Friday, November 18, 2011

Thankful Tuesday


From Teacher Mary this week…


In November of 1980, just weeks into Friends School’s very first year of existence, the ten children who comprised our entire student body invited their parents to join them for “Thankful Soup” on the day before Thanksgiving vacation. The children worked for days preparing a feast for their guests. They’d picked apples and made applesauce. They prepared corn bread. They all brought vegetables and other soup ingredients from home and made a huge pot of Thankful Soup.



I attended that first gathering as the parent of a 6-year-old Friends School first grader. I was an eye-witness to the fact that although the soup was lovingly prepared, it was also just dreadful. The child cooks hadn’t been allowed to use very sharp knives and their little hands got tired, so the diners encountered enormous pieces of potato and carrot and turnip as we spooned the poorly seasoned, watery soup into our bowls. Some of us required knives and forks, not just soup spoons. It was impossible, though, to be disdainful about the food in the face of such enthusiastic young cooks. So, we shared that first Thankful Soup as we sat in tiny chairs around tables in the school’s one-and-only basement classroom. As we ate, the gratitude in the room felt like a tangible thing, a fellow guest. The project of starting a school had been a major one for all of us and for just a few moments in that whirlwind of a year, we stopped and gave thanks. It was sweet and warming, profound and sustaining.

Our Thanksgiving traditions have evolved with the growth of the school. We eventually outgrew both our original space and our student-made soup. We don’t let go of traditions easily, though, and we kept serving that same terrible soup for years. Finally, when our guest list began to consistently top 100, we admitted that the tradition had become a little too ambitious for a bunch of 7-year-old sous chefs. So, we bid good-bye to Thankful Soup (some of us quite gleefully), and tried a number of variations on the theme until we finally settled on our current celebration. We had a year of Thankful Muffins, and I think there was a Thankful Cookies year, too. We’ve gathered in small classrooms, in large Community Rooms, and in buildings old and new. The constant thread for me, though, has been one special moment that happens each year, a moment when I close my eyes for just a second in the midst of whatever hubbub we’ve created that particular year and just say ‘thanks’. It’s a touchstone in my year, one that anchors me personally and in a larger sense, too. I remember Thankful Tuesday the year I turned 40, the year I became a grandmother, the year our country went to war, and the year we elected a new president. I remember marking the day during years that were difficult for our school and during years when we celebrated.

Next Tuesday, the Friends School community will gather for the thirty-second time for our Thankful Tuesday observation. Parents will bring their brown bags to our classrooms and have lunch in tiny chairs. We’ll gather in the Community Room to watch our students present the special performances they’ve been practicing, little Thanksgiving gifts for their families. The Peace Choir will sing like angels and bring tears to our eyes. In this year when our larger community has been rocked to its core and our hearts can’t stop aching, I believe that Friends School’s tradition will once again warm and sustain us. I know that the thanks I say when I close my eyes for that moment next week will be for the trust I have in our school community, for its ability to hold us during hard times, and for the safe and loving atmosphere it has provided for our children for a very long time. Whether it’s your first time or your thirty-second, I hope you’ll join us.


ANNOUNCEMENTS & REMINDERS:

Thankful Tuesday: Please join us for this annual celebration on Tuesday, November 22. Here’s the schedule for the day:

11:15: Parents are welcome to join children in classrooms for lunch. Both children and parents should bring their own packed lunch.

12 Noon: All-school gathering in Community Room for a few selections from the Peace Choir, presentations by each classroom, and a couple of our traditional songs for all of us

1:00 p.m.: All-school recess, weather permitting

We have a full day of school on Thankful Tuesday and our After School Program will operate until 5:30. However, if you’d like to get an early start on your Thanksgiving travels, parents are welcome to take students home at the end of our festivities at 1:00.

Foxdale Thank-You: We want to thank Foxdale Village for a unique and generous donation. Because of a resident’s gift, Foxdale is able to present each of its employees with a Weis gift card as a holiday gift. This year, Foxdale purchased the cards through our school’s gift card program and this generated over $1000 for Friends School. Your use of Giant and Weis gift cards can really add up. Please consider purchasing your grocery cards through the school. We will have them available at Thankful Tuesday. Collectively, it can make a big difference.

Cookie Decorating: We’ll have a cookie decorating party during the After School Program on Thursday, December 1. Please check your child’s Friday Folder for details.

School Photos: Sabine Carey began school photos this week and has completed the K/1 and 2/3 classes. The rest of the students will be photographed as follows:

4th and 5th Grades: Tuesday, November 29

Middle School: Wednesday, November 30

Make-Ups: December 2 (and December 6 and 7, as needed)

Parent Workshop: Our Quaker Life Committee will be hosting a light supper and discussion on Wednesday, November 30 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The discussion will focus on consumerism and will include a viewing of the short film “The Story of Stuff”. Child care will be available, but please call or email in advance if you’ll need it.



Have a really great weekend with your really great children.





Mary Ziegler

Monday, November 14, 2011

Headlines - Nov 11, 2011

What a week. . . .

In light of the truly tragic events that have come to light this week, it is hard for me to begin my usual headlines on a positive note. There is much to talk about in each of our homes and it is a hard subject. Talking with young children about the incidents of the last week is uncomfortable, maddening, and ultimately, heartbreaking. How do you explain this type of behavior? How do you explain the failures and/or lack of judgment of others? How do you restore trust? In light of the damning allegations, should you speak to due process and avoid the court of public opinion?

We talked as a staff on Wednesday, and felt it was best for individual teachers to address issues and provide information when appropriate in the classroom rather than do any debriefing on a school-wide level. Children of different ages will have different understandings of recent events and we believe it’s best to for families to meet children at their own level. In the classroom, we will address these matters only when specifically approached by the students (for example, in circle time).

On a brighter note, I do want to share a wonderful thing that happened at PSU this past Tuesday. A few weeks ago, Ann Clements our Peace Choir Director and Professor of Music Education at Penn State, arranged for the Peace Choir visit Dr. Anthony Leach’s undergraduate class for future choral and music instructors. It was a great experience for all.

Thirty nervous kids got off the bus Tuesday morning and were led by Ann into the Esber Recital Hall in the PSU Music Building. After dropping their coats, the students hopped on stage and were assembled on risers. Our Assistant Choir Directors, Michael and Kate got the choir warmed up with a series of vocal and physical exercises and then they began to sing. Our students sang an opening song and were soon joined by Dr. Leach’s students on stage. The sound was amazing. The mature, well-trained voices of the PSU students blended and lifted our children’s voices to produce a lovely chorus that carried throughout the auditorium. After a song or two, Dr Leach (now known as Teacher Tony to our students) played the piano and coached the combined choir in a spirited rendition of This is the Day and Freedom. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the singing and rhythmic movements. I found myself swaying and singing along from the seats.

Our students were not the only nervous ones. Each of Tr. Tony’s students was to lead the combined choir in a song of their choosing. As I understand it, this was a first experience with elementary and middle school students for many of them. As they each took the lead, a different personal style emerged but an overall sense of respect, encouragement and enthusiasm prevailed among all the student teachers. This is a credit to Dr. Leach and the PSU School of Music. His students were prepared, engaged and professional. Collectively, they were able to lead the peace choir through several new songs in a very short period of time. The range covered everything from the depression era anthem Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen to Christmas carols such as Winter Wonderland.

Our school’s Peace Choir was also up for the task. The students did a great job. They remained attentive for the entire two hours and were eager and willing to listen and gamely attempted several new songs, sounds and movements. A real sense of cooperation and community filled the auditorium. At times, when a student teacher struggled with an instruction or had trouble finding the right note, our kids listened with even greater intensity to understand the instruction so they could all benefit. I was very proud of their attention and commitment to learning the new material. We were all rewarded by an encore from Tr. Tony as he led the combined choir through a completely improvised song.

My hat is off to Dr. Ann Clements, Dr. Leach, and his students. Our choir really enjoyed their time on the Esber stage and comments went from “awesome” to “Not as bad as I thought it would be.” (this is high praise from a middle school student). It is my hope that this first step will continue to build our relationship with the very awesome music department at Penn State. In these days when we hear the worst, it is important to remember that thousands of committed, hard-working students, teachers, and staff also represent Penn State and they will be there to continue the good works.

Announcements

Thankful Tuesday – Please make plans to join us for our Thankful Tuesday celebration on November 22. We begin with lunch with your students in the classroom and then we all enjoy classroom presentations in the community room beginning at noon. As with most school celebrations, we end with some singing. It is a wonderful warm event and I hope you can join us. Afterwards, parents can choose to take their students home if they need an early jump on the Thanksgiving travels.

School Photos – Here are picture dates for the classrooms.

K/1 – Tuesday, November 15th

2/3 – Friday, November 18th

4/5 – Tuesday, November 29th

MS – Wednesday, Nov. 30th

Make-ups – December 2, and December 6 and 7 as needed.

Sabine will be taking candid shots, as well as a more traditional shot of each child. The candid shots may be taken inside or outside at recess. All photos will eventually be posted by class on Sabine’s web site, freerangingphotography.com, in a password protected folder.

Family Workshop – the School’s Quaker Life committee will be hosting a light supper and discussion on Wednesday, November 30, at 5:30 pm. The discussion will focus on consumerism and include a viewing and discussion of the short film The Story of Stuff. The evening will begin with a simple meal provide by the committee and end by 7:30 Spi

Spices Success – Our annual SPICES Gala, held at the Atherton Hotel was a tremendous success, offering families and community members a chance to enjoy conversation, music, food and silent auction fun. Through ticket sales, silent auction proceeds and monetary contributions from those who could not attend, nearly $10,000 was raised (a record for the school). We expect to publish the final outcome on the web sometime early next week. Thank you for supporting our school through this friend raising and fund raising event. Cheers!

"Blessed are the flexible for they will not be bent out of shape"

Dan Hendey
Head of School

State College Friends School
1900 University Drive
State College, PA 16801
(814) 237-8386
(814) 235-1446 Fax
www.scfriends.org