ANNUAL MEETING & CELEBRATION

Please join us for an evening to celebrate GUS and a full schedule of student-centered events this year! We are planning an engaging program that includes a delicious dinner and invites you to experience the fun and learning that goes on daily here at GUS. Hear also from trustees and faculty about exciting initiatives underway. What a great way to spend a spring evening, and what a better way to learn more about what the
students have been up to all year!

6:00-7:00 SELF-GUIDED TOUR OF UPPER SCHOOL

• Upper School Musicians
• 4th Grade “Water Study” Dance Video
• 8th Grade White Shirt Presentations
• 5th Grade Earthquake Project Video and Display
• 8th Grade Student Panel

Some highlights include:

• Updates from Head of School and Board of Trustees
• Faculty and Trustee’s recent trip to Amsterdam and GUS’s developing partnership with Harvard’s Project Zero
• Short film: “The GUS 2011-2012 Top 10!”

Board of Trustees of Glen Urquhart School

GUS seventh grader, Jack Norton, participated in the 20th Annual Walk for HAWC last Sunday. HAWC, which stands for “Healing Abuse Working for Change,” is a non-profit organization and the oldest and the most comprehensive domestic violence agency on the Massachusetts’ North Shore. HAWC sponsors this annual fund-raising walk through Salem.

This is Jack’s second year to participate. His community service this season is part of Dr. Draper’s seventh grade curriculum: “Do something.” Draper’s students are asked to raise their service awareness in their local communities, environment, and in the world.

Jack visited the HAWC offices in Salem and recorded a promotional radio spot for the event. In the one minute radio spot, Jack describes his reasons for walking and choosing to support HAWC. Maybe you heard it!

Written by Jody Norton

The Parents’ Association would like to thank the following individuals for their help in making the evening such a success:

Dana & Ed Ballard
Maryanne Benevento
Martha Burnham
Dustin Collupy
Rosemary Costello
Bruce Emerson
Sue Hepler
Mary McGrath
Lois Poirot
Lisa Romanelli

Written by Susan Hepler

Spring Book Fair

Thursday, May 10 and Friday, May 11

8:00 a.m. — 4:00 p.m.

Great summer reading!

Current best sellers for adults

Mother’s Day gifts

New series installments

K–8 Teacher wish lists: requested contributions for classroom libraries

“You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be—

I had a mother who read to me.”

–Strickland Gillilan

“A house without books is like a room without windows.”

–Heinrich Mann

“Never judge a book by its movie.”

–J. W. Eagan

After a busy week which included ERB’s and a great dance assembly, students in grades 3-8 relaxed Friday afternoon, April 20 at an assembly with “Groove” a cappella. A singing group from Smith College, the members hail from across the country and major in a wide variety of subjects.  All are members of the Smith College Choir or Glee Club, as well.  Groove is co-directed by Katie Stewart, GUS class of 2004, who feels her passion for singing was nurtured at GUS, from talent sharing in the silo as a 1st grader to an 8th-grade role in Annie. GUS students enjoyed the assembly, which ended with 4 students learning the rudimentary skills for “beat boxing.”

When kindergartners begin art class in the fall, they create self-portraits of their faces as a way of introducing who they are. In the winter, we return to self-portraits, this time creating a picture “from head to toe.” Before drawing, we look at artists’ imagery of children from different eras and learn about the artist, August Renoir, who painted portraits of his own children. The kindergartners observe and comment on what they notice in the portraits such as clothing, hair styles, poses and backgrounds. The first drawing they make is a quick “sketch” of a classmate in a particular pose. We take time so that everyone gets to pose for the class. Then kindergartners begin work on their own self-portraits. They make line drawings in pencil and pen in which they show themselves in a particular pose, outfit and setting that shows something they like to do. We talk about how to use detail and color in their pictures to communicate their ideas. After adding color with Cray-pas, the kindergartners finish their pictures with a watercolor background. The final images are lively, full of personality and often accompanied by descriptive stories. This year we were fortunate to have a local portrait painter, Susie Field, come visit kindergarten art and show the students some of her watercolors of children. In response, the kindergartners proudly shared their finished portraits with Susie.

Written by Catherine Cobb

A cultural exchange began when kindergarten teacher Sandra Thoms visited Nevis fifteen years ago while on vacation and asked to observe at the then-named Gingerland Primary School. Sandra noted that though the school does an excellent job of educating its students, the necessary resources and supplies are not easily available.

As you know, Glen Urquhart holds an annual kindergarten sponsored “Teddy Bear Day” fund raising event allowing all members of the GUS community to bring a stuffed animal to school for the day in exchange for a donation used to send supplies to the Nevis school. Kindergartners learn about life in Nevis and their counterparts in the Jocelyn Liburd kindergarten.

A group of Glen Urquhart families and teachers have come together to sponsor the trip. Last spring, Marion Lescott  gave Jennifer and Jay Cornforth and their children, including GUS third grader Peter, a tour of several Nevisian schools during their fourth visit to the island. The Cornforths are among those families who donated funds to set the idea of the trip in motion. The GUS community is looking forward to finally meeting the Lescotts after all these years.

Marion will meet with trustees, faculty, administration and students to gain an understanding of Glen Urquhart’s educational philosophy and practices and also impart information about education in the West Indies.  She has also been invited to speak at the Tufts Graduate School of Education to give an overview of practices in K-6 schools in Nevis.

Written by Sandra Thoms