Tuesday News - May 15, 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

Merriconeag Hosts Fifth Grade Pentathlon

Thursday and Friday, May 17 & 18

Merriconeag's fifth grade will be joined by the White Mountain Waldorf School from Albany, New Hampshire for this annual event. Our 10th graders will be assisting on Friday.

2012 Spring Concert:
Wednesday, May 23, 6:30 PM, Community Hall
We cordially invite you to wash away from the soul the dust of everyday life and join us for the 2012 Spring Ensemble Concert. Students in grades 5 through 12 will be performing.

     All students in grades 5 though 12 are required to attend and should arrive no later than 6:10 with their instruments and music. Dress for the evening consists of assembly attire (described in the parent handbook) with spring colors encouraged.
      We look forward to seeing you there! Jordan Seavey

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 16, Open Session: Free! Come and use this time to finish up an old project.

News from the Circus Coordinator

     Thank you to all the roustabouts who signed up at the May Faire to work our Circus shows on Monday, August 6th and Tuesday, August 7th. Please visit this online sign-up page to enter your name. Every person who volunteers before the end of school will be entered into a drawing for 4 free circus tickets to the performance of their choice.
      Please keep in mind that the Circus is a great way to shine the spotlight on your business, or that of a friend, to our 3,000+ Circus-goers during the busiest week of the summer. We'd like to invite you to advertise in our beautiful playbill (ad rates here) and/or to sponsor children-in-need for our Magic Matinee program that reaches out to over 750 kids from community groups across the state. Join us under the big top by helping to make magic happen. Thank you!

Trace Salter, Circus Coordinator

News From the Early Childhood Center

Early Childhood Teachers Welcome Marie-Claire:

     Our Early Childhood teachers welcome Marie-Claire Stoll from the Waldorf School in Innsbruck Austria. She is here doing a one month internship in Bridget's kindergarten  learning all about early childhood as part of her school's internship program for juniors.

     Marie-Claire is very familiar with us as she spent three months in the fall as an exchange student in our junior class at the high school. She lived with the Dowling Family at that time and returns to them now. Marie-Claire's family hosted Wyatt Dowling during his exchange in Austria in early 2011.

News From the High School

A Senior Moment

     The senior class has been incredibly active these past few weeks. In addition to beginning the rehearsals for their big end of year, end of journey musical (Man of La Mancha), our oldest students have recently completed their senior projects and senior internships and had opportunities to share these experiences with the community.

     Over the course of two nights, Thursday, April 26 and Tuesday, May 1, the students presented the fruits of their senior projects. Held in the Community Hall, both nights were very well attended. Six students presented the first night. Armed with pictures, artifacts and passionate anecdotes, the students did a fine job presenting and answering insightful questions form the audience. Participants the first night:
• Wyatt McCurdy who demonstrated the wind turbine that he built (and that really works!)
• Connor Beckett who essentially performed a stand up comedy routine about his experiences creating stained glass for the first time
• Haydee Jacobs who movingly spoke about the work she did in a community acupuncture clinic in Portland administering treatment to veterans suffering from the aftereffects of combat
• Tyler O'Brien presented his research on how the worldwide loss of languages impacts cultures
• Evie Pennoyer read from the novella she was writing
• Sierra Jeffers showed the photographs that she had composed and taken
The second night's presenters were:
• Cyrus Fenderson who had taken up the ancient pursuit for making perfumes
• Carson Davis shared the ceramic pieces he had learned to make on the wheel
• Ellen Wise enthusiastically demonstrated the complex process she undertook to make beautiful pieces of custom jewelry
• Wyatt Dowling read from one of the short stories he wrote for his project
• Liza Simmons played some of the original songs she recorded in a professional studio in Portland and revealed the process of transforming a song into a studio creation

     But that was not all!

     On Friday, May 4, here at Pineland, the seniors once again made presentations. This time, they were sharing the stories and experiences from the land of work. For three weeks and in some cases, a fourth week extending into the April vacation, seniors did not come to school. Instead, they spent time at hospitals, clinics, schools, restaurants, Green building supply companies, ski mountains, environmental organizations, coffee roasters, shipyards and French bakeries, learning about how these businesses run. In all cases, the students learned a tremendous amount through these real world experiences.

     With these two milestones behind them and their last academic block over, senior attention now turns to the play, the senior trip to Montreal, and ultimately, graduation.

     Congratulations to all of our seniors for their successful projects, internships and presentations and thank you to the community for supporting our oldest students. David Barham & Regine Whittlesey, Senior Class Advisors

High School Coffee House a Hit, Even without Springsteen!
      I thought Bruce Springsteen had come to the Community Hall when I arrived Friday evening, May 4th - but no, it was just the usual enthusiastic crowd attending the annual Coffee House at Merriconeag. I’m always amazed at the talent shared at MWS events. This evening, the audience was treated to a wealth of poetry, music, dance, and drama - in addition to a sumptuous array of desserts and hot drinks.
      Juniors Phoebe Clewley and Jack Pierce hosted the show, drawing our attention to choice vocabulary words - and sharing an amazing example of verbiage (author unknown) that would make Will Strunk and E.B. White squirm in their graves. I counted 25 poet-readers, eight juniors reciting in French, four singer-musicians, three dancers, two dramatic fiction writers/performers, and one cellist...... plus two interior decorators (Martha Carton and Regine Whittlesey) who transformed the space with flowers, linens, artfully arranged platters of food, and a warm Coffee House atmosphere. Thanks again to all the families who provided the treats!
      As an added dimension to the evening's success, the event raised over $700 to help fund Model UN and the Siddhartha School in Ladakh, India. Mariana Tupper

School Community Updates

Is that YOUR full size cello? Fiona Libby (G7) is missing her full size cello which seems to have gone home with a different family on Monday, May 7. Her name is on the paperwork inside the outer pocket of the cello case. Please check the paper in the pocket of the cello you have at home. If you have Fiona’s cello, please return it to the Community Hall. You may also give us a call to coordinate a pick up. Thank you. Tracy, Scott and Fiona Libby 846-1661.

Part-time Music Position(s) Available for 2012/2013 School Year: Merriconeag Waldorf School is offering a part-time position for a trained choral director to conduct combined ensembles of fifth/sixth grades, seventh/eighth grades, and high school beginning September, 2012.  We are also hiring an instrumental music teacher specializing in winds to teach flute, clarinet, trumpet, and saxophone in grades six through twelve.  Click here to learn more.

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 18. 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.

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 fifth game of the season on Wednesday, May 9, against Isleboro.

     This Wednesday, May 16, 3:30 p.m. at the Cumberland Fairgrounds, Merriconeag Ultimate will play the Cape Elizabeth A Team. Merriconeag is the only team in the league that is undefeated but Cape is a league powerhouse so this will be challenging game. Come on out and support the team to continue their winning streak!

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

Read (Listen to or Watch) This 

A New Inspiration for Education: A Report from the Western Waldorf

Educators Conference Featuring Aonghus Gordon
By Stephen Payne, Biodynamics Blog, April 16, 2012

(Click blue to link through)

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