Sunday
Wednesday
Thursday
MS Back to School Night, 7 p.m.
Friday
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Saturday
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Jenkintown, PA Permit 14 575 Washington Lane Jenkintown, PA 19046 215-576-3957 www.abingtonfriends.net
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Abington Friends School
October 2009 Focus on Community
Soph Hop
Multiracial Pedagogy Upper School Retreats Athletics Fall Preview
kanga news
Toni’s Top Page-Turners AFS Book Fair 2009
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New Families Meeting for Worship 11 a.m.
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Eighth graders began the year together on a three-day retreat to Camp Timber Tops in the Poconos where students and teachers got to know one another as individuals and shared a full spectrum of active and contemplative experiences.
Tuesday
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11
Team Building at Timber Tops
Monday
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in this issue
As part of the Upper School community service program, AFS has developed a partnership with Career Wardrobe, the nation’s largest community based non-profit organization that serves women transitioning into the workforce by providing them with professional clothing. We’re asking you to help us help Career Wardrobe by bringing us donations of professional clothing at a series of clothing drives that will be held at the School. The first is set for October 22. See the website for more details, and start clearing out your wardrobe!
afs calendar October
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PAIS Accreditation Visit
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12
School CLOSED Holiday
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Post Prom Meeting, 7 p.m.
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PAIS Accreditation Visit
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Vision in Action Campaign Reception 6 p.m.
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7
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PAIS Accreditation Visit
Field Day
Information Night for Juniors, 7 p.m.
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PSATs
Pumpkin Sale Begins
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8
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8th to 9th Grade Parent Night, 7 p.m.
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Book Fair
9th Grade Parent Information Night, 7 p.m.
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Rudin Lecture, 2 p.m. Vision in Action Campaign Reception, 6 p.m.
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School CLOSED In Service Day
10 Editor: Judy Hill, jhill@abingtonfriends.net Design: Peapod Design, New Canaan, CT
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Pumpkin Sale Begins
Open House 10 a.m.
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EC/LS/MS CLOSED Conference Day
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EC Fall Festival 9-12 Halloween Parades LS/MS/US
MS Dance, 7:30-10 p.m.
October Calendar
SATs
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Book Fair
Home & School
Book Fair
SSATs
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AFS Focuses on Testimony of Community Message from Rich Nourie, Head of School Welcome to the new school year! Now that we’re beyond pre-season practices and opening retreats, we are energetically embarked on the day to day life of school and its routines. We teachers and staff are feeling renewed and inspired by the freshness with which children encounter their new classrooms and courses; their hopes, high expectations and sense of open opportunities provide a wonderful energy to the early fall. The start of the year feels like the perfect time to lift up the Quaker testimony of Community, our central theme for the year. Each year, we focus on one of the primary Quaker values at the foundation of our community. Friends testimonies are intended to be values in action, explored and understood by experience and reflection and sharpened by use and collaborative inquiry. They give us a common ground of ideas that are simple enough to be accessible and rich and complex enough to push us to grow as individuals and as a community.
As we re-gather for the 2009-2010 school year, we literally see our community forming before our eyes. Children are re-connecting with friends and
AFS Annual Fund Goal: $500,000 Annual Fund gifts directly benefit faculty and students by supporting the strategic priorities of the School.
Please make your gift today! Give online at www.abingtonfriends.net For more information, contact Gabrielle Giddings at 215-576-3957
ave the date
We want your clothes!
October 4
New Families Meeting for Worship
October 6, 22 Campaign Reception
October 8 Field Day
October 15-17 AFS Book Fair
October 30
Halloween parades
teachers and introducing themselves to newcomers as well. Parents are reconnecting as car pool friends, classroom volunteers and in support of the many events and good works of the Home and School Association. Faculty and staff had the wonderful experience of beginning the year with a late summer Meeting for Worship in which we had time to reflect on our work together and our intentions and plans for the year.
The Quaker testimony of Community acknowledges that we can only grow into the fullness of who we are as human beings through our connection with others; we are inextricably tied to each other in what we know of ourselves and of the larger world and our place in it. We know too that to create community at its fullest takes intention, skill and opportunity, all of which we are challenged to sharpen and develop as a core of our Quaker school.
At AFS, our vision of community is as a place where individual gifts enrich the collective and the diversity of these gifts adds to each of our lives, stretching our understanding, our experiences, our learning, our
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faculty note
As you may know, AFS is embarked on a two-year action research project on multiracial pedagogy, funded by the E.E. Ford Foundation. During the summer, 27 faculty members from all four divisions spent time reading relevant texts about multiculturalism. During the week before school began, our teachers gathered at AFS for two days of orientation meetings with University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education professor Howard Stevenson and four facilitators. The faculty cohort shared personal reflections and began planning for the two-year process, which will create classrooms that fully engage and make the most of our unusual diversity for deeper community learning. Middle School Director Russell Shaw, who is coordinating the project commented that, “The opportunity to spend two days in big picture thinking before the start of school was so energizing. It catapulted people into the school year in a really positive way.”
Message from Rich Nourie, continued growth. Additionally, the qualities of community that Friends encourage are: Peaceful resolution of conflict Unreserved respect
Honest exploration
Accountability to each other and to our collective success in whatever we do together Connection to something larger and more powerful than ourselves
Providing nurture and challenge, comfort and discomfort
But these ideals depend on skilled action. At AFS, part of our educational mission is to develop skills and talents for community, collaboration and effective collective action. The skills of community that we hone include effective communication, navigating multiple perspectives, coming to understand the dynamics of privilege and power and harnessing the gifts and talents of others
fall festival October 30 Family sing-along Face painting Wagon rides Fall family photos 9:15 a.m. - 11 p.m.
As I told Upper Schoolers on the opening day of school, the true miracle of community is that the community that surrounds us becomes internalized, a polyphony of voices, memories, perspective, values and strength that we take with us and that continues to nourish and enrich our lives. This is the miracle and gift that we will attend to and strengthen this year as we focus on the Quaker testimony of Community.
Athletics, continued
Every year of Upper School presents new experiences, and getting oriented to each grade is the important work of the first week of school.
Longtime Varsity Assistant and JV Head Coach Brian Cassady returns to the program where he is joined by newcomer Doug Paul, a club soccer National Champion at Ohio State in 2001, and a six-year Varsity Soccer assistant coach at Northmont High School in Dayton, OH where he was named the 2008 Assistant Coach of the Year by Dayton newspapers. Jason Knudson, a four-year member of Occidental College’s men’s soccer squad, also joins the program.
In ninth grade, the retreat is about getting to know the School and also about having fun. Though rain forestalled a trip to the Poconos, ninth graders watched “Stand and Deliver” and went bowling. “Overall it was a great retreat,” says Grade Dean Andrew Bickford, “with a lot of positive energy.”
Though rain scuppered plans for a Poconos trip, ninth graders enjoyed both fun and reflective time together.
Toni’s Top
page-turners
Tenth graders embarked on an adventure to Pocono Environmental Education Center in Dingman's Ferry, PA. “These fearless 10s helped each other through tires, across a challenging ropes course, and paddling in canoes,” says Acting Grade Dean Jenny Burkholder. “Late Friday night, we had a Meeting for Worship while watching a roaring campfire and thought about community. ”
already taking part in the AFS Athletics program were joined on September 14 by their Middle School counterparts on interscholastic teams as well as Upper School Personal Fitness participants. Following are brief season previews of fall Upper School Varsity teams.
Since the tree’s demise, we have been working with landscape architecture firm McCloskey & Faber to determine what to put in its place. The Blue Bell based firm, which worked closely with us on previous campus improvements and knows the campus
Confessions of a Serial Kisser by Wendelin Van Draanen
A casualty of age and disease, the graceful elm tree that greeted visitors to the Muller, was removed this summer.
well, has recommended three or four different types of tree that could replace the elm, and we are currently in the decision making phase. The new tree will likely be planted sometime in the spring.
As part of the landscaping plan, we also intend to plant two smaller flowering trees in front of the Farmhouse, whose walls suddenly appear rather stark and bare without the softening presence of the majestic elm.
For seniors, the retreat, held in Ocean City, NJ, was aimed at preparing them for their role as community elders and leaders, with students working through workshops that helped them to define themselves, plan for the year and draft a mission statement. “The weather was certainly an issue,” says Grade Dean Rusty Regalbuto. “Our planned Meeting for Worship on the beach was shelved due to the rain and tornado warnings. However the indoor MFW that we had went for nearly two hours as our kids had a lot to reflect upon.”
by: Jeff Bond
Regular visitors to campus may have noticed something subtly different, something missing, at AFS as they’ve picked up and dropped off their children these last few weeks.
“It was an American elm” says Associate Head of School Debbie Stauffer, “which i’m told are very prone to disease, so the fact that this one lived as long as it did was quite special.”
Eleventh graders participated in a Center City scavenger hunt and cooked dinner for each other. “Although our intention was to give our students an urban-themed retreat,” says Grade Dean Brian Cassady, “thanks to the weather and our change in plans, it turned out to be a rather reflective retreat as the class began to embrace the idea of their junior year, acknowledge shared change and new individual growth.”
AFS Athletics: Fall Season Varsity Preview
A Fixture for a Century, Campus Elm is No More
If you’ve had a hard time putting your finger on it, we’ll put you out of your misery. The towering elm tree that flanked the Faulkner Library in front of the Farmhouse is no longer there. This stately tree, part of our AFS landscape for the last century, succumbed to age and disease last year and was removed by a crew of expert arborists soon after school ended for the summer.
Early Childhood
Of course our students are part of multiple communities within the school: classrooms, teams, activities, ensembles and friendships. Each of these communities is an intersection of particular passions and interests with others who share them and with whom we can share, explore and savor rich experience. The dimensions of those passions and interests are wide and deep at Abington Friends, including music, sports, sciences, literature, politics, the stage and technology. We know from daily experience at school that our love and interest in a subject is only complete when shared. A book that ignites our ideas or a discovery made in solving a problem becomes all the richer for being shared and extended by the engaged company of others.
Upper School Retreats, Come Rain or Shine
The title of this book alone cracks me up. Reading it was also very fun. Evangeline, a high-school junior, becomes obsessed with finding the perfect kiss--a Crimson Kiss, the title of a romance novel she loves. She begins kissing all of her crushes and even complete strangers. Her behavior begins to affect everything and everyone around her. If you need something light and fun to read, this could be the book for you. Grade 6 and up.
Selected Upper School students took part in a leadership workshop before the start of the school year.
On August 24, AFS’s fall season Upper School student-athletes and coaches returned to campus to formally kick off the 2009-10 academic year at AFS with the start of preseason practices. New and familiar faces joined the ranks of the Boys’ Soccer, Girls’ Soccer, Girls’ Tennis, Boys’ Cross-Country, and Girls’ Cross-Country programs for three to six hours of daily practices, an assortment of team-building exercises, and some early preseason scrimmages. The inaugural AFS Student-Athlete Leadership Workshop for selected 11th and 12th grade student-athletes and their coaches was another highlight of the start of the new year. The 60 or so Upper Schoolers
Varsity Girls’ Soccer welcomes the 2009 season with a significantly different look than the team that ended the 2008 campaign. Last year’s Head Coach Erin Timmer moves on to the world of new motherhood and is replaced by Bill O’Neill, a longtime high school, club, and college player and coach. O’Neill will be joined on the sidelines this season by Megan Reynolds, whose extensive playing experience includes stints in the women’s professional W-League, and by returning JV coach Sean Reinsal, a onetime standout at Bishop McDevitt. The coaching staff hit the ground running this summer, organizing AFS Girls’ Soccer Wednesdays, a series of instructional clinics and pickup games geared towards female soccer players. Varsity Boys’ Soccer saw several late-season narrow losses knock them out of the FSL playoff hunt despite their strong 9-6-1 overall mark. To try to make it back to the postseason for the third time in the last five years, Head Coach Drew Benfer will certainly employ some of the techniques he gained during a summertime visit to a U.S. National team practice courtesy of US coach Bob Bradley, Benfer’s college soccer coach.
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New Home & School Lead Clerks Heading up the AFS Home & School Association this year as lead clerks are Anna Florio and Joe Cotronio (pictured above). Throughout the upcoming year, Joe and Anna will bring their joint talents for leadership and organization to the volunteer parent group. Anna, mother of eighth grader Ricky Wegryn, has been a member of the AFS community for many years and when she’s not on campus she runs her own cooking school, La Cucina at the Market, in the Reading Terminal Market. Joe, father of daughters in Lower, Middle and Upper School, is starting his third year as an AFS parent. We welcome Joe and Anna as lead clerks and look forward to their combined energy and vision.
AFS Open House Saturday October 17 10 a.m.
Girls’ Varsity Tennis snapped a three-year drought last fall, returning to the FSL playoffs for the fourth time in the last seven years. Head Coach Kristine Long is back for her 10th campaign leading AFS’s netters and the team’s top seven players return with her. Longtime club and high school coaches Cornell McLeod and Calvin Anderson will head the JV team and assist the Varsity. Improvement on last fall’s 8-8 overall record and #3 seed in the FSL postseason are certainly attainable goals for the ’09 Kangaroos. Boys’ and Girls’ Cross-Country Coaches Niall Hood and Erin Bengtson again led their charges on a three-day training trip to the Poconos, where
Cross-country coach Erin Bengtson, with team members Susie Meyer, Gianna Esposito, Sorja Schwager, Samantha Williams and Rebecca Fisher.
the returning members of the program looked to build on last year’s successes. It promises to be a busy fall on the fields, courts, and courses, so be sure to regularly check the AFS Athletics website for the most up-to-date information on your favorite AFS team.
As always, your support means everything to us. We look forward to seeing many of you out on the sidelines cheering on the Kangaroos as we head into a full year of athletics at AFS.
Building Community, One Book at a Time This year’s AFS Book Fair (October 15-17) will take place for the first time in our beautiful Faulkner Library instead of the Hallowell Gym.
Visitors to the Book Fair will find many books available for sale (spanning early childhood to adult) as well as entertainment from our own jazz combo, story time with Rich Nourie and light refreshments. Stacey Checchio is event clerk for the fair and librarians Loann Scarpato and Toni Vahlsing have spearheaded the selection of books this year. A committee headed by parent Barbara Weitz has been compiling teacher recommendations. Visitors to the fair can also purchase books in honor of a child’s birthday or other celebration from a wish list put together by teachers for their classrooms.
Author Donna Jo Napoli will spend time in classrooms on Visiting Author Day on October 16
For Visiting Author Day on October 16, children’s book author Donna Jo Napoli and husband and wife illustrators Robert and Lisa Papp will spend time with students from Early Childhood through Middle School, an experience made all the richer by the inclusion of Napoli’s books in Middle School students’ summer reading assignments.