come...