Subject: MS Tuesday Letter
From: <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2013 23:30:00 -0500

---------------------------------------------------
  
  MIDDLE SCHOOL TUESDAY LETTER
  
---------------------------------------------------

FROM THE SCHOOL
--------------------------------------------------

This Week's Query
What do we know about the work of Dr. Martin Luther King?

Notes from Sally
This week's assembly is designed to help address the week's query. We 
will see a film called "Legacy of a Dream," and then we will break 
into small groups for discussion. This would be a great week for 
parents and grandparents to share your memories of Dr. King and his 
influence on this country as we help our new generation appreciate 
the significance of his life and work.

Please see the notice elsewhere in the letter about the Vertical 
Voices performance on Friday night. All seventh graders learn the 
techniques of Playback Theater in their Quakerism and the Arts class; 
now come see our eighth grade troupe as they reflect the stories they 
hear from the audience. It will be a very entertaining evening!

The Vertical Voices troupe and other Middle School students will also 
be attending a Student Diversity Conference next Tuesday at Sandy 
Spring Friends School. They will present an assembly for us later in 
February to help share what they learn.

All 7/8 students are invited to the dance in the dining room on 
Friday night, February 1st, and parents in those grades will have 
concurrent Peer Group meetings.

Family Science Night at the Air and Space Museum will take place on 
Tuesday, February 12 from 6:45-9:00 PM. Buses will depart from the 
Wisconsin Avenue campus at 6:15 PM and return by 9:20 PM. We have 
space for 125 people from Sidwell Friends. The program is geared for 
students in 3rd grade and up (younger children should not attend).

Selected museum galleries will be open before the program. The 
evening includes the IMAX film 3D- Sun and a presentation by 
scientist Jeff Goldstein on the relationship of objects in our solar 
system. Those of you who have attended in the past know that Dr. 
Goldstein is a dynamic presenter and makes complex space science 
accessible to all.

If you are interested in attending Family Science Night, send an 
email to reserve your spot to Sam Francis, LS Science Teacher. 
([email-masked]). Indicate how many people in your family will 
be attending, the name of any Sidwell Friends students and the grade 
level of each student you are bringing. We will be charging a $5 per 
person fee to cover the cost of the buses with a $15 per family 
maximum.

The Air & Space Museum will not allow individual entry to the museum 
on that night. The Academic Calendar for 2013-14 is now posted on the 
main SFS website. This calendar gives information about the dates for 
opening and closing of the school year as well as the holidays for 
next year.

As you know we are celebrating No Name-Calling Year. January 21-25, 
2013 is National No Name-Calling Week. No Name-Calling Week is a 
national annual event when schools sponsor activities aimed at ending 
name-calling. This year we hope students will participate in the No 
Name-Calling Week Creative Expressions Exhibit, an online gallery of 
student work related to the topic of ending name-calling and 
fostering respect in schools. More information can be found at this 
link: 
http://www.nonamecallingweek.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/news/record/200.html

This year's 5/6 BIG READ is Buddha Boy, by Kathe Koja , and the 7/8 BIG 
READ is Quaking, by Kathryn Erskine. While Buddha Boy is generally 
recommended for ages 12+, we feel it fits with our theme this year. 
If you have questions or would like additional resources for your 
younger child, please contact Julia Porter, Kimberly Clarkson or 
Leslie Segal. We hope you will participate in the BIG READ and 
encourage your son or daughter to as well. If you or your son or 
daughter would like to read either book, there are copies that can be 
checked out from the Middle School Library, Ms. Porter at the front 
desk, and Mrs. Clarkson's and Sra. Picken's classrooms.

Chorus Rehearsals This Week
Wednesday, January 23rd

Boys Ensemble 7:25 (SHARP)

Math Meet on January 30th
Attention 6th, 7th and 8th grade parents: The second math meet of the 
year will take place on Wednesday, January 30th, at St. Patrick's 
Episcopal Day School. At the meet, students will complete six fun and 
challenging problems along side other middle school students from 
area independent schools. An after school snack is provided at the 
meet. We will leave Sidwell Friends around 2:15 pm, and return to the 
Sidwell Friends garage at 4:15 pm. This a wonderful way for students 
to share an experience outside of school with other math enthusiasts 
their age. In order to attend, students need to sign up with their 
math teacher. They also need to have a math meet permission form 
(provided by their math teacher) signed and turned in to their 
teacher if they haven't already turned one in this year.

PA ANNOUNCEMENTS
---------------------------------------------------

Quakerism at Sidwell Friends School

     Quakerism at Sidwell Friends School - this is the last reminder 
about our evening of conversation with members of the Board of 
Trustees Quaker Life Committee about Quakerism at SFS.  If you were 
unable to join us last week, please do come this Thursday evening, 
January 24 in the Lower School Meeting House.  Supper will be 
available at 6:30, Tom Farquahr will speak about Quakerism at 7, and 
the full discussion will start at 7:30.  All families, regardless of 
division, are welcome to come.  The topics covered - Quakerism at SFS 
and the role of SFS as a Quaker school in a broader community - are 
the same as at the meeting January 16.

Community Service Corner
Toiletries are urgently needed for a Middle School Service Day 
project to benefit our partner organization, A Wider Circle.

A Wider Circle is continuously in need of personal care items such as 
soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, lotion, deodorant and 
tissues for their clients. Please consider contributing to the 
ongoing MS Toiletry Collection and to our special push for the Middle 
School Service Day! A collection basket is in the MS office. Thank 
you for your help with this important Community Service Project.

Questions? Please contact MS Community Service Co-Clerks Sara Jane 
Harris [email-masked] or Felice [email-masked]

Wrestling Tournament on Friday
This coming Friday, January 25th Sidwell Friends will host the annual 
MAC Wrestling Tournament all day. Matches will start at 10:30 and 
probably wind down shortly after the school day ends. MAC teams 
include: Georgetown Day School, Maret, Potomac, St. Andrews, St James 
and, of course, SFS. Admission is free for Sidwell Friends students 
and faculty. There will be food available through the concession 
stand. Come out and support the Upper School team, buy a piece of 
pizza, and cheer on an SFS wrestler.

Quaker Camps
When you are thinking about a great sleep away camp for your child 
ages 9 and older, please do remember the fabulous, life altering 
Quaker camps - Catoctin in nearby Maryland and Shiloh and Opequon in 
Virginia.

Find out more by visiting the Baltimore Yearly Meeting website  at 
www.bym-rsf.org. Your child will be forever grateful. 

OTHER NEWS
---------------------------------------------------

Quaker Quotes
"We have inherited a big house, a great "world house" in which we 
have to live together - black and white, Easterners and Westerners, 
Gentiles and Jews, Catholics and Protestants, Moslem and Hindu, a 
family unduly separated in ideas, culture, and interests who, because 
we can never again live without each other, must learn, somehow, in 
this one big world, to live with each other. This means that more and 
more our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. We 
must now give an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to 
preserve the best in our individual societies." Martin Luther King, 
Jr

Dolley Payne's father was a struggling businessman who freed his 
slaves after the Revolutionary War of 1776. She was born and raised a 
Quaker, and wore the religion's traditional garb through her 
childhood. A family friend, Aaron Burr, introduced her to 
then-Congressman James Madison, who proposed marriage mere weeks 
later. When she married Madison, an Episcopalian, she joined his 
church -- and remade herself as a socialite, taking up snuff, having 
an occasional nip of alcohol, and discarding her dowdy Quaker clothes 
for bright, colorful gowns.

While her husband was Secretary of State, she served as de facto 
hostess at state dinners and official functions of widower Thomas 
Jefferson's Presidency. She acted as a public spokeswoman for the 
fundraising effort that, in 1804, sent Meriwether Lewis and William 
Clark to explore the Louisiana territory. When her husband became 
President in 1809, she hosted the first party to be called an 
inaugural ball, then took charge of his social calendar.

By all accounts, Dolley Madison's natural charm, cultivated 
graciousness, and enthusiasm for public life set the standard for 
future First Ladies, and began the tradition that cast the 
President's wife as the nation's hostess. At her death in 1849, 
President Zachary Taylor is said to have eulogized her as "the First 
Lady of the land" -- the first use of the term "First Lady" to 
describe a head of state's spouse.

From NNDB

Parents Invited to Meeting for Worship
Parents of Middle School students are invited to attend Meeting for 
Worship with their child on Thursday, January 31, 8:10 - 8:40 a.m., 
in the Smith Meeting House.

For Quakers, wisdom begins in silence. This is a wonderful way for 
parents to experience Meeting, take part in your child's education, 
and demonstrate the value of silent worship.

ARTRAGEOUS 2013 is coming on January 27th!
COME ONE, COME ALL! ART CAN!  ARTRAGEOUS 2013 is almost here!!  The 
ONE AND ONLY all-free, all-school, all-age Arts Festival Sunday 
January 27, 1-4pm.  Location: Kogod Arts Center, Upper School Campus 
We're still looking for:

PERFORMERS: Email Roberta Gasbarre to reserve your slot.

VOLUNTEERS needed starting at 10 am for set-up and throughout the 
day. Interested? Please email Dana Lucas. It's a great way to 
participate in the school community.

UGLY TIES! Clean out your closet and donate your gaudy garish ties to 
ARTRAGEOUS! The Refashionista Station will transform them into 
something fabulous.

BIG BOXES!  We need boxes and cardboard tubes to make the biggest 
cardboard city ever. Boxopolis is Back! Please drop-off in US and MS 
office.

CANNED FOOD for Can City! We are asking for canned food donations to 
be placed in boxes at entry of school buildings from today until 
January 25. They will be used for a construction on the day of the 
event and then will be donated to the community.

Wondering what happened last year at Artrageous 2012? Check out the 
following short clip of Arts in Bloom.

WHAT'S IN THE CAN FOR THIS YEAR?

Art Canstruction - Assemble a city out of cans. All cans to be 
donated to the community.

Refashionista - Recycle old clothing saved from the can into fabulous 
new creations.

Can Bots - Build Robot Sculptures out of cans, wire, and beads. 

Print Making - Discover your inner Pop Artist making prints with LS 
Art Teacher, Sabreena Ahmed.

Community Mural - Create a Collective Work of Wall Art to music with 
Artist Cherif Mamadou.

iCan iPad Animation/ Canimation - Animate a stop-action film on an 
iPad with LS teacher Jenny Voorhees.

Clay Studio - Sculpt clay with US teacher Hunt Prothro and MS teacher 
Rick Honn.

Boxopolis - Construct a corru-gated community. Boxopolis is back, 
bigger and better than ever!

Technology in Schools Discussion Sponsored by the Parents Council of 
Washington
The Parents Council of Washington is sponsoring a Best Practices 
Program on Technology. Each member school,including SFS, was asked to 
provide information on its technology program and Alex Inman, our 
Director of Information Services, will be at the session on the 24th. 
If you are interested in learning more, we encourage you to attend. 
If you can't attend the meeting, we expect the PCW will provide 
materials on line after the event -- they are very good about sharing 
information on-line through documents and webinars. You might take a 
moment to check out their web site - http://www.parentscouncil.org/ 
-- please RSVP to the link below if you plan to attend the session.

Thursday, January 24th 8:30-9:15 Light breakfast will be provided 
9:15-11:45 Program "Use of 21st Century Technology in our Schools: 
Peaks and Pitfalls" Holton-Arms School 7303 River Road Bethesda, MD 
20817

Please use the link below to register by today, January 22. There is 
no charge to member schools. PCW and Holton-Arms School need to know 
how many people to expect from each school.

http://pcwbestpracticesprogramuseof21stcenturytechnology.eventbrite.com

If you have questions about SFS involvement with PCW, please contact 
Carol Boochever, Upper School CHI Rep at [email-masked]

MS Newsletter Information

     How to Subscribe: send an e-mail to [email-masked] 
with only "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.

     How to Unsubscribe: send an e-mail to 
[email-masked] with only "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject 
line.

     How to Submit an Article to Tuesday Letter: Please send 
submissions, in the text of the body of the email, to 
[email-masked] by 2:00 p.m. on Monday. Please reference 
"Newsletter Submission" and the publish date(s) in the subject line. 
Please do not include any formatting such as indents, bullets, 
boldface or all-caps and keep submissions succinct. If you have a 
form or flyer to include with your submission, send it as a PDF 
attachment. Receipt of your submissions will be confirmed as soon as 
possible. Submissions may not run for more than three weeks.

     How to Modify an existing Submission: Please send a redline or 
otherwise clearly indicate the change to be made in a second email.

     Note Concerning the School Calendar: The calendar entries that 
appear in the right column of each Newsletter are automatically 
generated by the school, not by the Tuesday newsletter editors. All 
changes or additions to the school calendar must be made through the 
school scheduling office, reachable at [email-masked].

---------------------------------------------------
The Parents Association newsletters are a forum for communication 
among parents and provide 
announcements concerning School or PA events or information related 
to a School or PA event. 
MS newsletter submissions should be sent to 
[email-masked].

Sidwell Friends School
---------------------------------------------------
3825 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20016
Tel: (202) 537 8100
Fax: (202) 537 8499
http://www.sidwell.edu/
               
How to Unsubscribe: If you have wish to have your name removed from 
the subscription list, send an e-mail to [email-masked] 
with only the word "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.