Teacher Margaret's "View From My Window" - March 9th

Dear Friends,

We are in a new month and season. Women’s History Month has begun. The winter trimester ends this week. Our clocks will spring forward this weekend. Spring flowers are blooming. In a few weeks, it will be warm enough for Teacher Deborah Moss Marris to take her young artists and their sketchbooks out to draw the Iris and other flowers and plants “en plein air.” 

On March 18th we will enjoy another wonderful Parent and Guardian-sponsored event, the Pot of Gold Scavenger Hunt. Second Grade just performed its long-awaited play, Out in the Cold. Report cards will come home in approximately two weeks. Our halls are filled with student work from the past several weeks. Project-Based Learning continues to grow as the organizing principle for student learning. In a very few weeks, First Grade will begin an extended project asking what kinds of things endanger plants and animals in New Jersey. Second and Third Grade are about to embark on a joint project where they will work on the question “what can we do to reduce the amount of trash we create at Westfield.”

As a school, we are continuing with our theme “We Seek an Earth Restored”. Our Meeting for Worship queries this month ask us to consider our place in the natural world. Earlier this year second grade student, Cooper was inspired to form a “Bash the Trash” club. With Teacher Christian’s support, Cooper and his friends meet on Fridays during lunch to pick up trash around the campus. What if your family adopted a stretch of road or park near you and picked up the trash you find there? Be sure to choose a stretch where there is a wide shoulder and you feel safe to walk along and pick up trash from off of the road. We do not want anyone to walk on the road or pick up trash from the road! Send a picture with your first bag of collected trash and we will include you in our update in the Weekly Wire. 

Even as Black History Month gives way to Women’s History Month, I hope you will continue to look for resources and opportunities to expand your family's understanding of the fullness of our history and the way it continues to be the product of the many groups who live here in our community. Michael Roach, Westfield’s Coordinator for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging pulled together resources for Westfield’s Faculty. You may find these of interest to you. The links are below.

• Early Childhood Resources for Black History Month (and anytime!)
• The Center for Racial Justice in Education
• Learning for Justice, a division of the Southern Poverty Law Project
• PBS Newshour Classroom