Monday, May 26, 2008

Seniors, tell me about you.

Hi Soon to be Graduates,

I am making a program for the Project Night evening and need a brief blurb from each of you, which includes the following:

Name
Brief bio (where you are from, how long you have been at Trillium, what you like to do, what you hope to do in the future, etc.):
Project Description:
Words of Wisdom:

For example:

Name: Frank Frankman
Bio: Frank was born and raised in Portland and has been going to Trillium since 2003. He enjoys aquatic marine biology, reading science fiction, and kite boarding. After Frank graduates, he will attend Portland State University, travel to Asia, and continue to volunteer his time at Trillium.
Project Description: Frank designed and built a working biosphere in his garage. He kept a photo, video, and written journal of the project and hopes that his experience will raise awareness about the impact of individual choices on the environment.
Words of Wisdom: "Be like water."

This should take you each about 8 minutes. Please do it now. You will forever be immortalized and I will be temporarily extremely grateful.

Peace,

Ken

Senior Project Night Schedule

Tentative Senior Project Night Schedule

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

Garden Room

Kirk’s Room

Tobie’s Room

MP Room

6:00 – 6:25

Opening and Welcome.

6:30 - 6:55

Cailie

Eric

Nolan

7:00 – 7:25

Chieko

Paige

Fiona

Riley

7:30 – 7:55

Jeff

Nina

Emily

Chris P

8:00 – 8:25

Luuk

Maria

Leila

Solomon

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Important Senior Stuff, Part II

And...

We are finalizing the schedule for commencement. Our confirmed performers are Cailie, who will be singing, and Chieko, Emily, and Luuk, who will be sword fighting.

Please email PHOTOS to Jess@TrilliumCharterSchool.org. She is helping put together the slide show for commencement. We need BABY pictures as well as any photos from your school career that are meaningful to you which you would like included.

Ken

Important Senior Stuff

Hi Class of '08.

This is very important info about graduation. Please read it all and email me back as soon as you have done so.

Congratulations to Eric for being the first to have his project approved by his PRC.

Most of you have your final PRC meetings this week. Here are the ones I know about:
Nina - Tuesday at 3:30
Paige - Wednesday at 7:30 AM
Solomon - Wednesday at 3:15 PM
Maria - Thursday at 3:30
Fiona - Friday at 12:30
Chris P - Friday at 2:00

Cailie, Chieko, Emily, Jeff, Leila, Nolan, Luuk, and Riley: I DO NOT HAVE CONFIRMED TIMES FOR YOUR FINAL PRC. Please get those to me immediately.

CAPS AND GOWNS have arrived. You may pay for them at any time, though they will not be distributed until the Friday the 6th, the day before commencement.

Graduation ANNOUNCEMENTS are still available and I recommend you purchase them as soon as possible. They are $1 each. Bring a check to the front desk and then bring me the receipt.

Tuesday, June 3rd is the SENIOR PROJECT FAIR. You will each have a table in the multi porpoise room starting at 1:30. All school community members will be coming by to check out your projects. This will guarantee that students and teachers from all age levels get to see your projects. It will also give them incentive to come the following evening for SENIOR PROJECT NIGHT, Wednesday, June 4th from 6 to 9. This is your community presentation of your project. All family members, friends, and community members are invited. You are each assigned a 30 minute time slot for your presentation.

COMMENCEMENT begins at 2:00 on Saturday, June 7th. You are all required to be there by 1:15. We are arranging a walk through rehearsal for Friday, June 6th, but the time has not been established yet.

You are all to give your 3-minute senior SPEECHES at commencement after your chosen speaker has introduced you. I MUST HAVE YOUR CHOICES FOR THE STAFF MEMBER WHO IS INTRODUCING YOU IMMEDIATELY. Please give me a first and second choice. Many of you have already made your selections and communicated that to me. Thank you. Please, all of you, confirm your selections by emailing your choices. We must make sure that many teacher voices are represented (no, you cannot all have Kirk). That is why I need your top TWO choices for speakers.

I believe Chris Pearson was spear heading a senior brunch for Sunday the 8th. Check with him for details.

It is crunch time for many of you, I know. Good luck. You can do it. Don't give up now - you are almost done. Don't forget to ask for help or support when you need it. A lot of people care about you and want you to succeed. Ask for help. You'll get it.

Peace,

Ken

Monday, May 19, 2008

Gaza Video Conference

Our first face to face with students in Gaza is happening Wednesday morning at 7:30! See you then.

Gaza Video Conference Questions

Trillium Questions for Gaza Students

For May 21, 2008 Video Conference

(Students listed in bold will ask the questions.)

1. How was your day? TIMOTHY

2. What do you do for fun? LEILA

3. What are your parents’ occupations? TIMOTHY

4. Marriage: are marriages arranged by parents? JIM

5. Media: how much faith do you have in your news outlets? OCEAN

6. What images do you see of American youth and culture in your media? How are Americans portrayed? CHRIS

7. What involvement do your parents have in Why Not program? What do they think of it? CHRIS

8. What problem do you face with school? CHAU

9. How active are the women in the community? CRYSTAL

10. Do you ever have contact with students in the West Bank? SOLOMON

11. Where is the nearest security wall to you? How close is it? JIM

12. How do you feel about Hamas and the services they provide? HANNAH

13. Is there a specific set of rules and laws dictated by Israel that Palestinians have to live by? HANNAH

14. Do you know people in Israeli prisons? CHRIS

15. Is violence happening on a daily basis? IAN

16. How has the violence affected you and your community? LEILA

17. Do you have any Israeli friends? LEILA

18. Could you leave Gaza if you wanted to? SOL

19. Do people want to leave? CHAU

20. What conflicts are there within the Palestinian community? HANNAH

21. How active are youth in the intifada? IAN

22. What do you think Gaza will be like in ten years? CARMELA


Video Conference Questions for Trillium Students

Written by Gaza Students

(Students listed in bold will prepare responses to the questions.)

May 13, 2008

General+ Culture

  1. What’s up? How are you feeling these days? What’s new? TIMOTHY
  2. Do you enjoy education in the US? Do you face any problems? CHAU
  3. Do you work voluntary activities or a job? CARMELA, HALSTON
  4. What do you wish to be when you finish your school? CRYSTAL, IAN, HALSTON
  5. What is your favorite band? TIMOTHY, HALSTON
  6. What sports do you practice in your schools? HANNAH
  7. Have you ever seen any Palestinian Folklore dance show (Dabka)? Or the Palestinian Traditional Embroidery? SOLOMON
  8. What are your hobbies? Do you have much time to practice? LEILA, OCEAN, HALSTON
  9. Do you like to travel? What's your favorite place to visit? Where have you traveled? LEILA

Family+Society

  1. Do you face the conflict of generations between you and your parents? In which ways? CHRIS
  2. Are you very much connected to your family? Do they affect your decisions? CHRIS
  3. In your perspective…What does life mean to you? TIMOTHY
  4. Do you face problems related to discrimination issue? TIMOTHY
  5. What are the things you most don’t like about your country? TIMOTHY, CHRIS, HANNAH
  6. Is there much violence at your school or neighborhood? If yes, how are you affected? HANNAH
  7. How many friends do you have? Do you hang a lot with them? IAN
  8. Do you think that the American Society can thrive with so many different cultures in it? JIM

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

  1. Do your parents and community know anything about the Palestinian Intifada or the Palestinian issue in general? HANNAH
  2. Few days ago was the 60th anniversary for the Palestinian Catastrophe (Nakba) do you know anything about it? CHRIS
  3. Have you heard about the severe siege imposed on Gaza strip since last June? And are you aware of the Gas and fuel problems that we in Gaza are facing nowadays? CHAU
  4. Can you imagine how your daily life would be without fuel? CRYSTAL?
  5. In your opinion…What is the best solution to end the Palestinian Israeli conflict? SOLOMON (This is the only question.)
  6. What do you know about the apartheid wall in the West Bank? CARMELA
  7. Do you think Palestinians enjoy their human rights?

Elections+ Foreign Policy

  1. Who do you support the most in the presidential elections? IAN
  2. Do you support all of the government actions? CHRIS
  3. Are you for or against the war in Iraq? Why? (This is a doozy.) Ken, SOLOMON, CHAU

Monday, May 12, 2008

Security Wall Assignment II

Security Wall Assignment II

Middle East Peace

May 8, 2008

Due: Tuesday, May 13th

We have discussed the Israeli justification for the building of the Security Fence, based in part on the film, produced by the state of Israel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w587gNnuGLU.

Attached is an excerpt from President Jimmy Carter’s book, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid explaining his perspective on the Security Wall.

You should also consider the map and quote below before answers:

“Everybody has to move, run, and grab as many hilltops as they can to enlarge the settlements because everything we take now will stay ours… Everything we don’t grab will go to them.”

- Ariel Sharon, then Israeli Foreign Minister, November 1998.

After analyzing these four documents, the film, the Palestine excerpt, the map, and the Ariel Sharon quote, answers the following questions:

  • What do you believe is the reason for building the Security Fence?
  • Why is Israel building it?
  • What does it accomplish?
  • What evidence can you use to support your opinion?
  • Do you think having a Security Wall is a good idea? Why or why not? If you support a security barrier, where should it go?

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Trillium and West Bank Help Break World Record

Trillium and Gaza students partnered to raise awareness about unequal access to education and put ourselves into the Guiness Book of World Records in the process. Click here to learn more: http://www.campaignforeducationusa.org/portland.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

ME Peace: Conflict Now Assignment

Conflict Now Assignments

Middle East Peace Class

May 6, 2008

Due date: Every Thursday

Points: The four assignments will be worth 10% of the final grade.

The assignment:

In order to stay current on events that are happening right now, today, in Israel and the Palestinian territories, you are to find, read, and respond to one news piece each week.

What you need to do:

  1. Find an article about events or conditions in Israel, Gaza, or the West Bank in the Oregonian, the New York Times in print or online (www.newyorktimes.com) or the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) news service (www.bbc.co.uk).
  2. Read the article.
  3. Write down the:
    1. Headline
    2. Author
    3. Date
    4. Publication (BBC, Oregonian, etc.)
  4. Create a standard response. Write:
    1. A 2-3 sentence summary
    2. Wow – interesting things
    3. Huh – confusing things or questions
    4. Hmm – connections to something you already knew.
  5. Bring your response and a copy of the article to class each Thursday, prepared to present.

Friday, May 02, 2008

Senior Stuff

Graduation Announcements have arrived, cost $1.oo each and are available in Ken's room. Simply bring in cash or a check made out to Trillium.

Caps and gowns will be here at the end of the month and will cost $30.

- Ken

Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences

Hi families,

It is conference time again and I am scheduling our half-hour slots starting the beginning of next week. As you will see, I am limited primarily to mornings and Friday afternoons. Please choose the soonest available time you can meet and let me know. The times I have right now are:

Mondays May 5th or 12th: 7:30, 8:00, 8:30
Wednesdays May 7th or 14th: 7:30, 8:00, 8:30
Thursday May 8th: 7:30, 8:00, 8:30
Fridays, May 9th or 16th: 1:30, 2:00, 2:30, 3:00

Best,

Ken