A Survivor

     How lucky we were to have Mrs. Esther Lederman with us today!  Our teacher Ms. Finkelstein, whose 10th grade students are studying Elie Wiesel's Night, contacted The Center for Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Education of North Carolina to see if a Holocaust survivor could speak to the 10th graders.
     One of the slogans of the Center is, "When you listen to a witness, you become a witness," and I believe the students in attendance understood the truth and weight of that by the end of their time with Mrs. Lederman.  She was incredibly generous in describing her experience of hiding in an attic for two years to evade the Nazis, after they had murdered her mother and younger sister and sent her father to Buchenwald.

     There is a 28-minute documentary on Mrs. Lederman's story available for free on youtube here.

Shuffling with Shamrocks

     I believe our brains and our bodies are more closely and inextricably connected than we can even imagine, and any proper education must teach students the skills, the importance, and the joy of movement!  Our elementary PE teacher, Sherry Penland, could stand on the side of the field and bark at the kids to "Run!" because "It's good for you!" . . .  or she could make an event (the Shamrock Shuffle) that is so fun the kids run laps without even really knowing they're "exercising."

     Thank you Ms. Sherry for the art and creativity you bring to your work with our kids! and for keeping them moving with smiles on their faces!

Primary Source: A Human

     I like to think that one of our unofficial slogans at Woods is "Keepin' it real!"  Well, yesterday Ms. Lalley was keeping it real for her 8th grade history students by inviting a group of Vietnam veterans to speak with them about their various experiences as soldiers in the war in the late 60's.  As one of the veterans said, "So often in school you're learning from someone who learned from someone who learned from someone.  We are here as a real primary source, human beings with direct experience of the war."

     These veterans are part of the Bridge Back Foundation whose mission includes helping students understand the lesson of the Vietnam War.

     Thank you to the veterans for giving their time and for the generosity in sharing their experiences.  Thank you to Ms. Lalley for helping us keep it real at Woods.

Happy New Year Woods!

     We were lucky to have the cousin of two of our students visiting from Taiwan this week, and she spent time in art classes throughout the school to teach lessons in calligraphy and landscape.

Here's Happy New Year
with the symbol for Monkey
on the right.  (February 8th marked
the beginning of the Year of the
Monkey in the Chinese calendar.)

And here's the symbol for Woods!






And the work of our students that our visitor inspired . . .

Getting Particular About Particulates

     Even our relatively small school parking lot offers an array of different vehicles . . . and that's what Ms. Younger and her 7th grade scientists needed for testing the particulates produced by different engine types.  They took exhaust samples from . . .
     one of our school buses,
     a large and old Ford pick up truck,
     a Subaru Crosstrek, and
     a Prius.

Then, it was back to the lab, and under the microscopes, to take a closer look at the different particulate levels produced by the four different engines.

Steering Clear of the Shallows

     Peter A. Coclanis's column in this past weekend's News and Observer reminded me of the compelling argument that Nicholas Carr made a few years back in his book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing To Our Brains.

     No Luddite am I, but I do share Carr's and Coclanis's concerns for the effects of digital communication on our live, in-person, and in-public conversations, particularly when we engage in conversations that are difficult, gray, and gritty.  I hope that Woods is a place where we can be "counter-cultural" by engaging in conversations that have real depth and where we maintain civility and respect even when we, perhaps, disagree passionately.

     Here are a few excerpts from Coclanis's column that have stayed in my mind:

“Not to romanticize pre-digital times, but people today get bored easily, are afraid to be alone and are uncomfortable with the spontaneity and messiness involved in unedited human communications and civil, sober public dialogue and debate. Hence, part of the reason that we do face-to-face increasingly badly.”

"Without regular face-to-face conversations, we increasingly lose the ability to empathize with others, much less to engage their views. Indeed, we seem to be detaching from people even when we’re ostensibly with them."

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article58702328.html#storylink=cpy
"Not to romanticize pre-digital times, but people today get bored easily, are afraid to be alone and are uncomfortable with the spontaneity and messiness involved in unedited human communications and civil, sober public dialogue and debate. Hence, part of the reason that we do face-to-face increasingly badly."

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article58702328.html#storylink=cpy

High School Gets Loud for BeLoud!

High School Student Council with Lucy and Niklaus Steiner
of BeLoud! Sophie Foundation

     Two things I know about student life at Woods:

     1.  We're better when we're together, and

     2.  Building community within Woods and community service (helping others beyond the walls of Woods) are often "good friends" that get along well naturally (i.e., when we help others we tend to grow closer to each other!).

     In December our high schoolers held a Charity Ball with all proceeds going to the BeLoud! Sophie Foundation whose mission is to support adolescent and young adult cancer patients at UNC Hospitals.  We had a great time at the Ball . . . and we were able to raise $1000 for BeLoud!

…Be loud

And move with grace

Explode with light

Have no fear…

      ~ Sophie Steiner