March 10, 2008
Take Note Highlands Spring Soccer is starting! Most teams will practice this week. See your coach for details. Some teams will even have games on Saturday, March 15th. Chef Helen Presents
From the Desk of Mrs. Barr: With spring break just ahead I think this may be the perfect time to recommend a few books that were highlighted during the conference of the National Association of Independent Schools. I was particularly excited about hearing Daniel Pink talk about his book, A Whole New Mind. He maintains that in this age of abundance, Asia, and automaticity, the traditional “left brain” core curriculum continues to be essential, but we must pay attention to the “right brain” as well. This is not an “education” book; no matter how you spend your days, this book may inspire you and ask you to think a little differently. Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas is her lighthearted account of moving to California in 1971 as a child from Iran, growing up, and marrying a French man. Although not written as a “young adult” book, Funny in Farsi appears on some middle and high school recommended book lists. Ms Dumas spoke in an Erma Bombeck sort of style and kept a gaggle of heads of school in giggles during her entire talk. Be on the lookout for a television sitcom based on her book!
This week’s Hot Lunch Menu was selected by Helen Abele, Student Chef for the Week. A special thank you to her parents, Ginger and Fletcher Abele for supporting Highlands at the 50th Anniversary Auction with the purchase of this package. Bon Appetit!
I received a complimentary copy of Three Cups of Tea, One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time from the people at Pennies for Peace (http://www.mtlib.org/pennies/index.html ) who raise money for the Central Asia Institute (http://www.ikat.org ). Their mission is “to promote and provide community-based education and literacy programs, especially for girls, in remote mountain regions of Central Asia.” The book tells the story of a man who builds fifty-five schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Three Cups of Tea is on the New York Times bestseller list, and I look forward to reading it.
Summer at Highlands registration forms are coming in every day!
Calendar Highlights
Don’t forget to turn yours in to guarantee a spot in your favorite camp!
...Continued on page 3
Fri.
March 14
Mon.– Fri.17-21 Mon. 24 Wed. 26 Fri.
28
Pi Day! This is a regular school day Friday 2:00 Dismissal Spring Break Holiday Classes Resume Kindergarten to McWane Science Center 9:00 a.m.– return at 12:00 p.m. 4th grade Worlds Fair
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Fifth Grade Presents The Nightingale On Friday, March 7th, the fifth grade, under the direction of Mrs. Cahoon, presented a wonderful performance of The Nightingale, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s story of the same title. It is an enchanting tale of an emperor’s fascination with a nightingale and its beautiful song, considered by many scholars to be more beautiful than the Emperor’s own kingdom. This particular play was a wonderful way to bring many of the activities of this school year together, not only for fifth grade, but for the entire Highlands community. The fifth grade would like to thank Mrs. Cahoon for her magnanimous direction and the parents for their generous support with the set and the costumes.
Mr. I Visits Preschool Mr. I’s song talks about an inch trying to measure a giraffe all by himself and Mr. I tells him it is impossible. Both Preschool classes worked together to try and find out how many inches it would take to measure a giraffe. Everyone was given an inch to place on the giraffe but we did not have enough inches to measure it from head to toe. With the help of Mr. Jeff, Ms. Betsy, Ms. Jenkins, and several other members of the Highlands School faculty the students discovered that it took 43 inches to measure the giraffe. Thanks Mr. I for the great lesson in teamwork! Highlands Pack 88 Cub Scouts News Highlands Pack 88 Cub Scouts held their Pinewood Derby on February 16. Eli Nafziger, 4th grade, won the Grand Prix contest for fastest car with his "Dragonfire".. Other race winners of their divisions were James Dixon, Tigers; Peter Scalise, Wolves; and Wesley Madden, Webelos II. The Creativity Award ended in a tie between Wesley Madden for his "Guitar Hero", and James Dixon for his roadster "Lego Racer". Henry Gaede won the Design Award, and Patrick O'Neal won for Engineering. Eli Nafziger also won for best Paint & Trim, and Thomas Gaede won the Spirit Award. Congratulations! Mr. McDonald needed two bluebird houses for our ever growing population on campus, and the Bears and our Webelos built them for him at their last two Den meetings. See the picture at right. The Scouts will have CPR certification on Thursday March 27 after school. The class will be taught by Mrs. Nafziger after school from 3 to 4pm. If anyone would like to join the Cub Scouts for CPR certification, please contact the Cubmaster Mr. Madden at mmadden100@aol.com.
Highlands School Parents’ Auxiliary “Garage Sale” The Highlands School Parents’ Auxiliary is having a “garage sale” to clean out school merchandise from previous years and samples from the online store. The last two pages (page 4 and 5) of Highnotes contains a list of the items available and the cost. If you would like to buy an item please contact Heather Brock. Her contact information is on page 5. Checks should be made out to Highlands School – or you can pay cash. This sale will be a “firstcome, first-buy” basis. There will be no “holds” or “reserves” put on the merchandise.
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From the Desk of Mrs. Barr continued from page 1... Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Gopnik entertained a standing room only crowd with a “spirited conversation” about education, schools, and childhood. Gladwell’s books, Blink and Tipping Point are groundbreaking in the way that Gladwell takes psychology, sociology, and neurology and interprets and applies them in ways that gave me several “ah-hah” moments. Adam Gopnik writes for the New Yorker, and his book Through the Children’s Gate: A Home in New York, tells the story of his family’s move back to New York after having lived in Paris for seven years. Although the family is optimistic and enthusiastic about the move, it occurs shortly before 09/11. The book explores how we can recover hope after such a tragedy. What will be on your spring reading list? If you are like most people I know, your list is longer than your allotted reading time. I am wishing for you a week of happy reading and relaxation! Kathryn Woodson Barr
PI DAY On Friday, March 14, Highlands School will be celebrating Pi Day! On this day in which we celebrate mathematics, we will be having fun while we investigate mathematical concepts which relate to one of the most fascinating of numbers…3.14, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. One of the activities which will take place will be the Pi Recitation Contest for grades 3-8. In this contest, we will find out which of our Highlands students is able to memorize and recite the most digits of Pi! For those students who would like to go ahead and get started, the following website might be helpful: http://www.joyofpi.com/pi.html. If there is anyone for whom the first ten-thousand digits are not enough, you might want to check out The Joy of Pi, by David Blatner. In this humorous and insightful book, you will be able to find the first one million digits of Pi! Good luck!
Grandparents and Special Friends Day
Friday, April 11, 2008 This year we will only have one Grandparents/Special Friends Day and it will include all students (grades PS—8th). As a reminder, we will mail invitations on Monday, March 24th to all grandparents whose addresses we have on file from the Student Information Forms. If a grandparent’s address is not on file, and you would like an invitation sent to them, you will need to provide their contact information. Also, if your child’s grandparents are not able to attend please take a moment to let us know if there is someone special your child would like to invite in their place. Please email Peggy Darby (pdarby@highlandsschool.org) their contact information by Wednesday March 12. Thank you for helping us to include all Grandparents and Special Friends in this wonderful event!
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PARENTS’ AUXILIARY GARAGE SALE
Everything must go! 100% of the profit from this sale will benefit the Highlands School Parents’ Auxiliary The following items are all priced at $10 each. All items have the Highlands logo on them Item Blue Highlands Rain ponchos Metal Highlands license tags Long sleeve tee-shirts - white with blue logo child child adult adult White sweatshirts with blue logo child child adult White sweatpants with blue logo child adult White short sleeve tee-shirt child Grey long gym shorts with blue logo youth
Size One Size fits Most N/A
QTY Available 2 8
med (10/12) large 14/16 small XL
1 1 1 1
medium 10/12 large 14/16 small
1 1 1
small large
1 1
medium 10/12
1
medium
1
The following items are all $15 each There is only one of each item Item Pigment-Dyed Tee-Shirt Highlands Crest Logo Dylan Snap Front Jacket Highlands Name and Crest Logo Travel Mug with Logo Highlands Name and Crest Logo 100% Cotton Long-Sleeve Tee Highlands Name and Crest Logo Stretch Fleece Beanie Highlands Crest Twill Hat Highlands Crest
Size Youth Medium
Color Medium Blue
18 months
Light Blue
N/A
Silver
Medium
White
One Size Fits Most
Royal
One Size Fits Most
Royal
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PARENTS’ AUXILIARY GARAGE SALE Page 2
The following items are all $15 each There is only one of each item Item Andi Shortall and Romper Highlands Name and Crest Logo Port Authority Ladies Sleeveless Sephyr Sport Shirt Highlands Name and Crest Logo
Size 24 months
Color White
Medium
White
The following items are all $20 each There is only one of each item Item Beach Towel Highlands Name and Crest Logo Crewneck Sweatshirt with Tipped Trim Highlands Name and Crest Logo Silk Touch Pique Knit Sport Highlands Name and Crest Logo Port & Company Sweatpant Highlands Crest
Size N/A
Color White
Youth Large
Heather/Royal
Youth Small
Royal
Youth Large
Heather
The following items are all $30 each There is only one of each item Item Stadium Seat Highlands Name and Crest Logo Nylong ¼ Zip Pullover Anorak Highlands Name and Crest Logo Pique Knit Sport Shirt with Contrast Shoulder Panel Highlands Alumni Logo Port & Company Basic Duffle Bag Highlands Name and Crest Logo Fleece Stadium Blanket Highlands Name and Crest Logo
Size N/A
Color Royal
Youth Medium
Royal
Extra Large
Royal/White
Large
Royal
N/A
Royal
All items are being sold on a first come, first bought basis. Items will not be held or reserved. To buy your item(s) please contact Heather Brock at hbrock132@charter.net or via telephone at 871-8215. Only checks and cash will be accepted. Please make all checks payable to Highlands School. 100% of the profit from this sale will benefit the Highlands School Parents’ Auxiliary.