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MS Tuesday Letter
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pa.msnewsletter@sidwell.edu
DATE:
2014-05-13 03:30:00
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R. Hunter Biden
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Tuesday - May 13, 2014 From the School This Week's Query How can you help yourself to become a better person? Notes from Sally Assembly: The 37th Street Players (8th grade drama scenes) As always, parents are welcome! The spring clean-out of the Lost and Found box has begun. We will return any items with names in them. Please encourage your son or daughter to pursue lost items over these last weeks of school. Parents of 8th graders – a reminder of the “Welcome to Upper School” event on Thursday night. Also, tickets for the Closing Ceremony are going in the mail, so be on the lookout for them. Parents of current 5th graders – the transition meeting on Thursday night is for parents of new 6th graders only. There is no need for you to attend unless you are coming to help with the welcome reception. Parents of current 7th graders – your child is making selections about arts courses for next year. He or she has been given a form for that – please ask about it if you haven’t seen it! The final 7/8 Service Day is this Thursday. You should have received information about the day from your child’s advisor. Thanks to everyone who contributed casseroles last week – details are elsewhere in the letter. Congressman John Lewis, Representative for Georgia’s 5th Congressional District and the only living “Big Six” leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, spoke to an enthusiastic audience of approximately 180 parents, students, faculty and staff on May 6th in the RLS Quaker Meeting House. Congressman Lewis provided a rich oral history of the civil rights era in a personal way that moved us all. He shared stories about growing up in the south, his awakening to the struggles for civil rights and commitment to nonviolent protest, themes that are echoed in our Quaker values. He inspired the audience to build a “beloved community” full of love and peace for all. Although John Lewis experienced disappointments, beatings and arrests during his civil rights efforts, he emphasized to us that he “never tired, never gave up, never became bitter, and never carried the burden of hate.” A big thank you to Dionne Clyburn and the PA Diversity Committee for arranging the evening! The SFS middle school debate team competed in the fifth and final debate tournament of the season on Saturday at Walker Mill Middle School in Bowie, MD. The eight teams of three did quite well, with each team winning at least one round. In addition, the team of Rachel Blatt, Emma Passmore and Matthew Gunty went 4-0 and ranked second overall in the tournament. In individual speaker points, two debaters ranked in the top ten, with Harrison Blain receiving a medal for coming in eighth and Madeleine Montagner also receiving a medal for coming in ninth overall. Special thanks and kudos to parent volunteer Lisa Blatt for her heroic efforts in managing the team for this tournament. Events for Student Scholarships SFS TENNIS EVENT REGISTRATION DEADLINE MAY 14 All families are invited to join us for the Sidwell Friends Tennis Event, taking place on Saturday, May 17 from 3:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center (home of the CitiOpen). This will be an afternoon of tennis and fun with community members of all ages and skill sets. Even if you are not a tennis player, come enjoy the food, drinks and fun! Adult tickets cost $50 and student tickets cost $30. Sponsorship opportunities are also available and all proceeds benefit student financial aid. Click here to register today! Please find the event schedule below. If you have any questions, please contact Jessie Jacobson, Director of Special Events at jacobsonj@sidwell.edu or 202-537-8442. Tennis Event Schedule 3:30 p.m. Registration 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. Clinic, Warm Up Drills, Games and Round Robin Matches Last 7/8 Dance of the Year!! Don't miss the top 40 party tunes, treats and more...Join us on Friday, May 30th from 7:00-9:30 pm for a beach bash with new DJ L.A. We would love a few parent volunteers to help with set-up that afternoon in the dining room from 2:30-3:30 and again with clean-up after the dance. Please email shallah@comcast.net or salubat@comcast.net if you are available. PA Announcements Share Your Thoughts on PA Priorities The last SFS All-School Parents Association meeting will be held Monday, May 12 from 7 to 9 PM in the RLS Meeting Room on the US campus. The purpose of the meeting is to better understand what parents would like the PA to focus on next year. It will be an open forum for parental input and a moderator will facilitate the discussion. Every Sidwell Friends parent is a member of the PA and your contributions are extremely important to us. Please review recent PA meeting minutes and bylaws, available here (http://www.sidwell.edu/parents/parents-association/index.aspx), for helpful context in advance of the discussion. If you are unable to attend please email comments to Gina Kim (ginaskim@yahoo.com) and Janet Whitmore (janetwhitmore@verizon.net) Middle School PA Would Like to Say Thank You If you are one of the many wonderful parents who have volunteered your time at the school, please join us on Wednesday, May 14th at Tia Queta, 4839 Del Ray Ave, Bethesda, MD 20814 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. Please join us if you have: led a peer group, organized a coffee, chaperoned a field trip, assisted with a hangout, staffed the book fair, welcomed new students, or helped with any of the many things that parents do to make our kids' school experience a big success! We want to make sure everyone knows that their time commitment, big or small, is very much appreciated! Please RSVP to Lisa Gunty at lgunty@aol.com . All-Star "Wellness Panel" on Friday, May 30th The Middle School Quality of Community Life Committee is pleased to present a comprehensive Wellness Panel for all middle school parents on Friday, May 30th starting at 7:45 pm in the Middle School Drama room. The panel will feature prominent local speakers on topics that impact our kids' daily lives -- nutrition, physical fitness, and overall well-being. Each of the panelists will make a short introductory presentation, and the bulk of the time will be devoted to conversation and questions. This is your chance to talk with and ask the experts questions on sleep, eating, social anxiety, homework stress, exercise and more. All middle school parents are invited and encouraged to participate in what promises to be an informative and interactive program. The panelists are: Casey Seidenberg - Local nutritionist and Washington Post writer specializing on nutrition as it impacts school children. Joslyn Hills - Psychotherapist and educational consultant who develops curricula for teaching mindfulness, integrative health, and social skills in schools. Alison Shulman - Consultant who runs groups on integrative health and mindfulness, and advises clients in her private practice which focuses on eating-related disorders. Chase Bruggeman - A holistic strength and conditioning fitness expert who has coached professional athletes, as well as collegiate and high school teams. Look for more information on the speakers and their topics in the coming weeks . . . for now, please mark our calendars for this special event. And, if you have specific questions related to wellness that you would like the panelists to address, please contact Dipa Mehta at dipamehta@comcast.net. This is your chance to shape the conversation! Community Service Thank you to everyone who supported the casserole collection for Martha’s Table last week! A special thank you to our Spanish Club and Aftercare students who baked casseroles. It was a huge success! We collected 66 casseroles, 14 more casseroles than last year. Thanks again for supporting this project. Volunteers Needed for Middle School Newsletter Please consider volunteering for next year's MS Tuesday newsletter. This is a volunteer assignment that can be done at the hours of your choosing and is an important service to the school community. Please contact Amy Swindell at ahswindell@aol.com if interested. Parent Volunteers Needed to Join US Letter Editing Team We are looking for rising 9th grade parents to serve on the Upper School newsletter editing team next year! This is a fun and easy way to quickly get involved in the US. Join the US newsletter editing team, and you will be able to support your school community from the convenience of your home, and be the first to read the latest news from the school! Contact US PA Clerks Laura Will (laura.will@me.com) or Gretchen Brevnov (gbrevnov@gmail.com) if you are interested. Other News Quaker Quotes A Bit of Prose for Mother's Day Week While the Quaker principles of equality, simplicity, non-violence, integrity and service have endured since their inception, many norms of everyday life have changed significantly. My mother's life provides a lens to understand these changes. The world my mother, Carolyn Nicholson Terrell, entered in 1921 was a typical Philadelphian Orthodox Quaker one, politically conservative, wealthy and strict by any standard. Quakers of that era married mostly within Orthodox Quakerism and went to Orthodox Quaker camps, schools and colleges - Haverford was Orthodox Quaker, but Swarthmore, run by denizens of the more activist Hicksite branch of Quakerism, was not. There was no smoking or drinking, and no gambling or financial speculation of any kind. Clothing was muted and music, art and novels were discouraged. Nationalistic and religious holidays that raised up one country or one day over another or commemorated war were not celebrated. There were no parades on the 4th of July or flowers on Easter or days off from school on Christmas for Orthodox Quaker children. Like all Quakers then, my mother and her family used "plain language," a legacy of early Quakers' commitment to the form of speech used by commoners and not the hierarchical "you" and "your" reserved for the upper classes. But by the 1930s, the "thee" and "thy" that originated in protest sounded anachronistic, even pretentious. Quakers flung themselves into the cause of reaching out to heal the wider world, establishing service (AFSC) and lobbying (FCNL) organizations and sending huge numbers of volunteers to work in nearby communities and across the world in Europe and Asia. The rigid customs of my mother's childhood gave way to a generation of Quakers who embraced service, engagement and activism and were drawn more and more into the mainstream as a result. My mother died a few years ago. I think the Quaker world she left is thriving in many respects - Quaker schools and Meetings are flourishing and are places where openness and tolerance of differentness abounds. Yet I find myself wistful for those days when our dress and our speech were markers of our tribe and of our values. My children are entering a world where they must define their Quakerness for themselves. I wish them well on that journey. 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. 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 Wed, May 14th MS Volunteer Appreciation Happy Hour off-campus 6:30pm - 8:30pm Thu, May 15th Welcome Event Class of 2018 Dining Room 5:30pm; RLS 7:00pm 5:30pm - 8:00pm Fri, May 16th 5th Gr. Hangout Wannan Gym 3:30pm - 4:30pm 5th gr. Parent Gathering off campus 6:30pm - 8:30pm US Spring Play - "THE DINING ROOM" by A.R. Gurney Mary Ellen Caplin Theater 8:00pm - 10:00pm Sat, May 17th US Spring Play - "THE DINING ROOM" by A.R. Gurney Mary Ellen Caplin Theater 8:00pm Sun, May 18th US Spring Play - "THE DINING ROOM" by A.R. Gurney Mary Ellen Caplin Theater 2:30pm - 4:00pm Tue, May 20th MS 7/8 Chorus Rehearsal AC Theater 2:30pm - 5:00pm PA Transition Meeting US Dining Rm 6:00pm - 9:00pm Wed, May 21st MS 7/8 Chorus Rehearsal AC Theater 8:15am - 9:25am MS 7/8 Orchestra Rehearsal AC Theater 12:55pm - 1:50pm MS 7/8 Chorus and Orchestra Concert AC Theater 7:00pm - 9:00pm Thu, May 22nd US Playwriting Festival MS Drama Room 4:30pm - 8:00pm Tue, May 27th US Exam Period - Review Day PA PBS End of Year Celebration US Dining Rm 6:30pm - 8:30pm Wed, May 28th US Exam Period - Reading Day Knighting Ceremony and Medieval Festival Robert L. Smith Meeting Rm, Meeting House Foyer 2:45pm - 3:30pm Knighting Ceremony and Medieval Festival Robert L. Smith Meeting Room 4:00pm - 5:30pm Thu, May 29th US Exam Period - English MS 6th Grade Chorus and 5/6 Orchestra Concert AC Theater 7:00pm - 9:00pm Fri, May 30th US Exam Period - Math Jen Mitchell Celebration Outside Athletic Center/MS Tower Doors 3:30pm - 4:30pm MS 7/8 Dance US Dining Room 7:30pm - 10:00pm Middle School Wellness Panel for All Parents MS Drama Studio 7:45pm - 9:30pm Mon, Jun 2nd US Exam Period - History More Athletics Mon, May 12th Softball - 7/8 A vs. Georgetown Day 2:30pm Softball - 7/8 B at National Cathedral School 2:45pm Baseball - 7/8 A at Bullis 2:45pm Lacrosse - Boys 7/8 B at Potomac School 2:45pm Lacrosse - Girls 7/8 B at St. Stephen's & St. Agnes 2:45pm Wed, May 14th Lacrosse - Girls 7/8 A at Holton-Arms 2:45pm Lacrosse - Girls 7/8 B vs. Holton-Arms 2:45pm Softball - 7/8 A at Holton-Arms 2:45pm Softball - 7/8 B vs. Holton-Arms 3:00pm Softball - Varsity - DCSAA Away vs. Maret 5:00pm Lacrosse - Girls Varsity vs. ISL Championships 5:30pm Baseball - Varsity vs. MAC Championships 5:30pm Thu, May 15th Tennis - Boys 7/8 at St. Albans 2:30pm Lacrosse - Boys 7/8 A at St. Stephen's & St. Agnes 2:45pm Baseball - 7/8 B at Maret School 2:45pm Baseball - 7/8 A vs. Potomac School 2:45pm Track & Field - Boys 7/8 - SFS meet 2:45pm Track & Field - Girls 7/8 - SFS meet 2:45pm Fri, May 16th Crew - Girls vs. Stotesbury Cup Regatta 5/17/2014 Mon, May 19th Lacrosse - Girls 7/8 B at St. Stephen's & St. Agnes 2:45pm Softball - 7/8 A at National Cathedral School 2:45pm Lacrosse - Boys 7/8 A at Bullis 2:45pm Lacrosse - Girls 7/8 A vs. St. Stephen's & St. Agnes 2:45pm Baseball - 7/8 A vs. St. Stephen's & St. Agnes 2:45pm Wed, May 21st Lacrosse - Girls 7/8 A at Flint Hill 2:45pm Lacrosse - Girls 7/8 B vs. Flint Hill 2:45pm Softball - 7/8 A vs. Flint Hill 2:45pm Softball - 7/8 B at Flint Hill 2:45pm Baseball - 7/8 A at Flint Hill 2:45pm Baseball - 7/8 B vs. Flint Hill 2:45pm Lacrosse - Boys 7/8 A vs. Flint Hill 2:45pm Tennis - Boys 7/8 - A Team Away vs. Flint Hill 2:45pm Tennis - Boys 7/8 - B Team Home vs. Flint Hill 2:45pm Thu, May 22nd Track & Field - Boys Varsity - DCSAA at Spingarn HS Track & Field - Girls Varsity - DCSAA at Spingarn HS Lacrosse - Boys 7/8 A vs. Georgetown Day 2:30pm Lacrosse - Girls 7/8 B at Georgetown Day 2:30pm Tennis - Boys 7/8 vs. Georgetown Day 2:30pm Track & Field - Boys 7/8 vs. MS Championships 2:45pm Track & Field - Girls 7/8 vs. MS Championships 2:45pm More 3825 Wisconsin Avenue NW Washington, DC 20016 Tel: 202-537-8100 Fax: 202-537-8499
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