April 24, 2007 Dear Parents, Well, it’s that time of year again to begin thinking about Exploratorium. For those of you new to the Middle School this year, Exploratorium began several years ago as a necessary solution to a space problem while the Middle School was being remodeled. When we saw the overwhelming positive response from students, staff, and parents, we took a closer look. What we discovered was that we had created something wonderful. Exploratorium serves many of the special needs of adolescents as described by Charity James in her article, “On The Unique Needs Of Adolescents.” In this article she outlines the following needs: intensity, exploration, risk-taking, gaining expertise, personal growth, decision-making, problem solving, and information gathering. Because of the unique format of Exploratorium: short, intensive courses, students are able to have a completely different, more intense school experience than they usually do. These experiences involve dabbling in new experiences, delving deeply into topics that are of particular interest, taking risks, building groups, and exploring relationships with self and others. Exploratorium will consist of three mini-sessions. The dates of these will be: Week One: May 21 - 25 We are excited this year to be able to offer a wide variety of Exploratorium options. The Middle School staff really enjoys getting the chance to offer these in-depth mini-courses in subject areas with which we have experience and interest, but may not have opportunity to teach during regular classes. And we are very pleased to be able to welcome back alumni, former staff and parents as guest teachers to help expand the offerings. The quantity and quality of courses this year is thrilling. Here is a brief Bio of our guest teachers: Emily Chamberlain - It feels strange to think of Emily as a visiting teacher as she has served on the Middle School staff for 15 + years. Emily has many years experience teaching language arts and done extensive work in helping Middle Schoolers to learn to use journal writing as a means to self discovery. We are thrilled to welcome Emily back. Josh Hattem – Josh is currently a full time student at American University. He is a graduate of CFS where he was involved in theater. Josh also acted regularly as part of several community theater groups. Josh was a founding member of One Song Productions, a student run theater group in Chapel Hill. Josh participated as an actor in One Song’s 48 hour play last spring. Kiernan McGowan – A CFS graduate, Kiernan is now a student at George Washington University where he received a scholarship in drama and is an archaeology major. Kiernan has completed archaeology coursework at GW and will be studying abroad this coming year in Ireland. Kiernan has been involved with theater since Middle School himself and has acted and directed in theater community theater groups, Upper School Performances, and theater productions at GW. Caitlin Prillaman – Caitlin is a CFS lifer. She is a Creative Writing major at Oberlin College. Caitlin received the Elizabeth Squire Daniels Writing Scholarship to attend the summer writing program at Peace College while she was at CFS. She also wrote and directed a one act play in the Upper School. In her senior year at CFS, Caitlin taught a Creative Writing Class for Upper School students. This summer she will be a residential counselor at Duke Young Writers Camp. Rachel Galper— Rachel Galper is an art educator working with youth and adults in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Durham. She specializes in mosaic and mixed media art, story creation, and storytelling. Rachel has a Master's in Education and an Associate Degree in Art. She has taught a variety of subjects in public school, at children's museums, and art centers since 2000. Currently, Rachel works at CFS as the after care teacher for the middle school and will teach several upcoming CFS summer camps. She is very excited to be doing two Exploratoriums. Mary Chrestensen-Becker—We have gotten to know Mary this year as a substitute teacher in the Middle School. Mary grew up in Portland, Oregon, though she has lived in almost every time zone in the US! She graduated with a degree in Math from Grinnell College in Iowa and a Masters Degree in Computer Science from Rutgers University. She has taught Computer Science, and Math for all levels. Mary has many hobbies including walking, hiking and dancing. She also loves Math puzzles and origami which are two important focuses of the Mostly Oragami Exploratorium that she will be leading. Jamie Powell—Jamie comes highly recommended from both Middle and Upper School students. She has been a Yoga instructor for many years. Jamie teaches a vatiety of Yoga classes locally at the Yoga Center. We are delighted that she will be sharing her Yoga teaching talents with our community in a 3-day Exploratorium. Jamie has taught Yoga to many ages and we are lucky to have her. Toni Lilley—Tonie Lilley is the mother of a lower schooler and a middle schooler, a graduate of New Garden Friends School and a substitute teacher at CFS. Although she was temporarily sidetracked by the study and practice of public health education, not to mention parenthood, in recent years she returned to her passion of writing poetry, short stories and essays. Tonie is an avid reader of fantasy and science fiction and a big Harry Potter fan. Frances Brindle— Frances is a Biology teacher in the Upper School. She has a PhD in Botany fro Trinity College in Dublin. Her love of plants and soil will be shared with our students to help beautify the area surrounding the new CFS meeting hall. Frances has been at CFS for two years and is very excited about this joint Upper/Middle School project. Frances taught at Princeton Friends School for eight years where she gained experience working with a variety of ages in Science. As you can see, we have several guest teachers who add exciting options that we would not otherwise be able to offer. We are very pleased to have them. Attached is a course description and registration packet. Please read all course descriptions carefully. Project options range from off campus trips and art explorations to writing and science courses. Some have specific pre-requisites. Some have additional costs associated with transportation or special materials. Please take all these things into consideration as you and your student go through the registration process. Please be aware that scholarships are available for all classes. Costs should not be a factor in any child’s choice to participate and we ask that you support Exploratorium by letting us know when scholarship funds would be helpful. Please note that we will register for all three Exploratoriums on May 1. We look forward to sharing these special learning experiences with your children. Middle School Staff ************************************************************************ Please see attached “How Can I Help?” form. |