We are thankful for . . .
Friends and family - Rebekah
Tuesday and Thursday classes.
the library computers - Eli R
Jack Prohaska!
the metal shop
getting to work and play at Kino
Sometimes a Great Notion [they just finished reading and discussing this book in Chris' literature class]
jokes and friends
Outside - Diego
a sanctuary, a friendship, a home - Rio
a moderately stimulating environment
all the great classes that Kino gives me the choice of picking.
the cubbies Chris made - Matthew
Outside - Zach
my cats and dogs and Children's Memorial Park
my teachers and friends
here at Kino School
AJ's chai - Klair
being able to draw in the art center - Alex V.
for Ann volunteering her time to Kino
friends and food and stuff - Austin
happiness
Lots o' books! I am thankful for the school library -- Tyler
Trees - they give us air to breathe and paper - Ash
for playground monitors
cat, niece, family, computer, other stuff
the school
friends
Augustus the pigeon -- Alex P.
for 'Gustus coming and I can feed him - Luka
[There's a back story here. Augustus is a pigeon who used to live down in the chicken coop at Animal Center, but Libby rescued him and he now hangs out around the primary playground. While he isn't confined, he is so tame that kids can feed him from their hands. Last week, there was first one Cooper's hawk and then a pair who were hunting in the desert behind the school. Gus was nowhere to be found on Friday, and Libby didn't see him when she came up to school over the weekend. But there he was on Monday, safe and sound!]
I am most thankful for friends, for the food I get, for my family, and for the cool school I go to.
For the teachers who help you and tell you where to go when you're hurt - Ash
For my mom -- LindsayFor my friends -- Phoebe
I am thankful for the world.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Thinking about KK's
We had a school wide meeting on Friday to talk about whether we should change our KK tradition.
We've been doing KKs -- Kris Kringles, or Secret Santas -- the same for as long as anyone can remember, which means we've been doing it this way at least 25 years. Within each homeroom, each student secretly draws the name of one other student. For the whole last week before winter vacation, five days, you bring a present a day for your KK.* The first 4 presents are supposed to be small, about a dollar, and the Friday present is a little larger. Some people don't stick to the dollar limit and some do, so it teaches people to be gracious recipients as well as thoughtful givers**.
This year someone suggested that we might think about doing KKs differently. Instead of spending money on presents for each other, we could use it to help people who are more in need. For example, at Casa Maria (the soup kitchen where we help) there isn't nearly enough food these days; people are being sent away hungry.
Everyone was at the meeting, which was held in Chris's home room area. Individual home rooms had already been discussing the question, so people came with a lot of good ideas and opinions.
For starters, students spoke about the purpose and the value of the KK tradition. As Jordan said (she wasn't there, but she told me on Thursday), "It isn't about receiving. It's about giving." Students who have been at Kino for years say it does make homerooms closer and does make you think about, and be more fond of, someone you may not have thought about before.
But in addition, it seemed that everyone at the meeting wanted to help people who are going without this year. Mary Jane pointed out that the money we spend adds up: even if we stuck to the dollar limit, that's about $320 just for the first four days.
Pretty early on we all agreed that we wanted to do something different this year, either in addition to our regular KK tradition or as a modification of it.
There were a lot of great suggestions. Eli suggested that everyone give only handmade presents for the first four days. ("Who wouldn't love a pet rock?" he asked.) Chelsea suggested we could give presents that would be passed along as presents, in the spirit of giving a mitzvah. Others suggested that each homeroom could pick a charity or recipient for the first four days of giving and then give a KK to a homeroom member for the fifth day, or that the school as a whole could pick four charities for the first four days. People suggested many ways we could raise money before KK week.
After almost an hour of discussion, it was close to the end of the day and we needed to get to afternoon home room for at least a few minutes. Mary Jane said that it sounded like there was a consensus that we keep at least the last day before winter break for KK presents and a homeroom party, but that we were far from reaching an agreement about what else to do. She suggested that each home room could discuss this further, and that maybe each home room could come up with something different.
That sounded good to everyone.
* the terminology is odd because "KK" winds up referring either to the person giving the present or the person receiving it; you have to figure it out from context.
** Remember the year Felice decided her homeroom members need gracious recipient practice? She brought bags filled with miscellaneous trash and they practiced opening the bags, looking delighted, and saying thank you. It really helped!
We've been doing KKs -- Kris Kringles, or Secret Santas -- the same for as long as anyone can remember, which means we've been doing it this way at least 25 years. Within each homeroom, each student secretly draws the name of one other student. For the whole last week before winter vacation, five days, you bring a present a day for your KK.* The first 4 presents are supposed to be small, about a dollar, and the Friday present is a little larger. Some people don't stick to the dollar limit and some do, so it teaches people to be gracious recipients as well as thoughtful givers**.
This year someone suggested that we might think about doing KKs differently. Instead of spending money on presents for each other, we could use it to help people who are more in need. For example, at Casa Maria (the soup kitchen where we help) there isn't nearly enough food these days; people are being sent away hungry.
Everyone was at the meeting, which was held in Chris's home room area. Individual home rooms had already been discussing the question, so people came with a lot of good ideas and opinions.
For starters, students spoke about the purpose and the value of the KK tradition. As Jordan said (she wasn't there, but she told me on Thursday), "It isn't about receiving. It's about giving." Students who have been at Kino for years say it does make homerooms closer and does make you think about, and be more fond of, someone you may not have thought about before.
But in addition, it seemed that everyone at the meeting wanted to help people who are going without this year. Mary Jane pointed out that the money we spend adds up: even if we stuck to the dollar limit, that's about $320 just for the first four days.
Pretty early on we all agreed that we wanted to do something different this year, either in addition to our regular KK tradition or as a modification of it.
There were a lot of great suggestions. Eli suggested that everyone give only handmade presents for the first four days. ("Who wouldn't love a pet rock?" he asked.) Chelsea suggested we could give presents that would be passed along as presents, in the spirit of giving a mitzvah. Others suggested that each homeroom could pick a charity or recipient for the first four days of giving and then give a KK to a homeroom member for the fifth day, or that the school as a whole could pick four charities for the first four days. People suggested many ways we could raise money before KK week.
After almost an hour of discussion, it was close to the end of the day and we needed to get to afternoon home room for at least a few minutes. Mary Jane said that it sounded like there was a consensus that we keep at least the last day before winter break for KK presents and a homeroom party, but that we were far from reaching an agreement about what else to do. She suggested that each home room could discuss this further, and that maybe each home room could come up with something different.
That sounded good to everyone.
* the terminology is odd because "KK" winds up referring either to the person giving the present or the person receiving it; you have to figure it out from context.
** Remember the year Felice decided her homeroom members need gracious recipient practice? She brought bags filled with miscellaneous trash and they practiced opening the bags, looking delighted, and saying thank you. It really helped!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Kino Hosts Extraterrestrials
Through a temporal anomaly, the Starship Enterprise mysteriously appeared in the Blue Room sometime before Halloween. On Halloween itself, limited numbers of students and teachers were able to actually enter the main bridge and observe the crew in action.As it happened, the anomaly coincided with a confrontation with the Q'luthmuth Empire, which did not end well for them. The incident was reported on the front cover of the Arizona Daily Star.
Actually, the whole production was the creation of Thomas McNiece, who designed the replica to scale and built it at home, so it could be assembled in relative secrecy in the week before Halloween. (Thank you Lisa for giving up your room for that week!)
Thomas also made a videotape of everything the crew was to see on the ship's main viewer. He used model spaceships, and computer graphics, and friends for the cast, including Kino alumns Thomas O'Dell, Andrew Davies, and Nick Thorpe.
On Halloween, audiences had the experience of being on the main bridge themselves, in the midst of an unfolding drama involving the live action crew and the action on the ship's main viewer.
The Star photographer was so intrigued by the whole thing that he stayed at Kino for about three hours the day before Halloween, photographing Thomas and his friends as they set up and rehearsed. Then on Halloween, after the article had been printed, he came by just to see the complete performance.
Though the construction was too big to keep up past Halloween, Thomas is now working on editing a movie version of their performance and is thinking about constructing a small scale model.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Halloween
Halloween was the usual big deal this year. The tradition is that teachers say we'll have a party in the afternoon and then there's a student meeting where it's voted to have a party all day (leaving an hour for clean up at the end). People go all out with their costumes and every homeroom does something special -- makes a haunted house, does fortune telling, brings in a karaoke machine -- there's something new every year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
