Tuesday Notice

Dear Siskiyou School Parents,

Last week our faculty and board engaged collectively in another DEI training with Gilda Montenegro-Fix through her company Cultural Agility. It is always so valuable to do this work together. I asked Moriah Mahlstadt, DEI coordinator at our school this year, to write a summary for you about our training. Please see her words further down in the office section.

This week we have the great honor and pleasure to hear a recorded talk by Jack Petrash hosted by Nina Gallwey tomorrow evening, Wednesday, at 6:30pm on Zoom and a second opportunity to hear from Jack on Friday morning at 9:00am in the morning coffee with Nina Gallwey. On behalf of the whole faculty, we feel that these are not-to-be-missed opportunities if you can make yourselves available. Please try!

Jack is an exceptional educator and parent and teacher mentor--full of wisdom and a true delight to listen and learn from. I expect that every parent will come away with some gems. He has visited our school quite a few times, and we are always so grateful when he is available. His insights come from a deep wealth of knowledge and experience working with and living with Waldorf education for over 40 years. Many of you may be familiar with his well-known Waldorf primer: Waldorf Education, that we have in the front hall.

The Friday session will be at 9:00am. Nina will again host. This will be more of a conversation, with Jack available to answer questions. Please bring your cup of coffee and tea with you! We look forward to seeing many of you there as well.

May today’s warm sunshine fill your hearts with light and inspiration.

My best, Aurilia

This Week:

Wed, Nov 10: Parent Evening with guest speaker, Jack Petrash. 6:30pm, Zoom. Zoom link will be sent out the morning of.

Thurs, Nov 11: No School, Veteran's Day.

Fri, Nov 12: School Resumes.

Fri, Nov 12: Coffee discussion with Jack Petrash and Nina Gallwey. 9:00am, Zoom. Zoom link will be sent out the morning of.

Next Week:

Mon, Nov 15: Food Drive begins.

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.

Please be sure to arrive at school no sooner than 8:05am. Please stay parked in the drop-off lane until the care check staff arrives to have that quick moment of check-in with you. Thank you!

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 will begin on Monday, November 15th and end 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.

We’re excited to share with you the Class 8 play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the Class 3 play, Child of the Nile. Congratulations to the Dolphin and Raven classes!

Please see the links below to view the plays. If you’re interested in purchasing a DVD of a play, please send an email to the office (Kristin.beers@siskiyouschool.org). At this time we do not have DVDs in stock but are considering printing them upon demand.

Class 8: CLICK HERE for A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Class 3: CLICK HERE for Child of the Nile

Due to issues at the printer, we have been unable to provide each household with a physical copy of our 2021-22 school directory. We will provide them as soon as they get to us. In the meantime, please refer to this electronic version. Thank you for your patience!

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.

As part of our ongoing work toward creating a diverse and inclusive school, the faculty and board attended a Cultural Agility workshop with Gilda Montegro-Fix and Marvin Woodard last week. As this was our third training with Gilda, the focus was on putting our learning into practice. In honor of Indigenous Peoples Month, we spent some time discussing the importance of land acknowledgement. The Siskiyou School sits on the traditional homelands of the Shasta, Takelma, Modoc, Cow Creek Umpqua, as well as the Confederate Tribes of Grand Ronde and Siletz Indians. https://native-land.ca/

The majority of our workshop was centered around noticing and interrupting bias. What do you say when you hear something harmful being spoken about another person based on their gender, race, ability, socio-economic status, or other aspects of identity? With young children, we as teachers sometimes experience our students saying hurtful things to their classmates, though they may not realize it's hurtful. I have done my fair share of lessons around gossip with my students over the years. We have grown so used to addressing these behaviors in children, it's part of learning to be a friend! But what do we do when an adult says something biased or telling an inappropriate joke? We were given tools and phrases to use, and even role played interrupting each other. It can feel difficult in the moment, but in moving past that discomfort we can help to create a safe space for one another. To close out the workshop, we discussed actions we would like to take at our school. I am gathering those fruitful ideas and will work to see what can be implemented to help us create a clearer sense of equity and belonging for everyone.~ Moriah Mahlstadt

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!

The Raven Class did a great job with their class play, Child Of The Nile. Thank you, Eve, for all that you do to bring our plays to life. Thank you, parents, for all of your help!

The class is now in a new Main Lesson block: Money. We began by learning about the barter system. People trade goods and services for other goods and services. It was fun bringing this concept to life by having our own "barter market." The children made their own goods or offered a service (written on paper). The photos are examples of some of the items the children brough to the market. A popular service at the barter market was cleaning desks.

This week, the students are learning that money is used as a medium of exchange for goods and services. We will be doing a lot of math this week as we calculate dollars and cents. The students love learning about money! ~Mr. Alvarez

The 8th Graders have just completed a mini-block on World Geography. During this block, the students worked in groups to create slideshow presentations of the seven continents. The students were also asked to design their own ML pages. Thus, the entire block was taught and designed by the 8th Grade! The students did wonderful work. Please see examples of their work below. This week, we begin our first US History Block of the year, The Founding of the Republic. In addition to their excellent academic progress, the 8th graders are busy gathering materials for wreaths and preparing goods for the Entrepreneur table at the Holiday Market. Please remember to order your wreath and please plan to support our 8th Grade at our upcoming Holiday Market! ~ Ms. Razi

This week we are sharing a link to the Nova Institute in conjunction with our talk by Jack Petrash. The Nova Institute provides many resources for a deeper understanding of children. Please click here to learn more.

We are also happy to share the below verse and short film about Waldorf education. Enjoy!

We hope you enjoy this short film about Waldorf Education.

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!

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

Join us for our Portland Waldorf HIGH SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE. PWHS graduates are confident, critical thinkers who approach college, world travel, careers and life with competence, engagement, compassion and agency. PWHS students excel in a range of subjects and are consistently welcomed at the college of their choice. PWHS offers a wide variety of interdisciplinary and holistic academic experiences.

Learn more about our Shadow Days in October at portlandwaldorf.org/high-school

Open House November 6, 11am – 1pm. Call 503-654-2200 for details.

Former alum student, Julienne Adams, is organizing a materials drive to help battle future fires in the Rogue Valley as part of the Stanford University Climate Leaders Fellowship Program. If you have any CAMPING SUPPLIES that you can and are willing to donate it would be beyond appreciated. If you are able to donate please drop your materials off at the fire station on the south side of town on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6TH BETWEEN 11AM & 3PM. Thank you for your support and generosity!

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/