Montessori Messenger | March 2023

montessori MESSENGER

Civil Rights Journey

Days 1 - 3

Day 1: King Center in Atlanta | By Maia and Jocelyn

We started our civil rights journey today in Atlanta, Georgia after flying out from Albany airport to Baltimore, then going on a connecting flight. Once we landed, we boarded a bus and headed to the King Center. Here, we explored the various indoor exhibits, which taught us about Dr. King’s life, family, and beliefs. There was also a film playing inside about peaceful, non-violent protests. We then went outside and walked to the birth home of Dr. King. Unfortunately, we were unable to go inside his home, although we were able to walk through and look around the neighborhood which was restored to the way it was when he lived there. We then went to MLK’s memorial/tomb. We read a few paragraphs about the memorial and MLK’s life before having a moment of silence for Dr. King and his life at the memorial. After our time at the King Center, we had dinner at Virgil’s Gullah Kitchen and Bar. We ate a buffet style dinner with chicken, fried corn, fried tomatoes, and mac-n-cheese before heading to our hotel for the night. We swam, worked out, and played card games. Overall, it was a very fulfilling day and a great start to our civil rights journey.

Middle School Immersion

Day 2: Montgomery | By Eily and Izzy

Today on our Civil Rights Journey, we found ourselves traveling from Atlanta, Georgia, to Montgomery, Alabama. First stop was the Rosa Parks Museum! This museum featured a fun busthemed blast to the past within an interactive time machine which was a bus we could all board. Then, we took a selfguided tour around the rest of the museum. Next, we traveled to the Freedom Rider’s Museum which was an unplanned addition to our itinerary! We learned a lot about the freedom riders movement, which pushed the boundaries of segregation and pushed to integrate buses going across state lines. The riders were attacked by the K.K.K., bombed, and harassed by the police.

Next stop, was the first Confederate White House. The house had very interesting architecture and history to go along with it. It was in use during the Civil War, housing Jefferson Davis for a brief time during the start of the Civil War. After that, we visited Dexter Ave. Baptist Church. Our tour guide, Wanda, had a very profound speech that spoke in some way to every one of us. In the church’s bottom level, there was both a beautiful mural and a podium that was actually used by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself in his “How Long? Not Long” speech.

On the final historic destination of our day, we went to the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Civil Rights memorial. However, the Civil Rights memorial was closed down due to a crack in the table. However, the exhibit within the museum itself was incredibly impactful and meaningful, with videos touching on both the older civil rights struggles and the newer ones concerning BLM and relative movements.

Day 3: Equal Justice Initiative Museum and Memorial and Selma, Alabama

We went to Montgomery, and visited the lynching museum. The museum was created by Brian Stevenson the creator of the EJI (equal justice initiative). We explored the history of America and slavery. When you first enter there was a variety of sculptures of people wearing different forms of torture devices or chains submerged in the water. The museum allowed us to look more at the people that were lynched by collecting the dirt from those lynching sites and putting them on display allowing us to see the tragedies of lynching. There were also interactive educational videos and movies the museum created to make a more hands on learning experience for people visiting. Overall, it was a very powerful stop and made us really think and understand the horrors of lynching.

Our next stop was the Lynching Memorial. The Memorial was filled with at least 100 different stones. Each stone was filled with names of African Americans who were lynched in each county. What surprised us was that these weren’t even all of the names. Many African Americans have been lynched without recognition. So many have stories that still need to be told.

For lunch we had a box lunch while we visited Joanne Bland, a woman who walked in the Selma March. She spoke about what it was like for her during The Civil Rights Movement and everything white people could do that she couldn’t. However, she wasn’t stuck on the past and was more worried about the present and future. She told us that we were each an important piece and that we had to do something to change the lasting effects of slavery and segregation. This was a really powerful experience and I think everyone left feeling inspired to do something about the issue.

The events of “Bloody Sunday”. When in Selma we visited the Edmon Pettus bridge, where we walked over the bridge in silence to appreciate the history and take in the legacy. After having a nice walk across the bridge, we boarded the bus and headed down to the 205 restaurant located in Tuscaloosa, the food was delicious, flavorful, and seasoned, a bonus of 10 points. We had a long drive to the hotel and everyone was exhausted, so we all hit the hay some might say.

Following the American Montessori Society Conference, several of our teachers began applying their newly acquired knowledge to their classrooms on Monday morning. A highlight heard from the event was a session presented by Jody Malterre titled, Why They Won't Lead, which is based on the books and research conducted by Jane Nelson on the topic of positive discipline.

"The premise is to initate classroom meetings which grows classroom cititzens who are responsible, respectful, and resourceful members of the classroom community." Julie Adams explained. "We began meetings to establish a process, make all students visible, have collaboration and build community. We started with sharing compliments and appreciations; using the terms 'I noticed...' or 'I appreciated it when...' and we are working towards building an agenda based on the students needs."

Jessa Pelizari said, "At the primary level, we’ve restructured our daily community meetings to nurture leadership by sharing compliments and appreciations with one another and offering friendly reminders of classroom rules. These reminders are given by the students, not teachers, to foster their sense of ownership for classroom materials and responsibility for their actions."

Resources for parents:

• positivediscipline.com

• parentteachercoach.com

The ZUZU Acrobats are a Tanzanian troupe who base their performances on 2000 years of history. They bring modern art, culture, and passion with them everywhere they go. ZUZU celebrates their niche culture of Dar Es Salaam through jaw dropping acrobatics, live music, singing, dancing, and more.

WHMS LOVED this amazing acrobatic performance full of energy and positivity. The students were encouraged to dance as they watched and some were even invited to participate in a round of limbo or to practice their lifts! It was an assembly that lifted spirits on a cold day in March.

Discovery Discovery V O Y A G E O F V O Y A G E O F

Step into your child’s shoes and spend a morning learning the Montessori way! Join faculty from each level as you travel through the Voyage of Discovery exploring Dr. Montessori’s cosmic curriculum.

Spring Extracurriculars started the last week in March with new offerings this year including Skateboarding, Flag Football, and Lil' Leaguersin preparation for our Baseball Field construction about to begin!

With the new season, it's wonderful see the interconnectedness of our students supporting one another. In each group, the children are encouraging each other, offering tips to improve themselves, and lending a helping hand. The kindness is overwhelming here at WHMS.

Thank you to all the parents, grandparents, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends that have donated to the WHMS Fund. We have raised over $80,000 for our school and our students!

It is not too late to donate! Please join the families below in supporting the WHMS Fund to show your appreciation and support of our community. If you have not yet donated to this year’s WHMS Fund, we accept donations until June 30.

Tuition at WHMS covers the basic operating costs of keeping the school open. It’s the WHMS Fund that provides so much more of what we love for our community, including the financial aid that makes the school affordable for many of our families. In addition to financial aid, the funds raised this year will be used to purchase Montessori materials, shelving and tables for each classroom, a weather station, books for the library, and more.

Scholars’ Circle

Anonymous

Josh and Jenny Wainman, Wainschaf Associates, Inc.

Head of School Circle

Elizabeth and John Armstrong Global Companies LLC

Tien Family Foundation

Leadership Circle

The Blackbaud Giving Fund

Mary and David Buehl, in honor of Silas

Nastasi

Michael and Sara DeLeonardis

Jason and Danielle Dow

Drs. Carlos and Sonia Elguero

Peter and Jean Endryck, in honor of Olga

Swick

Lore and Charles Ferguson

Bob and Tamara Gatchell

Liliana Garcia and Dan Massey

Dorian Goldman and Marvin Israelow

IBM

Jacob Israelow and Tanu Kumar

Julie and Jim Knox

The Mailworks

Neelam Mehta

Alex and Portia Pieterse

Cyril & Lydia Rodriguez, in memory of Ahmad Praileau, Class of 2016

Drs. Tobi and Gary Saulnier

Erika and Chris Solomon

Investor

Bilal Alp and Mevlude Akay Alp

The Benevity Community Impact Fund

Thomas Capezza and Melissa Breger, in honor of Bezyn

Jamie and Michael Furgang

Kris and Pete Gernert-Dott

Jennifer and Niles Gold

The Ledet Family

Jim and Jenny Malatras

Murray and Mallory Massry

The Orietas Family

Jesse and Wendy Roberts

Stewart’s Shops/Stewart’s Holiday Match

Ruth, Paul, Ana, and Emilia Turaew

Leo Wan and Hsin Peng, in honor of Arthur Wan

Benefactor

Elisa Albert and Edward Schwarzschild

Elizabeth A. Angell, in honor of Alexander and Hana Angell

Laura and Nathaniel Angell

Ann and Adam Ayers

Dr. Michael and Madeline Baltrush

Amrita and Santosh Bangalore

Ines and Ted Berger

Kristi Berner and Geoff Gloak

Charlotte and Charles Buchanan

Heather Buehl

Liz and Tim Cahrenger

Matt and Tanya Corry

Nicole and Michael Davis

Vicki Dillon

Mustafa Dokucu and Isil Severcan-Dokucu

Michael Endler and Lise Hafner

Susan and David Evans

Frederick and Laura Galt

Jeffrey Lang and Andrea Tinio

Nicole and Brian Lenihan

Conor and Doni Lillis

Nicole and Brendan Longcore

Dr. Steven and Tara Manierre

Andrew McClain and Sandy Blakeman

Erin and Fernando Mergil

Dr. David and Robyn Morrison

The Ryu Philip Family

Stephanie and Tom Puchner

Pamela and Michael Rabbia, in honor of Conrad and Tucker Dillon

The Rattner Family

Michele Richens

Moira K. Rienzo

The Yutesler Family

Friend

16 Handles

Mariam Aghayan, in honor of Dr. Alisa

Scapatici

Amazon Smile

Robert and Lynn Angelicola

Marina and Kyle Angelicola-Richardson

Anonymous (4)

Christopher and Dr. Shayla Armand

Renata and Ben Atwood

James and Donna Baccei

Ken and Susan Belflower

Vanessa Bilanceri

Ann Brandt

Christine Bubriski

Mary Ann Buckowski

Alta Buden and Jeffrey Johnson

Barbara Caicedo

The Catalano Family

Tina Claus

Sarah Colwill

Jennifer Cote

Chris Cueman and Jaime Nass

Patricia D’Agostino, in honor of Ada Yesupriya

Howard Daley and Karyn Yaffee

Maron and Maximillan de Maizière

Rebecca Endryck, WHMS Class of 2005

Bryan and Britnee Eskew

Ravi and Deepa Gandla

Kyra Garrigue and Justin Baker

Barbara Gifford

The Gifford Family

Wendy and Charles Gilman

Gemma and Ilan Halfi

Danielle Hall

Aleem and Diana Hamil

Hannaford Supermarkets

Ed and Maryanne Hannan, in honor of Maisie and Lily

David and Adele Harris

Justine Heilner and James Canty

Cora and Scott Heiser

Marion and Chris Heller

Max Heller, WHMS Class of 2014

James and Shirley Hicks, in honor of Sidney

Furgang

Jim and Lisa Hoffman

Lisa and Griffith Holland

Sara Howard

Sauro and Jaqualyn Iardella

Ariel Jaitovich and Maria Moran, in honor of Juana Jaitovich

Jalal and Taj Jaleel

James and Erin Jenkins

Bonnie Johnson

Leah Johnson

Benjamin and Olivia Karis

Cynthia Kellogg

Dr. Tyler and Sarah Kenning

James and Roxanne Knight, in honor of Liam and Aubrey Schneider

Ryan Lauderdale and Lindsay Becker

The Lavigne Family

The Logan Family

The Luciani Family

Donna MacGregor, in honor of Lena, Cami, and Collette MacGregor

Jessica and Chris Mascolo

The Maxian-Winston Family

Tami Meek

The Moschouris Family

Mark and Jing Mowry

Edward and Aubrey Ohanian

Ms. Susan Orth, in honor of the Roberts Girls

Cat Pacini

Sima Patel-Harris and Michael Harris

Stacy Pettigrew and Scott Kellogg

Kimberly and Yakov Polishchuk

Michele R. Praileau

The Rinker-Tennant Family

Nolan and Sydney Robinson & Marisa

Rothstein

Kendra and Daniel Rubin, in honor of Hunter Rubin

Audrey Sartiaux and Gregory Bonaros

A. Schaefer and A. Headley

Anne Siudy

Slingerland Family Foundation

Stephanie and Tyler Smith

Maria and Chris Spencer

Megan and Paul Stasi

Sara Stevens

Drs. Angela and Stephen Stokes

Keri and Dr. Matthew Tetreault

The Unger-O’Shea Family

Sarah Ward and The Assi Kids, in memory of Khodr Ali Assi

Aaron Wey and Jodi Novak Wey

Caleb and Tressa White

Perry Woodin and Laura Welles

Irtiza Zaidi and Mashal Shaikh

Donations in memory of Christine

Kelly Powers

Albany Port District Commission

Dr. Michael and Madeline Baltrush

Kristi and Rich Barlette

Douglas R. Beam, P.A.

John and Barbara Beaulieu

Rand and Michelle Booth

Richard Bopp

Bottar Law

Robert and Maureen Buhrmaster

Peter Burns

Cadence Creative Inc.

Stephen and Genevieve Chenette

Timothy Chiplock and Nuhar Jaleel

Tina Claus

Michael and Eileen Criscione

Greg and Alice Cusimano

Maureen M. Dana

Jennifer Eckman

Michelle and Ashley Edwards

Gary and Diane Gober

Laura & Edwin Graham

Richard & Mary Hendrick

Ariel Jaitovich and Maria Moran

E. Stewart Jones, Jr. & Kimberly Sanger Jones

Patrick and Laura Jordan

Kathleen and David Kelly

Shaun and Lisa Kelly

Robert Lahm

Sue LaVigne

LPGA Amateurs Capital Region Chapter

Law Offices of John E. Hill, PC

Ira and Cynthia Leesfield, Leesfield Scolaro Maggiano, Digirolamo, and Lizzi, PC

Mary Ellen Mahar

Norman and Micki Massry

The Parkside Group

Suzanne Pasley

Justin Pfeiffer and Rebecca Koch

Kate Powers and Josh Pepper

Robin C. Raco

Kathleen Santola

Steven Schwartzapfel, Schwartzapfel Lawyers

P.C.

Caitlin Jordan Shaffer

Michael and Anne Skrebutenas

Evan Stavisky

Christine M Stuto

Ken and Marcie Titlebaum

Gail J. Trimyer

Richard and Dorothy Usas

Frank and Laurie Verderame

Mary Jane Wilson

Donations in memory of Sigrid

Gernert

Tina Claus

Sigrid Fahrun

Geoff Gloak and Kristi Berner

Robert Honsinger

Randy and Donna Jennings

Susan and Jim Kambrich

Sue LaVigne

Peapack-Gladstone Bank

Sandra Rouse

Rachel Siegel

Mike and Martha Smiles

Karyn Yaffee & Howard Daley

In-Kind Donations

James Besha, Jr. and Susan Thomas

Ellms Family Farm

Samascott Orchards

Montessori Services (For Small Hands)

Great care was taken to ensure the accuracy of this report. If there are any errors or omissions, please accept our apologies and notify Moira Rienzo, Director of Development at 518-283-5400 ext. 32 or mrienzo@woodlandhill.org

Savion Glover and ORCHeST’DaNCE RA

Join the Diversity Committee for a night out April 22, 2023 8PM at The Egg

All ages welcome!

Experience a true force of nature, with unmatched choreographic and improvisational skills and explosive energy, Savion will create a cosmic village of sound, translating the dance as truth through melodic perspective and move-meantz’ – accompanied by the ORCHeST’DaNCE RA – his company of hoofers and musicians.

Savion Glover is without a doubt the most influential, and innovative tap dancer of his generation. Glover began taking music classes at Newark Community School of the Arts at the age of four. He soon progressed to advanced classes, becoming the youngest student in the school’s history to receive a full scholarship. At the age of seven, Glover enrolled in tap dance classes, and was soon opening at festivals with such greats as Jimmy Slyde, Chuck Green, Honi Coles, and Buster Brown. Glover appeared on Broadway for the first time at ten years old in The Tap Dance Kid.

Discounted ticket price of $31 per ticket, including fees. To join us for this amazing experience please contact Lisa Holland at 518-527-4172 (call or text) or WHMSDiversity@gmail.com

Learn more about Savion and other legendary Black tap dancers, by clicking on their name.

On March 3rd, The Diversity Committee in conjunction with WHMS, was thrilled to present HARRIET TELLS IT LIKE IT IS

This amazing one woman show transported WHMS students through Harriet’s life, struggles, and accomplishments; from childhood through adulthood. Accompanied by a professional African drummer, “Harriet” used creative props and storytelling to engage the students, and allow them to experience what it was like to be a slave, and eventually a savior for other slaves. After the performance the children were invited to ask questions of the performers to learn more about Harriet and their craft. We received reviews from the students, who gave it a solid 10, with their only complaint being that they were left wanting more.

From the Albany Symphony Spotlight:

The Power of the Spoken Word

April 23 at 11 am

By Mark Bamuthi Joseph — Performer, educator, and Convergence Curating Artist

This is a free workshop as a part of The Forgiveness Project.

For more information on Convergence at the Albany Symphony.

So everyone knows about K-POP. How about Ak Dan Gang Chil? This is a group of young Korean musicians and dancers singing old folk songs and performing traditional Korean instrument, but with some modern twist. Curious? Check out some YouTube clips

This eclectic group will be performing at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs on May 5, 8 pm. More information.

Silkroad Ensemble is an exciting group of musicians, representing dozens of nationalities that roughly lie along the famous Silkroad. This ensemble was founded by Yo-Yo Ma in 2000. Over the years they have produced multiple albums, and they perform all over the world as small and large groups. Their website (https://www.silkroad.org/artists) says, the artists ‘draw on a rich tapestry of traditions from around the world to create a new musical language that weaves together the foreign and the familiar’. Click here for samples of their music.

End of Year Calendar!

If you have a copy of our printed school year calendar, you might have noticed dates have changed! With only three months left of school and so much going on, please download a new version of the school calendar to have the most up to date information to follow for the remainder of this school year!

Self-Portraits

The Upper Elementary self-portraits have been on display through the halls this month after studying the work of contemporary artist Kehinde Wiley. Wiley is an American portrait painter based in New York, who "engages the signs and visual rhetoric of the heroic, powerful, majestic and the sublime in his representation of urban, black and brown men found throughout the world." See more of Kehinde's work here.

Self-portraits allow for an insightful way to look at oneself and share our own representation of who we are. Through these works of art we learn more about one's life, environment, and personality.

WHMS IS FULL OF TALENT

The Friends of Woodland Hill Montessori School put together a fun-filled showcase of the talented acts here at WHMS. Students from Primary - Middle School performed an eclectic show of dancing, singing, puppetry, short plays, drumming, and more! We are so proud of the hard work and bravery of the student performers!

Thank you to Marina Angelicola-Richardson for organizing the event, Friends volunteers, and the Middle School students who ran the lights and sound. What a wonderful Friday!

A Glimpse of the Learning Fair

On Friday, March 31, the Lower Elementary students proudly set up their Science Fair projects throughout the Middle School classrooms for all levels to explore! Students researched a variety of topics from the science of a Lava Lamp, How Germs Develop, Life Cycles, and even how to Mummify a Hot Dog.