Friday, April 24, 2009

“Holocaust Remembrance”

Traditionally each year, the Williams community assembles to remember all those affected by the horrors of the German Holocaust. Tuesday was especially meaningful because we were treated to a speech given by Holocaust survivor Alice Dreifuss Goldstein ’49 (pictured holding the yellow star her father was forced to wear in a concentration camp).

Williams students, faculty, and staff sat captivated for a forty-minute recount of Alice's childhood and the memories of her parents and grandparents as Jews living and thriving in southwest Germany until the Nazi takeover in 1933. When Hitler came to power, her family gradually lost all liberties and her father and grandfather lost their family-run store. As the family went through the arduous process of applying to emigrate to the United States, Alice’s father and grandfather were arrested and sent to the concentration camp at Dachau. Miraculously, Alice’s father was released from the horrors of Dachau and returned home. Sadly, her grandfather died in prison camp.

In May 1939, after tirelessly petitioning the German government, Alice and her mother and father were able to board a passenger ship in Hamburg and leave their homeland with only $15 and one steamer trunk full of limited clothes and possessions. At the age of eight, Alice was in a new country and struggling to learn a new culture and language. World War II in Europe broke out three days later. Her family stayed focused and survived to lead a comfortable life in New Hampshire and Connecticut.

My synopsis of Alice’s presentation doesn’t do justice to the power of her story. Fortunately for you and me, she captured most of her memory of this period in her book Ordinary People, Turbulent Times; I look forward to reading it and recommend it to all.

Alice ended her presentation by providing everyone with life lessons she learned during this tumultuous period in her family’s life — recognizing the importance of speaking out against all injustice, stereotypes, and violations of civil rights. It was a privilege not only having a Holocaust survivor deliver this powerful message, but one who was a successful graduate of Williams!

Stay tuned. Enjoy your weekend!

Friday, April 17, 2009

“Enviro Garden”

As our school celebrates Earth Day with a variety of activities based on the theme of “Food for Thought and Thought for Food,” I thought it would be appropriate for me to write about an exciting new “green” project taking place on campus. 

Juniors and seniors in Dr. Fred Oliver’s Environmental Science class are building several garden plots located in the center courtyard of the school. Led by seniors Blair Smith and Marissa Pulaski, Dr. Oliver’s class spends ninth period each Wednesday building four-foot by four-foot garden plots in preparation to plant a variety of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. In class, his students are studying units on “biodiversity and food” and are able to translate class lectures and reading materials to this hands-on project. Within the month, the class plans to plant potatoes, carrots, eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes among five plots. In addition, a field of asparagus will be grown separately. To add color, students will plant an array of flowers.

I am delighted that Dr. O’s class is taking advantage of a space that has never been cultivated, or even used, for an important learning project. I would like to thank several people for helping provide us with free and reduced-cost materials for use:  P&H Construction for top soil, Ring’s End Lumber for the raised garden materials, and Mrs. Sterman for some rich horse manure from her barn!

I look forward to sharing some photos as our gardens begin to bloom! Stop by and have a look the next time you are on campus.

Stay tuned!  Enjoy your weekend.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

“Sturbridge Village”

On Tuesday, I had the absolute pleasure of going on the seventh grade trip to Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. Having experienced the terrific trip to Plimoth Plantation this past fall with Mr. Knudsen in charge, I jumped at the opportunity to again relive history with our Middle School students. Joining us as chaperones were Jeff Brown (father of Andrew and Julie), Kathleen Maher (mother of Alec Goodrich), and Amy Brenner Fricke (mother of Caleb). Middle School Coordinator Tyler Leach served as our unofficial photographer for the day and shared a fun slideshow of images from the trip!

Paralleling the American History course curriculum in seventh grade, the trip offered the students a chance at viewing living history of a typical New England town during the 1830s. In the morning, three separate groups of students performed a variety of trades ranging from printmaking, woodcarving, and sewing. We also learned the basics of bookbinding! 

After lunch, the groups headed into Old Sturbridge Village and spent the afternoon getting answers to questions they had written in class prior to the trip. I was quite impressed by the depth and scope of our students’ questions; they ranged from lifestyle questions to thought-provoking issues raised about politics and slavery in the mid-nineteenth century. Our tour guides walked with each group as we spent time visiting farmhouses, coopers, merchants, printers, and the Congregational Church. In addition, our students spent time in the one-room schoolhouse which made them greatly appreciate their lives at Williams. 

As I noted in an earlier blog, I continue to be wowed by the maturity and sincerity of the Class of 2014. They travel in a big pack, appreciate, and respect one another at all times...not to mention they had a lot of fun on the bus coming and going.

Stay tuned. I hope all of you can spend time with family during Passover and the Easter Holidays.

Friday, April 3, 2009

“Shakespeare in the Halls”

On Wednesday, Middle School Coordinator Tyler Leach and I attended a performance given by the seventh grade English class under the direction of Mrs. Karen Ulrich.  Over the past two weeks, her students have been reading Romeo and Juliet and discussing all aspects of this classic. The class recreated a key scene from the play while performing a puppet show in the hallway adjacent to Room 206. This setting proved to be a perfect location to allow students to perform a show in front of their classmates and us.

The class began with four students from the Class of 2014 donning their puppets, getting on their knees “backstage” and performing the famous “Bedroom Scene” where (if you recall) Juliet is upset for being forced to marry Paris by her parents, the Capulets. Performing this scene were Juliet (Kaitlyn Koonce), Constable (Noah Jenkins), Lady Constable (Kelly Kong), and the Nurse (Olivia Parker). All four students used a great deal of inflection and animation and did a terrific job making the scene come alive. Mrs. Ulrich’s objective was to use the show to help the students understand (by an alternative learning method) the impact of poetic irony.  Remember, Juliet was already married to Romeo before she was forced by her parents to marry Harris.

After the entire class has the opportunity to recreate scenes on the small stage, students will finish the unit by writing a formal essay about the play.

Last May, Mrs. Ulrich was awarded the “Carey Award for Excellent Teaching” and will have the special opportunity to attend the National Shakespeare Festival in Oregon in July. This Festival has been a dream for Mrs. Ulrich to attend, and we are delighted she will have the chance to pursue her passion for Shakespeare this summer.

I look forward to seeing everyone at our Spring Soiree on Saturday!

Stay Tuned… Enjoy your weekend!

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