It's been a while since I've shared some of the school's activities with you. time just seems to float by in this warm, lazy weather. However, under this quiet surface, much is happening inside and out of every classroom. Some of my favorite things have been:
Working with 25 Willow Creek families to collect more than 60 lbs of trash on Coastal Cleanup Day
Helping 4 upper school students work with marine biologists to explore just how much of an invasive plankton seems to be making itself at home in Richardson Bay;
Watching the 5th grade class do Navajo sand paintings. They colored the sand, drew their own versions of native American designs and then produced exquisite sand paintings---without even making a mess or mixing the sand colors with each other;
Listening to our children in music classes---plein song, Celtic carols, swing tunes from the 1940's as well as some original compositions filled the room with our very own surround sound.
These trips around the campus and beyond, remind me how very important it is for a school to provide the enrichment which brings to life what is studied and discussed inside the classroom. Over and over, educational research verifies what we all know in our hearts---the tremendous importance of the arts in engaging our hearts and souls as well as our brains. We need that complete experience to truly learn.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
A Time for Reflection
Today I spent some time in our school garden where we planted two olive trees five years ago. We were just moving into our current school buildings and it was the first anniversary of 9/11. To honor the hope for peace, we planted two olive trees. The trees are of two diferent varieties, but both olive bearing trees. We also transplanted our "Founders Tree" a very small and spindly willow tree to represent the school as time goes on.
The olive trees are now both sturdy---one kind of a thick bramble of a bush and the other, tall and slender. Both bear olives but not quite enough yet to produce a bottle of oil...but someday..... Our Willow had thrived----from a small three foot, weak limbed plant it is now about 7 or 8 feet tall with three strong and graceful trunks. It often has kids kind of nestled inside of it seeking some shade or quiet time.
On this 6th anniversary of 9/11 I'm happy to see our trees representing our community. Three different trees, two related, one only related by being a tree and I can't help but think of the remarkable diversity that is Willow Creek. We have parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends raising our children; we have every shade of skin imaginable fro the palest pink to the darkest brown and we have all of the world's greatest religions represented in our midst. In this day and age, our trees and our people, bode well for the future and demonstrate on a daily basis that we certainly can "all get along"...and on days when we can't, we are able to come back together and figure out what was the problem and what can we do about it.
Let's hope the outside world can do the same.
The olive trees are now both sturdy---one kind of a thick bramble of a bush and the other, tall and slender. Both bear olives but not quite enough yet to produce a bottle of oil...but someday..... Our Willow had thrived----from a small three foot, weak limbed plant it is now about 7 or 8 feet tall with three strong and graceful trunks. It often has kids kind of nestled inside of it seeking some shade or quiet time.
On this 6th anniversary of 9/11 I'm happy to see our trees representing our community. Three different trees, two related, one only related by being a tree and I can't help but think of the remarkable diversity that is Willow Creek. We have parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends raising our children; we have every shade of skin imaginable fro the palest pink to the darkest brown and we have all of the world's greatest religions represented in our midst. In this day and age, our trees and our people, bode well for the future and demonstrate on a daily basis that we certainly can "all get along"...and on days when we can't, we are able to come back together and figure out what was the problem and what can we do about it.
Let's hope the outside world can do the same.
Tuesday Tales
This promises to be a good week at Willow Creek. The weather is perfect and we have a couple of new students. One is a delightful young man in kindergarten---he is a bit late starting school this year due to a medical condition. But he is here now and raring to go. He's so pleased about being in school that he asked his mother last night if it was OK to do his homework right away!
We also have a 7th grade boy joining us tomorrow. He just arrived from India last Friday and has already shaken off his jet lag and is ready to get to work. His favorite subject is English and he's very, very anxious to take advantage of our classroom libraries.
Our Spanish program started today---thanks to Berlitz we are able to work with some native speakers in our world languages program. In a few weeks, we will be offering Mandarin to our 4th grade class. We are able to provide these programs thanks to the Fullerton Family Foundation, a donor fund managed by the Marin Community Foundation.
As time goes on, it is so rewarding to see the many layers of experiences that students and staff weave together into an ever evolving learning and doing program. Soon we will have music in place and the halls will ring (I hope) with song.
On Saturday, we had a great garden party----about 8 or 10 parents and grandparents arrived with their students and really tidied up the garden so it's all ready for the kids. Everyone had such a good time, that this will continue every couple of weeks until the cold and wet weather sets in.
Enough for now.....time to do some of my own homework and studying
We also have a 7th grade boy joining us tomorrow. He just arrived from India last Friday and has already shaken off his jet lag and is ready to get to work. His favorite subject is English and he's very, very anxious to take advantage of our classroom libraries.
Our Spanish program started today---thanks to Berlitz we are able to work with some native speakers in our world languages program. In a few weeks, we will be offering Mandarin to our 4th grade class. We are able to provide these programs thanks to the Fullerton Family Foundation, a donor fund managed by the Marin Community Foundation.
As time goes on, it is so rewarding to see the many layers of experiences that students and staff weave together into an ever evolving learning and doing program. Soon we will have music in place and the halls will ring (I hope) with song.
On Saturday, we had a great garden party----about 8 or 10 parents and grandparents arrived with their students and really tidied up the garden so it's all ready for the kids. Everyone had such a good time, that this will continue every couple of weeks until the cold and wet weather sets in.
Enough for now.....time to do some of my own homework and studying
Friday, September 7, 2007
4th Grade Diplomacy
One of the great things about spending lots of time in an elementary school is that world issues and problems really get brought down to the basic levels. Case in point---during lunch time today, two different adult staff members came running up to me with the news that about 20 kids were standing around up on a hill (where playing is NOT allowed) while other kids were fighting. The fight ended up with two kids punching each other and then rolling down the hill together
So.....with my lunch in hand, I met with all of the parties and after 30 minutes of discussion was able to ascertain that this all came from some 4th grade boys "defending" their territory marked by large pieces of cardboard boxes against some other 4th grade boys. One group decided to get "help" from some 6th graders and the mayhem began.
The good news is that every one fessed up to their part in this mass confusion and at the end all shook hands and agreed to the consequences which involve telling their parents exactly what happened and their role in it, writing an essay for the principal about their feelings and reflecting on what they will do should there be a similar situation (and 4th grade boys HATE to write) and devoting a day of recess next week to some kind of community service project such as picking up trash or shadowing the custodians and helping with an entire campus clean up.
I reflected with the kids that this is exactly what happens on a world scale when one group of people feels the need to "defend" something and how so many, many people get pulled into conflicts not of their own making. All in all, I think it was a good experience both on a personal level and on a bigger level.
More next week---when those essays come in.
So.....with my lunch in hand, I met with all of the parties and after 30 minutes of discussion was able to ascertain that this all came from some 4th grade boys "defending" their territory marked by large pieces of cardboard boxes against some other 4th grade boys. One group decided to get "help" from some 6th graders and the mayhem began.
The good news is that every one fessed up to their part in this mass confusion and at the end all shook hands and agreed to the consequences which involve telling their parents exactly what happened and their role in it, writing an essay for the principal about their feelings and reflecting on what they will do should there be a similar situation (and 4th grade boys HATE to write) and devoting a day of recess next week to some kind of community service project such as picking up trash or shadowing the custodians and helping with an entire campus clean up.
I reflected with the kids that this is exactly what happens on a world scale when one group of people feels the need to "defend" something and how so many, many people get pulled into conflicts not of their own making. All in all, I think it was a good experience both on a personal level and on a bigger level.
More next week---when those essays come in.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Back to School Night
It was great fun yesterday to watch parents sittiing in their student's seats and trying to figure out the 4th grade math book. In other rooms, people were having potluck suppers and in yet, others, the big 8th grade trip was being planned. And then, the kids were mostly outside so it was a great set of role reversals with the adults in the classroom and the kids outside.
Willow Creek likes to think outside the box and enjoys seing people doing different things than they usually do. We just have to figure out how to get those teachers away from their overhead projectors......
And one of the highlights of the evening was sharing our great API score of 830 achieved in the spring of 2007! Congratulations to everyone at Willow Creek for helping students jump 92 points.
Willow Creek likes to think outside the box and enjoys seing people doing different things than they usually do. We just have to figure out how to get those teachers away from their overhead projectors......
And one of the highlights of the evening was sharing our great API score of 830 achieved in the spring of 2007! Congratulations to everyone at Willow Creek for helping students jump 92 points.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Pizza Time at the Art Festival
Food is always a great ice breaker and Willow Creek's pizza booth at the Art Festival this weekend was no exception. Teams of parents, grandparents, friends and even some students and WCA alumni came to help us sell pizza to the thousands of Art Festival attendees. With great 60's music in the background, we kept our oven fired up for three days and sold hundreds of pizzas. The money we raised goes to support our PE program. Many thanks to all of cooks and servers. With San Francisco Bay at our booth's back door, we also had droves of sea gulls and a few harbor seals hoping for some left over snacks!
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