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.

Week of October 27, 2008

Hi everybody!

Well, I am so frustrated with blogspot. I can't get any pictures to upload to my blog. After trying everything I could think of for an hour, I give up...for the time being. I had some great photos to share with you. Hopefully, I will be able to add them in at some point. (As you can see, I finally got one to work. These are some of the members of Quaker N'Oats.) In the meantime, I will shake off my frustration and share with you some of the many activities that are taking place in the Upper School. As we near the end of the fall term AND the political elections, the speed of life is picking up!

CIVIL RIGHTS TRIP TO SELMA

As I write this blog, Susan is on her way home with 11 students and Alicia. I managed to get ahold of Miles on his cell phone and asked him for an update. The high point for Miles was the re-enactment at the Slavery Museum. In the re-enactment, the members of our group were treated like slaves for an hour and a half. They started by yelling directions at them to line up against the wall with their eyes down. They experienced verbal abuse. At one point, they were placed in a completely dark room. They could hear people moaning and screaming. According to Miles, it was one of the scariest experiences of his life, and "very eye-opening." In addition to the Slavery museum, they also visited the Voter Rights Museum, walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and "had some great soul food!" I am so grateful to Susan and Alicia for taking the time, when they could have had a little break, to make this opportunity available to our students.

CAMPAIGN '08 DRAWS TO A CLOSE

As you can imagine, Bryce's Camapign '08 class is heating up during this final week of the campaign. They have planned an election watch party for Tuesday night, November 4th. All interested students and family members are invited to join us, beginning at 8pm in the Meeting Hall. We will have a potluck table for food and watch results on the big screen. For their final class activity, Bryce has divided his class into groups focusing on battleground states. They will report their findings to the rest of the class this week and make predictions of how they think these states will vote. Bryce is offering prizes for the most successful predictions.

FALL SYMPOSIUM

Our fall symposium will be held on Monday, November 17th. The (student-chosen) topic for the day is Current Affairs. As our community activity coordinator, Bob Druhan is helping to line up presenters and speakers for workshops, presentations, and group speakers. If you are interested in sharing your knowledge on one of the following topics, please contact Bob: alternative energy sources, challenges for the next presidential administration, space exploration, human genetics, globalization, natural disasters, human trafficking, media, genocide, religion and politics, military and civil service, the Middle East, and the current economic crisis.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Our Clerks Committee is quite active this year. They have already tackled Amplified Music on campus and the Driving Policy. Presently, they are discussing environmental concerns on campus, most specifically in the Upper School. They are talking about developing a new composting program, possibly using worms. They are also planning a community lunch this week, when we will all eat together on the steps. After we finish eating what we have brought for ourselves, everyone will place their trash on the patio so we can physically see exactly how much trash we create in one lunch period. Members of Clerks will lead a discussion about how we might reduce the amount of trash we create. Very exciting ideas!

HALLOWEEN

Halloween is one of the biggest days of the year in the Upper School! We will have a pumpkin carving contest for advisee groups. Three prizes will be awarded: The most political pumpkin, the greatest staff look-alike, and the best all-around. We will also have a costume contest that will include prizes for individuals and groups. My Head Teacher Committee is in charge of the US celebration. Admittedly, it's a little hard to be serious on Halloween.

I hope you have a great week and a safe Halloween celebration as we bid adieu to October. Enjoy your extra hour next weekend!

Week of October 20, 2008

It is a beautiful October afternoon, and I hope you have enjoyed a wonderful weekend with your family. Greg and I went out for hot chocolate and a trip to the park with all 4 grandchildren and their parents this morning. Even little 2-week-old Annabelle came along. What fun! As you can see by the photos above, we had a full week in the Upper School last week. Emma and Katie are getting ready for an experiment in Bob's Chemistry class. Ella wrote a fabulous "Geometry" song, which she and Tasha sang for me. (One verse: It's not that hard so don't fuss/It's pretty easy when you've got Gus/We are known as a student/When things are equal they are congruent) I also included a picture of Gus's wonderful Geometry class. You can see a photo of Elise and her two speakers for Junior Night, Greg from Elon and Vern from NC State. At the very top is a shot of our hard working students taking the PSAT.

A PLEA FROM STUDENT DRIVERS: Dear Parents, Please do no park in the parking lot by the dumpster because it takes away from our spaces. If you need to park, you might pull up towards the shop. Thank you very much.

From the School Life Committee: The SLC warmly invites you to a presentation about the CFS Afghan Sister Schools Project on Wednesday morning, October 29 from 8:30 - 9:15 AM, following the Community Meeting for Worship from 8:00 - 8:30 in the Green Room of the CFS gym. Members of the Afghan Sister Schools Committee will present a short PowerPoint overview, leaving time for discussion and questions. Refreshments will be served.

CONGRATULATIONS to Tristan Green who was named to the All-Conference soccer team. Way to go, Tristan! As the volleyball season drew to a close, their coach, Dave Donaldson, wrote a poem for the team in which he mentioned every player. I understand this poem was quite entertaining. We bid good-bye to soccer, volleyball, and tennis as basketball players begin to warm up for the long season ahead. We also have enthusiastic swimmers who look forward to their season, which will begin in November.

As you know, Parent Conferences will be held on Thursday and Friday of this week. We look forward to good conversations about your wonderful children. Your experience, insights, and support serve as a great assistance to us as we do our best to meet students where they are and help them to move forward. One staff member, however, will not be with us this week...and for good reason. Susan is taking students from her Civil Rights and Holocaust classes to Selma, Alabama. Alicia Lucasi, our Bolivian intern, will also go along. When Susan took a Civil Rights tour this summer, she was deeply touched by her experience in Selma, which was like "going back in time" and wants to share this experience with her students. Susan and her group will "lodge" at the Slavery Museum. They will have a special tour of Selma, "Journeys for the Soul." I hope to be able to share photos and stories after they return.

Advisors will be handing out Washington, DC Museum and Tour Selection Forms Monday morning. Students will be choosing a morning and an afternoon activity for the Washington, DC trip on Friday, November 7th. I have emailed permission slips to parents, and we will have extras available at parent conferences. I look forward to welcoming all of you to the Upper School later this week. Please bring any questions/concerns you may have about your child's experience so far this year. Until then, ENJOY THIS BEAUTIFUL FALL WEATHER!