Hi students,
Please fill out end of semester surveys:
Click here to take the Senior Project Class survey.
Click here to take the Global Studies Class survey.
Ken
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Exhibition Schedule
Here is the latest schedule for Exhibition Day. This will change slightly to accommodate student resource needs.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Please Come to Trillium this Friday
Hi all,
As we talked about during our conferences back in December, this coming Friday the 29th is Exhibition Day. Students will each take turn being in the spotlight in front of peers and community members presenting their work from the past semester. You are warmly encouraged to attend.
Best,
Ken
As we talked about during our conferences back in December, this coming Friday the 29th is Exhibition Day. Students will each take turn being in the spotlight in front of peers and community members presenting their work from the past semester. You are warmly encouraged to attend.
Best,
Ken
High School Newsletter
Welcome to 2010!
As many of you know, the high school ended the 2009 school year on a very positive, pro-active note, with our first ever “Social Justice Symposium”. This symposium was the culminating event in our semester long drive in our individual advisings to “be the change” that we wish to see in the world. In addition to presentations on the service work that students have been involved in all semester, we had guest speakers, exhibitions, and smaller workshops run by students that ran the gamut from short films about Gaza to workshops on hunger and the prevention of HIV / AIDS. The event was a success, in our eyes, and we look forward to other symposiums like this in the future. However, before we can start planning our next symposium, we need to finish out this first semester, and there's a long list of tasks that both students and advisors need to accomplish before Friday.
First and foremost, the All School Project Fair will be held this Thursday at 6:30pm. The high school will be participating in this event in a different way, in comparison to years past, in honor of the hard work that students did in preparation for the “Social Justice Symposium,” and the fact that our fifth semi-annual annual “Exhibition Day” will be held the following morning from 9:00am to noon. The high school's contribution to the evening will be a panel discussion about the high school, presented by several advisors and the few high schoolers who are willing to give up some of their precious, last minute work time. Parents are invited to attend both the Project Fair and Exhibition Day, if they are so inclined.
Parents and other Trillium community members are warmly welcomed at Exhibition Day, this Friday, from nine to noon. Each student will have his or her turn to present and defend his/her from the past semester in front of a group of peers and family. Please come celebrate your student.
In addition to these presentations, students are also signing up for next semester's classes during advising, which they've hopefully spoken to you about in conversation. The course catalog is available online, should you chose to walk through course sign-up with your student at home, if you wish to augment what's already happening in advising. Course sign-up will officially end on Friday, and students will receive their new semester schedule when they return to school on Wednesday, February 3rd (Remember : Monday and Tuesday are in-school service days for teachers.)
As always, we're available to talk about your particular student by e-mail, so please don't hesitate to ask questions about missing work or overall student performance.
Thank You For Reading.
The Trillium High School Team
As many of you know, the high school ended the 2009 school year on a very positive, pro-active note, with our first ever “Social Justice Symposium”. This symposium was the culminating event in our semester long drive in our individual advisings to “be the change” that we wish to see in the world. In addition to presentations on the service work that students have been involved in all semester, we had guest speakers, exhibitions, and smaller workshops run by students that ran the gamut from short films about Gaza to workshops on hunger and the prevention of HIV / AIDS. The event was a success, in our eyes, and we look forward to other symposiums like this in the future. However, before we can start planning our next symposium, we need to finish out this first semester, and there's a long list of tasks that both students and advisors need to accomplish before Friday.
First and foremost, the All School Project Fair will be held this Thursday at 6:30pm. The high school will be participating in this event in a different way, in comparison to years past, in honor of the hard work that students did in preparation for the “Social Justice Symposium,” and the fact that our fifth semi-annual annual “Exhibition Day” will be held the following morning from 9:00am to noon. The high school's contribution to the evening will be a panel discussion about the high school, presented by several advisors and the few high schoolers who are willing to give up some of their precious, last minute work time. Parents are invited to attend both the Project Fair and Exhibition Day, if they are so inclined.
Parents and other Trillium community members are warmly welcomed at Exhibition Day, this Friday, from nine to noon. Each student will have his or her turn to present and defend his/her from the past semester in front of a group of peers and family. Please come celebrate your student.
In addition to these presentations, students are also signing up for next semester's classes during advising, which they've hopefully spoken to you about in conversation. The course catalog is available online, should you chose to walk through course sign-up with your student at home, if you wish to augment what's already happening in advising. Course sign-up will officially end on Friday, and students will receive their new semester schedule when they return to school on Wednesday, February 3rd (Remember : Monday and Tuesday are in-school service days for teachers.)
As always, we're available to talk about your particular student by e-mail, so please don't hesitate to ask questions about missing work or overall student performance.
Thank You For Reading.
The Trillium High School Team
Friday, January 22, 2010
Exhibition and Class Sign Up
Hello parents,
Please come celebrate your students work over first semester by taking part in Exhibition Day on Friday, January 29th. Each student will have about seven minutes to present and reflect in front of their peers on a significant project, work, or experience from semester one. Parents are encouraged to attend. Exhibitions run the entirety of the Friday half-day. A schedule will be out early next week to highlight the time-slot in which your student will appear.
Course selection sheets and catalogs are now available. I have conferenced with most students around selection and will finish up doing so on Monday and Tuesday.
And as long as I have your attention, my advising is swimming in graciously donated supplies, of all consumable varieties, for which I am most grateful. We seem to have come away with a preponderance of spreadable staples like butter and peanut butter, but nothing on which to spread it (save for Finn's daily delivery of bagels!). We need bread. Can toast. Can freeze. Not too picky, except I only want to feed the students whole grains.
Best,
Ken
Please come celebrate your students work over first semester by taking part in Exhibition Day on Friday, January 29th. Each student will have about seven minutes to present and reflect in front of their peers on a significant project, work, or experience from semester one. Parents are encouraged to attend. Exhibitions run the entirety of the Friday half-day. A schedule will be out early next week to highlight the time-slot in which your student will appear.
Course selection sheets and catalogs are now available. I have conferenced with most students around selection and will finish up doing so on Monday and Tuesday.
And as long as I have your attention, my advising is swimming in graciously donated supplies, of all consumable varieties, for which I am most grateful. We seem to have come away with a preponderance of spreadable staples like butter and peanut butter, but nothing on which to spread it (save for Finn's daily delivery of bagels!). We need bread. Can toast. Can freeze. Not too picky, except I only want to feed the students whole grains.
Best,
Ken
Course Sign Up!
Hi all,
Here is the link to course catalogs and sign up sheets. Please have them in early next week.
Ken
Here is the link to course catalogs and sign up sheets. Please have them in early next week.
Ken
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
News from Humble Hearts
Hi ,Polly and Trillium
We opened school yesterday HH was already flocked with parents and kids by the time I arrived there, everyone was eager to hear and know the way forward.
I was frank to tell them that we had been given just three months to vacate from the slum area according to information from the District Officer who represents the government
The parents not knowing where else to take their children agreed in unison that we should put up temporary structures for kids to continue with classes as we look for a way to solve the problem, parents and guardians immediately started raising money to buy poles while others went ahead to start construction. I was so shocked on how these people proved their love for the school.
The community loves and trusts HH so much that even with no proper classes right now we are getting new parents who are asking for vacancies for thier children who are either not in school or are in another school that is not performing well academically.
At HH we are putting up classes for the babies and small kids who cannot cross the road to the church that we haverented to hold temporary classes. Classes four,five,six,seven,eight,form one,form two,form three and form four are learning from the church, for us to create good learning class like environment, we need to do timber and ply wood partitions that will be put aside every Saturday to create room for the church on Sunday, the primary kids are learning from the church hall while secondary have been given each a room that is normally used by the Sunday school kids
The demolsion and the one to come in March has caused so many families to move,not all the kids have reported .I cannot tell who will be coming back but we can know this for sure at the end of this month. I feel hopeful to have had as many as we have return.
Am of the idea of us looking for land for HH, land that will not be in the slum and not far from the slums, it is difficult to get such land but we are continuing to scout around, then we can start fundraising starting with the money that has been raised for rebuilding HH, we need to look for a long term solution to this.
The present HH is made of tin roof and polythene wall we have made very temporary, we do not want to incure any cost then experience great loses later.
Beatrice
We opened school yesterday HH was already flocked with parents and kids by the time I arrived there, everyone was eager to hear and know the way forward.
I was frank to tell them that we had been given just three months to vacate from the slum area according to information from the District Officer who represents the government
The parents not knowing where else to take their children agreed in unison that we should put up temporary structures for kids to continue with classes as we look for a way to solve the problem, parents and guardians immediately started raising money to buy poles while others went ahead to start construction. I was so shocked on how these people proved their love for the school.
The community loves and trusts HH so much that even with no proper classes right now we are getting new parents who are asking for vacancies for thier children who are either not in school or are in another school that is not performing well academically.
At HH we are putting up classes for the babies and small kids who cannot cross the road to the church that we haverented to hold temporary classes. Classes four,five,six,seven,eight,form one,form two,form three and form four are learning from the church, for us to create good learning class like environment, we need to do timber and ply wood partitions that will be put aside every Saturday to create room for the church on Sunday, the primary kids are learning from the church hall while secondary have been given each a room that is normally used by the Sunday school kids
The demolsion and the one to come in March has caused so many families to move,not all the kids have reported .I cannot tell who will be coming back but we can know this for sure at the end of this month. I feel hopeful to have had as many as we have return.
Am of the idea of us looking for land for HH, land that will not be in the slum and not far from the slums, it is difficult to get such land but we are continuing to scout around, then we can start fundraising starting with the money that has been raised for rebuilding HH, we need to look for a long term solution to this.
The present HH is made of tin roof and polythene wall we have made very temporary, we do not want to incure any cost then experience great loses later.
Beatrice
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Freshmen Update
A note from Elizabeth Johnson, facilitator of Freshmen Inquiry:
Dear Freshmen Parents,
I would like to take a minute and update you on our work in Freshman Inquiry class so that you can support your student's learning and progress. The end of the term is just a month away and two important assignments are in progress. First, after a month of arduously following the writing process, in-class lessons on essay basics, and teacher/peer editing sessions (most) students submitted their analytical essays before we left for Winter Break. On our first day back students will have their final copy returned with an evaluation and grade attached. As clearly written on the evaluation, students may AND ARE ENCOURAGED to revise and resubmit their essay as many times as is necessary in order to receive the best grade they are capable of. Asking to review the essay and its evaluation is a great opening to supporting your students' development as a writer. As a High School program we have focused Freshman Inquiry on analytical writing skills because it is such an essential foundation for their success. Most of the students in class were writing an essay for the first time in their school experience and a learning curve is natural and okay. Those students, however, for whom this process was very difficult and stressful may benefit from additional support outside of the classroom. If this is the case for your student, I encourage you to speak with their student's Advisor about their writing (Advisors have copies of student essays and evaluations).
With essays (mostly) done we now turn our attention to our next task: independent projects. Typically, this unit is about two months long. This year, however, the group required extended time on the reading and writing unit and so our projects have taken on the exciting new requirement of a time challenge of 3 weeks. Students may do their project on any topic of their choice but must follow and document the process laid out in class: project proposal, research/gathering, planning, creating, presenting. It is this process that students will be evaluated on, which is a shift from many of their Middle School experiences where projects are drawn out over a long period of time (with a lot of socializing and procrastinating throughout!) and the emphasis is primarily on the exhibition of the final product. I will be encouraging students to make personal choices that will lead to their success, such as picking a high interest topic that requires few outside resources or in-depth research. Coming to class prepared and focused will also help them make the most productive use of our daily hour together. In class we will look at the popular website created by artists Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher “Learning to Love You More” that is filled with an extensive list of creative assignments that could be great jumping off points for a more fully developed project. This may be fun to look over as a family.... and maybe even collaborate on something together! (www.learningtoloveyoumore.com)
I hope this email leaves you feeling more informed on our class happenings and with a great opener to good communication with your child about their learning and classwork. Please let me know if you have further questions, ideas, or are wanting specific feedback on your student. We are all halfway through the exciting transition to High School freshman year provides... let's keep learning and growing together.
Best,
Elizabeth Johnson
Dear Freshmen Parents,
I would like to take a minute and update you on our work in Freshman Inquiry class so that you can support your student's learning and progress. The end of the term is just a month away and two important assignments are in progress. First, after a month of arduously following the writing process, in-class lessons on essay basics, and teacher/peer editing sessions (most) students submitted their analytical essays before we left for Winter Break. On our first day back students will have their final copy returned with an evaluation and grade attached. As clearly written on the evaluation, students may AND ARE ENCOURAGED to revise and resubmit their essay as many times as is necessary in order to receive the best grade they are capable of. Asking to review the essay and its evaluation is a great opening to supporting your students' development as a writer. As a High School program we have focused Freshman Inquiry on analytical writing skills because it is such an essential foundation for their success. Most of the students in class were writing an essay for the first time in their school experience and a learning curve is natural and okay. Those students, however, for whom this process was very difficult and stressful may benefit from additional support outside of the classroom. If this is the case for your student, I encourage you to speak with their student's Advisor about their writing (Advisors have copies of student essays and evaluations).
With essays (mostly) done we now turn our attention to our next task: independent projects. Typically, this unit is about two months long. This year, however, the group required extended time on the reading and writing unit and so our projects have taken on the exciting new requirement of a time challenge of 3 weeks. Students may do their project on any topic of their choice but must follow and document the process laid out in class: project proposal, research/gathering, planning, creating, presenting. It is this process that students will be evaluated on, which is a shift from many of their Middle School experiences where projects are drawn out over a long period of time (with a lot of socializing and procrastinating throughout!) and the emphasis is primarily on the exhibition of the final product. I will be encouraging students to make personal choices that will lead to their success, such as picking a high interest topic that requires few outside resources or in-depth research. Coming to class prepared and focused will also help them make the most productive use of our daily hour together. In class we will look at the popular website created by artists Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher “Learning to Love You More” that is filled with an extensive list of creative assignments that could be great jumping off points for a more fully developed project. This may be fun to look over as a family.... and maybe even collaborate on something together! (www.learningtoloveyoumore.com)
I hope this email leaves you feeling more informed on our class happenings and with a great opener to good communication with your child about their learning and classwork. Please let me know if you have further questions, ideas, or are wanting specific feedback on your student. We are all halfway through the exciting transition to High School freshman year provides... let's keep learning and growing together.
Best,
Elizabeth Johnson
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