Students and their teachers are enjoying the spring weather and opportunities to be outdoors. Our Preschool students have been excitedly reporting about their sunflower seeds sprouting. They have also returned to beginning their morning in their play yard. Mrs. Yearly’s second-grade students are growing radishes in raised beds. Soon Teacher Deborah will move her students outdoors for art. She and Teacher Alicia have worked tirelessly together and with the support of classroom teachers and assistant teachers to sustain students’ development as young artists through this challenging year. Older students have worked with Teacher Deborah and Teacher Alicia to research and create portraits of social justice activists. The hope is to take some of these portraits and reproduce them on note cards to sell. The proceeds will go to support the work of Black Votes Matter.
Students and faculty contemplated our relationship to and responsibility for the natural world during Meeting for Worship. We began with a prayer expressing anger for the damage done to mother nature, heard a plea for everyone to do their part, and ended with a student request that we look beyond ourselves to urge business and communities to work together. Our PreK and Kindergarten friends sang "This Little Light of Mine" to the rest of the school. Then Mrs. Fielding led everyone in singing “This Pretty Planet.” Next week I am asking that students observing Ramadan consider sharing during Meeting, what this month-long observance means to them.
Recently I sent home an email listing all of the many events coming our way in the next several weeks. Two events that were not on my list include the Parent and Guardian Council Virtual Book Sale beginning next week and running through May 3rd. The second event is the P&GC sponsored book discussion of Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer Eberhardt. We will gather via ZOOM on May 27th at 7 PM.
I am looking forward to being with many of you at one or more of the following events: the May 3rd Saturday breakfast, the May 13 Taste of our Towns Family Night, or the May 15 Taste of our Towns Soiree.
What I am Reading:
We Are Water Protectors
Carole Lindstrom
Red: A Crayon’s Story
Michael Hall
For Goodness Sex: Changing the Way We Talk to Teens About Sexuality, Values, and Health
Al Vernacchio
Firekeeper's Daughter
by Angeline Boulley
