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Directories available for pick-up in Toad Hall

Submitted by Karen Katz on Mon, 08/29/2011 - 7:34am
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The 2011-12 Handbook•Directory is available at the front desk in Toad Hall. Each family may have one directory. Once initial distribution is complete, directories will be available for purchase ($7).

Arts Are at the Core

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Thu, 07/21/2011 - 2:12pm
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By Nance Leonhardt

From the Summer 2011 Caller

In these troubled times “arts are at the core” are fighting words. My morning commute is peppered with reminders of the campaign to save the arts in schools. From the Campfire billboard offering to paste back what has been cut in schools, to my neighbor’s Subaru packed to the gills with supplies she’ll need to teach her son’s after-school art class, the evidence is clear: we are blessed to be at Catlin Gabel School.
 
Arts have been at the core of Catlin Gabel’s philosophical and pedagogical underpinnings since day one.
 
From Priscilla Gabel’s earliest writings: Let him daily tell or write or sing or dance or act or paint all that he has seen, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted. We aim to develop in each child an inquiring mind that wants to search out facts and truths about the world in which we live.
 
To Lark Palma’s current charge: We want to create conditions that support students to know the power of their own ideas, develop new-to-them ways of doing things, and be able to think inventively.
 
The arts are inherent to the culture of teaching and learning across this campus. The approach leaves an indelible signature on our alumni, many of whom may never set foot in a ceramics studio again, but when faced with a professional dilemma will conjure the memory of wrangling a shapeless mass of mud and water into a sleek vessel under Judy Teufel’s watchful eye. They will remember how the idea was so clear in their mind and slipped away so easily once the wheel began turning. The feel of the clay veering determinedly off course and then, with persistence and a steady hand, the sense of it righting itself as the circuit came to a close. They will not only remember the success, they will remember the journey and the dividends its lessons paid.
 
For some alumni, their Catlin Gabel arts education sparks something more, a lifelong commitment to the creative process. In addition to those profiled in this Caller, notable alumni include filmmaker Gus Van Sant ’71, opera director Elizabeth Bachman ’74, painter Margot Voorhies Thompson ’66, Broadway lighting designer Carl Faber ’01, and Pixar animator Nathan Matsuda ’03. We send an increasing number of students to colleges with exceptional (and competitive) arts programs: last year that list included the Rhode Island School of Design, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the California Institute for the Arts, the University of Southern California Schools of Music and of Cinematic Arts, and Cooper Union. Our faculty would never claim these achievements as personal trophies, but like any parent we can certainly feel pride in our ability to cultivate talent and act as stewards of the values that enable these kinds of minds to grow and thrive.
 
Our 15-member arts department attests: from preschool through 12th grade the arts are alive and well at Catlin Gabel. Following Priscilla Gabel’s directive, we weave creative habits of mind into the daily experiences of our student body. Students learn to know themselves and the power of their ideas through our various disciplines. We identify with our students and have the unique opportunity to collaborate with them.
 
Last February I had the pleasure of sitting with my colleagues and devoting two days to exploring our professional practice. Rob and Elizabeth Whittemore, professors and parents of CGS alumni, led us through a series of discussions and reflective writing activities to help tease out our core values. We asked ourselves the big questions: What is the essence of what we do? How do we scaffold this individually and as a department? How do preschooolers with pipe cleaners and pine needles evolve into regional and national Scholastic Gold Key art award winners? How does the shy and awkward 6th grader leap on to center stage as a junior in The Fantasticks? In a program as rich and varied as ours, what are the universal truths behind our diverse methodologies and media?
 

Create , Perform, Respond

 
CPR are three little letters that communicate our directive to revive the imagination day after day, year after year. Our program is about process, the cycle of inspiration leading to action leading to reflection. Like the wheel in the potter’s studio, ideas follow a circuit, and results emerge before our eyes. We guide students’ explorations of the tools and skills needed to perform, and we offer prompts from various sources (art history, current events, poetry, student-generated themes) to draw out their unique points of view as thinkers. More specifically, we agreed that regardless of medium (instrumental music, film production, oil painting, woodworking, lighting design) we shelter our students’ development under the following core values:
 
Community building and trust
Creative problem solving
Collaboration
Risk taking and resiliency
Finding voice
Valuing process
 
How this plays out at the classroom level is as varied as our subject areas. In the Middle School, every student participates in a full complement of arts offerings annually, including instrumental music, fine art, theater, woodworking, and media and graphic arts. Our Upper School program offers more than 30 electives in the realms of drama, technical theater, narrative and documentary filmmaking, painting, printmaking, chamber choir, jazz band, photography, ceramics, and more.
 
Perhaps nothing espouses the value of community building and trust more than the Middle School theater program, developed by traditions of St. George and Gilbert and Sullivan, Middle Schoolers perform in more than 14 productions yearly. Deirdre Atkinson creates a safe, energetic environment that allows students to tackle everything from 20-minute renditions of Shakespeare to developing their own plays through a method called devising. When devising, an anything-goes approach allows students the creative space to brainstorm theme, share ideas on visual and auditory components, and physically construct a representation of their thoughts on the chosen topic. Whether it’s a piece on immigration, cyber-bullying, or gender identity, the students proudly step forth in front of packed audiences to share their message and engage the community in a wider dialogue.
 
In the Upper School, students in Laurie Carlyon-Ward’s honors art seminar engage in a three-semester quest to produce a portfolio of work that reflects the development of their voice as an artist. Visitors to the gallery in the Cabell Center foyer in May see the culmination of this process with displays that include self-portraits, figure drawing, journals, and a personal statement. Whether it’s Mary Bishop 11’s use of line and color to depict her musings on women’s Western attire, or the fleshy graphite textures of Kashi Tamang ’11’s portrait subjects, their voices are etched in the gallery space as distinctly as fingerprints on glass.
 

The Space to Collaborate and Connect

 
As colleagues we deeply value the collaborative avenues opened by the artistic process. For the Middle and Upper Schools, physical proximity places limits on the depth and frequency of our and our students’ opportunity to mingle creatively. We have moments of incredible synergy—like when a student in Mark Pritchard’s music composition class works on a score for one of my student’s films or sound design for one of Deirdre’s plays. Collaboration is a core value, yet restrictions of time and distance push these moments to the periphery.
 
As education theorist Heidi Hayes Jacobs observes, the most authentic integrations are those driven by the students themselves. Picture the student dance group working in conjunction with photographers to build a multimedia performance for the Diversity Conference, the painter developing a mural for the math building based on mathematical algorithms, a group designing sustainable furniture for community partners. Our students are already making these things happen—we’ve fostered that habit of mind in spite of limited physical space. The legacy of Priscilla Gabel is most alive in these moments. Imagine the future where our core values move to the physical core of our campus—a space where the creative process can be witnessed by our community at large, where distinct voices of student artists and musicians meld into a dynamic cacophony of inspiration, and where collaboration and creative risk-taking can thrive, unbridled.
 
Nance Leonhardt teaches Upper School media arts.  

 

A Campaign for Arts & Minds

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Thu, 07/21/2011 - 1:51pm
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From the Summer 2011 Caller

In this issue you will meet some of our most creative and talented alumni, all of whom found their time at Catlin Gabel important to their creative development. Creative freedom takes place in the science lab as much as it does in the painting and drawing studio. The way the robotics team comes together to map out their technical strategy for competition is akin to drama students coming together to write, cast, stage, and perform their annual one-act plays. And the thought process a student uses to troubleshoot a buggy line of code in computer science class involves the same set of synapses as when that same student tries to figure out why her timing is off in her original film score.

Exercising the creative mind is at the core of a Catlin Gabel education. We are currently in the leadership phase of a capital campaign to raise the necessary funds to elevate this commitment to our students and their education. Catlin Gabel’s Campaign for Arts and Minds has two components: building our endowment, with special emphasis on financial aid, and building a new Creative Arts Center for the Middle and Upper Schools.
 
The campaign began quietly in the fall of 2007 and has picked up momentum during the past year. Our most loyal and engaged donors have stepped up to the challenge of investing in our students, their creative minds, and their bright futures.
 

THE ENDOWMENT

As the campaign continues, we will tell you more in future issues of the Caller about the enormous effect that our various endowed funds have on our community. With an emphasis on building endowed funds for financial aid and for general purposes, this campaign effort experienced strong growth over the past year with a lead gift from Phil and Penny Knight. As of June 30, all of our endowed funds were valued at $21,800,000.
 

THE CREATIVE ARTS CENTER

“The arts are a core of Catlin Gabel’s philosophy and are key to a well-rounded education. In no other discipline do critical thinking, problem-solving, predicting outcomes, analyzing, re-assessing, and creativity come together as they do in the arts. . . . The intellectual challenges posed by visual art, music, and theater facilitate learning in all other disciplines. These vital pursuits help make our children more thoughtful, interesting, and well-rounded—and create a life of more profundity and beauty for all of us.” —Lark Palma, head of school
 

As you’ll discover in this issue, Catlin Gabel alumni have the creative bug. They credit their time on campus, their teachers, and their progressive education for influencing their ability to create and innovate in life and in work. If organizations should play to their strengths, then Catlin Gabel’s commitment to building a creative arts center for the Middle and Upper Schools is our way of demonstrating how fundamental creativity is to our educational philosophy.
Above: Creative Arts Center facade; right, aerial view; below, lobby.

 

CREATIVE ARTS CENTER HISTORY

Catlin Gabel has dreamed about a creative arts center, one that consolidates the visual, music, and drama classrooms scattered around campus, for the last 20 years. In the late 1980s, then-headmaster Jim Scott spoke seriously about bringing all the arts under one roof. And ever since current head Lark Palma set foot on campus in 1995, it was abundantly clear to her, a veteran drama teacher, that the arts facilities needed updating.
 
And the need has continued to grow. During the past two decades, the school and our arts offerings have grown, but the square footage per student dedicated to the arts has decreased. The lack of adequate space for teaching the arts has been singled out as an important area for improvement in our last two accreditation reports by the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools.
 
Finally, in 2007, Lark and the board of trustees, with input from the Catlin Gabel community, decided we could not put this off any longer. Planning for a new Creative Arts Center began in earnest that spring, led by a committee of staff, faculty, alumni, and trustees. The arts department faculty developed a set of needs and a vision for the art curriculum. Committee members visited peer schools up and down the West Coast and gathered data on best practices. All of this good work informed the original building design presented to the community in the fall of 2008 (see that issue of the Caller). Unfortunately, efforts fell short of the mark, and this initial Arts Center design did not fulfill all the programmatic and aesthetic requirements.
 
As the designs were being finalized, fundraising began in early 2008 just as winds from the looming “Great Recession” began to stir. The weak economic conditions of 2008 and 2009 exacerbated the tepid community response to the initial building design, forcing the school to make the hard yet courageous decision to pause the project so we could reevaluate and regroup.
 
In early 2010, with a year passed and time to reflect on the initial launch, the school brought the project out of hibernation. The recession had officially ended, and both enrollment and the Annual Fund were healthy. This renewed economic outlook served as a signal for the school to refocus on the project and explore new opportunities.
 
With a chance meeting between former trustee Jim John and world-renowned Portland architect Brad Cloepfil (see “Allied Works,” at right), a new phase to the project began. Brad had just finished high-profile arts projects in New York City, Montreal, and Dallas and was looking for a project back on his home turf. Jim, a seasoned developer and builder, thought that Brad would be just the person to reignite our Arts Center with a fresh and inspired design. We hope you’ll agree, when you see the design renderings, that Brad and his team delivered the right design at the right time.
 

MORE ROOM FOR CREATIVE ARTS

For US visual art, US choir, US media arts, MS drama, MS music, MS visual art
Current Square Footage: 6,786
Future Art Square Footage: 20,000
 
Creative Arts Center Layout Main Level
Gallery
Courtyard (outdoor)
Media Arts
Theater Control Room
MS Visual Arts
US Visual Arts
Shared print room
3D Studio
 
Lower Level
Black Box Theater (two levels)
Theater Tech Space
Drama Classroom
Instrumental Room
Choir Room
Music Laboratory
Practice Rooms
Instrument Storage Lockers  

GROUNDBREAKING

We expect to break ground in the fall of 2012, and the project will take about 15 months to build. This timeline is dictated entirely by how quickly our community raises the funds for design and construction. The overall project budget is estimated at $6.9 million. Prudently, our board mandates that we raise 80% of projected costs in pledges in order to break ground. As of June 30 we are just shy of having raised half of this amount, with approximately $2.3 million to go. We will look toward leadership donors this summer and fall to get us there. Please contact development director Eileen Andersen, 503-297-1894 ext. 306 or andersene@catlin.edu, to to learn more about our fundraising efforts. Catlin Gabel funds major capital projects entirely through contributions.
 
The board and administration’s conservative fiscal management has positioned the school with zero outstanding debt after completing the major construction projects of the past 20 years. The Murphy Athletic Complex, Warren Middle School, the Beehive, and most of the Upper School buildings were built without incurring debt. While this is unusual in the sea of heavily financed cultural projects throughout the city and region, it’s a distinction that makes us proud and contributes to the school’s financial health.
 

LAUNCH OF THE NEW PROJECT

The original project phase used a “design-build” strategy, where the school would contract with one firm that managed both the design and construction processes. This contractor, the Arts Center design committee, and the greater Catlin Gabel community vetted and chose the original designer after a thorough series of design proposals and presentations from a long list of architectural firms. When this second phase of the project began in early 2010, all the criteria and specifications for the building established by the committee and arts faculty in 2007 could be transferred to the new architect. This streamlined the hiring of the current designer, Allied Works Architecture. More important, this allowed us to save on the normally high costs of the schematic design phase and significantly shorten the project timeline. With the new project phase ready to launch, the school sought more project control and opted to engage both the contractor and architect directly, using separate contracts. The new arrangement encourages a healthy tension between our builder and architect by forcing both parties to balance the budget.
 

James E. John Construction

James E. John Construction (JEJ), the project general contractor, is a subsidiary of C. E. John Company, Inc., a diversified real estate development and management firm founded in 1947. Although JEJ is known for its Class A office and retail projects, it became clear early in the process that the firm not only had the talent and the resources to build a Brad Cloepfil building, but a keen understanding of how the new classrooms and spaces fit the needs of students and teachers. Current parent and former trustee Jim John, the project principal, provides close and careful management.
 

Allied Works

We are privileged to have our building designed by a world-renowned museum and creative space architect. Brad Cloepfil and his Allied Works Architecture team developed what has been overwhelmingly received by our community as an inspired, practical, and beautiful design. Portland native Brad Cloepfil studied architecture at the University of Oregon and earned an advanced degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture. In fact, his teacher and mentor at Oregon was Thomas Hacker, the principal architect and master planner for much of the Upper School you see today, including the Miller Library and Hillman Modern Languages buildings. Since Brad founded Allied Works in 1994, he has won commissions for some of the highest-profile cultural projects across the country, from the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis to the adaptive reuse of Manhattan’s Museum of Arts and Design on Columbus Circle. His West Coast projects include the renovated headquarters of Wieden + Kennedy in Portland’s Pearl District, the Seattle Art Museum, and a recently completed expansion of the Pixar Animation Studios headquarters in Emeryville, California. Allied Works’ art education facilities include the award-winning Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas (alumnae include Nora Jones, Edie Brickell, and Erykah Badu), the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and the Caldera Arts Center in Sisters, Oregon. “Catlin Gabel’s project for the new arts building means a tremendous amount to me,” says Brad. “To build on that beautiful campus, with the legacy of great architecture by John Storrs and Thomas Hacker, is a true gift. We have worked with faculty and students to create a building that will be a beautiful catalyst for creativity, not only in the visual and performing arts, but for the entire curriculum of the school. It truly is a laboratory, one that will encourage the students to develop new ideas and forms of expression.”
 

 

Summer Programs has a few spaces available

Submitted by Karen Katz on Fri, 07/01/2011 - 5:03pm
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Classes begin Tuesday, July 5

Classes for kids of all ages!

Review our catalog (below) for course descriptions. 

Enroll today! Tell your friends!

Contact Len Carr, program director, for additional information.

Summer Programs ~ our difference is learning

application/pdf iconSummer Programs Catalog

Thanks to all: Annual Fund reaches goal

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Fri, 07/01/2011 - 12:41pm
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We did it! The Annual Fund reached its $935,000 goal!
Thank you to everyone who participated and gave so generously this year.

For additional information about annual giving, please contact:
Sara Case
Annual giving program director
8825 SW Barnes Road
Portland OR 97225
503-297-1894 ext. 423
casesa@catlin.edu

Life After Catlin Gabel: alumni and student panel video

Submitted by Karen Katz on Thu, 06/09/2011 - 11:32am
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Present by the alumni and college counseling programs

Student panelists: seniors Henry Gordon, Rebecca Kropp, and Josh Langfus.

Alumni panelists: Leslie Nelson ’10, attending Pitzer College; Rivfka Shenoy ’09, attending Washington University St. Louis; Riley Gibson ’04, BS in business management from Babson College and co-founder and CEO of Napkin Labs; and Peter Bromka ’00, BA in anthropology from Tufts University and a design researcher at IDEO, a global design firm.

Moderator: Rukaiyah Adams ’91, BA from Carleton College, JD and MBA from Stanford University, consultant for Plum District and Regence Blue Cross/ Blue Shield.

5th grade students organize walkathon for Japan

Submitted by Karen Katz on Thu, 05/12/2011 - 1:54pm
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Save Japan With Your Own Two Feet

Monday, May 23
2:15 – 3 p.m.
Catlin Gabel Track

Donate online

The entire Catlin Gabel community is invited to join the 5th grade for a walkathon to help the healing efforts in Japan. All proceeds will benefit Mercy Corps' Japan relief efforts.

Seeking pledges is a completely voluntary activity, but we’d love for everyone to walk. If you and your child decide to ask friends and family for pledges (with your guidance and supervision), that’s great. We’re asking folks to donate online.

During the walkathon, parent volunteers will punch lap cards to help students keep track of their laps so donors know how much to give, even if kids aren’t participating in the pledge part. The “punches” are a badge of honor for the kids and have, historically, spurred on even more walking.

The walkathon was inspired by fifth grader Macey Ferron-Jones and has been organized by fifth grade volunteers, who have donated their recess time to the effort.

"When I heard about the earthquake in Japan, I found a YouTube video and I just felt sad for the Japanese people," said Macey Ferron-Jones. "My dad has a friend who has relatives in Japan and I have a friend who has a relative in Japan. I was wondering what they were going through, thinking it must be really tough. When we started talking about it at morning meeting, I was reminded of the Haiti walkathon and how fifth graders in the past have stepped up to help, and I thought if they could do it, why couldn't I?" 

Questions? Get in touch with 5th grade teacher Maggie Bendicksen.

 

application/pdf iconJapan Walkathon Pledge Sheet

Students read their work at Powell's Books

Submitted by Karen Katz on Wed, 05/11/2011 - 1:05am
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Sunday, May 22, 4 p.m.

The editors of Honoring Our Rivers Anthology of Student Artwork and Literature selected the work of three 5th graders and 29 6th graders for inclusion in this year’s collection. Students from across the state who are in the anthology are invited to present their work at Powell's on Sunday, May 22, at 4 p.m.

Students in kindergarten through college were eligible to submit their literature and artwork. Submissions focused on the relationship between people and the Willamette Watershed--the waters, weather, land, plants, animals, and habitats that make up this beautiful and fragile river system.

Congratulations to 5th graders Olivia Andersen, Macey Ferron-Jones, and Anaga Srinivas, and 6th graders Mo Alan, Carly Allen, Robin Attey, Hannah Cassin, Gracie Cavenaugh, Shinto Davis, Gus Edelen O'Brien, Beatrice Endler, Athena Erickson, Miguel Gachupin, Sophie Glew, Jasper Gordon, Ian Bryce Hoyt, Safina Lewis, Colin Mitchell, Darya Mojab, Conner Nelson, Sahil Nerurkar, Mark Nicholson, Lila Reich, Holly Sauer, Ryan Selden, Emily Slusher, Quinn Smesrud, Aidan Smith, Kenzie Stuvland, Grace Wong, Liam Wynne, and Jackson Zechnich.

Senior Vighnesh Shiv is a semifinalist in the Google Science Fair. Cast your vote for the People’s Choice Award by May 20.

Submitted by Karen Katz on Mon, 05/09/2011 - 11:57am
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More than 7,500 students from 90 countries entered the competition. Vighnesh is one of 20 semifinalists in his age group. A panel of judges will select five finalists in each age group to visit Google headquarters for final judging and the opportunity to win a generous college scholarship.

In addition, with your votes Vighnesh could win the People’s Choice Award.

Vote for Vighnesh now!

Spring break 2012 finalized

Submitted by Karen Katz on Fri, 05/06/2011 - 7:56am
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Spring break is March 24 – April 1

Catlin Gabel’s spring break next year is the last week in March—not the previous week, which was published as tentative.

We had been waiting for the Portland Public Schools to schedule their spring break before finalizing our schedule, so our break aligns with theirs.

In addition to syncing with PPS, the later break provides improved odds for decent weather for experiential week just prior to spring break. Experiential week will run March 19–23.

 

Spring Festival 2011 photo gallery

Submitted by Karen Katz on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 3:43pm
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Photos by Nadine Fiedler








































Campus Day 2011

Submitted by Julie Higgins on Fri, 04/29/2011 - 12:10pm
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Catlin Gabel named 1st Water Hero in Tualatin Valley district

Submitted by Nadine Fiedler on Mon, 04/25/2011 - 11:43am
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Oregonlive.com blog article, April '11

From Oregonlive.com blog article

Catlin Gabel has been awarded Tualatin Valley Water District’s (TVWD) first Water Hero Award. They were recognized for their significant water use reductions, which has also resulted in significant monetary savings.
 
In 2000, Catlin Gabel’s water use peaked at 7.3 million gallons per year. By 2010, the school used just 1.5 million gallons, which at current rates values equates to a savings of $19,313. In the last six years, Catlin Gabel has sustained an average 44% less water use than their 2002-2004 average. This is in addition to significant reduction in consumption in ‘02-’04 compared to the five years prior.
 
“Catlin Gabel should be very proud of their water use reduction,” said TVWD Conservation Technician Steve Carper. “This amount goes far above and beyond what would be seen at typical non-residential sites. However, their experience provides a great blueprint about what many companies can do to reduce their water use.”
Catlin Gabel Plant Manager Eric Shawn and Grounds Supervisor Mike Wilson worked closely with the grounds crew to develop and implement a plan for reducing water use. The most significant reduction occurred when they converted most of their irrigation from domestic water to a well, and installed a weather-based irrigation system. Replacing aging water lines, using a water catchment system for drip irrigation, new high-efficiency toilets and installation of on-demand hot water units has also contributed to the overall water use reduction.
 
For more information about what companies can do to reduce their water use, they should contact their water provider.

 

Alumnus Ian McCluskey's short film recommended by Wall Street Journal

Submitted by Karen Katz on Tue, 04/19/2011 - 5:02pm
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Ian McCluskey '91's film Summer Snapshot is one of eight shorts the Wall Street Journal recommends viewers see at the Tribeca Film Festival. The WSJ calls the film an "Instagram-esque look at the summer day you wish you had had growing up. Nostalgic, wistful, perfect." Ian's film was selected for the festival, along with 60 others, from a pool of 2,800 submissions.

Eighth graders praised for their published poetry

Submitted by Karen Katz on Tue, 04/19/2011 - 10:50am
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Experiential learning in the core curriculum

Eighth grade students in Glenn Etter's English class wrote poetry that connects to the missions of local businesses and organizations. Each student sent three poems to an organization and asked to have their poems displayed on a wall, thereby making the students “published” poets.

The response has been extraordinary! Two students are poets of the week at Powell’s Books. (Last week’s poets were W.B. Yeats and e.e. cummings!) Another student’s poem was forwarded and posted at flower shops in Paris and London. Several businesses have asked permission to frame and permanently display the poems.

Some replies

Hi Glenn,

I run the poetry section here at Powells, Cedar Hills. Recently, I received poems submitted by two of your students, Sarah Norris and Emma Marcus. I thought they were both terrific and well worth sharing with our customers.

I have posted them on the wall by the poetry section for people to enjoy. Each Monday, I also print up several copies of a "poem of the week" that customers are encouraged to take with them. I have printed copies of Sarah and Emma's poems to feature as our poems for this week. Most recently, we've featured W. B. Yeats and e.e. cummings, so they can be assured of being in good company.

Thank you for forwarding them to us.

Sincerely,
John Cabral
Powells, Cedar Hills Crossing

Dear Glenn,
My name is Frank Blanchard and I am a designer and Director of Business Development and Event Design here in Portland at Flowers Tommy Luke.
One of your students, Lauren Fogelstrom, sent us a poem she had written and I must say it couldn’t have come at a better time. Just wanted to let you know that we have not only shared it with Portland, but Lauren has officially gone “Global”. I posted her poem entitled “Daffodil” today on our Flowers Tommy Luke facebook page, my personal facebook page, and several of my floral industry friends pages in Boston, Georgia, Florida, California, and New York City as well as London and Paris. I think it was a bright spot a lot of us could use about now.
 

Thank You Lauren!
 

Sincerely,
Frank Blanchard, Director
Business Development/Event Design
Flowers Tommy Luke

Hello Mr. Etter. I am the manager of Everyday Music. I am writing to let you know we have received the poems by your students, and have proudly displayed them in our windows facing Burnside Street. Please let the students know that we thoroughly enjoyed reading them, and are so excited to have them up. So far, the staff favorite seems to be Johns! Thank you so much for thinking of us and sending them our way. If the kids ever want to come in and introduce themselves I will be happy to give them 10 percent off anything they purchase. Thanks again!

Auggie Rebelo
Store Manager
Everyday Music

Hello Mr. Etter/Glenn/Teacher!

Our optometry clinic received two poems today from Jillian Rix & Maddy Prunnenberg-Ross and we thought they were very well written. Our office specializes in primary care optometry catering to patents of all ages. These poems would be a perfect fit for our office and we were wondering if it would be possible to have both Jillian & Maddy hand wright the poems so that we can have them framed and displayed in our office for the public to enjoy? A 4X6 or 5X7 piece of paper would be perfect.
Please let me know when you have a chance. Thank you and have a great weekend!

Rob Phillips

Dear Mr. Etter,

Today we received a cover letter and a most wonderful and sensitive poem
from your student, Dylan Gaus. I will proudly display it in my flower shop studio and discuss it with
clients who come into the store. What a valuable experience you present to your students by encouraging them to share their art with the community. As a business owner and community activist, I am delighted to see creativity both supported and displayed as part of the learning process.

Thank you both.

Most sincerely,
Pat Hutchins and Mary Anne Huseby
Flowers In Flight
308 SW 1st Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97204

Greetings Glenn Etter,

I am the Sections Manager for the Blue Room (which contains our main Poetry sections) and I received a couple of poems and letters from two of your 8th Grade students. I was very pleased to see that you have created such a great class project around National Poetry month and that your students thought of us here at Powell's to share them with!
We have posted the poems of Garet Neal and Ashley Tam in a display case in the Pearl Room Gallery where we are also showcasing some of our customer's favorite lines of poetry this month.

Kudos to yourself and your team and good luck in the competition!

Sincerely yours in the appreciation of books, reading, and poetry,

Liz Vogan
Sections Manager, Literature and Humanities
Powell's City of Books
503-228-4651 x 1333

 

Hello, I will be posting the poem of Hanna Sheikh in our golf shop and I went one step past that. Her poem is also published on our website. You can find it here
http://claremontgolfclub.com/sites/courses/supersite.asp?id=908&page=63035

Please let me know if she prefers to have it removed from the site.
Thank you,
Kathy Wentworth
Claremont Golf Club
Golf Shop Manager
503-690-4589

Hello Catlin Gabel,

I received a poem from Raina Morris about "My Grandmother". I am the activity director at Beaverton Hills, I read the poem to my residents they all enjoyed it and we post it up in our community. Will you please tell Raina thank you for sharing her loving poem.
 

May Huff
Activity Director
Beaverton Hills

Dear Mr. Etter;

We have posted the poems that we received from the following students: Lauren Fogelstrom, Dylan Gaus, Sarah Norris, Kallan Dana, Mary Gilleland and Nikki Nelson. I admire their work, there is some real imagination and creativity there. I think they are fortunate to be learning from you.

Sincerely,

Bill Gifford
Gifford’s Flowers
704 S.W. Jefferson
Portland, Oregon 97201

Dear Mr. Glenn Etter-

I am writing to inform you that we have put on the wall 2 poems sent to us by students in your 8th grade class. Kallisti Kenaley-Lundberg and Max Armstrong can be proud "published" poets. I hope they get a chance to see their poems: If I Were A Watter Bottle and Snow on the wall at the store. They made us smile!

Thanks for thinking of us, Julie Watson, Next Adventure

Hello -
My name is Alta Fleming and I'm the manager for Ben & Jerry's on Hawthorne - just wanted you to know that I received Simon's poem and we've posted it on our wall. He did a great job!!

Thanks --
Alta Fleming
Ben & Jerry's
Hawthorne and Clackamas Town Center Stores

I liked very much the christmas poem by nicholas destephano.
we will post it somewhere in the shop.

best, ron rich
owner
oblation papers & press
516 northwest 12th avenue
portland, oregon 97209

Hello Mr. Etter,
We received a kind letter from your student, Maya Banitt, along with a very beautiful poem. At her request, I just wanted to let you know that we would be happy to post her poem in our offices. This poem is most appropriate for our business in designing fireplaces.

Please pass on our appreciation to her for sharing her work with us.

Warm regards,

Debbie

Debbie J. Webb, Office Manager
Moberg Fireplaces, Inc.
Cellar Building, Suite 300
1124 NW Couch St., Portland, OR 97209

Dear Glenn Etter,

We received the poem written by your student Jillian Rix today. We are posting it in the front area of our shop for customers to enjoy. Thank you for teaching, encouraging our youth and celebrating creativity!

Sincerely,

Lavonne Heacock, office manager
Ed Geesman, violin maker, owner
Geesman Fine Violins

Hi Mr. Etter,

I am Robyn Stumpf owner of Wild Iris Flowers & Gifts in Molalla Oregon.
I received a great poem from your student Daniel Chang and am writing to inform you we have posted it on our wall by our candy retail area! Title of the poem was fitting! CANDY

Thank You
Robyn Stumpf
Wild Iris flowers & Gifts
503-829-4747

Mr. Etter, I am writing on behalf of the Petco in Albany, OR. We received Aaron Shapira's poem, we thought it was wonderful and have it posted on our bulletin board out front and in the back room for our employees! Please pass on our admiration to Aaron, the poem is great! Thank you,
Keri Capen, Salon Manager Petco

Dear Mr. Etter,
I received a beautiful poem today from one of your students, Jarod. He did an excellent job writing it and I will hang it up in our store with pride. We are a seasonal farm store and will open up the end of August. Jarod's poem will be able to be viewed by all our customers this fall season. Please tell him thank you from all of us.

Kim
Oregon Heritage Farms

Dear Mr. Etter,

On Saturday April 16th, 2011, Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue’s Station 65 received a letter and poem from a student of yours by the name of Jarod. As requested in his letter, the poem has been placed where all can read it and I just wanted to thank him and yourself for the poem. We will all enjoy the poem, “Jumping, Leaping”, and invite you and your class to come by the station sometime for a tour.
Recently, our station along with Station 60 located off Cornell Rd in Forest Heights, visited your facilities and had our own tour. Thank you again for including us as part of your community and thank you for the wonderful poetry project conducted by your students.

Respectfully,

Jerry Freeman II
Lt/Pm E-65 “C”
Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue

Dear Maddy's teacher (Mr. Glenn Etter),

It was a pleasure to receive Maddy's sweet poem "Window". We posted it in our office and all our staff read it adn really enjoyed it. Thank you very much! Please say thank you to Maddy (we don't have her address or email).
Sincerely,

Dr. Friberg
--
Zuzana B. Friberg, O.D., F.A.A.O.
Uptown EyeCare & Optical, P.C.

Dear Glenn,
Your student Evan Chapman has his poem "crayon" on our wall at Gossamer.
Thank you, Rose Sabel-Dodge-owner of Gossamer

"The desire to create and craft is the antidote to alienation"
Be Creative & Crafty

I received Conner's poem today. What a wonderful poem. I put it up on the counter for all to see. You may tell Conner he is published.
thank you very much
Heather-Halloween warehouse

Hello Mr. Etter - My name is Kristi Erlich and I am the owner of Owls Nest North Therapy Collaboration. I received a letter and poem from your student, Hanna Sheikh, and am writing to acknowledge receipt of them. Please convey my sincerest thanks to Hanna for choosing our organization to be the lucky recipients of her poem and let her know that we are, indeed, most honored to post/publish it for our clients to be inspired by. Our clients come from all walks of life and are touched in many ways by the connections they make. Hanna's poem speaks to our intention to provide healing experiences through art and connection. Please thank her for sharing herself with our community.

Warmly,
Kristi

Dear Mr. Etter,

We recently received a letter from Victoria Michalowsky. She requested the opportunity to share her poem with our school. Victoria also wondered if we could post it at our school.

We would like to invite Victoria to read her poem to our kindergartners and then we would enjoy posting it so that others can read it.

Your name was given as the contact person. Please forward our invitation to Victoria.

Our office number is (503) 644-8407.

Sincerely,

Sarah Harris
Kathy Phillips
Co-Directors
A Child’s Way

Hi Glenn,
I am the owner and operator of the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt Store in the Uptown Shopping Center. Hanna Sheikh was kind enough to send to us her recent "Ice Cream Poem ". Please ask her if it's ok to post this on our Community Board for all to see ? She did a great job and I thought that you should know. Please tell her that she is officially "published!" Please provide me with an address to send her a Free Ice Cream Cone Coupon for the good work.

Regards.
Peace, Love, and Ice Cream
Bruce Kaplan
Chief Euphoria Officer
Ben and Jerry's Portland
503 913-3094