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Tuesday - March 17, 2015


Principal's Letter


NOTES FROM SALLY


Announcements


2015-15 SCHOOL YEAR AUXILIARY PROGRAMS REGISTRATION OPEN
JOHN FISHER ZEIDMAN '79 MEMORIAL LECTURE
BLOOD DRIVE - CHILDREN'S NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
THE MS NEW BOOK FAIR IS COMING


Other


QUAKER QUOTES AND QUESTIONS
COMMUNITY SERVICE CORNER
MS NEWSLETTER INFORMATION


News Around the School


US NEWS


Principal's Letter


NOTES FROM SALLY
This week’s query: How can we incorporate Quaker values into Minimester?
Because of snow days, the CTP mailing has been delayed. Expect to see CTP results in your mailbox later this week. Thanks for your patience. The link for the general information is as follows: https://www.programworkshop.com/6.0.0.0/custom/ERB/Reports/8.3/PDF/ISR.pdf
The BIG READ is coming after Spring Break! Each year, the MS chooses a book (or books) that reflect themes of diversity and inclusion that our entire community of parents, students and faculty can read and reflect upon. This year for 5th and 6th grades, we selected "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson. This National Book Award winner is written entirely in verse and tells the moving story of Ms. Woodson’s life growing up as an American American in the 1960s and 1970s. For the 7th and 8th graders, we chose The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Using humor to soften a sometimes difficult story, Alexie recounts the trials of a Native American teenager, Arnold “Junior” Spirit, during his first year in high school.
Congratulations to drama teacher Tim Reagan, who successfully defended his doctoral dissertation last week. He will formally become Dr. Reagan in May!
7/8 Math teacher Ethan Merlin will take most of the month of April at home with his newborn son. Seth MacMillan will be standing in for him during those four weeks. Seth is an SFS alum and has been shadowing Ethan this month to get ready for this assignment. Welcome (back!) Seth!
The SFS Middle School Debate team sent only two seventh grade teams to the fourth tournament of the DC Urban Debate League on Saturday, March 14, 2015. The first team was Nate Aurbach, Romina Matin and Nicholas Spasojevic and the second team was Ben Fagel, Hugo Carney and Rem Katyal. Each team won at least a round and the team of Nate Aurbach, Romina Matin and Nicholas Spasojevic was 3-1, placed eighth overall in the tournament. A special thanks to parent volunteer Neal Katyal, who supervised the teams that attended the tournament. ?
I hope you all have a restful break!


Announcements


2015-15 SCHOOL YEAR AUXILIARY PROGRAMS REGISTRATION OPEN
Registration now for Aftercare, Early Risers and Shuttle services for 2015-16 here: http://www.sidwell.edu/middle_school/after-school-sparc/index.aspx. Please note that the shuttle fills very quickly so reserve your student’s space today!

JOHN FISHER ZEIDMAN '79 MEMORIAL LECTURE
Join us for the 33rd Annual John Fisher Zeidman ’79 Memorial Lecture. This year’s lecturer is Evan Osnos, a staff writer at The New Yorker and a fellow at the Brookings Institution. Based in Washington D.C., Osnos writes about foreign affairs and politics. He is the author of Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the New China, which won the 2014 National Book award.
The lecture is on Wednesday, March 18 at 8:00 p.m. in the Robert L. Smith Meeting Room. Kindly RSVP by March 13 to events@sidwell.edu.

BLOOD DRIVE - CHILDREN'S NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
This year’s event will take place on Tuesday, April 7, from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. on the Upper School campus. We are looking for blood donors. If you are interested in making a donation of blood, please email David Connell connelld@sidwell.edu (202.537.8182) with a range of times that you are able to donate. It takes about 45 minutes to complete a blood donation. Please consider contributing to this year’s efforts. Your generosity might save someone’s life.

THE MS NEW BOOK FAIR IS COMING
Calling all student artists! The MS New Book Fair will be held on April 20 and April 22-24, and we could use your artistic talents to help decorate the halls with flyers and posters. We will provide you with all of the book fair dates, details and instructions. You will send us your artistic creations to be proudly displayed during the weeks leading up to the fair. If you hear your inner Van Gogh calling, just stop by the library and talk to Ms. Grady or Ms. Hanson.
For those of you who prefer to recite poetry, tell a story or sing, your turn is coming. The MS library will be hosting an open mic night on Thursday, April 23 at 5:00 p.m. Thanks for your support!


Other


QUAKER QUOTES AND QUESTIONS
TODAY’S QUESTION: Before encountering Quakerism first-hand here at Sidwell Friends School, I had always assumed that Quakers were a Protestant Christian sect. How accurate is this? Can you explain how Quakerism relates to other faiths and traditions?
Today, people from a very wide range of faith traditions practice Quakerism. Since Quakerism began in the mid-1600s as one faction in the movement to reform the Church of England, it was inherently Christian in its origins and self-perception—except that what distinguished in this process Quakerism was its intense focus on the teachings of Christ rather than worship of Christ. A central Quaker interpretation of those teachings, buttressed by personal experience including George Fox’s original Pendle Hill revelation, was that divinity is accessible to us all—that the divine, whether called God or Jesus Christ or Truth or the Light or by some other name, speaks or shines within every single human being. That insight had profound consequences within Quaker practice. There was no need for priests or Popes to lead us since each person was recognized as having that access to the divine; no sense of the Bible as the singular vessel of all truth, but rather as a revered and interesting history of revelation and understanding; and a lively discernment of Truth, or of God’s will (or at the very least how we ought to lead our personal lives), that was both continuing and perpetually evolving.
Quaker quotes alternate with questions about Quakerism in this newsletter feature. To ask questions about Quaker history or practice or what-have-you—anything you may have wondered about but weren’t sure whom to ask—email our Sidwell Friends Quaker Life Committees’ authors at quakerquestions@sidwell.edu!

COMMUNITY SERVICE CORNER
Many thanks to all who contributed food, toiletries and linens! You helped make a difference for many of our neighbors in need. The linens are bound for A Wider Circle and Washington Animal Rescue League with our Minimester groups. If you have more donations, please hold them for next year, when we’ll start all over again.
March 29 - 5th and 6th grade service club at A Wider Circle: ongoing project to manage the Kids' Corner. Contact Dana.Milbank@washpost.com for additional information.
Contact MS Community Service Co-clerks Eva Xanthos at eva.xanthos@verizon.net or Lisa Arrington at arringtonlp@hotmail.com or your Grade Reps for volunteer opportunities.

MS NEWSLETTER INFORMATION
How to Submit an Article to Tuesday Letter: Please send submissions, in the body of the email, to PA.MSNewsletter@sidwell.edu by 2:00 p.m. on Monday. Please reference "Newsletter Submission" and the publish date(s) in the subject line. Do not include any formatting such as indents, bullets, boldface or all-caps and keep submissions succinct. If you have a form or flyer to include with your submission, send it as a PDF attachment. Receipt of your submissions will be confirmed as soon as possible. Submissions may not run for more than three weeks.
How to Modify an existing Submission: Please send a redline or otherwise clearly indicate the change to be made in a second email.
School Calendar: Calendar entries that appear in the right column of each Newsletter are automatically generated by the school, not by the Tuesday newsletter editors. Any changes to the school calendar are made through the school scheduling office at scheduling@sidwell.edu.


US News"Companies that have greater diversity in decision making are more successful."
Data about confidence in the workplace illustrates there is a gap between men and women.
Read MoreCommemorating the Holocaust in Poland
Charlotte Masters ’17 didn't just tell students why her recent tour of Auschwitz was so personal. She showed them.
Read More


The Parents Association newsletters are a forum for communication among parents and provide announcements concerning School or PA events or information related to a School or PA event.
MS newsletter submissions should be sent to PA.MSnewsletter@sidwell.edu.


Calendar


Tue, Mar 17th

MS Minimester


Wed, Mar 18th

MS Minimester


33rd Annual Zeidman Lecture

Robert L. Smith Mtg Rm
8:00pm - 9:00pm


Thu, Mar 19th

MS Minimester


Fri, Mar 20th

First Day of Spring Break/Potential school make-up day


Spring Break


3/27/2015


Thu, Mar 26th

Chamber Chorus & Jazz Ensemble 2 in New Orleans

Old US Mint


Sat, Mar 28th

Chamber Chorus & Jazz Ensemble 2 in New Orleans

NOCCA


Mon, Mar 30th

School Reopens


Thu, Apr 2nd

PA Executive Steering Committee Mtg

Rusch Team Rm
8:30am - 9:30am


Mon, Apr 6th

MS PA Steering Comm. Mtg

Rusch Team Rm
8:00am - 9:00am


More


Athletics


Tue, Mar 17th

Baseball - Varsity vs. Maret School


4:00pm


Tennis - Boys Varsity vs. Landon


4:00pm


Baseball - Junior Varsity vs. Maret School


4:15pm


Softball - Varsity at Holy Child


4:15pm


Wed, Mar 18th

Track & Field - Boys Varsity at St. Stephen's & St. Agnes


3:30pm


Track & Field - Girls Varsity - St. Stephen's & St. Agnes Meet


3:30pm


Tennis - Boys Varsity vs. Bullis


4:15pm


Tennis - Boys Junior Varsity at Bullis


4:15pm


Thu, Mar 19th

Tennis - Boys Junior Varsity vs. St. Stephen's & St. Agnes


4:15pm


Lacrosse - Boys Varsity vs. Bishop Ireton


4:30pm


Fri, Mar 20th

Softball - Varsity - March 20 - 24: Disney Wide World of Sports


3/24/2015


Baseball - Varsity - March 20 - 25: Disney Wide World of Sports


3/25/2015


Tue, Mar 31st

Lacrosse - Girls Varsity at Wilson H.S.


4:00pm


Baseball - Varsity at Potomac School


4:30pm


Baseball - Junior Varsity vs. Potomac School


4:30pm


Softball - Varsity at Episcopal High School


4:30pm


Tennis - Boys Varsity vs. St. James School


4:30pm


Lacrosse - Boys Varsity - Eleanor Roosevelt


4:30pm


Wed, Apr 1st

Track & Field - Girls Varsity - SFS Meet


4:00pm


Track & Field - Boys Varsity - SFS Meet


4:00pm


Tennis - Boys Varsity vs. St. Albans


4:15pm


Tennis - Boys Junior Varsity vs. St. Albans


4:15pm


Thu, Apr 2nd

Baseball - 7/8 A vs. St. Albans


2:30pm


Tennis - Boys Varsity vs. Wilson H.S.


4:00pm


Lacrosse - Girls Varsity vs. Maret School


4:15pm


Tennis - Boys Junior Varsity at Episcopal High School


4:15pm


Baseball - Varsity at St. Andrew's School


4:30pm


Baseball - Junior Varsity at Bullis


4:30pm


Softball - Varsity at St. Stephen's & St. Agnes


4:30pm


Softball - Junior Varsity vs. St. Stephen's & St. Agnes


4:30pm


Mon, Apr 6th

Baseball - 7/8 A vs. Georgetown Day


2:30pm


Softball - 7/8 A vs. Georgetown Day


2:30pm


Softball - 7/8 B at Georgetown Day


2:30pm


Lacrosse - Boys 7/8 A at Georgetown Day


2:30pm


Lacrosse - Girls 7/8 A vs. Georgetown Day


2:30pm


Tennis - Boys 7/8 vs. Georgetown Day


2:30pm


Lacrosse - Girls Varsity vs. Holton-Arms


4:15pm


Baseball - Junior Varsity vs. Georgetown Day


5:00pm


Softball - Varsity at Georgetown Day


5:15pm


Lacrosse - Girls Junior Varsity vs. Holton-Arms


5:45pm


More


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