HEADLINES ................................ January 24, 2014
I am not a person who cries much. I am able to withstand the power of onions; I am usually the one who comforts in times of sorrow; and I think I have a pretty high tolerance for pain (it elicits swears rather than tears). However, when it comes to King in Montgomery I cry. Every year I say that I won’t weep and I devise strategies such as looking at the ceiling, thinking about clowns, or poking myself to stop the waterworks but to no avail. Some years, I am able to get to the end when we all sing We Shall Overcome before I feel my eyes well up and I shed a few tears. On other years, it can start even earlier. This year, I blame Nina’s solo for setting a new record for me. I would find this display of emotion extremely embarrassing if I was the only one but, as I looked around this week, I realized that I had lots of company. It seems that the feeling of hope and unity generated by the kids is the trigger. When you are in that room singing with everyone it hits you that these children are professing the values we wish to instill in them and that, if we could just hold on and continue to nurture this feeling, we/they can make our world a better place. And isn’t that what it is all about? Not only educating our students with a great academic program, but also helping them to develop the values and beliefs that encourage compassion, tolerance, and peace.
Please enjoy your weekend.
Announcements and Reminders
Open Houses – We have set our dates for open houses during the winter months. The upcoming dates are as follows:
K- 8 Saturday, February 8, 9:30 AM – 12:00 noon in tandem with a
Winter Play day
Pre-K Saturday, February 22, 9:30 AM – 12:00 noon
Free Winter Play Days – This Saturday Jan 25th, from 9:30 to 11:30 AM, the Friends School is hosting a Winter Play Day for children from 3-7 years old. The school’s community room will be open for supervised active and imaginative play. This is a great opportunity to bring a friend to the school and enjoy a morning out of the cold. Refreshments and snacks will be served. All are welcome. Please help us to spread the word.
Quintessential Quakerism- This is a series of workshops provided members of the State College Friends Meeting designed to introduce and inform participants about the Quaker faith and how the testimonies influence personal choices. The first of three sessions begins this Saturday, January 18th from 2-4:00 pm. To register or for more information please contact the Friends meeting at 237-7051 or office@statecollegefriends.org
In-service Days— February in-service days will be Friday, February 14th and Monday, February 17th. During in-service, teachers are hard at work sharing new research and learning about best practices in education. There will be no school on both days. Child care will be offered on both days. Please call the school to reserve a spot for your child.
Summer Camps—It is not too early to be thinking about summer camps. Many organizations along with our school will be on hand at the Summer Camp Fair on Saturday, February 1st at the Mt. Nittany Middle School. The fair runs from to and will feature many local and specialty programs. Of course our school will be represented . This year our camps will be run by Teacher Emmalia Mathias who is an assistant in Tr. Nick’s classroom. In addition , Tr. Renee Kredell will be leading our theatre camps this year. Several of our counselors will be returning this year and we feel we may have our best year yet. Look for a brochure in next week’s Friday Folder.
