NCS: the last few hours

Just hours to go, and everyone is keeping one eye on the weather reports. A very full last day ... Regular morning chores and classes, final Geometry podcasts, packing, sorting dirty laundry, Level I/II performing “Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree,” singing/acting out the “Twelve Days of Christmas,” and Santa and his Elves (Jae Hyouk, Adam, Taylor, and Noah) ... An assortment of pictures below to fill in the time until the students return back home. Happy Holidays!

NCS: locker clean up

The first of our pre-vacation ramp locker clean up days started at 3 PM. Houseparents – Rebekah and Ryan – oversee David loading up all his stuff, even cramming a ski helmet on top of two knit toques and a Santa hat. Babacar and Sophie are equally loaded down! Tonight is our dress up holiday banquet and tomorrow Santa (a ninth grader) makes a stop at NCS. We are keeping our fingers crossed for good travel weather on Wednesday.

NCS: open houses

Just prior to the December vacation we have had a long tradition of festive visiting from house-to-house. This morning Woods (orange juice and banana bread), Bramwell (quiche and hot chocolate), and Mountain House (crepes) hosted breakfast for the rest of the school. Last evening’s dinner was hosted by Balcony, Algonquin, and Cascade House. (You’ll notice the Charlie Brown tree in the background which came from forested corners of our property, and was picked out, cut, and decorated during the last homenight.)

NCS: open houses

Just prior to the December vacation we have had a long tradition of festive visiting from house-to-house. This morning Woods (orange juice and banana bread), Bramwell (quiche and hot chocolate), and Mountain House (crepes) hosted breakfast for the rest of the school. Last evening’s dinner was hosted by Balcony, Algonquin, and Cascade House. (You’ll notice the Charlie Brown tree in the background which came from forested corners of our property, and was picked out, cut, and decorated during the last homenight.)

NCS: a wintry Saturday

It was –17 degrees this morning at barn chores! Eventually the temperature climbed to a balmy 10 degrees. Despite the chill, it was a wonderful day with snowshoeing, cross country skiing, ice climbing, and a hike up a modest-sized mountain. The enclosed picture shows the crew that was clearing snow from the pond to go ice skating.

Yesterday we opened the ski hill, a relatively rare occurrence for the Fall term (only one year in five is it open during December). Tonight we have Open Houses ... More on that tomorrow.

NCS: field trips

North Country School has always placed a huge emphasis on experiential learning, and thus field trips are a critical component of our curriculum. Yesterday the Level I class traveled to Ward Lumber (owned by a day student family), however a smattering of other NCS trips would include: Crown Point, Adirondack Museum, overnights at the John’s Brook Lodge, Montshire Museum, canoeing on the the St. Regis, a Spanish trip to Costa Rica, and an Outward Bound course off the coast of Florida.

NCS: final projects

We have 6-12 inches of snow forecast for this evening. A full slate of winter activities set up for the weekend, as well as our traditional Open House festivities. Students are hurriedly finishing projects: from these 6th graders preparing for their formal debate, to my geometry students preparing their two minute podcasts which will be posted on our website, and on to ceramic and fiber arts students completing projects for holiday gifts. At Lunch today, Taylor let the community know that we had 136 hours left before the start of vacation.

NCS: wishes

Today Libby ran our Town Meeting. Given the upcoming holidays, we had a discussion about "miracles" and the parts they play in the various faiths of the world. Then we segued into a related, but different, activity. The question became: If you could wish for a miracle -- for yourself, your family, your community, or the world -- what would it be? The students then wrote these wishes onto strips of paper, which in turn were made into rings of a long chain that we'll hang in the building.

NCS: recess

10:30 – 10:45 is recess ... a very important time ... snacks, hoops, socializing, knitting, emailing, sit-down ball, sledding, and even sometimes, getting a quick start on your homework. Yesterday morning the temperature at the barn was –12 degrees, today the temperatures have moderated quite a bit. One week until vacation and your children are getting pretty excited!

NCS: snow physics

Level IV snow physics: from graupel to stellar dendrites, on to snow pits and crystal metamorphosis, and finally avalanche transceivers to grid searches for buried skiers. Across the country every 8th grade Earth Science class does the water cycle, but none to my knowledge does it quite this way. A unit that is one part theory, one part hands on experimentation, one part research, and one part practical application. A model that stays true to form for much of what we teach here. (In the picture Larry Robjent is talking about the formation and shape of individual snow crystals. He is using the interactive Smart Board which is the result of previous parent Annual Fund gifts.)

NCS: last days of Fall

Hello. Temperatures are above freezing now, but due to plummet this afternoon and stay there for another week. The final days of the Fall are incredibly hectic ... The Level I and II production of Mr. Willoughby's Christmas Tree, Open Houses, Holiday Banquet, Santa, teachers writing reports, Hock and Selden’s effort grade breakfast, and then the furious last minute packing for vacation!

The enclosed picture is of 4th-6th graders practicing their lines for the upcoming performance.
Hock

NCS: town meeting

Today’s NCS Town Meeting was a discussion about: What are the major problems President-elect Obama will face when he takes office? (It is impossible to see the whiteboard clearly in the picture, however I believe our students nailed almost all of the big problems: from terrorism to alternative energy, job creation to foreclosures, Iraq to Afghanistan, as well as a volatile stock market and potentially bankrupt auto makers.) We finished off the meeting by watching a short YouTube video with Doris Kearns Goodwin talking about Team of Rivals and how it relates to the President-elect’s cabinet.
Hock

NCS: ski season

The ski season is here. Today during out time, there is a group splicing the tow rope on the ski hill, and there is another group (pictured below) cleaning klister off skis as well as base waxing race skis with John and Liz. (Oh, and by the way, John and one of our 8th graders – Will – mounted 25 pairs of new nordic skis on Sunday. This terrific addition to the outdoor program was made possible by current parent gifts to the Annual Fund. My thanks for all those who have given, and to all those who are about to make a gift to support the wonderful work that teachers are doing with your children.)

Hock

NCS: post Thanksgiving

Hello. I hope your travels home went smoothly. It was wonderful to have so many of you on hand to share our Thanksgiving feast. (I have enclosed a quick snapshot from that sit-down dinner, as well as a picture of an 8th grade class discussing Of Mice and Men.) On a related note, the faculty and I were greatly moved by your sharing at Thursday’s Town Meeting, and I can honestly say, that figuring out “what success means for your child,” is our core business at NCS.

Hock

NCS: locker clean-up

An NCS student nightmare, is cleaning out your locker for Thanksgiving. An amazing amount of “stuff” can collect in your ramp locker – despite weekly cleanings – during the course of the Fall term. This afternoon it all has to be removed and go up to the houses, to make room for the hats, gloves, and coats of our guests. Here two enterprising 9th grade girls find a garden cart to help them haul all their stuff up to Cascade House.

Travel safely; it has been snowing off-and-on most of the day. We are all very excited to see you!
Hock

NCS: safe travels

This morning we had single digit temperatures again. We are getting ready to host 280 for our Thanksgiving feast; students and staff are extremely excited about the upcoming visits. If you are traveling to the Adirondacks please remember hats, gloves, and warm coats. For those that are celebrating Thanksgiving elsewhere, my very best wishes; enjoy this special day and the warmth of family and friends. Some quick reminders:

Tuesday: 6:00 PM at the Caribbean Cowboy
Wednesday: 1:00 PM begins the book fair, academic showcases at 2:00, and dinner in houses at 5:30
Thursday: 9:00 AM arrival, 11:00 dress fro dinner, 12:15 Thanksgiving Dinner, with festivities ending at 3:00 PM

See you soon! Hock

NCS: saturday

A very chilly morning – single digits – however as you can see the students are all geared up for winter fun. Today we have several hiking trips going out, a sledding trip, another group is hiking up Whiteface to ski (or snowboard) down, and finally, an ice climbing trip. As I chatted with the excited students getting ready to head out into the fresh mountain air, I couldn’t help but think of the contrast with most of their peers across the country ... many of whom are parked in front of a TV for a good portion of Saturday morning.

Hock

PS ... I have enclosed a link to an interesting study just published in the journal “Social Indicators Research.” The researchers goal was to analyze 30 years of data to identify behavioral factors that correlate with personal happiness.

http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/sociss/release.cfm?ArticleID=1789

NCS: projects

The energy and excitement surrounding our upcoming Thanksgiving program is building. These 6th grade students have just finished their model of a Japanese Zen garden, and all the other students in the school are putting final touches on their projects as well. The other picture is one of the student designed posters advertising our Thanksgiving book fair ... we hope you’ll do some early holiday shopping for your child, and help the library out in the bargain.

Hock

NCS: 9th grade english

Ninth grade students are reading The Odyssey, by Homer, for their English class. In the attached photo, students are taking notes during a class discussion led by teacher Liz Jordan.

NCS: Level I music class

The attached photo shows Level I students playing Native American pentatonic flutes in their "Elements of Music" class with John Doan. In the Winter Term this group of students will have Drama class with Ryan Joyce.

NCS: langauge arts class

This Level III English class taught by Peter Rowley is reading Blue Skin of the Sea, a collection of loosely connected coming-of-age short stories by Graham Salisbury. First love was the topic of discussion that day.

Looking forward to seeing you next week for Thanksgiving!

NCS: biology lab

Hello. The attached photos are from our 9th grade biology class: a recent lab in which students identified sugars, starches, and fats in a variety of common foods, and a student's cell drawings completed for homework.

Enjoy your weekend!

NCS: music class

The Negro Gato Ensemble is performing at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Saturday, and we were able to have them at school yesterday to do a variety of drumming workshops with our students.

Enclosed is a passage from their website (address below): “The Nego Gato Afro-Brazilian Music and Dance Ensemble bring to their audiences the rich African influenced rhythms and dances originating in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, a region known for custom deeply rooted in the traditions and spirituality of ancestral Africa. The ensemble is directed by Jose Sena, known professionally as Nego Gato, to share his experience of growing up on the streets of Salvador immersed in the magical sounds of the Street Musicians, Carnaval, and Camdomble ceremonies.”

Hock


http://negogato.org/

NCS: literature

The picture shows the 9th graders updating their writing portfolios. Shortly after the pictured was snapped they launched into their study of Homer’s Odyssey. The lesson was comprised of much contextual background information. Elsewhere today, the 8th graders continued reading Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men; while our youngest students continued with their poetry unit. (Notice the fine wooden "Harkness" style table, handcrafted by the class of 2005.)

Hock

NCS: Spanish program

Hock is away at the a conference for Heads of New York State independent schools, so I am sending along this "photo of the day." The 9th grade Intermediate Spanish class meets three times a week and uses the Prentice Hall text Realidades 2, a standards-based Spanish curriculum that balances grammar and communication. This is the group of students that last year traveled to the Dominican Republic in February to do community service for Orphanage Outreach...a great immersion experience for our 8th graders.

This afternoon is beautiful and balmy (almost 60 degrees), but tomorrow the forecast is calling for rain; still we have a variety of trips going out: caving, backcountry cooking, hockey, ski trail maintenance. Our 9th graders will be taking the SSAT in the morning, and then join activities in the afternoon.

Looking forward to seeing you at Thanksgiving (please remember to send your RSVP and travel plans for your children to Sheila.)

NCS: leadership

I am reading a book called Leadership the Outward Bound Way, co-
authored by a former NCS teacher. It reminds me of the Town Meeting on
leadership we had several weeks ago. Below is the poster created from
the student dialogue and reflection. We see NCS as a place to develop
self-esteem, independence, and leadership skills.

NCS: carrot harvest

Even on historic days the daily work of the farm continues. Students
got a chance to watch Obama's speech and will see McCain's gracious
concession speech as well. Students also continued taking ERB
standardized tests as well as 9th graders continuing their prep for
the SSAT exams.

NCS: chemical reactions

Dave’s class has just finished an introductory reading on chemical reactions involving acidic rain and the copper found on some city buildings or - in the case discussed - the Statue of Liberty. The class has just received directions for a lab which will examine the reactions of an acid (vinegar) on pre and post-1982 pennies. (As you may know the compositional percentage of copper is vastly different in each vintage.)

In a small way, this highlights the goals of all our science classes, which is to provide important scientific factual information, key intellectual concepts, as well as the daily life applications of both.

Hock

PS ... It is almost 60 degrees, the last of the snow is melting and we will have a stretch of unseasonably warm weather coming up.

NCS: macromolecules

The 9th grade biology class is well into their unit on the structure and function of macromolecules. The conversation revolved around polymers and the subgroup monomers. The students were just about to launch into charting the specific characteristics of: carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins.
Hock

CTT: round lake

Hello. I hope all is well; many thanks to all those families that have already signed up for the summer of 2009. As the picture indicates, we have started to change our programmatic offerings ... the last canoe trip has gone out, and we have moved on to cross country skiing. After I snapped this early morning photograph, hundreds of geese – stopping for a break – took flight on their long journey South. It was a terrific sight!
Hock

NCS: Halloween

We had a fantastic evening yesterday!

The costumes included the traditional and ghoulish: Frankenstein, fairies, super heroes, and the Grim Reaper. The costumes also included imaginative literary characters out of the “hundred acre woods,” the “Wonka factory,” and Ian Fleming’s “James Bond” novels. However, there were individuals who came as an eclectic assortment of cows, cats and mice, smurfs, types of candy, as well as a box of oatmeal, Old Man Winter, aged NCS faculty, a gnome, and the Pope! (Tow of the enclosed pictures show the crowded foyer during the parade of costumes.)

Level V set up an amazingly scary spook house in Glass; while Level IV hosted the remainder of the school at the carnival in the quonset. (Another picture I have enclosed is a snippet of our games and evening activities which included: fortune telling, blackjack, card tricks, pie toss, bean bag throw, mini-putt, dart toss, and bobbing for apples.) Later in the evening all enjoyed the Halloween dance in the Dining Room, and for those too tired to dance, they sat and chatted while munching on their candy.

Hock

NCS: studio arts

An incredibly beautiful day, with more to follow; however the snow is melting fast. (In the 48 hours since the storm ended, students have cross country skied, built snow sculptures, snow shoed, and thrown dozens of snowballs.)

On a different note, Jessica Hoffmann Davis – grandparent of an NCS student – just sent me some wonderful books that she wrote when she was at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. They came in yesterday, and I have as yet not even had the time to thank her. I am excited about delving into them, and for now I will share one snippet from Framing Education As Art: Whatever the shape of the rationale, the arts seem always to need some reason beyond their own processes and products to make them worthy of real time in the school day. Why must we argue for a place for activities that provide singular shape and expression
to our understandings as human beings? Shouldn’t the arts be the most revered of subjects simply because they connect us to our unique and various cultures as well as to the shared culture of humankind?

Fantastic! I believe NCS has always been a school that would answer that last question with a resounding affirmative!
Hock

NCS: first big storm

Hello.

We have had snow squalls the past two weeks, however last night we got the first major storm of the season. Ten inches of heavy wet snow fell last evening and we are expecting another 4 inches today! The excitement is high: Larry and Nick got their first tracks on the ski hill “booting” up this morning at 6:15 AM by headlamp, all the children are frantically searching for gloves and mittens, and we have outlined the NCS snowball policy. Of course, there is a double dose of adrenaline today, in that we are getting ready to celebrate Halloween tonight. (FYI ... All major celebrations happen on Wednesday during homenight.)

This afternoon – in between sorting dirty laundry and putting away clean clothes - children will make final adjustments to their costumes, continue the pumpkin carving that started last weekend, set up the carnival and spook house, and help Libby get the “playlist” ready for this evening’s dance. A NCS Halloween is costumes run on the rule of thumb, that it is about 10% material stuff and 90% imagination.

Finally, it is just five weeks until Thanksgiving and we are all getting excited to see you, please be sure that you talk to Sheila about your travel plans!
Hock

NCS: jug band

The enclosed picture is John Doan’s jug band class.  The class writes both music and lyrics – a silly chorus – which they performed in the hall for me is enclosed below.
                
            Road kill, oh road kill, is what we like to eat
            ‘Specially if it is seasoned for better than a week
            Possum or squirrel, there’s nothing better in the world
            As long as you get it off the street

The instruments being played are: dobro, dulcimer, mandolin, and bass.  The goal of our music program is to promote both exposure as well as mastery.  Our students hear a wide variety of music from opera to spirituals, bluegrass to jazz, and classic to folk music.  They may elect to play a variety of instruments or specialize in a particular area.  FYI ... we have a  6:1, student to piano ratio at NCS.  Our piano teacher Don Rand – who has been at school for 50 years – has 30 individual students.
Hock

NCS: board meeting

Much of today has been gusty with pounding rain. Since Friday
afternoon these 19 committed trustees have been working hard on behalf
of your children. The conversations have revolved around committee
goal setting, program oversight, operational budgeting, and a review
of our endowment management. Tomorrow is predicted to be
beautiful ... enjoy your weekend.

CTT: first snow

Hello. I hope all is well, and that you are already looking forward to next summer. The season has changed here, and winter will be upon us very soon. Today was the NCS chicken harvest and tomorrow starts our quarterly board meetings. Karen reports that camp enrollment for next year is progressing very well. Thanks again for sharing your camper with us last summer.
Hock

NCS: math

A beautiful day, however it is still quite chilly. (It was 18 degrees at the barn this morning for chores.) Small class size. Individualized; meeting students at their cognitive starting points and moving them forward. Instruction that is multi-sensory. The enclosed photograph is Colette's class doing some introductory algebra. Tomorrow's "picture of the day" will come from our Board of Trustees quarterly meeting. Enjoy your weekend.

Hock

NCS: chicken harvest

Sometimes my job has a surreal quality to it ... This morning I went from a breakfast phone call about the impact of the financial crisis, to grading geometry quizzes, on to plucking feathers at chicken harvest, to changing my clothes for an admissions visit, and on to a phone call with a capital campaign consultant. The enclosed photograph is of the students and staff receiving final instructions from Betsy before the chicken harvest began. Your children did an excellent job. We harvested 50 chickens and an additional 7 large turkeys for our freezer. The work was hard and the community pulled together cooperatively.  Our students continue to understand the many differences between small scale - family type - farms and the huge, monoculture, factory farming operations that stock our supermarkets.  Several days ago, noted author and professor of environmental journalism, Michael Pollan was interviewed on NPR. I have enclosed the link below, which speaks to many of the things that we do on the NCS farm. The snowing is melting and we are in for three or four glorious days!

storyId=95896389&ps=cprs">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95896389&ps=cprs

NCS: town meeting

Snow! Just a dusting; not enough for snowballs, but enough to get us all anticipating the winter fun to come.

In today's town meeting, Martha and the community council facilitated a discussion about the essential elements of leadership. Students talked articulately about: the ability to listen, the ability to stand up for what you believe in, the ability to compromise, the ability to respect minority views, and the ability to be pragmatic. However, what was most exciting about town meeting was to watch children of all ages, temperaments, and levels of English fluency stand up in front of adults and peers and speak their mind. In the picture - Jae Hyouk - one of our Korean ESL students communicates his viewpoints to the NCS community.

NCS: archaeology unit

As a prelude to their study of ancient civilizations, Level II is completing a unit on archaeological methods of inquiry. This is a hands on, multi-disciplinary unit. It has both significant concrete vocabulary and spelling demands, as well as sophisticated critical thinking skills which are called upon. Colette is giving directions to the class about the upcoming simulated excavation. (Throughout the unit the Level II teachers have been role-playing two characters - Matilda and Jeeves - who made some pertinent announcements today at lunch council.) Many of the materials used were developed by the Society for American Archaeology.