Grandparents & Special Friends Day
is Tuesday, November 24
 

The invitations have been mailed and the RSVPs are coming in!  Just a quick reminder that if you haven’t invited a Grandparent or Special Friend, now is the time. We have extra invitations if you need one. Please stop by the Lower School office and pick one up from Julie.
 
The Lower School Grandparents & Special Friends Day will begin in the Cabell Center theatre at 12:30 pm. We will have refreshments for the early birds.
 
Also, remember your lower school child will be dismissed at 3:10 pm as usual. After School Care will be available until 6:00 pm.
 
Grandparents & Special Friends Day is a wonderful experience for the Lower School children and their special visitors and an annual tradition at Catlin Gabel. We look forward to seeing you on the 24th!
 

Viewfinder Global Film Series: Screening #2

Thursday Nov. 12th - 6:30 pm
Location:  Vollum Humanities and Gerlinger
Film Information

The film Kirikou is very accessible to kids of all ages. There will also be free child care downstairs with competent Upper School students doing global activities.

Notes from Vicki

Wednesday Catlin Gabel hosted a group of 45 Fulbright educators as part of an international symposium on sustainability. The group included Japanese teachers and dignitaries (including the head of the Japanese ministry of education) and about 15 American educators keenly interested in finding ways to include sustainability curriculum and actions into their school programs. Several university professors and curriculum directors were present as well. Because of our efforts towards becoming a more sustainable school, the Fulbright organizers asked if we would consider hosting the group.

It was actually quite an amazing experience. The guests were greeted with welcome signs all over campus lovingly created by our students in both Japanese and English. Hen put together an organic lunch that was more than a little gourmet using locally raised prime rib, autumn squash, and a to-die-for pear dessert. The visitors attended presentations in all four divisions and asked many questions. The Fulbrighters learned about the water project designed and created as part of the Kindergarten study of water. There was no way to beat the “cute factor” of the kindergarteners singing a song about the water cycle. They viewed a video presentation on the fifth grade's ever-evolving “pitchfork to plate” curriculum that Jordan put together and toured the middle school garden project. The seniors in the environmental policy class presented about their studies with absolute “knock-your-socks-off” articulateness and passion. The group learned about our school goal to be “Zero Waste by 2012” and how we’ve been able to reduce 54% of our landfill contributions in the past couple of years.

While we are proud of the efforts we’ve made so far, we realize we’ve just begun this meaningful journey towards being a sustainable school. What a marvelous opportunity to rub elbows with educators around the globe who share our passion towards environmental stewardship.
 

October Zero Waste Report

We are more than halfway to our goal.  Last year we sent 54% less waste to the landfill than we did four years ago.  We eliminated bottled water and increased our recycling efforts.  We started feeding pre-consumer food waste to goats and chickens and we are composting the post-consumer food waste on campus. We also started using refillable dry erase markers.
 
September landfill waste went up 0.57 tons compared to last September, but October waste was 1.79 tons less than last October! So far this year we have sent 1.94 fewer tons of waste to the landfill than we did last year. 

Congratulations for sending less waste to the landfill!  Keep making a difference!

Typing Program Available!
Deadline is Friday, November 20

Catlin Gabel is once again pleased to offer our families the opportunity to buy All The Right Type – the program used in our Lower School to help kids learn touch typing.  The cost per copy is $16.00, which may be charged to your account.  The current version will run on Windows 95 through Vista, or on Mac versions 8.6 on up.  For complete minimum hardware requirements, please visit Ingenuityworks.com. If you would like to order a copy, please email Julie  by Friday, November 20 so we can include you in the order.
 

Gambol online auction opens November 9

Start your holiday shopping now and support the school at the same time.
Log on and join the bidding on fantastic items for everyone on your gift list!
Online auction is open November 9 at 8:00 am and closes November 23 at 8:00 pm.
 
Join us for the online auction launch party November 9
8:00 am to 3:30 pm in Jubitz Seminar Room (first floor US Library building)

We'll have terminals set up for bidding and showcase some of our online auction offerings.
Coffee, tea, and scones will be served.

 
Buy a $25 raffle ticket to win a family trip to San Diego!
This exciting family package valued at $7,000 includes (4) round-trip coach class tickets on American Airlines and (3) nights at the 4-star bay front hotel property at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina. Bring your camera and enjoy a Safari* of a lifetime for (4) with your choice of San Diego Wild Animal Park Photo Caravan-East African and Asian Plains or South Africa and Asian Waterhole, each 1:45 hours long. Continue your adventure with (4) admission passes to the World-Famous San Diego Zoo.
*Safari for ages 8 and above only. Package valid one year from event date and subject to availability. Does not include ground transportation. Hotel is located near Balboa Park, Sea World, and Lego Land.

Click here to purchase raffle tickets online.
 
For questions, email the auction office.
 
Thank you for your support and happy bidding.
Gambol Planning Committee 2010
Heather Gaudry Blackburn ’90, Co-chair
Gina Wand, Co-chair
Lisa Baker
Allyson Harris
Kim Lusk Haslett ’89
Lauren Dully Hubbard ’91
Jeremy and Sandy Karp
Pamela Lloyd
Indira Nallakrishnan
Sharon Richardson
Lesley Sepetoski
Tina Skouras
Sue Spooner
Sally Williams

After-School Care News

Lower School after-school activities meeting during the coming (short) week include: 
•    Monday Chess Club for experienced players
•    Tuesday Before-School classes in Japanese for LS students in Grades 2, 3 or 4
•    Tuesday after-school Homework Club for 4th and 5th graders whose parents have made advance arrangements with Sue Sacks, LS Learning Specialist.  Students report to the Barn for snack before 3:30 pm.
•    Wednesday Individual Strings Lessons

Not meeting this week
•    Friday Chess for Learners will not meet as there is no LS on Friday this week.

•    The Girl Scouts will not meet this week.

Parent Teacher Conferences Thursday, November 12 and Friday, November 13

During parent-teacher conferences:
•    ASC has some space available in the STORYTELLING all-day programs for BS/LS students.  Pre-registration is required. If you are interested, please let Ginny know as soon as possible.
•    There will also be drop-in care for Beginning and Lower School students available in the Lower School Library.  It is available to families during the time of their conferences only with the cost covered by the school.  Siblings are welcome if they are at least 4 years old and “school-savvy.  No need to sign-up in advance.

Family Emergency

Enrique, our Spanish teacher, will be flying to Spain this week-end to be with his father who is in the hospital. Francine, our fabulous French teacher who speaks Spanish (along with three other languages) will teach the first, second and third grade Spanish classes while he is away. Alison Ward will be teaching the fourth and fifth grade Spanish classes. Alison is a Catlin Gabel alum (yes, her mother is upper school art teacher Laurie Carlyon-Ward) and graduated from the University of Montana with a major in biology and a minor in Spanish. She speaks fluent Spanish and has done a marvelous job of subbing for us at the middle school and upper school levels. She is currently tutoring middle and upper school students as well. We send our love to Enrique and his family.