“Our children are given to us for a time to cherish, to protect, to nurture, and then to salute as they go their separate ways. They too have the light of God within, and a family should be a learning community in which children not only learn skills and values from parents, but in which adults learn new ways of experiencing things and seeing things through young eyes”
Elizabeth Watson, 1980
Quaker feminist theologian
Dear Friends,
May 28th just happens to be my birthday. As a small child growing up in Indianapolis, I always assumed that the May 500 Festival and the Indy 500 Race helped define me. When I finally attended the race as a teenager, I realized I needed a better frame of reference for myself. How many times have you told your child, "Don’t drop the spoon on the floor, don’t hit your brother, don’t chase the ball into the road? And our children do all of these things. We have planted the idea in their minds, “drop the spoon on the floor”, “chase the ball in the road”, “hit your brother”. Only after the thought do they add the caution “Don’t”. Of course, there are times for “No,” “Don’t,” and “Stop.” And we need to consciously imagine, choose, and describe what we do want. “Spoons fit well in our hands”, “We tell our brother what we want”, “We always stay in our yard.”
We have enjoyed the all-school art show now hanging in our halls. On the 29th, we will celebrate the artwork of our Preschool and PreK students. In the pottery studio, our students’ three-dimensional creations are underglazed and waiting for their final glazing and firing. What I love about art - poetry, essays, sculpture, paintings, music – is that it transcends so many of our differences and reminds us that we are all human. Today in Meeting For Worship, we considered a poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer on the beauty and challenges of being human. Afterwards, children stood and shared about visits to aunts and grandparents, how cold and wet the beach was, and a worry that a parent would be healthy. One child really enjoyed imagining themselves as the puppies in the poem.
The faculty has chosen our One Community, One Picture Book for our summer reading - The Trouble with Giraffes by Lisa Mantchev, illustrated by Taeeun Yoo. Children in grades three through eight will also read Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. I have already had an email from Lisa Mantchev, who is excited that we have chosen her book. Local libraries have assured me they have the books on hand.
Holding you in the Light,
Margaret
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Podcast and Blog Suggestions for the Summer
- Thee Quaker Podcast: This is a weekly podcast and includes a recent episode featuring Ethan Birchard WFS'91, Executive Director of Friends Fiduciary.
- Quakers Today: Exploring Quaker Faith in Contemporary Life
- The Growing Edge with Carrie Newcomer and Parker J. Palmer
- A Hundred Falling Veils: A poem a day by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Announcements:
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- Our One Community/One Picture book for this summer is The Trouble with Giraffes by Lisa Manchev, illustrated by Taeeun. Stay tuned for upper elementary and middle school books that will extend Manchev’s themes of belonging and inclusion
- Wednesday, June 3rd, Meeting for Worship at 8:30 AM
- Friday, June 5th, Variety Show
- Thursday, June 11th, Final Assembly
- Thursday, June 11th, Last day of school. Summer vacation begins at noon.
- Friday June 12th, Graduation
- Monday, June 22nd, First Day of Summer Camp
We Are a Reading Community
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In Honor of Jewish American Heritage Month
Can Sophie Change the World? By Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
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In Honor of Jewish American Heritage Month
In God's Name by Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, Phoebe Stone (Illustrator.)
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In Honor of all of Our Service Projects
More or Less by Allison Hughes, Oge Mora (Illustrator)
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For Asian Pacific Heritage Month
I Am the Subway by Hyo-eun Kim (Author), Deborah Smith (Translator)
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In Our Library for World Otter Day, May 27th
Narwal's Otter Friend by Ben Clanton
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Teacher Margaret is Reading
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
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