What Do Oceanography and Empathy Have In Common?

Our K-8 assemblies really have been phenominal this year, and today's edition continued with that excellence. What made it so special was both the quality of the student sharing -- powerful and important subjects of both environmental and social justice were discussed -- as well as the deeply respectful listening that the audience showed throughout the event!

After a welcome from Mitch, Strawberry Creek (4th/5th grade) presented a two-part showcase of learning. The first segment drew on their recent unit on oceanography and marine biology to explain what happens when garbage winds up in the ocean (i.e. the Pacific Trash Patch) through a skit, direct conversation, and a movie the students made (I'll try to update this post with the video!).

The second portion of their presentation was a panel discussion on the perjorative use of the phrase "That's so gay." Students shared the history of the word gay, how it came be used as a slur, and the importance of THINKing before speaking.

Student Life Coordinator Kate Klaire then made an announcement about the upcoming No Name Calling Week curriculum block, which began today in K-5 and will continue for the next four weeks.

The Middle School continued the assembly with a wonderful presentation on the service learning projects they implemented the day before Winter Break. Below are just a few of the pictures from the slideshow, with the text of their presentations embedded along the way.

The day before Winter Break was the first of four Advisory Service Days in the 7th and 8th grade.  There are four very different organizations that we are partnering with this year and every advisory will have the opportunity to volunteer at each of them.  The idea is that we get a chance to try out different kinds of service, and experience helping all different kinds of people in different ways, so that we can figure out for ourselves how we might like to serve in the future.   It was a great way to spend the day before the holidays.

Norman’s advisory went to the mouth of School House Creek where it empties into the Bay along the Bay Trail.  The Middle School has officially adopted this part of the shoreline.   Our intention in going was to clean up the beach and record data about what we collected.  We picked up trash and sorted it depending on what it was.  The reason they record the data is to try and get an idea of where the trash is coming from so they can maybe do something about it.  For example Shorebird Nature Center helped to get plastic bags banned in Berkeley by using this kind of data.  We found 556 pieces of plastic plus tons more identifiable items.  We liked seeing all of the different things that washed up on shore because so much more than you think ends up in the Bay.   It made us all think about how if we keep on using so much plastic, how much there will be in the environment when we have children.

Craig’s advisory went to TBS’s Early Childhood Center.  We went to help the teachers make the kids feel happy, so the kids will know what it feels like to spend time with older kids and so that we get experience spending time with younger kids.  We traced continents for their map work, painted with them, read to them, did magic tricks for them and helped them build with blocks.  We liked how well behaved the kids were and noticed what great imaginations they have.  It was fun to play in that way again.   For some of us it was cool to see our old ECC teachers.

Kim’s advisory went to St. Paul’s Towers in Oakland, near Lake Merritt.  It is a senior facility that has different levels of care for elderly people.  Before we went we talked to a geriatrician and she told us about different things they do there, the levels of care, and some of the challenges we might face in talking to them.   We went to bond with the elders and help to make their holidays happy.  We brought instruments and prepared some songs to sing.  They have always wanted us to sing for them and it was cool that they sang along. We also decorated cookies with them which we liked because it was an easy way to bond with them.  Some of them have dementia or can’t hear very well so sometimes its hard to talk to them.  It wasn’t an easy experience, but it was valuable to connect with a different generation.  We got to learn about what their lives were like.  It is good to have another perspective on things that is not your own.

 

Tanya’s advisory went to Glide Memorial Church to serve lunch.  Glide’s goal is to alleviate suffering and break the cycle of poverty for people.   One of the ways they do that is through their meals program.   We took BART there and spent the day serving  600 people hot lunch.  The majority of the people that came through were elderly.  Some of them didn’t look homeless but down on their luck and in need of a good meal.  We always have our meals and our wonderful lunch program and so many take that granted.   Downtown San Francisco is right next to the Tenderloin and the fact that Glide is able to be right on that border and reach so many people is amazing.

The assembly ended with Owen (our K-8 music teacher) leading the school in The Empathy Song, by local hero Brett Dennan.

Walk-a-thon Touchpoints Column

Being in community with our fellows and offering kindness and service is happening in classrooms all over TBS. Every Thursday this year, kids go to the Chaparral House in Extended Day to visit with the residents. Students in Sweet Briar Creek have been going to The Women’s and Children’s Daytime Drop-in Center on Acton St. for years with deliveries of songs, feasts, and handmade student gifts. Temescal Creek has an annual food drive for The Alameda Food Bank, while Laurel Creek has a student-derived project of community service (such as this year’s Penny Drive). The list goes on.

This year, we wanted to add a specific educational component to our community service efforts, as well as to do something on a school-wide level. To help us do this, we drew on the concept of service learning, which is a multi-step, action-oriented experience that focuses equally on the service being provided and the learning that is happening for those taking action, benefiting both the provider and the recipient of the service.  In this way, it is different from community service, which may not have an educational component.

We began by convening a council of student representatives from across all grade levels in January, and explained our goals. The students then dreamt up the idea of the Walk-a-thon, a learning experience that would culminate in an all-day service event. Council members listened closely to their classmates’ ideas, and walked them through a process to help each classroom pick a charity or organization to support.  Final selections included The Berkeley Free Clinic, What If? Foundation, Seva, AISCS (Karibu), Children’s Hospital of Oakland, Meca, Red Cross, and Rainforest Action Network. Representatives from each beneficiary organization then came to speak to the elementary classes about the work that they do, and students worked hard to raise donations from friends, family, and neighbors.

From making t-shirts and banners in art class over the last two weeks, to the cheering crowds of our youngest students who greeted K-8 students at the ECC, to the inspirational leadership of the student council members, yesterday’s event embodied the promise and potential of the TBS educational model. The Walk-a-thon brought a generation of ideas about community and what it means to be a brother or sister with people in our own backyard, as well as our fellows all over the world. It was a chance for students, teachers, administrators and parents to work hard in support of our core beliefs and values.

(This column was co-authored by Kate Klaire, our Social Facilitator and faculty advisor to the Student Council, who was a central figure in the Walk-a-thon's success).

We Walk Because We Care

Our first ever Walk-a-thon was a smash success yesterday! Many thanks to all the parent volunteers who helped out (too many for me to name). Enjoy these photos from the event.

Students painting one of the many banners we carried.

Students silk screening t-shirts with the Walk-a-thon logo.

T-shirts laid out in Cerrito Creek for students to wear.

Mitch rallies the students at an assembly prior to our departure.

The assembled students.

Members of the student council address the crowd.

Kate and Chris lead us in If I Had A Hammer, with student accompaniment!

Sweet Briar Creek class poses with a banner before they depart.

And we're off!

A troupe of parents from Laurel Creek made a surprise appearance to cheer us on.

We refueled and quench our thirst at a snack station halfway up the Ohlone Greenway.

Nancy and Andrea help greet us upon arrival at the ECC.

The ECC laid out a path for K-8 students to walk around the campus.

ECC students passed out hand-made lemonade. 

Many middle school students were excited to revisit their preschool site.

Feeling the love!

Back down the greenway, to our lunch spot.

A game of pepper.

One of the best parts of the day, for me, was seeing kids from Kindergarten through 8th grade playing and hanging out together during lunch.