Compass Newsletter -- September 17, 2008
As is often the case, today's newsletter is full of announcements about interesting special learning opportunities, both off-campus and on. But what sometimes goes unsaid here is the wonderfully focused learning atmosphere that we see during "regular" class times. As I walk the building this morning, high school Spanish students are quietly working in pairs on a project to develop vocabulary, others are taking notes on how to use past tense verbs and then preparing little skits to apply this learning, high school math students are watching a projected image of a graphing calculator and interacting with the teacher on how to use this tool to solve a problem, another class is working a polynomial on the chalkboard, a third math class is working an algebraic problem with two variables, middle school humanities students are writing poems and choosing books to read for their identity unit, middle school science students are gathered in the computer lab, using photoshop to analyze their photos of bubbles in their investigation to prove whether or not bubbles are spherical, several seniors are sitting alone in front of laptops or books in the big room working on independent study courses, a group in Janet's and Amah's space is getting small-group coaching on their Othello readings for humanities class, and in the back office a group of seniors is meeting with a college representative from Clark. The overall tone is calm and engaged. That's my snapshot view at 9:15am this Wednesday morning.
Author Jeffery Smith Comes to Compass School! This Thursday September 18th, 10:00 AM
Compass School is pleased to host this year's Common Ground Fair key-note speaker Jeffery Smith, international spokesperson on the health dangers of genetically modified organisms (GMO's). Please join us as he discusses his work in the field of GMO's at our All School meeting (from 10:00-11:00), and then after a short lunch break, he will be delving deeper into the science of GMO's with Beth and Eric's 11-12th grade science classes. He will touch on his experiences as a researcher and author of several books/columns, (such as Seeds of Deception, Genetic Roulette, and Spilling the Beans) and his work producing the docu-video series The GMO Trilogy. We hope that community members, local farmers, and friends will be able to join us at this amazing event!
Community Service Starts Today
Today (Wednesday 9/17) is our first day of community service. Students have signed up for groups doing service activities such as volunteering at the local elementary schools, Hillhouse day care, Youth Services, McGirr's senior center, SEVCA, an Village Booksellers. Other students are doing their work on campus in Tech Club, Judiciary, Student Council, Yearbook, Youth Activism, library, and greenhouse. All students participate in community service activities every other Wednesday afternoon from 12:40- 2:10. The community service days include (9/17, 10/1, 10/15, 10/29, 11/12, 12/3, 12/17, 1/14, 1/28, 2/25, 3/11, 3/25, 4/8, 4/29, and 5/13) and we still can use volunteer parent drivers and mini-vans or vehicles that can hold up to 4-5 students. If you are able to help, please contact beth@compass-school.org.
7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th graders-- Theater Trip: On Thursday, September 18 we will attend a Carnival of Taiwanese Hand Puppetry performed by Happy Puppetry, a multi-generational family company of Taiwanese puppeteers, a performance that is part of Sandglass Theater's Puppets in the Green Mountains Festival. This show will be in Bellows Falls at 12 noon.
11th-12th Religions Class field trip-As part of our ongoing study of comparative religions, on Thursday September 18, our class will be visiting the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts in West Springfield, MA and the Chabad House of Amherst , MA. We will travel by school bus, leaving Compass at 2 p.m and will be returning to Compass by 10:00 pm. We will be doing a drop off in Brattleboro at the exit 1 Outlet Center half an hour or so before we return to Compass.
Please submit permission form and $10 transportation fee to Amir if you have not already done so.
9th Grade Families-Potluck and business meeting-Tuesday Sept. 23 at 6pm
Hello again from Ron and Elizabeth. We are very much looking forward to our get together on Tuesday, September 23. We will gather from 5:30 to 6,at which time we will eat our potluck meal together before discussing how things are going, what to expect as the year progresses, et cetera. NINTH GRADERS MAY STAY AT COMPASS WITH RON FROM AFTER SCHOOL UNTIL OUR GATHERING. Please call the school with a message for Elizabeth or Ron to let us know if you would like your child to do so. Till Tuesday - R & E
Parents: Reminder - Please call the school when your child will be late or absent. Thanks!
Great event for teens this Friday evening in Brattleboro: SHOUT IT OUT The Voices Project Movie
If you saw or heard about the moving and inspiring live performance of The Voices Project here at the Latchis in 2005, you will not want to miss Shout It Out, the movie adaptation, showing one time only, on Friday, September 19 at 7:00 p.m. at the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro.
If you are an educator, parent, teacher or anyone with teens in their lives and who cares about them, come see Shout It Out, based on writings by Vermont teenagers with original music by teens-a real, revealing, compassionate, powerful, funny and ultimately an affirmative look at the transformative power of young people. There are mature themes.
Tickets are $10 and $7 at the door.
College Representatives Visiting Compass:
Tuesday, September 16th 10:00am: College of Santa Fe (http://www.csf.edu). Santa Fe, NM
Wednesday, September 17th 9:00am: Clark University (http://www.clark.edu). Worcester, MA
9:45am: Naropa University (http://www.naropa.edu) Boulder, CO
1:30pm: Beloit College (http://www.beloit.edu) Beloit, WI.
Friday, September 19th 10:00am: Hampshire College (http://www.hampshire.edu) Amherst, MA.
Wednesday, September 24th 12:45pm: University of Vermont (http://www.uvm.edu) Burlington, VT.
Friday, September 26th 10:00am: Green Mountain College (http://www.greenmtn.edu) Poultney, VT
11:00am: Evergreen State College (http://www.evergreen.edu) Olympia, WA
Monday, September 29th 10:00am: Prescott College (http://www.prescott.edu). Prescott, AZ
Thursday, October 9th 12:30pm: Husson University (http://www.husson.edu) Maine
Friday, October 10th 10:00am: Champlain College (http://www.champlain.edu) Burlington, VT
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2008 Annual Harvest Walk |
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Walking to Support the Vermont and New Hampshire Foodbanks On Saturday September 27th, Sovernet will host the second annual Harvest Walk, with all pledge money donated directly to the Vermont and New Hampshire Foodbanks. When: September 27th, Rain or Shine. Registration is from 9:30-10:30, and the walk begins as soon as you are registered. Where: Minard's Pond in Bellows Falls. Walk is 1.5 miles through the woods along marked trails. Maps will be available when you register. Parking: Waypoint Center in Bellows Falls. A bus provided by Compass School will shuttle between Minard's Pond and the Waypoint Center. This shuttle will be available throughout the event and will run every half hour. Refreshments: Will be created by the Foodbank chefs from food provided by The Farmer's Market and others. Music by the Main Street Arts String Band. FREE Tote Bags and Pedometes! For the first 150 registrants. Prizes: Great prizes for individuals and teams that raise the most money! Registration Fee is 25.00 per person (which is also donated to the VT and NH Foodbanks). If you raise 100.00 or more in pledges (per person), the registration fee will be waived. Please collect all donations prior to the walk and turn them in with your pledge form. Drop off pledge sheets & donations at Sovernet's office or bring them with you to the walk. Information at www.sover.net |
Forest of Mystery
Forest of Mystery, the Bonnyvale Environmental Center's theater in the woods event, is going to be performing a tale adapted from Nordic mythology on October 24th and 25th. There are many interesting parts available. For some parts all that is required is to show up on the day of the performance, for others there will be rehearsals. Come join us in creating a fabulous event!
For more information contact Maya at Mayafireart@aol.com or call 257-5785
Computer Network Fee
Students who want to connect their laptops to the school wireless network need to pay a $50 fee that covers virus & intrusion protection and the network services the school provides. The antivirus software will be installed on the laptop, and it will protect the computer outside of school as well. Mac users don't need the virus protection, so their fee is $25.
Drivers Education at Compass
Mike Henkle of the Westminster Driving School will run a driver education course at Compass in January and February if there is enough interest. Please let Eric know if you are interested. Mike is running some courses in the area this fall, so you can go to his website - www.precisiondriving.biz - to learn more. There are also courses happening at a number of the area schools, some in the evening. Contact Eric with questions.
School calendar can be viewed at http://www.compass-school.org/resources/calendar or you can get additional paper copies in the office.