October 20, 2011Peek at the Week for Oct. 20-27, 2011
October
| 21 |
Middle School parent/C&C advisor conferences, no middle school |
| 21 |
Viewfinder Global Film series, 6:30pm in Humanities bldg. |
| 26 |
Middle School Service Learning |
| 26 |
Parent evening on bullying, 7:00pm in the middle school Commons |
| 27 |
Photo re-take day |
| 28 |
Grandparents & Special Friends morning |
| 29 |
Catlin Gabel Service Corp work day at the Food Bank |
November
| 10 |
Teaching & Learning Center parent lecture evening, 7:00pm in the middle school Commons |
| 11 |
Middle School Coffee House, 7-8:15pm in Narnia |
| 13 |
Catlin Gabel Admission Open House |
| 15 |
Middle School parent coffee with Barbara, 8:30-9:30am in the middle school library |
| 16 |
Middle School Service Learning |
| 21-22 |
Middle School teacher report writing days, no middle school |
| 23-25 |
Thanksgiving Break, no school |
| 28 |
Classes resume |
Message from Barbara:
Tomorrow we look forward to welcoming parents into the Middle School to share insights about their children during the C&C conferences. Thank you to all of the parents who are providing sustenance for the faculty for lunch.
Next Friday is perhaps one of my favorite days of the year, Grandparents and Special Friends Day. I hope many of our students’ grandparents and special people will be able to join them at school to see and feel their daily experience. One of the great blessings in my life was growing up with a set of grandparents who picked us up after school and took us to ice cream, came and cheered us on at athletic events, let us swim in their pool until 1 am when we had slumber parties, to name only a few highlights from my childhood. While these are memories of what they did with or for us, they do not begin to capture what they taught us through modeling, conversations, and question asking. Somehow questions from Yayi and Aton never seemed as annoying as when they came from my mom. Their explanations of why something was right or wrong never seemed like lectures, they seemed like the truth and logic. And even when they would become a little upset at our antics, their love in the form of constant hugs, praise and kisses poured over us like warm sunshine on a crisp cold day.
I share these thoughts in the spirit of thinking about intergenerational experiences, how much we learn from the different generations in our lives. Sometimes the special people who teach life lessons intertwined with hugs and laughs, are not our own grandparents, but other special people in our lives. Regardless of who it may be, my hope is that our students have a chance to hear great stories, get a little spoiled, and learn the value of talking and interacting with them. Next Friday will be a great time for those special people to see what the kids do each day. I can’t wait for their conversations after the morning together!
Grade Level Welcome Coffees with Barbara
Lark Palma will be joining us for our coffee on Tuesday, November, 15 to give us an update on the Creative Arts Center. You've seen the article over the summer in the Caller and you've no doubt seen the bulletin board in the first grade hallway - now come and hear the latest and greatest on the campaign to get this building built!
The next all Middle School coffee is November 15th.
Grandparents & Special Friends:
Grandparents & Special Friends morning in the middle school is coming soon. Please issue an invitation to a grandparent or special friend for Friday, October 28th. Registration will be from 8-8:15am outside the Art Room in the middle school. We will move to a welcome assembly in the Commons at 8:15am. After the assembly grandparents and special friends will visit classes with their student. At 10:35am Barbara Ostos, middle school head, will be available in the library to talk about life in the middle school or to answer any questions. The morning visit with our special guests ends at 11:15am and students are expected to remain until the end of the day.
Bullying Isn't What It What It Use To Be: Strategies for Coping with Bullying
All school parent meeting
October 26, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Middle School Commons
The psychological science of bullying has taken many turns throughout the years and social psychologists are learning more and more as to what works for combatting bullying dynamics. This parent night is a school-wide discussion about these strategies and how Catlin Gabel uses them. We hope you’ll join us and add your voice and questions to our discussion!
Please note that there is no child care available for this event.
Service Learning in the Middle School
Small Acts of Great Love!
Service Learning is an important opportunity to share with the larger local community. One Wednesday a month, Middle Schoolers fan out across the Portland metro area to work on a variety of Service Learning projects. Students arrive to the Middle School for an 8:15 a.m. assembly, and we depart from the Commons at approximately 8:45 a.m. Students are transported on Catlin Gabel buses or they take public buses and/or MAX. Upon our return from Service Learning at approximately 12:00 students go to grade level or C&C activities from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., everyone is dismissed at 3:05 pm. Please avoid making medical appointments for your student on Service Learning dates. It's important for everyone to attend school on these days.
Here are the Middle School service dates for the 2011-2012 school year (Please note that they are all Wednesdays):
October 26
November 16
December 7
January 11
March 14
April 18
May 16
June 6
Some C&C groups will work with young children at organizations such as Albina Head Start or sort food at the Oregon Food Bank. Others will assist the elderly in senior centers, collect and distribute food for Urban Gleaners, or build trails at the Audubon Society. Please ask your child what his or her C&C will be doing for Service Learning.
But what do these experiences mean to middle schoolers, and why is Service Learning integral to Catlin Gabel's mission?
Service Learning is about the real world--it invites students to be members of the Portland community.
Our campus is spectacular, from its buildings to the grounds. Our curriculum and experiential activities speak to the importance of human rights, empowerment, and personal risk taking.
Service Learning is about acting on our core values and our mission!
There is a fundamental difference between reading and writing about homelessness and working with the homeless or those that advocate for them.
Service Learning teaches empathy, leadership, citizenship, and personal responsibility.
Service Learning is really about community involvement and action. Instead of simply talking about an issue, middle schoolers are engaged in the issue through service experiences. This is the first step in helping them understand that individuals can make a difference. Making a difference is measured in the reward of helping others.
A middle schooler describes the impact of his Service Learning: "I think that doing it [service] has helped me think about other people's needs and not just mine."
Service Learning is about selflessness.
What do social service agencies, nonprofits, or private citizens need? What can we selflessly give?
Our area of interest is important, but the needs of the Portland community are the priority. Listen to the wisdom of an 8th grader:
"Over the last three years of service, I have learned what it means to be a member of the community. It means that you do your own part, whether it's feeding hungry 3rd graders or cleaning up trash."
6th grade news:
On Monday, October 24, sixth graders and their teachers will be going to Apolloni winery to help with the annual grape harvest. The bus will leave at 8:30 AM and return by 3:00 PM. Students will see a family-owned local vineyard in action and help to get the grapes from vines to barrels. Students will also draw and paint, eat lunch there, and play frisbee. Everyone needs to bring backpacks on that day along with a hearty lunch with snacks, rain gear, waterproof shoes, if they have them, and a hat.
We are also requesting parents to send hand-held bypass pruners like the kind you see below.
Please write your family name on the pruners so that we can get them back to you on Monday afternoon.
In a related vein, we are also collecting sedums for the two green roofs in the garden. Please bring some sedums into school and put them on the potting table in the garden next to the green house. Questions? Email Carter at
latendressec@catlin.edu.
Catlin Gabel Baseball News:
Baseball based Strength and Conditioning training begins this Friday, October 21 at 3:30 in the Catlin Gabel weight room. While this is intended for Upper School athletes, interested Middle School baseball players are encouraged to attend these sessions. The focus will be SPARQ/Strength training to prepare for the spring season. On Sunday, October 23 we will be having another SPARQ/Strength work out followed by an open practice. Middle School interest in baseball should be directed to Len Carr. You may also feel free to contact coach Travis Chock at ChockT@catlin.edu
School Photos:
School photos are in and have been given out to students by C&C. If you ordered a package and haven't seen it, ask your child where it might be. Picture re-take day is October 27th. If you want a re-take, please have your child bring the original and complete photo package with them to school on the 27th. This package must be turned in on that day to receive a re-take.
In its second year, the Catlin Gabel Service Corps presents four opportunities for multi-generations to work together in service to the greater Portland community. Please visit the web page for details about upcoming volunteer opportunities at the Oregon Food Bank on October 29, Friends of Trees on November 5, the first-ever Catlin Gabel service fair on November 8, and our 21 Days for Bienstar project.
Eric Adjetey Anang, a Ga Fantasy Coffin sculptor from Ghana, will be an artist in residence at Catlin Gabel November 7th to the 11th. We have invited him here to demonstrate his amazing art of sculpting a coffin out of wood in whatever shape a family feels best represents their deceased elder. He will be sculpting a woodworker’s hand plane, approximately 7’ long, 3’ wide, and 4’ high on the front deck of the barn. Please come ask him questions, watch him work, and feel free to participate in the building of the hand plane. Eric will give a slide lecture on Monday, November 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Gerlinger Auditorium
Two years ago, Michael de Forest, the LS Wood Shop teacher, traveled to Ghana for a summer and studied with Eric in his carpentry shop in Teshie, near Accra. There is also a proposed US trip planned for Ghana this summer July 29 to Aug 19th, 2012 where students will be working in the Kane Kwei Carpentry Shop with Eric.
