Tuesday News - September 13, 2011

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All submissions for the Tuesday News should be sent to publicrelations@merriconeag.org by Friday at 3:00 pm.

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Raise the Roof Party this Saturday!

Raise the Roof Party: This Saturday! Sept. 17, 2011 9am – 1 pm:
      This year, in celebration of our new Handcraft Building, we are having a day-time, family-oriented, back-to-school celebration and fundraiser to help fund the new building. We hope that every Merriconeag family, as well as alumni families and friends of the school, will lend a hand to support this wonderful new Handcraft Building. What better way to start the year than to celebrate the power of our community!

     There are a variety of work projects which we need your help with that day, and depending on your interest and age, we will find a fun way for you to help! We will be shingling the building, gardening, sorting recyclable building materials, setting up the potluck lunch, and cleaning up.

     When you arrive Saturday, you can tell us what you would like to help out with. There is always room for more volunteers! Please bring appropriate gear and potluck food:
• Gardening: garden tools (mostly for weeding), metal rakes, work gloves
• Shingling and sorting recyclable building materials: hammers and work gloves
• Making music: your acoustic instrument (optional jam sessions)
• Potluck Lunch: everyone should bring a food dish to share, plates and utensils to cut down on trash, and a picnic blanket or chair to sit on.
 Families whose child’s last name begins with A – M:
o bring a main lunch dish such as ready-to-eat sandwiches or wraps or salads (green salads, pasta or grain salads, meat or veggie salads, etc.)
 Families whose child’s last name begins with N –S:
o bring fingerfood desserts such as cookies or bars.
 Families whose child’s last name begins with T-Z:
o bring cider (2 gallons per family if possible)
 If you bring a gluten-free or dairy-free dish, please mark it as such.

     Remember to bring a checkbook or your credit card number, because we hope to tempt you to “buy” a window, a door, or a square foot, to help fund the new building! We will be giving “hard hat” tours of the new building and the many green building components.

     Thank you to those who have already signed up to help; a few team leaders are still needed; contact Sarah Pierce or Lynne Espy if you’re willing to supervise certain projects.
     Any questions, contact: Lynne Espy, Development Coordinator: development@merriconeag.org, 865-3900 ext. 116 or Sarah Pierce: danandsarah.pierce@gmail.com, 926-5337

From the Board

     The Board of Directors at Merriconeag would like to welcome everyone back for the new school year. We are certainly off to a great start! With so many new faces across our campuses, the Board would like to explain our on-going role and how we help to support, sustain and grow our school community.

     The Board is comprised of parents, faculty, and independent members all concerned with the immediate and long-term success of the school. In addition to insuring the financial health of the school, we are also involved in many areas. The Board has several working committees that are designed to support the faculty and administration by providing assistance with planning and oversight in key areas. Starting this week, we will highlight two committees per week in the Tuesday News. Anyone can work on a Board Committee and to get involved, just contact the committee chair.

     The Board meets on the third Monday evening of every month from 6:30 – 8:30 in the Community Hall. All of our meetings are open to the public and everyone is welcome to attend - our next meeting is Monday, September 19th. We look forward to meeting all the new families, and reconnecting with our returning parents, in the weeks ahead.

     Here’s to a great new school year at Merriconeag!  Bob Neveu, Board Chair

The Building and Grounds Committee
     The Buildings and Grounds Committee is chaired by Christine Sloan and includes Will Hight, John Saccone, Rosemary Burwell, Bob Thurrell and Shannon Combar. The Committee meets once a month for the purpose of identifying short term and long term projects for the maintenance and care of both the buildings and grounds at Merriconeag. The committee provides oversight and guidance on budget use and the five year plan for the campus facilities. This includes trails, woodlands, bridges and campsite, the mechanical infrastructure of our buildings, parking lots and driveways and general upkeep of all of the buildings.

     A smaller number of committee members meet weekly with the Caretaker to support the ongoing work of caring for our campus. If you are interested in supporting this work with your professional expertise in construction or forestry/trail work, please speak to Christine. administrator@merriconeag.org

The Finance Committee
     The Finance Committee’s objective is to monitor the financial health of the school and report to the Board and school community regarding financial matters. We meet monthly and discuss topics such as the school’s operating budget, capital budgets, insurance coverage, investment policy, endowment funds and more.

     Our committee consists of seven members: Barbara Guffin, Board Treasurer, Shannon Combar, Finance Director, Christine Sloan, Administrator, Jeffrey O’Brien, faculty rep, members of the community Julie Henze, Mary Martin and Ben Tupper. If you enjoy working with numbers, this is a great committee to join. Our next meeting is Thursday, September 15.

Merriconeag's Community Education Speaker Series

Jaimen McMillan will be on campus September 30th & October 1st for two events:

Jaimen will also present the following workshop:

Space is limited in the workshop. To register email: publicrelations@merriconeag.org

Jaimen McMillan developed the discipline of Spacial Dynamics® in 1985. He gives lectures and workshops worldwide, and regular trainings in the US, England, Germany, and Hungary. He has written articles for educational and health journals and is a contributing author for books dealing with pedagogy and therapy.

For more information: www.spacialdynamics.com

School Community Updates

Merriconeag's Picture Day is Coming Soon:

Tuesday, October 11th, 9:30 am
(Rain date: Wednesday October 12th)
      Robyn Ivy Photography is honored to be your school photographer this year. School portraits are about representing who your child is in this moment-inside and out. It is my hope that your child's school picture will be a true reflection of who they are not just an example of what they look like.
      For those of you who are new to Robyn Ivy Photography, you'll find my approach to photography to be casual, relaxed, and fun. My style is a simple, candid approach, striving to capture the unexpected, unrehearsed moments that make your child so unique. It's a wonderful feeling to look at a photograph of your child and be able to say "that's so Jack", or, "that's such a Katie face". You will find your school portraits from Robyn Ivy Photography to be as individual as the children themselves.

Ordering: I am proud to utilize a school picture ordering system that is both simple and is gentler on the environment by reducing the amount of packaging. Because I know seeing is believing, I choose to offer parents an ordering system that allows you to view a proof of your child's photograph before deciding which package best suits your needs. This way what you see is what you get.

How it works: I will be at Merriconeag Waldorf School at 9:30 am on Tuesday, October 11th. Please take the extra time to dress and prepare your children for school picture day. I will have an assistant with me to ensure the children's faces are clean and noses wiped. However, it is important to note that we do not style children's hair. We will be taking individual and group class photos (so please be on time), if needed, we have scheduled a rain date of Wednesday October 12th. You do not need to send in an order or any money at this time. Approximately 10 days later, you will receive one wallet size proof of your child's photograph and an envelope containing all ordering instructions. Simply fill out the envelope and return it to the school with your payment within one week

Please contact us directly with any questions or comments: robyn@robynivy.com, 401.527.9453

or check us out on the web: www.robynivy.com. Check out Robyn's blog @ http://robynivy.com/blog/

High School News

     Thank you to everyone who made the first few days of school an unqualified success. We are very appreciative of our seniors who welcomed our incoming 9th graders last Tuesday (and included a goodie bag for each one), gifted the entire community with their song "Lean on Me" at the Wildflower ceremony on Wednesday, and organized a fun "Wilderlympics" for the entire high school on Thursday and Friday. They helped get us off to a very good start this year and we thank them for their initiative.

     Thank you to Gina Sawin and our Board for providing the high school with a delicious Mexican buffet and a barn dance to remember last Thursday evening. We thank Monday Night Posse for the music that got us all dancing and we send out a special thank you to the anonymous high school parent who purchased this item, offered by the Board at last spring's auction, and then gave it to the high school.  Jeff O'Brien, High School Faculty Chair

Athletic News - Sports Updates

High School Cross Country

Congratulations to Jack Pierce who was named one of the Portland Press Herald's "20 Cross Country Runners to Watch." You can read all about it by clicking here.

Merriconeag Meet Recap
      Another Friday, another great race for the x-country teams! Last Friday, September 9th, Merriconeag hosted Falmouth and Gray New Gloucester at their home course. The weather was bright and breezy, with the trails providing some welcome shade. The meet was well attended by family members, classmates and teachers (thanks spectators!). Cookies and other snacks were greatly enjoyed by the competitors.
      On the girls side, Zoe Chace-Donahue recorded her first ever individual victory, battling it out with Falmouth's number one and making her move in the last mile. Working together, Teagan Wu, Jesse Saffeir and Sam Pierce broke up a large Falmouth pack, putting Merriconeag into excellent scoring position. Teagan in particular had a break-out race, passing a number of competitors and hanging on for third place while Jesse and Sam both finished before Falmouth's fourth and fifth runners. Emelie Chace-Donahue rounded out the scoring with a well-paced run. Emma Dolan gave a good effort on the trails despite some shoe issues, working hard to maintain her pace. Zoe Oswald ran very aggressively in the second half of the run, ensuring her a large improvement over last week's time. The girls beat Gray New Gloucester and finished only two points behind a very large Falmouth team.

     For the boys, Jack Pierce again went out with the leaders, in a large pack that narrowed down to just two in the second half of the race when he and the lead Falmouth runner decided to pick up the pace. Tyler O'Brien ran very consistent splits as the lone Merriconeag runner in a very large Falmouth pack. Ben Tindall and Zach Neveu, working together, had a strong race and finished without being passed by a single runner (although there was a little jockeying between the two teammates as they kicked into the finish chute). Lincoln Samuelson turned in another strong effort, working hard on the hills. John Burgess ran an impressive race, improving on his last year's time by over a minute and a half. Lars Gundersen also posted an improvement- a new personal best- while continuing to display an excellent kick in the finishing stretch. The boys beat Gray New Gloucester and finished second to Falmouth. Coach Morgan Lake Adams

The next high school race is in York on Friday, September 16th. Merriconeag will be racing Cape Elizabeth, Poland and York. The girls run at 4:30 pm and the boys at 5:00. We love to see you there!

You can keep up with cross country news and meet schedules on the team blog: http://www.mwsxcrunningteam.blogspot.com/

Middle School Cross Country
Our Middle School Cross-country running team is for 6th, 7th and 8th graders. The team and Coach Oliver Kinzer have been practicing and preparing for their upcoming meets. Their first race of the year is this Thursday, September 15 at Royal River Park in Yarmouth and it is hosted by NYA. Please come out and cheer them on!

The 2011 Race Schedule and times are listed below:
9/15 Thursday atN.Y.A. Royal River Park
9/22 Thursday at Greely. Twinbrook
9/26 Monday at Sacopee Valley. SV High School
10/3 Monday - Greely relays at Twinbrook
10/6 Thursday - WE HOST AT MWS
10/13 Thursday at Freeport - Pownal Rd. Field
10/20 Thursday - CCC Invitational at Twinbrook
All races start with a 3:00 course walk. Girls race at 4:00 and Boys at 4:30, with the exception of the
final race (10/20) where the course walk is at 1:30, Boys race at 3:00, Girls at 3:30 and a fun race at 4:00.

Read (Listen to or Watch) This

Findings: Can a Playground Be Too Safe?

Efforts to regulate playground equipment to prevent injuries may stunt emotional development,

a new study suggests.

By John Tierney, The New York Times, Science, July 19, 2011

(Click blue to link through)

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