Tuesday Notice

Dear Siskiyou School Parents,

What a special time of year! Last week the 2nd grade gathered at school to go for their lantern walk; they had a most wonderful time. Yesterday, the 1st grade gathered at Lithia Park and enjoyed time around a fire and also walked with their lanterns. In this time of darkness, we bring our outer and inner lights to guide us.

Glimmer, lantern, glimmer

Little stars a-shimmer,

Over meadow, moor, and dale

Flitter flutter elfin veil,

Pee-witt, pee-witt, tick-a-tick-a-tick,

Rou-cou, rou-cou.

Glimmer, lantern, glimmer

Little stars a-shimmer,

Over rock and stock and stone,

Wander tripping little gnome.

Pee-witt, pee-witt, tick-a-tick-a-tick,

Rou-cou, rou-cou.

Much gratitude to Nina Gallwey for organizing and scheduling all the wonderful parent enrichment presentations we have been having. Every talk matters so much and we hope that all parents take away the many gifts offered by each presenter. A big thank you to Jack Petrash for his inspirational talk and the very insightful and helpful Q & A morning coffee time last Friday. He always brings such warmth of heart and inspiration to his presentations. We hope that many middle school parents will come to the evening talk tonight at 6:30pm with Paul Arrendondo. See you there!

Please sign up to help at our upcoming community fundraising event, the Holiday Market & Faire, on Saturday, December 4th, 2021. Together we will make this day magical for our children!

Thanks to the 5th grade, this week and next we gather food donations to bring to the Ashland Food Bank for Thanksgiving to share with people in need in our larger community.

With much gratitude, Aurilia

This Week:

Tues, Nov 16: Grades 6-8, Parent enrichment with Paul Arrendondo. 6:30pm, Zoom.

Looking Ahead:

Fri, Nov 19: Incoming parent tour, 2pm.

Fri, Nov 19: Last day to order your wreath.

Tues, Nov 23: In-house Thanksgiving assembly.

Wed, Nov 24-Sun, Nov 28: Thanksgiving Break, No school.

Tues, Nov 30: Giving Tuesday.

Fri, Dec 3: Holiday Market & Faire setup, 12:45pm.

Sat, Dec 4: Holiday Market & Faire, 11am - 5pm.

Sun, Dec 5: Holiday Market & Faire, 10am.

It is our school tradition to host a food drive for the Ashland Food Bank every November, with Class 5 taking the lead for making posters, inspiring schoolmates in the other classes, etc. The Food Drive began on Monday, November 15th and ends on Tuesday, November 23rd. All students of the school are asked to bring food items to their classrooms during that week. Towards the end of the food drive, the 5th grade students will collect the items from all the classes, count, and weigh them and announce which class donated the most! On the 23rd, the 5th grade will help load up all the donations to be brought to the Food Bank. In the Friday updates later this week, we will post the list of approved and preferred food items We are excited to sponsor this food drive again in service of the people in need in Ashland.

The Siskiyou School is looking for a receptionist! Please click on the button below for the position description. Please send cover letter, resume, and list of references to Aurilia at Aurilia.McNamara@siskiyouschool.org.

Tomorrow we will share more about the Holiday Market & Faire! Until then, please feel free to sign up to volunteer, donate to the silent auction, and order your Holiday wreath!

This month, Fourth Grade is tackling our first fractions block. I am making a point of having this introduction to fractions be especially yummy and fun! Each week, a different parent in Class Four is contributing a dish or pan of some kind of treat that we have to divide up for the number of students that are in class that day. It has been a tricky, yet rewarding exercise! Each day in class, 4th graders are busy cutting, folding and drawing different shapes and figuring out how to divide them up into equal pieces. They have learned about numerators and denominators, adding and subtracting pieces of a pie and much more. Hurray for discovering the wonder of fractions! Thank you to all my wonderful class parents who are making this block especially tasty. ~ Mrs. Martin

The Forest Class is steeped in studies of Ancient Civilizations, beginning with tales of Ancient India and the roots of Hinduism and Buddhism. Having been steeped in science throughout Botany, the children are hungry for the imagery and drama that mythos, legends, and histories of the ancient world provide. A hallmark of the fifth grade, and so apparent in the class, is a budding capacity for critical thinking, nurtured through the shift from mythologies to historical concepts. First appealing to the children’s ever-strong imaginative capacity through the telling of stories, the children learn to discern the diverse lifeways and perspectives of other cultures through class discussion. The practice of compassion for the other becomes implicit.

Capturing their working imaginations and engaging their feelings provides, too, an opportunity for all manner of artistic expression and developing skill in writing. The more deeply the children’s feeling lives are engaged, the easier it is to enliven lessons of Language Arts through their tales.

What has struck me so strongly is this class’s engagement in story and discussion, love of the arts, and eagerness to learn and EXPRESS. They are a vibrant, active bunch as a whole, and in each one shines a unique strength of imagination, thinking, and will.

This week also marks the fifth grade's hosting of the annual school-wide Food Drive to benefit families in need through the Ashland Emergency Food Bank. Please see the bulletin in this Tuesday Notice to learn how you can contribute! ~ Miss Benson

Last week the middle school classes welcomed Marvin Woodard for some discussions around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Marvin is the Equity Coordinator for Racial Justice at SOU and has worked with the Siskiyou School faculty in our DEI trainings. He visited the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades on Friday and brought age-appropriate DEI topics to each class. In the 6th grade he talked about some of his experiences when he moved to Oregon. He talked about being treated differently because of his race and how this led him to work hard to get to know his new community. Some of the students in the class shared about challenging experiences they had being people of color and Marvin created such a beautiful space for them to share. He demonstrated ways to interrupt and support people when you witness someone saying something hurtful. It can be as gentle as, “Hey, that’s not cool.”

The 7th grade class involved a bit more student interaction and discussion. He shared slightly more serious experiences he has had as a Black man, such as being stopped by the police when he didn’t do anything wrong. He asked the class what the meanings of the words diversity, equity, and inclusion are. With both the 7th and 8th grades he did an excellent and entertaining demonstration of equality vs. equity. Four volunteers took off their shoes, he mixed them up in a pile, and he told the students to grab any two shoes as quickly as they could. When they ended up with two mix-matched shoes that didn’t fit them he asked, “Well aren’t we equal? We all have shoes!” The kids laughed, but they also understood that real equity means each person having the resources they need to be successful. No one can win a race if their shoes don’t fit.

Finally, the 8th grade went a bit more in depth. Marvin spoke more explicitly about systemic racism and used the example of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. The students did some role playing about inclusion. To end the workshop, Marvin gave each of the 8th graders a sheet of paper showing different aspects of identity such as race, gender, religion, and more. He asked each student to fill out how they identify.

In each grade, Marvin invited the students to share their pronouns if they felt comfortable doing so. He explained that he likes to share his pronouns in order to create a safe space for those that may identify in a way that we might not assume. It was such a pleasure to have Marvin work with our students. With years as a basketball coach under his belt, he understood how to connect with the middle schoolers on some very sensitive topics in a way that felt accessible. We hope to have Marvin back soon and are grateful to have him as a part of our community.~ Ms. Mahlstadt

This week we are sharing a link to the amazing work by our own Nina Gallwey. In these videos, Nina walks us through the four temperaments. We hope you enjoy this wealth of information.

Nina has also shared a podcast titled: Climate Crisis and the Future of Youth. This is a great podcast. This episode of Living Myth begins with a report on the effects of the climate crisis on young people throughout the world.

We are also happy to share a collection of books written by Jack Petrash. We hope you enjoyed his talk last week and find these books to be a way to dive deeper into his work.

We are excited to announce that a group of former Siskiyou School students alongside Coach Andy Gramley (former school parent) just won the Girls 5A State Waterpolo Championship this weekend in Corvallis, beating top ranked Hood River 10-8.

Team members include:

Captain Anna Sloan (Blackberry Class), Kiera Federline (Sun Class until 5th grade), Africa Del Rio, Riley Ledbetter, Savonne Moore and Tate Olive of the River Class.

Additionally, former teammate and former Siskiyou School student Lucy Gramley (Cedar Class) is now playing water polo for Brown University, and her dad, this team's coach, Andy is in the Brown University Hall of Fame as a three-time All American and has coached teams in Seattle and now Ashland to the State Championships.

Congratulations to these former Siskiyou School students! We are proud of you all.

Mrs. Martin is seeking to re-home three bunnies to one or more homes. They need to be kept in separate hutches. All are free to good homes with their hutches included. I have two sweet, grey boy bunnies and one black mama bunny. Only requirement is to love them! Please call for more information. Heidi Martin, 541-625-3464.

For those families interested in the Covid-19 vaccine, please call La Clinica at 541-535-6239. No need to specify kid vs adult, both will be available. ~ Maddy Clark

We are looking for renters for our beautiful 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom 2340 sq ft. house up on Valley View Rd. during the month of January. There is a hot tub, infrared sauna, gas fireplace and stunning views of the valley. Only 5 minutes from downtown Ashland. We are asking $4000 for the month. Contact me at 541-301-7456. Thank you!

Holly Berg, Siskiyou School alum mother of three former students, is looking for someone to help care for her mother. Monday through Friday starting at 7 or 8 am until 4 pm. She’s paralyzed on her left side but can transfer with minimal assistance. She’s very sweet, likes having someone with her most of the time. If interested, please call Holly (541) 864-9044. Pay is $20/hr.

Looking for extra academic support for your child? Experienced Waldorf class teacher available for virtual tutoring and curriculum support. Check out my website and feel free to reach out.

catherinehdixon.com

Email: office@siskiyouschool.org
Website: www.siskiyouschool.org
Location: 631 Clay Street, Ashland, OR, USA
Phone: 541-482-8223
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/siskiyouschool/