Tuesday News - May 8, 2012

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

Upcoming Events

May Celebration and Medieval Faire

This Saturday, May 12, 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

57 Desert Road, Freeport

A family day of festive activities: Maypole dancing, games, delicious food & drink.

     Hear ye all good folk of Merrye Conneague! The Faire approacheth with all haste! Don yer tunic and hosen, yer gown and festive kirtle and be prepared for a wondrous day of may dancing and singing, and stamping the earth.
      Savories and fresh roasted meats there'll be, with mead or a cup of ale to wash it down. Then look about for a cake or biscuit to satisfy yer sweet tooth.

     Please feel free to bring your entire family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) and any guests you'd like!    
New this year:

~ Follow the stars (6th grade sword dance stars) to the new Community Pole - hold your little one and hold a ribbon and round the Pole you go.
~ Look for the tumblers and troubadors - bring your sausages and savouries to the white tent where Sixth Grade is offering a performance - be generous with your pennies and half-crowns when they pass the hat; they'll be selling your favorite medieval sweets - jumbals and gingerbread, pears and almonds...

     Surely ye won't want to miss a moment of this rare event, so come by forty-five minutes past the hour of nine (9:45) dressed in yer Medieval best. The Faire is from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., rain or shine (Note: The event will be cancelled if there is severe weather, i.e. dangerous, not just uncomfortable.)

     Come greet the spring and chase old winter away. Halantow!

For those new to the school: The May Celebration and Medieval Faire is considered one of our school days and is for everyone. Students should arrive with their families by 9:45 so we can begin the processional promptly at 10:00. If you have questions about the event, please call Lisa in the Grade School Office, 865-3900.

Open to students in 4th grade and up, parents and friends of the school. Please sign up with Lisa in the Grade School office. May 16 will be the final craft class of the school year. We have enjoyed spending our time with you on Weds afternoons and look forward to beginning again in the fall. If you have a project idea or wish to teach one, please, get in touch with one of us. Our Best to You, Sandy Pearson and Julie Pennington

Wed. May 9, Felted Geode
Wet felt a rainbow inside gray of wool and enjoy the surprise when it is cut open. This is a one day project. All materials supplied. $10.00
Wed. May 16, Open Session: Free! Come and use this time to finish up an old project.

From the Admissions Office

    Don’t forget the myriad opportunities in May to invite a prospective family to a school event; the Medieval Faire, Spring Concert, class plays, all showcase wonderful aspects of Waldorf education. Lyn Baird

Coming up:

Wednesday, May 9, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m., Early Childhood Information Session

. . . an introduction to our unique approach to the early years.

To register, contact Lyn Baird, 207-865-3900, ext.103 or admissionsdirector@merriconeag.org

News from the Circus Coordinator

Calling all Roustabouts to the May Faire: Smirkus Impresarios will be at the May Faire looking to rustle up able-bodied volunteers for our shows on Monday, August 6th and Tuesday, August 7th. Everyone signing up at the good Faire will be entered into a drawing for four free, VIP tickets to the performance of your choice during our presentation of the 25th Anniversary Big Top Tour. See you down the road!

News From the Early Childhood Center

New Fruit Trees Planted in Early Childhood Orchard:

On Thursday, April 26th ReTreeUs, a nonprofit organization with a mission of reforesting orchards at schools, came to Merriconeag and planted five apple and pear trees on our Early Childhood playground.       Moriah Salter and Richard Hodges are the founders of the organization and Richard is a Merriconeag Waldorf School Early Childhood Program alumnus! Moriah, Richard and Will Hight were met on the playground by Jess Moore’s Daisy Kindergarten and Lynn Thurrell’s 7th Grade. Together the kindergarteners and 7th graders dug holes, removed rocks, composted, planted and watered the trees. Later that afternoon, Suzie Pierson’s 3rd grade class worked to finish planting the remaining trees down by the Farmhouse. We thank Re-Tree Us and we look forward to watching our new trees flourish. 

You can learn more about ReTreeUs at http://www.retreeus.com/

News From the High School

Falmouth Sweeps Top Awards at Merriconeag Poetry Festival
      Falmouth High School students swept first, second and third place at the Merriconeag Poetry Festival held last Sunday at Merriconeag's Freeport campus. Falmouth Senior Conor McGrory earned the top prize with his poem "Running to Naperville," while sophomores Emily Roscoe and Katie Ryan earned second and third place, respectively.
      Mark Melnicove, veteran Falmouth High School English teacher of the prizewinning poets, expressed both surprise and delight at his students' unprecedented sweep of the top three awards. "As a teacher, I just try to set up a situation that allows the students to succeed, and then I get out of the way."
      Festival judge Adrian Blevins, Director of the Creative Writing Program at Colby College, selected nineteen finalists during the contest portion of the Festival, including the three top award winners. The judging process was blind, so Ms. Blevins read the submissions without any knowledge of the name, gender, age, or school affiliation of the poet.
      During the Festival, the winners, along with other finalists, heard Ms. Blevins read two of her poems about motherhood and quote from John F. Kennedy's remarks about the importance of the humanities.
      After Ms. Blevins' reading, the finalists read their winning poems, then received gift certificates donated by Longfellow Books in Portland and Gulf of Maine in Brunswick.
      The Festival was the culmination of events that began in January, when students from all of the over-forty public and private schools in this region were invited to submit their poetry. Students from fifteen area schools sent in work.
      Interestingly, even though a different well-known Maine poet has served as judge each year, two schools have had multiple finalists every year: Scarborough High School, and Merriconeag Waldorf High School. This year Falmouth and Catherine McAuley High Schools also claimed multiple winners.
      In addition to the three top prizewinners, the other finalists included: from Brunswick High School—Bridget Horan; from Catherine McAuley High School—Julia Cornell and Christina Murray; from Falmouth High School, Conor McGrory, Emily Roscoe, Katie Ryan, and Ryan Tartre; from Gorham High School—Olivia Marshburn-Ersek; from Merriconeag Waldorf High School—Zoe Chace-Donahue, Soren Donisvitch, Wyatt Dowling, Joe Newlin, and Jesse Saffeir; from Morse High School—Lauren Lindsay Crosby; from Scarborough High School—Beatrice Braeuer, Bridget Cange, Lauren Foley, and Jesse Rule; and from South Portland High School—Wamokonzi (Konzo) Alognon.
      The Festival was made possible, in part, by generous grants from the Maine Humanities Council.

David Sloan

Tyler O'Brien Represents the State of Maine at  National Poetry Out Loud Competition: This coming Monday, May 14, at 9:00 a.m., Merriconeag senior, Tyler O'Brien, will be participating in the first round of recitations at the National Poetry Out Loud Competitions in Washington DC. This first round can be viewed live at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/poetry-out-loud-finals.

Congratulations, Tyler, we wish you all the best!

Dartmouth Model UN Conference 2012:  The Model UN club started off with a bang this year as a third quarter elective. We began with a short introduction to how the UN works and quickly moved on to preparing for the Dartmouth Model UN conference.
      Every single student participating in the conference represented a country in many committees including, but not limited to, DISEC (Disarmament and International Security), the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), and SPECPOL (Special Political and Decolonization Committee). On every committee there were about twenty to sixty participants from schools across New England, as well as one school from California.
      This was my second time participating in the DartMUN conference, but I still learned a lot about international relations and more importantly, how to compromise and work together.
      Cyrus Fenderson should also be commended for receiving an award for his outstanding work in the Israeli-Palestinian summit. Submitted by Tyler O'Brien

School Community Updates

Plant Sale at the May Faire: The 6th grade will have again have a plant sale at the May Faire. If you have even one plant that needs dividing (or a new home), please either leave it to the left of the CH entrance - under the shelter of the roof - or bring it along Saturday morning. In the past, a huge variety of plants have been sold (Lily of the Valley, hosta, day lilies, berry plants, lilacs, tiny cups of Johnny Jump Ups, etc.). Thank you for any plants you may be able to offer. Lisa Mainella, for the 6th Grade

Geraniums for Sale: The enthusiastic 7th grade class is selling beautiful, healthy, and hardy 4½” potted Geranium plants from Estabrooks Farm in Yarmouth. The flowering plants will be available in your choice of RED, PINK, or WHITE, the cost is $5.00 per plant and the 7th graders will be taking orders until the end of the day on Friday, May 11. Please drop off completed order forms with payment at the 7th Grade classroom. You may also simply stop by the office to drop off your order anytime. We are planning to have the GERANIUMS delivered to school the week before Memorial Day (exact date TBA). So think SPRING and place your order soon! Many thanks for your patronage . . . The 7th Grade. Click here for order form.

Foundation Studies Program at Merrriconeag September 2012: We are planning to have another Foundation Studies Program at Merriconeag next fall. It is a lively community building course for interested parents, teachers and prospective Waldorf teachers. Participants go on to teacher education programs, biodynamic agriculture courses, art trainings, etc. FMI: Contact Barbara Richardson, brichardson@centerforanthroposophy.org or 865-6482.

Merriconeag Summer Camps for 2012 - Sign up now!

This summer we will be offering two summer camps during the week of June 25 - 29, 9:00 a.m. - noon. If there is enough interest, we will consider offering an afternoon program like we did last year.

For more information and to register, please click on the name of the camp:     Circus Arts Camp         Buttercup Summer Garden Camp

Athletic News

High School Ultimate Frisbee: Congratulations to the team for winning their fourth game of the season on Wednesday, May 2, against Forest City (Portland).

     On Sunday, May 6, Merriconeag Ultimate (MU) participated in the Cumberland Invitational. This all day event lasted from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. with MU playing four games. They won their first game against Forest City, 13 - 4. They then played Fryeburg and won, 13 - 9. Their third game was with Camden Hills and MU again won, 13 - 9. The fourth and final game was with Falmouth and MU was defeated, 13 - 5. Congratulations to Merriconeag Ultimate for a wonderful day of games.

     This Wednesday, May 9, 3:30 p.m. at the Cumberland Fairgrounds, Merriconeag Ultimate will play Islesboro. This should be an exciting game as both teams are undefeated. Ulitmate is a great spectator sport, so please join us on the field on Wednesday.

You can view the schedule at http://www.maineultimate.com/team-schedules.

Read (Listen to or Watch) This 

Report Calls for National Effort to Get Millions Of Young Americans onto a Realistic Path to Employability
Ed. The Magazine of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Summer 2011

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