Explorer West News and Notes

Explorer West Alum Wins Essay Contest

2011-09-25T21:43:00.000-07:00

Explorer West alum, Delaney (Dede) Evans, was the winner of the 2010-2011 Student Essay Contest for San Diego high schools when her essay was chosen from 2000 submissions. Her essay, "Our Future Awaits" was written in response to the question: which book ‘has inspired you to help the earth'? She chose to write about It's All Connected: A Comprehensive Guide to Global Issues and Sustainable Solutions. This book was co-written by Ben Wheeler, a History teacher at Explorer West. To learn more about Delaney's award and to read her essay, please visit the Facing The Future web site.

Congratulations to Delaney!

Native Garden Welcomes Students Back to School

2011-08-19T11:37:00.000-07:00

As staff and students return to campus after the summer break, they will be welcomed by a newly installed native garden at the main entrance of the school. In alignment with the Explorer West’s Sustainability Program, the garden is designed to represent indigenous landscapes of the Pacific Northwest with small vignettes of local plants that can be found in the forest, mountains and coast. Since the garden is small, many dwarf versions of plants were chosen not to overwhelm the space. There is a mix of both rare and usual native plants that will pop up at different times of the year, so that the look of the garden will always be changing. One of the more unusual and rare plants found in the garden is a taxus brevifolia, which is small evergreen tree that is used to make the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel (Taxol).

The garden was specifically designed to be used and explored by students, families and visitors. There are paths throughout so students can cut through or use the main sidewalks. In addition, there is a seating area under one of the bigger trees.

The landscape architect chosen to do the project, Kate Farley, is a specialist in gardening with native plants that are drought tolerant and low maintenance. She is also working with the West Seattle P-Patch. Kate plans to partner with Explorer West teachers to label the plantings to share their Latin meanings and how many of them are used in Native American cultures. She also hopes to incorporate natural artifacts such as nurse logs and additional plants with the students later in the year. We hope that everyone enjoys this new urban oasis at Explorer West.

To see more of Kate’s landscape work, please check out her web site. http://katefarley.com.

2011 Commencement Address: The purpose of life - pursue happiness

2011-06-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

On June 7, 2011, Explorer Middle School's 8th grade class participated in their graduation event along with the entire school community. The 8th graders asked their music teacher, Aurora de la Cruz, to give this year's commencement address. This was a special request especially since Aurora is officially on leave from the school to spend a few months with her newly adopted son. The busy new mom delivered a striking speech about how the purpose of life is...to pursue happiness. Her address was centered around a personal story about changes in her family over the past couple of years and what she has learned in terms of "three myths" and "seven truths" about the pursuit of happiness. It was a truly inspirational commentary, which included statements such as:

To our graduating class and to everyone in this room… I wish you a life that is densely packed with lovely, happy moments. Know that happiness is a decision, that you deserve it, that you have to work for it, and that spreading it around is one of the most benevolent things you can do for others.

For a full transcript of the commencement address, please contact Donna at Explorer West: donnat@explorerwest.org

Thank you to Aurora for your amazing send off to the Class of 2011. Congratulations to all of the graduates and we wish each of you the best as you pursue happiness in the months and years ahead!

Spring Play - A Collection of Cultural Myth and Circus!

2011-05-16T10:46:00.001-07:00

Thank you to the faculty, students and parents for all of their hard work in putting together this year's Spring Play. Please see our coverage on the West Seattle Herald web site!

Tomorrow's Leaders Tonight

2011-03-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

“I was really nervous, but once we got started, things just flowed, and I actually enjoyed myself.”

“I learned a lot from listening to the interesting conversations between the parents.”

“It’s a lot harderto teach than I thought it would be. I have a new respect for my teachers who do this every day.”

These are just a few of the 8^th grade reactions to the first annual Tomorrow’s Leaders Tonight sponsored by the Parent Community Network. Building on this year’s sustainability theme of “society”, over 35 Explorer West parents became “students” to the 8^th grade “teachers” for two lessons at the school on Wednesday night. Each fall the entire student body participates in school on Wednesday night. Each fall the entire student body participates in several sustainability lessons to build a common language and introduce the theme for the year. The

themes rotate through the three components of sustainability: society, economy, and environment. Actions and ideas that can balance these three are said to be sustainable.

With their parents divided into five separate classrooms, the 8^th graders took on the challenging task of organizing the lessons, guiding the activities and facilitating the discussions.

Understanding something is one thing, but successfully teaching it is quite another. The take-away for many students was that preparation is essential and that sometimes a class will take an unexpected turn. What to do? Many also discovered that asking a question is only the beginning of a fruitful discussion and that careful attending to the ebb and flow of the conversation is just as important. Finally, several students mentioned that giving clear directions is far more difficult than they had anticipated.

Although all EW students have ample opportunities to speak in front of their peers, teaching to adults was a new and somewhat anxiety-producing experience. However, the students discovered that adults share the same passionate concerns for the world that they do, and that there are lots of good ideas and enthusiasm for solutions in both generations.

The lessons came from local sustainability education resource, Facing the Future. The first, Is It Sustainable, used the difficult choice between a local apple grown with pesticides vs. an imported organic apple to demonstrate that the issues are complicated and that we there are often trade-offs.

The second lesson focused on conflict resolution and the role of mediation and compromise. Parents worked through several hypothetical scenarios trying to come to a workable solution for all parties. Although many were successful, some groups just couldn’t find a middle ground: their needs were too strong and the resources too thin.

Challenging decisions abound, and it was heartening to see the passion that students and their parents both felt toward making the world a better place for future generations. Tomorrow’s leaders recognize that things are rarely black and white and that exploring the grays is critical. By sharing what they know and believe with others, they have taken a step toward ensuring a vibrant future. Look for the second annual Tomorrow's Leaders Tonight next fall.

8th Grade Rome Trip Part I: Getting there is half the fun!

2011-03-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

by Maripat Webber

It was very exciting to have the biggest group ever in February 2011 --29 students and six chaperones, half of whom were taking their first Rome excursion. I stand in awe of Petyr Beck and Debbie Ehri, who arrange everything, and lead/guide us all week.

Our arrival in Rome was not auspicious. We had a five-hour layover in Frankfurt that tested the students’ patience, iPod contents, and ability to sleep anywhere--on the floor, in chairs, all piled like puppies. We waited for our bus driver so long at the Rome Airport that our group started looking like a permanent encampment. (more naps “cushioned” by suitcases) By the time we made the dash from airport to bus, the skies had opened and there was such a downpour (actually more like a monsoon) that we were all soaked by the time we’d taken our seats.

Although professing to want only their beds as we left the airport, by the time we arrived at our hotel, all were in favor of finding dinner. The Italian habit of lingering over a meal is quite lovely, but we had quite a time keeping the kids awake long enough to eat what they ordered.

More about our trip in Part 2: The sights and sounds of Rome!

8th Grade Rome Trip Part 2: The sights and sounds of Rome!

2011-03-15T17:38:00.000-07:00

by Maripat Webber

We had great weather after that first cloudburst. All the students said the sun nourished their enthusiasm. On the first day, they were great with our guide. Elizabeta quizzed them on the Forum and the Colosseum, and they did us proud; someone had the answer to every question--and often in Latin, no less.

29 kids makes for a long, long, coiling snake of a group to lead. Ben, Debbie, and/or one of the kids frequently ran back a block or more to get the tail caught up with the head. The Highlight for my group was finding the underground, ancient Roman foundations of two churches open for tours. We got to see the three temples beneath San Nicola in Carcere, dating from the 200s BC, and the Roman house beneath Santa Maria in Cosmedin, better known for housing the Mouth of Truth. We all managed to keep our hands, so we are all certifiably honest.

Ostia was bright and sunny, but there was also a stiff wind coming off the sea; all our photos show kids and adults bundled up with hoods and scarves so that we are barely recognizable.

When negotiating the very narrow and medieval streets between the Tiber and the Piazza Navona, one student said, “Now, this is what I expected all of Rome to look like.” The students played soccer and Frisbee on the Circus Maximus, and the traditional “roll down the hill” was filmed by several student and faculty photographers.

Every student does a project focusing on one particular structure in Rome, and mapping itineraries for visiting each student’s project was a challenge, but most kids did get to see “their” building. Along with such basic identifying elements as dates in the “life” of their buildings and the type and source of materials used to build them, students pondered what was particularly Roman about their structure. Learning about the classical orders of architecture and the use of and variations upon arches and vaults helped define this quality, but students also brought to this question everything they had absorbed about the Romans in almost three years of Latin. Most were astonished at how much more immense their buildings were than they had thought, and each had new insights into the “Roman question”.

They all agreed that actually seeing what they’d been reading about altered their perceptions completely.

Amelia said it was "the best week of my life!", and Grant that it was the best thing that ever happened to him. Five of the boys met a shopkeeper who gave them bargains, lessons Israeli black-ops moves, and guessed with uncanny accuracy their favorite sports and the positions they play. The coolest guy they'd ever met, all of them said. They want to be him when they grow up.

We walked 3-5 miles every day, and this group said it didn't feel at all like that. I told them it took 45 minutes to walk to the Piazza Navona for the Baroque music concert, and they all thought it was a ten-minute trip. They all liked the concert, even though we froze our toes in St Agnese listening to it. Sam said he loved the way the music echoed in the church and then in his head. They're all so well educated musically that they listened rapt to the whole thing, and could discuss it knowledgeably afterward.

More photos and Rome details to come…Thank you to everyone who participated or made this trip possible.

Winter Outdoor Education - fun in the snow, rain and ice!

2011-03-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

Explorer West Middle School recently completed their multi-week day trips for the Winter Outdoor Education Program. All students attend each trip that departs the school early on Friday mornings and heads to Snoqualmie Pass and returns later that day. The itinerary and destination depend on the grade level and the individual groups.

This year the itinerary called for lots of snowshoeing and cross country skiing for everyone. But additionally, each group had its own agenda that involved learning more about the winter outdoor environment, especially how fun yet challenging and sometimes dangerous the alpine environment of our northwest forests can be. Instructional topics included snow shelter building, safe route selection, avalanche safety awareness, and the importance of a good waterproof jacket. Most importantly, the emphasis for all was learning how to recreate in a safe and responsible way so that a sense of independence and confidence can be instilled for years of safe playing in the outdoors for years to come.

The first two weeks of trips involved getting accustomed to the winter environment and their equipment, either snowshoes or cross country skis. For both weeks Mother Nature had decided to throw at us the most iconic of northwest winter weather patterns: overcast, 34 degrees and heavy rain. Despite the sogginess the student’s attitudes remained crisp and eager. After a long day in the rain, some groups were rewarded with a lesson in glissading, a mountaineer trick for a controlled body slide down a snowy slope. This brought some clear squeals of satisfaction.

The third week brought even more rain, unseasonably warm conditions, and a deterioration of the snow pack, leading to an outright canceling of the curriculum as it was planned. But when presented with challenges such as these, the creative juices of the EW faculty came up with a different plan: incorporate their recent musical challenges with their Winter Concert into a half day of touring the Experience Music Project/ Science Fiction Museum in downtown Seattle followed by an afternoon of indoor ice skating in the Lynnwood neighborhood. While not exactly providing them the rigorous challenges of the alpine outdoors, it still provided a fun, experiential day of both intellectual and physical stimulation. Both alternative activities received a resounding round of approval from both students and teachers and will likely remain a “backup” plan for future winter trips as necessary.

Dow Constantine talks "Sustainability" with Explorer West Students

2011-02-13T13:43:00.000-08:00

Each year, The Explorer West school community chooses a sustainability issue to focus on and this year's theme is, "What makes a society sustainable?" Last Thursday at an Explorer West all-school assembly, Dow Constantine, King County Executive, gave a short presentation on his perspective of this question and then participated in a Q&A. The students’ questions ranged from “What is the state of public health in King County?” to “What is your role in the event of a major natural disaster?” to “What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?”

Some highlights from Mr. Constantine’s program:

As a child, he loved a local greenspace that was slated for development. This motivated him to get involved in community organizing at an early age and they were successful in saving it.

Environmental sustainability is his passion, but he sees that without a healthy economy we cannot effectively invest in reclaiming and protecting the environment.

He is excited about King County's "Equity and Social Justice" initiative to develop opportunity and access for the underserved.

The hardest part of his job is cutting essential services and jobs due to the recession and budget cuts.

The best part of his job is seeing all the good work that county employees do.

He was impressed and happy to hear that Explorer West has a well-developed emergency response plan and that the school practices with full-blown simulations.

Judith Arvidson, an Explorer West parent, acquired this speaking engagement at the Southwest Youth and Family Service auction last fall. She decided to pass along this unique opportunity to her daughter's school to give the middle school students a chance to interact with one of their local governmental leaders.

The West Seattle Blog also posted about the visit: http://westseattleblog.com/2011/02/west-seattle-schools-king-county-executive-explorer-west

Warming Up for Winter Outdoor Education

2010-12-31T12:15:00.000-08:00

Explorer West Middle School staff and students are preparing for the Winter Outdoor Education (OE) program which includes several Friday trips to The Summit/Snoqualmie Pass recreational areas in January and February. With the leadership of a new OE faculty member, Philip Giammarino, the Winter OE curriculum is evolving to stay closer to the school’s mission and program goals, which includes teaching progressive independence and making safe outdoor adventure choices. With the new school facility, one of the portables is being used as a storage and prep space for the wide array of school-owned gear.

More specifically, the winter program includes:

6^th grade students build their own snowshoes out of sustainable willow and other materials with the guidance of experts from Cascade Designs. They transverse the snow by hiking in their new shoes to areas where they can begin to learn snow shelter and survival skills.
7^th grade students learn cross-country skiing and intermediate snow safety lessons.
8th grade students use rented snowshoes to travel deeper into the snow wilderness. They enhance their snow studies/analysis with more advanced snow shelter building and avalanche safety training.

Phil has been on two Explorer West Outdoor Education trips previously and is very excited to work with the students again to build on their energy and skills. To learn more about Phil’s expertise in this arena, please visit the Explorer West faculty page at: http://www.explorerwest.org/faculty.asp.

Teaching the Teacher About Green Learning

2010-12-09T16:52:00.000-08:00

Green Teacher magazine’s Fall 2010 edition includes an article on “Sustainable Design for a Bountiful Future” by Ben Wheeler, Explorer West’s Global Studies and History Teacher. In this article, he provides a collection of lessons for teachers interested in sustainability and sustainable design. Readers of this publication can use Ben’s strategies and teaching exercises to engage teenagers in thinking about sustainability and how we can get there as a society.

To learn more about Ben, visit the Explorer West faculty page at: http://www.explorerwest.org/faculty.asp. For more information about Green Teacher, visit: www.greenteacher.com.

6th Graders Visit Cascade Designs

2010-12-07T18:49:00.000-08:00

Hammers are banging and brightly colored earplugs are visible in the 6th graders' ears. It's snowshoe building season at Explorer West. The first part of the process models assembly line strategies: measuring webbing, counting out D-rings and punching holes in bindings. It's a team effort, including very generous donations of supplies from local outdoor manufacturer, Cascade Designs.

To learn more about the assembly process, students travelled to SoDo for a tour of Cascade Designs this afternoon. We were greeted by EW parent and Purchasing Supply Chain Manager, Dan Means, and Chris Parkhurst the Division Manager for Winter Products who introduced the students to the company and the facility. Cascade Designs is a local company who designs and manufactures their products on-site at their 1st Ave. S. facility. Students saw the assembly of the MSR Whisperlite stoves that EW uses on backpacking trips. Our tour guide, Manufacturing Engineer Nate Pattison, walked us through the snowshoe assembly and described the new binding system being used on the new models.They make approximately 300 pairs of snowshoes each day at the factory, that was an eye-opener given our much slower rate at EW. A highlight of the snowshoe tour was the machine that tests a snowshoe by repeatedly stressing it.

We also got to tour the new design office and show off a sample of our original design. Finally, we toured the thermarest portion of the plant. Foam pads and air mattresses were both in production as we walked through. To make the foam pads lighter, holes are punched in the body and then sent into HUGE storage bags. These extrusions are then used for fill in Thermarest pillows. Nothing is wasted.

Now that we've seen one company's process, we have something to compare our own to. Although we are working with irregular pieces like willow branches, there are certainly many ways we can apply what we learned at Cascade Designs to the classroom. Check back later for more updates on our building process.

Harvesting Fall Bounty for White Center Food Bank

2010-11-23T14:37:00.000-08:00

Last week, 12 Explorer West Middle School students and two of their teachers, Steve White and Kristin Moore, joined forces with Aviva Furman from Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle work together at the St. James Community Garden in White Center. With cold weather on the horizon, bringing in some of the bounty was an important task. Students harvested kale, carrots, and rutabaga which were then donated to the White Center Food Bank. They also worked the soil to prepare it for future crops: turning in a cover crop of buckwheat, raking downed leaves, and composting sunflowers that were long past their primes. A special ingredient, coffee grounds donated by the Westwood Village Starbucks was added to the mix. Finally, students separated cloves of garlic from a previous harvest and planted them for a winter crop.

Art at Explorer West – Fostering the Creative Process

2010-10-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

Explorer West’s art program emphasizes “process over product’ where the joy of the creative process is the focus instead of creating a “perfect picture”. The idea is to stimulate imagination and recognize each student’s genuine efforts, so they will continue to take pleasure in the arts; continuing their art education outside of school, visiting museums, and looking at and discussing art with interest, knowledge and understanding.

Equally important to the creative process are evidence of quality time spent on projects, willingness to learn new skills, finishing assignments in a timely manner, attention to craftsmanship, contributing to a positive learning environment, and using unique solutions to think “outside the box”.

The art department collaborates with other subject areas to maximize learning opportunities. History and social studies are natural companions to art, but other projects also align with the world music, science and math curricula. Some integrated topic areas include:

· 6^th grade - ancient cultures: Egyptian, Aztec, Mayan, Greek and Chinese

· 7^th grade - historical focus on the United States, Pacific Northwest Coast Native American cultures, and Washington State

· 8^th grade – global studies cultural inspirations

With the new expansive, dedicated art studio, the art program can now focus on larger projects and will have the space to store more artwork (such as ceramics which are fired in an on-site kiln). Explorer West student art is profiled throughout the halls of the school and are also regularly showcased in public exhibitions throughout Seattle.

Not all Explorer West students are going to become the next Georgia O’Keefe or Frank Lloyd Wright. But with an average of three art classes per week, they are exposed to the work of some famous creative minds and stimulated to use new tools and methods in the creation of their own art.

Please visit our faculty page learn more about, Sarah Robertson Palmer, our lead art teacher, or contact the school to learn more about our art program.

Annual Fund Kick Off Party and Multi-Cultural Feast

2010-10-18T12:37:00.000-07:00

Our gym was transformed into a global restaurant for an evening of socializing and fund raising amongst our Explorer West parents.

Guests were dazzled by masks hanging along the wall. Musical instruments from all around the world were displayed between tables topped with food from Mexico, Norway, India Czechoslovakia, Finland, Great Britain and Japan to just name a few.

A media presentation of Explorer West students in action energized the crowd as over laden plates were eaten with great gusto.

Parents were dazzled by our two Alumni student speakers; Will Sears and Kale Reb. They both spoke with great poise and eloquence. Will, is currently an Alumni EW Board member and Kale Reb is in the full IB program at Chief Sealth High School. It was heartwarming to know Explorer West had made such an impact on these two dynamic people.

The Annual Fund Campaign will be running through the whole month of October. Our goal is to have 100% participation by all our families, so please get those pledge forms turned back in. Our school needs your financial or talent pledge in order to make this year successful for all our kids.

We Live in Backpacking

2010-10-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

After returning from their fall backpacking adventures in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, each 7th grader wrote lines for a group poem based on the form of "We Live in Music" by Ntozake Shange. They performed (read) their poems for the entire school. Bold lines were read in unison. This is 7A's poem, with photos from a variety of fall trips.

WE LIVE IN BACKPACKING

IS THIS WHERE YOU LIVE?

Delaney:

We live on gear list street

Our friends live on stuff sack avenue

Isak:

We live on Waterproofing Boulevard

Our friends live on Hassel Packing Hiway

Francesca:

The bus heaters warm our faces,

Faces cold as the snow on Mt. Rainier

Danny:

Some of us are chilled, the rest of us are steaming

The sound, the words, not good or bad, just bus babble

DO YOU LIVE HERE IN BACKPACKING?

Jared:

We live here on Hiking Street, our friends live on Trail Avenue

With boots for both sides of our hearts

Anna:

Rain falls around us like electric lighting on other folks,

Then hot sun on switchbacks and mountain blueberries for dimples

Tug:

We’ve got bruises where other people got toes and hips

Chipmunks chatter loud as downtown Seattle, run as fast as a shooting star

Alexa:

We limp up a mountain like toddlers be running from their mothers,

Friendly cheers swarm round us like flies on pigs.

DO YOU LIVE HERE IN BACKPACKING?

Alec:

We walk round in our campsite like somebody else be walkin round their livingroom

We live on Soggy Tent Street, but our lucky friend lives on Dry Tent Avenue

Casey:

We walk round in a bagel like somebody else be walking on the earth.

We wear iodine on our fingers

Bug bites wet our face

Pearl:

We’ve got hard wet sleeping pads where others got warm cushy beds

Two full water bottles for both sides of our hearts

Sophie:

We’ve got shimmering Lake Melakwa where others got mirrors

Rocks where others got tables

Matias:

Nature falls so fulla beauty

We got three big mountains where others have ‘lil hills

Avery:

We live on beauty street

From a single tree to a whole forest

We have branches where other people have arms

Oona:

We’ve got deep blue lakes where others got pale puddles

We live under the nature’s trees, wash in its lakes.

Johnston:

We got 15 laughs for each day of camping

And Smartwool socks on each side of our hearts.

DO YOU LIVE HERE IN BACKPACKING?

WE LIVE IN IT, WASH IN IT,

WE CAN EVEN SMELL IT, TASTE IT, WEAR IT LIKE A WELL

WORN T-SHIRT

HOLD YOURSELF, HOLD YOURSELF IN BACKPACKING

Advisory Groups Take on Campus Care

2010-10-01T12:34:00.000-07:00

Explorer West advisory groups complete many tasks essential to the life of the school. We are proud to have a school where students are at the heart of lots of important work, whether it's inside or outside of class.

From student-led conference prep to maintaining our outdoor ed gear, recycling and caring for the campus, students do much of the critical work at Explorer West. This teaches them responsibility for their environment and it builds camaraderie in the way that only hands-on work can.

Now in it's 3rd year and boasting many fine native flowers and shrubs, the student-designed and student-built Native Plants Garden thrives due to regular youthful maintenance.

Garden care is the perfect chance for an advisory group to get outside, get their hands dirty and enjoy a spirited weeding session. The kids also come to recognize native plants in different seasons. Mulching comes next to ready the plants for winter and suppress some of the eager new weeds.

Earthquake Drill Wins Praise

2010-09-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

Explorer West students and staff participated in our annual earthquake simulation activity today. This fun, hands-on, educational event allows students to learn how to react in a crisis situation. The students were moulaged with fake blood and wounds, uninjured kids set up tents and helped with tasks as needed. Ben Wheeler was our "media spokesperson" during the emergency, and met with a West Seattle Blog reporter as part of the role playing exercise. The North Highline Fire Department came with their trucks and evaluated the school community's response to this "emergency". They reported back that Explorer West runs one of most well executed earthquake simulation exercises and expressed interest in replicating it in other schools.

Here is a link to the story as covered on the West Seattle Blog: http://westseattleblog.com/2010/09/explorer-west-middle-school-goes-all-out-for-earthquake-drill

Walt Hundley Playfield Dedication

2010-09-22T17:27:00.000-07:00

The sun always shines on the righteous. That’s what founding EW Board member, Manvel Schauffler, used to say. The sun came out on Saturday, September 18 for the dedication of the Walt Hundley Playfield in honor of Evan Hundley’s father. The event was well attended by friends, family and Explorer West community members (staff, board and faculty). The park, formerly known as the High Point Playfield is located at 35th Ave. SW and SW Holly just shy of the city’s highest elevation, 520 feet. The Explorer West tennis team holds practice at this newly renamed park.

Walt Hundley, served the city of Seattle for many years in a number of roles including City Director of the office of Budget and Management (1974-1977) and Seattle’s first African-American Parks Superintendant (1977-1988). Former mayors Wes Uhlman (1969-1978) and Charley Royer (1978-1990) spoke passionately about Hundley’s unflappable dedication to doing the right thing for the people of Seattle and reflected that the choice of this park to be Walt Hundley’s namesake was ideal: full of activity and looking out over the city he loved. The celebration concluded with Evan reading a Maya Angelou poem, When Great Trees Fall. You can read more about Walt Hundley’s life at http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3173.

The Explorer West community congratulates our Head of School for this recognition of his father’s legacy in Seattle city government.

EW Fall Potluck: Good Food for Dedicated Parents!

2010-09-20T19:15:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful turnout of over 50% of our families come out this last Wednesday, Sept. 15th. It was a great opportunity for all of our families to get to know each other, just as our kids were doing the same on their outdoor education trip.

Explorer West potlucks are notorious for having the most delicious spread of food. This event was no different. I did not see a repeat item on the table.

Our class representatives led quick ten minute huddles with their respective email cluster families. This was parents' first opportunity to meet with class representatives and see the other families they'll be in communication with for the rest of the year and beyond.

It was clear our families were united in our common goal of making this school year successful for our Explorer West Middle School students. We look forward to our next gathering!

-Rinku Wheaton (Kumar, class of 2011)

Walt Hundley Playfield Naming Celebration: 2 Ex-Mayors, and More

2010-09-20T14:34:00.000-07:00

THE FOLLOWING IS FROM 9/18/10 WEST SEATTLE BLOG. You can read the entire story, and view video clips of speakers at:

http://westseattleblog.com/2010/09/walt-hundley-playfield-naming-celebration-2-ex-mayors-and-more

Today’s semi-surprise sunshine ended right before the speeches concluded at this afternoon’s Seattle Parks celebration in honor of the newly named Walt Hundley Playfield by High Point Community Center. But the event continued with the cheery atmosphere of a family-and-friends reunion – which it was, with dozens of people on hand in addition to the official participants shown above – from left, Mr. Hundley’s son Evan, former mayors Wes Uhlman (1969-78) and Charley Royer (1978-90), former Parks superintendent Ken Bounds, Mr. Hundley’s son David, acting Parks superintendent Christopher Williams, and former Parks finance director Curt Green. Mr. Hundley had held other city roles, including budget director, and Uhlman recalled appointing him to the job in which he made history, serving 1977-88 as the city’s first African-American parks superintendent.

2010 Grads Carry the Flag of Sustainability

2010-08-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

For three days in July, Austin Mam, Naida Suazo, Stephanie Ortiz-Ortiz and Kadian Vanloo (class of 2010) joined 20 students and 120 teachers at the Sustainability Education Summer Institute at Islandwood on Bainbridge Island. They attended workshops, produced public service announcements, performed original music and explored avenues for student engagement in environmental health, social justice and economic opportunity.

To learn more about this sustainability education conference and to view more photos and the student public service announcements, visit:
http://wasustainabledesignproject.ning.com/

These students are continuing the work in sustainability that they began at Explorer West, which earned them the scholarships to attend the workshop.

Congrats, graduates, and good luck in high school!

Room to Grow - Right Next Door

2010-06-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

June 22, 2010

Dear Explorer West Middle School families:

The Explorer West Board and I are excited to let you know that we have reached an agreement in principle to occupy the classrooms that the Westside School will be vacating in the main building. As you have probably heard, Westside is moving their entire school operations to the E.C. Hughes School building this summer.

A formalized sub-lease agreement between Explorer West and Westside School is being drafted and must be approved by the Boards of both schools as well as the Highline School District. We don’t anticipate any issues with that process. While the details are finalized, we will start preparing for the move this summer.

Westside is making a variety of improvements to EC Hughes and needs to keep their existing furniture, equipment and supplies at the current classrooms until they move and occupy the new space. It is anticipated Westside will be able to vacate sometime in early to mid August. At that point, Explorer West will be able to better determine the timing of our move and how we can best use the support of our families. Certainly we will have some cleaning and painting to do in the classrooms and we will notify you about having a community work party when it is appropriate.

It may be that we begin the next school year in our current configuration, still using the portables for a period of time, but we will keep you posted on the process of occupying the main school building as events unfold.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as Explorer West and Westside officials worked through this collaborative process. I know both schools are thrilled about having their own dedicated space. What a wonderful milestone for our schools and community. We certainly wish the Westside School a wonderful and prosperous future at their new facility.

Sincerely,

Evan Hundley, Head of School
Doug Pedegana, President of the Board
Explorer West Middle School

Indian Rights Lawyer Speaks to 7th Grade

2010-05-21T09:06:00.000-07:00

At the conclusion of their Washington State History course the 7th grade viewed March Point, a documentary film made by three native teenagers on the Swinomish Reservation near Anacortes. The film was full of humor, but focused on the environmental health hazards faced by the Swinomish people because of water, air and toxic waste resulting from the March Point Shell-Tesoro oil refinery. Their diet is largely dependent on locally harvested seafood, which has become increasingly unfit for consumption due to water pollution.

We then enjoyed a visit from Eberhard (Luke Fourstar's grandpa), who is a Distinguished Indian Law Practitioner in Residence at the Law School at Seattle University. Eric has lived on reservations and has four decades of experience with tribal lands and rights issues. His presentation covered the 1855 Point Elliot Treaty that took all the Indian lands west of the Cascades and south from the Canadian border and gave them to the new Washington Territory. This treaty was concluded with a combination of persuasion, coercion and manipulation of tribal rivalries. A Snoqualmie tribal leader was paid for every scalp from other tribes who were resisting the settlers. A few years later the federal government claimed additional lands from the Swinomish reservation, including March Point, where the refinery was built.

Eric ended his presentation by encouraging students to do good work with and for Indian people, who continue to live with powerful connections to each other and the land that was once theirs.

Authors Share their Bliss at EW Book & Poetry Night

2010-04-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

The Book and Poetry Reading Social sponsored by the Parent Community Network was a fun time. We had a wonderful group of parents, community members and faculties attend. Our two authors Charles Kastner, an independent historian and JT Stewart a poet spoke about writing and read from their latest publications. We had a bountiful snack table to feast from as we mixed and mingled.

Our authors gave us much to reflect upon. Mr. Kastner spoke about following your bliss and that writer’s are born not made. He passionately shared his reasons why he wrote the Bunion Derby The 1928 Footrace Across America.

JT Stewart told us we are all writers. Our audience may be just ourselves through journaling or a larger venue found through publication. She spoke of how she writes to find peace in her life. In her latest work Promised Land: Poems from the sovereign of dishpan sonnets she writes about slavery and the many lands affected by its’ darkness.

April is poetry month, so try to read at least one poem this month. As always there is fantastic book waiting to be read so make time to take a mental journey.

8th Graders Aren't Idle

2010-04-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

by Sasha Friedrich Do you know what comes out of your car’s tail pipe? Hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulates and sulfur dioxide, are the nasty pollutants that are emitted every time you turn on your car (Alpha Online). Each of us humans take 20,000 breaths each day and the average American breathes 3,400 gallons of air each day (American Lung Association). Unfortunately for us, when we breathe, we also breathe in the pollutants. These contaminants cause many health problems including a variety of respiratory problems, worsened asthma, and multiple heart problems, and can effect the environment by contributing to the greenhouse effect, and causing acid rain which acidifies soil and bodies of water. This imbalance in the ecosystem produced by irregular amounts of acid causes fish and other animals to die, as well as trees and other plants (Grinning Planet).
The 8th grade students have been monitoring cars when parents drop off and pick up their students from school. They keep track of how many cars are idling and for how long. An idling vehicle is one whose engine is running when it is parked or not in use. If your car is idling for 30 seconds, you should turn it off! Drivers who shut off their engines, rather than idling for 30 seconds, benefit from both fuel savings and improved air quality (U.S. EPA, Natural Resources Canada and Programs Europe). Frequent restarting has little impact on your engine, but excessive idling can damage it because it isn’t working at peak operating temperature. Fuel doesn’t undergo complete combustion, which leaves spark plugs dirty and contaminates engine oil (Oregon’s Clean Air Action Day fact sheet).
Idling for one hour can burn nearly a gallon of gasoline and, idling obviously, gets zero miles to the gallon (Hamilton Country Environmental Services). If one driver of a light-duty vehicle avoided idling for five minutes a day, this would save $42.27 annually (Town of Ajax by the Lake).
Instead of idling when waiting to drop off and pick up their kids, parents should turn off their car after each time they move through the line (especially if their car has been running for more than 30 seconds). Please be aware of idling habits and try to reduce them as much as possible! Remember, this is not an aimless goal, and if we work together, we can make our air better!

Behind The Scenes: a Book and Poetry Social

2010-04-05T13:36:00.000-07:00

Behind The Scenes: A Book & Poetry Social
Wednesday April 14th from 6:30 to 9PM at Explorer West’s Gym
Please join us as we spend an adult’s only evening rubbing elbows, drinking wine and snacking as we
listen to readings by two dynamic local authors.
Historian Charles B Kastner and poet JT Stewart talk about writing with the audience and read from their recent books:
BUNION DERBY: The 1928 Footrace Across America by Charles Kastner
PROMISED LANDS: Poems from the Sovereign of Dishpan Sonnets by JT Stewart

A limited number of their books will be available for sale, check or cash payment will be accepted
Please RSVP Donna with how many in your party.
donnat@explorerwest.org
“It is Art that makes Life. Makes interest makes importance, and I know of no substitute for the force and beauty of its process.” Henry James

"Celebrating the Spice of Life" Auction

2010-02-11T16:59:00.000-08:00

Greetings Explorer West Middle School Parents!

Get ready for our 10th Annual Dinner and Auction! Our auction unites our community while providing funds to support our dedicated teachers, tuition assistance, award-winning outdoor education program, students, classroom materials and many unique educational opportunities. Last year’s event raised the largest amount of money in Explorer West’s history bring in $114,000 and was attended by more than 200 people! With full enrollment at Explorer West, we hope to exceed last year’s attendance and funds raised while “Celebrating the Spice of Life”.

Event Details:
"Celebrating the Spice of Life" Auction
Date: Saturday, March 13
Place: Hall at Fauntleroy, 9131 California Ave SW
Cost: $65 per person.
RSVP's due by February 26.

7th Grade Nordic Skiers Reach New Heights

2010-02-10T08:05:00.000-08:00

The first Friday of Nordic skiing had the 7th grade in the rain for the entire day, but they were too busy falling, laughing, and learning to notice. This year's group quickly learned the basic skills of side-step, herringbone, kick and glide, and snow plow. Some kids even mastered knee skiing!

Given their steep learning curve, these kids were hungry for hills and new vistas. By the second week they were heading out into the wilderness east of Mount Catherine. By the third week they were going farther than any group in previous years, reaching Windy Pass and summitting Mount Hyak -- tours of over 10 miles! For our fourth and final week all skiers made the full Viking Loop.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS...
I fell lots, but learned how strong I am.

The snow makes me calm, and I forget about the world's troubles.

My jacket became a cape. I was a Superspeed Superhero!

We get away from the drama of school.

It was a good workout and a fun challenge full of obstacles we had to overcome.

We worked as a group and played games to make the challenge easier.

You get to know kids that you don't normally talk to at school.

We hear birds and squirrels chattering without cars and machines.

You can wipe out because the snow is like a pillow.

It's exercise but you don't realize it because it's so fun.

Now I can go Nordic skiing with my family and teach them.

I saw really cool clouds.

I learned how to skate ski which helped me pick up downhill speed.

I fell so much that my instructor finally stopped telling me that it's OK to fall.

We are grateful to all the parents who joined our ski lessons and tours, and also to my co-leaders Magnus (Morgan), Knut (Karl) and Kirt (it's a Nordic Name already!) for their enthusiasm and expertise.

-Bjorn (Ben)

Think Snow - 6th Grade Snow Shoe Project

2010-01-29T16:22:00.000-08:00

Explorer West has a tradition of winter outdoor education dating back to our very first year, 1996-97, when students, faculty and parents drove up to Snoqualmie Pass to ski. Today, the program is well developed and integrated into the school curriculum. For the past five years, the sixth graders have designed and built snowshoes in their science classes and spent four days using them out on the snow. It is a marriage between winter recreation and Research and Development.

Each year the design undergoes changes, and the students add their own modifications as the season progresses. Last year, we made the decision to switch from PVC frames to a more environmentally friendly choice, willow. Not only was the willow more sustainable, it held up better under cold conditions, so it is back this year. Students spent time learning about the relationship between humans and willow, including how the bark can be used as a painkiller. The willow branches were soaked in water and fabric softener, and just prior to bending and shaping the branches, we looked at the kinds of stress that might affect the bending process: tension and compression.

Local outdoor company, Cascade Designs, has once again generously donated the buckles, webbing, and fabric that make up the decking and bindings. In December, we toured their factory and saw the metal frames being cut with high-powered water jets, and the bindings punched out in seconds.

This year we adopted an assembly-line approach to some of the processes, and it turns out that Henry Ford was on to something. The total building time was cut by at least a week, and it turned out that the students still felt an incredible ownership in the process. For those who spend time in the outdoors, weight is an important consideration. Another change we made this year was a lighter-weight lacing line, which is cheaper and comes in neon colors. So far it has held up just great. This year’s duct tape tally is 11 rolls!

Just prior to our first trip, the students learn about frostbite and hypothermia. They are charged with keeping an eye on their buddy all day in the snow and to recognize the signs and symptoms in themselves and their partner. The lesson? Stay dry!

Out on the snow, students learn about backcountry travel in the winter when trails can be obscured and the woods open up. They observe avalanche chutes from a distance and practice calculating the angle of the slopes that are most likely to slide. Students also read about various styles of snow shelter and which conditions are best for which type of structure. Then they get out with snow saws and shovels to spend a day building their own. We take a tour through the newly built snow “neighborhood”, and each group has a chance to share their triumphs and lessons learned with everyone else.

Finally, there are games that take on a whole new meaning in the snow. Duck, Duck, Goose is much more challenging as are various relay races and Frisbee. A perennial favorite is the very simple game of “run and scream” – running as far as possible using only one breath and screaming all the while. These games are hilariously fun, but they can be played with or without snowshoes. The latter quickly teaches the value of distributing your weight over a larger area.

The snowshoes are built, and the trips have begun. The snowpack is pretty low up at the Pass, so the only thing left to do is to think snow!

Our Clothes - Enough?!

2009-11-24T09:35:00.000-08:00

Throughout the year, in advisory, classes and special assemblies, we will be exploring this year’s sustainability theme: ENOUGH!? Through this lens we can ask revealing questions about material and non-material aspects of our lives. When do we have enough? How much is enough? How much is too much?

We recently looked at our personal collection of clothing through the perspective of “Enough?!” Then, students collected their excess clothing to make a donation. This clothing drive took place in the spirit of “Thanks –Giving” for the plenty in our lives, at least around clothing.

The beneficiary of our clothing drive was Community Services for the Blind and Partially Sighted. CSBPS was founded as an independent not-for-profit organization in 1965, the Northwest’s leading vision rehabilitation agency and specializes in helping older people cope with age-related and traumatic vision loss. CSBPS works with individuals, families, and communities to restore, maintain and enhance the independence and well being of people with impaired vision.
It turns that one person’s excess can fill another person’s need.

Story Day with Westside School

2009-11-23T14:22:00.000-08:00

Budding authors and illustrators unite! Westside School's Pre-Kindergarten students are teaming up with Explorer West students in an exciting and creative project that brings art and story-telling together. The youngsters in Claudia Ross-Weston's and Nancy Levine's Pre-K classes create the artwork and, later in the week, the story within the picture is reported and written out with the help of an Explorer West student from Aurora de la Cruz's or David Kelly's advisory. (On an interesting side note, several Explorer West students are former Pre-K students from Claudia and Nancy's classes.) Our students listen, help elicit responses from the younger students, and then write exactly what they hear.

Some stories included characters like rainbow-colored aliens, snakes dressed in paper towels, a trio of girls with super-powers, and, of course, super mommies and daddies. We just started this collaboration and will continue to meet once per month. We're very happy to have this opportunity to have "story buddies" and look forward to the imagination and cameraderie that will, no doubt, continue to develop throughout this endeavor.

submitted by Aurora de la Cruz

Boats 2.0

2009-10-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

The 6th graders have been clambering to prove what they've learned since their last boat-building project, and today they got underway. Using what they learned from a previous boat as well as research on famous boats,the students were eager to apply the lessons learned from famous, and not so famous, sinkings. Plans were drawn, materials collected, and construction begun on boats that will hold pennies in calm and rough seas as well as fresh and salt water.

This year's Sustainability theme, Enough, lends itself to this project as students explore how many pennies are enough and how many will sink the boat under various condidtions. They will determine safe "load lines" for their boats just like the ships in Puget Sound. To inspire boat-think, the students listened to sea shanties while they worked.

Silence is Golden: Cultivating Lifelong Readers at Explorer West

2009-09-29T15:01:00.000-07:00

Ever notice that we live in a loud and busy world? EW performs a simple daily ritual to quiet things down and gain a little quality time with ourselves – but together!

For about 6 years EW has enjoyed a tradition of 15 minutes of quiet choice reading after lunch, 4-5 days each week. The rules are simple. Sit by yourself (all together in the gym) and read what you like, but not homework, magazines, or comics. Read a book that fuels your curiosity, imagination, or your personal interests. Reading preferences are as varied as the students themselves, from science fiction to mystery and horror, from fantasy to the science, and from teen romance to literary classics.

Here is a sampling of EW student comments about silent reading:

It gives us a chance to get lost in our own world before returning to school.

What I’m reading is like a little movie.

Everyone is together.

You can take a break from your life and get immersed in another person’s life.

You don’t have to read on a schedule.

I get to read horror books that are about vampires and demons.

It opens a world of imagination and opportunities.

Everyone is totally silent and engrossed in their books.

Everyone is connected in silence.

It feels like a library – silent for once.

People don’t yell!

Alone, with a book, you don’t have to care about anything else.

I can slip into my book and block everything out.

EW STUDENTS CAME UP WITH THESE METAPORS FOR SILENT READING AT EW, WHICH IS LIKE…

Silent dew on a mountainside.

The last snowflake of winter.

Going to the movies with your friends.

Living in a book.

The quiet lushness of a high mountain valley.

Eating a pickle. You can enjoy it right now, but not all day.

Research on Sustained Silent Reading has shown that it does not necessarily improve reading comprehension or guarantee higher test scores. That is not our goal with “SSR.” There is broad consensus amongst researchers and practitioners (like us!) that SSR succeeds in developing lifelong readers when choice, regularity, and staff involvement are its central features.

Our outdoor education program helps students learn to be self-sufficient and happy in the wilderness and many of our graduates will pursue the outdoors into adulthood as a source of lifelong recreation and joy. Similarly, it is our hope that by supporting personal reading we are cultivating lifelong readers.

8th Grade Revels on Mt. Rainier

2009-09-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

The 8th grade fanned out to three different destinations on Mt. Rainier for early September backpacking: Owhyhi Lakes, Berkeley Park, and Glacier Basin. We enjoyed perfect weather, wildlife and blueberries galore, and spectacular vistas.
Mt. Rainier is absolutely teeming with wildlife! Our early fall sightings included black bears, mountain goats, marmots, pika, a doe with it's fawn, and elk. And we heard coyotes howl!

As usual, the trips sought a balance between the outdoor skills of packing, hiking, tents, cooking and safe, leave-no-trace wilderness travel, as well as the human skills of self-care, cooperation, leadership, and communication.

Diagramming glaciers, journals, group games, solo sits, solo hiking, and talking stick councils were valuable activities.

And no Explorer West adventure is complete without some SERIOUS fun -- like a boys versus girls costume contest!
We look forward to our winter adventures beginning in January with snowshoeing, Nordic skiing, alpine skiing and snowboarding!

6th Graders Explore Weird Properties of Oobleck

2009-09-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

"What is it?" "Ew, it's gooey AND hard." "Whoa! Why does it do that?" This is how science class started today. Students were given a container of mystery substance (Oobleck) and charged with the task of identifying as many properties of matter as they could. They quickly dispatched with the easier ones: color, odor, and texture. Phase proved to be the more challenging and thought-provoking property. Sometimes a solid and sometimes a liquid, the students experiemented with different scenarios in order to nail down just exactly when it was each.

Going Nordic with Dead Bugs, Wedges, Cold Solos -- and Lots of Laughs

2009-02-01T18:12:00.000-08:00

We at Explorer West are ever more amazed at how adept 7^th graders are at cross-country skiing. They have the perfect blend of budding coordination; let’s “just do it” hunger for learning, and a whatever attitude about falling.

This seventh grade is setting a high mark with their quick progress. Despite crunchy (icy and hard) conditions for the first two weeks, they are moving quickly through the basics of Dead Bug (rotating while on your back to get your skis downhill and under you after a fall), diagonal striding (the classic kick and glide), and a variety of turns (step, kick, wedge).

Their prowess at gaining skills quickly lets us get right to the real business of backcountry travel. They are heading out snowy tracks around Mount Catherine to log miles, take in snowy beauty, share a trail lunch, have council talks, and sit solo.

Explorer West borrowed the council talk from Native Americans. All students speak to a meaningful topic or question, but one at a time. Everyone else listens. No interruptions. Explorer West students never fail with their honesty and insights.

The solo sit is also a fixture in our backpacking program, where students will sit (safely monitored at a distance by adult trip leaders) to journal (or not) and think (or not). The idea is to be quiet and alone in nature, humbled by our wee spot in the universe – and glad to be there. A solo snow sit has the added value of the profound silence offered by sound dampening crystals. Plus, there is the confidence that you can get yourself there and back, safe and warm.

Congrats to Kirt, our Outdoor Ed director, for his careful communications with the avalanche beset Summit Nordic Center, for helping to formalize our Nordic skills and learning sequence, and for bringing in Morgan Miller, instructor extraordinaire.

We are grateful for the assistance of all the EW parents who joined us for our Nordic days. Special thanks to Karl “Knut” Guntheroth, an alumni parent and expert skier. Knut knows the snow, and knows that fun in the snow is a combo of adequate skill and plenty of laughs.

That’s how we roll in the snow.

Bjorn (Ben)

Our Trip Up To the Mountains

2009-01-27T15:27:00.000-08:00

by Autumn, 6th grade
We went out on our homemade snowshoes, and we went through a lot of stopping to fix our snowshoes and add modifications. We managed not to destroy our snowshoes, but we took them off at lunchtime and played a lot of games. We played Camouflage; you play with one person it and the other people get 20 seconds to run and hide. The person who is "it" cannot move from the place that he or she is in. The people who hide must be able to see the person who is "it". The person calls the people in witch they see getting the people out.

My friend and I built a house in the snow. We did this by accident when we fell into a really really deep tree well. We dug it out a little more, and we put a tarp over it, and we had a nice little snow house under ground.

We also went sledding down little hills on tarps and bags. We went flying down the hills rolling and laughing and slamming into the snow at the end. We found a few big hills where we went really fast, especially on my tarp. We also played run and scream. We play this by running as far as you can scream. When you stop screaming, you stop. The person who can run the farthest wins. I lost!
My friend and I kept getting stuck in postholes and I got pretty wet by the end of the day! Kristin showed us how to use compasses, and we played some games with them. I found out that compasses are pretty handy and a pretty easy to use. But we need some practice!
On our way back, we took off our snowshoes and went sledding on a hug hill. My tarp went so fast! We even made a little jump for our sledding, but it did not work. Next week we will be building snow caves.

Sixth Graders Begin Building Their Snowshoes

2008-12-02T08:54:00.001-08:00

One of the most exciting things about building the snowshoes is that the students are exposed to many different tools and skills. With a solid plan under their belts, the 6th graders have begun the process of assembling their 2008-2009 snowshoes. They began last week with the bindings which involved cutting the fabric and using a punch and grommet set. The buckles were sewn to the laces with a needle and thread, and they used a drill insert the "crampon" screws through the fabric and metal plate.

This week Kirt gave a presentation on the native willow being used for the frame, and then the students went outside to trim the branches off the whips. Several brave families took the whips home to soak overnight in bathtubs filled with warm water and biodegradeable fabric softener. Today the bending and shapin gof the frames begins...

World Religions in 6th Grade Ancient Civilizations

2008-11-21T14:05:00.000-08:00

One goal of the Ancient Civilizations” social studies sequence at Explorer West Middle School is basic literacy in world religions. While there is no prayer or promotion of any particular religion at Explorer West, we believe it is valuable for students to gain basic knowledge around the practices and beliefs of different religions. Public schools are often hesitant to venture into comparative religions because of controversy over the separation of church and state provisions of the U.S. Constitution.

Religions guide some of humanity’s highest aspirations to ethical behavior, as well as giving rise to remarkable art, music, and dance. Of course, religion has also been at the heart of conflict at many times in history.

In order to give students an insider’s perspective, Kumar’s mom, Rinku, visited the 6^th grade to share the artifacts and rituals of puja (worship) in Hinduism. Students viewed artifacts and icons representing different deities, and the class ended with them enjoying traditional sweets.

As the 6^th graders study civilizations from different continents, they explore world religions originating in those regions. Beginning with Paleolithic cave art connected to Cro-Magnon hunter-gatherers, students examine the purposes, symbols, and rituals of religious practice. Major religions covered in this Ancient Civilizations course include Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Taoism, and Confucianism.

One of the important and typical realizations for students in our study of world religions is that, although diverse in their outward expression and organizations, religions have more in common than not. Also, it usually comes as a surprise to students that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism all share the same god, as well as the succession of Old Testament prophets. Religion, one of humanity's common roots, deserves careful exploration.

Thanks to Rinku for making the mysteries of Hindu puja less mysterious!

Fall Waste Audit

2008-11-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

Good news from this year's fall waste audit. Seattle residents and businesses compost and recycle 40% of their total waste. Explorer West composts and recycles almost 60%! But, that's still not good enough, so each advisory has come up with strategies for improvement and acted these out at an assembly.

A big issue identified from this year's audit was that 75% of the compost was food that was still edible (half a sandwich, an apple, etc.). Students suggested that they could bring that food home or save it for the next lunch. Another idea was for students to pack their own lunch so they could bring just what they knew they would eat.

Another highlight includes a decrease in overall garbage weight from 16 lbs. per day last fall to 9.5 lbs. this year. That's a 40% reduction!!!

Our next waste audit is scheduled for late winter.

Weeding and Juggling in the New Native Plants Garden!

2008-09-22T12:14:00.001-07:00

Last spring saw the completion of the Native Plants Garden, a class gift and "labor of love" from the graduating class of 2008. Thanks to Andi (Dakota's mom) for organizing a summer watering crew, the young plants flourished and look great!
Weeds also blossomed, so Ben's advisees wasted no time, earning Jolly Ranchers for their weeding prowess.

Ben's advisees gloat over a heap of vanquished weeds.

Students have quickly discovered that the garden is great for...

READING!

LUNCHING!

JUGGLING JUICE BOXES!

Come see for yourself!

Fall Outdoor Trips a Sunny Success!

2008-09-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

In addition to launching classes and advisory groups, the first week of school witnessed waterproofing of boots, pitching tents, lighting stoves, checking gear, and hilarious (but always informative!) "Leave No Trace" camping skits. Detailed preparation paid off when the whole school departed in separate ways.

The 6th graders camped at Fort Worden on the Olympic Peninsula, exploring the tidelands, forests, and decommissioned military bunkers. Our youngest middle schoolers proved themselves able campers and camp chefs!

Three separate 7th grade backpacking groups entered the Alpine Lakes Wilderness at different trail heads, including Lake Melakwa, Lake Dorothy, and Snow Lake. They navigated switchbacks and swatted mosquitoes with equal measures of intensity and good humor, and savored high lakes in glorious weather.

Two 8th grade groups backpacked the shoulders of Mt. Rainier, exploring Glacier Basin and Owhyhigh Lakes for world famous views of the mountain, plus mountain goats, marmots, deer, pika -- and bears! These first two weeks of school set a high standard for an exciting and productive school year.

Our thanks and congratulations go out to new Outdoor Education Director, Kirt Hodges, for a job well done. The Outdoor Ed leadership shoes are big ones to fill after Kristin's founding of this banner program and more than a decade of her guiding hand!

8th Grade Awash in Nature on the Olympic Coast!

2008-06-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

A rare break in the clouds offered this silvery sunset
on the Olympic Coast.

EW students experienced the full force and beauty of nature during last week's spring trips. Meticulous pre-trip gear checks paid off, as nature did not fail to provide fair challenge. On and off during the week, heavy rains inundated the Olympic Peninsula and Puget Sound areas where the 6th, 7th, ad 8th grade spring trips took place.

The 6th performed trail work on Cypress Island in the San Juans, while the 7th graders maintained trails on the Big Quilcene River on the east slope of the Olympic Mountains.

Hiking between 4 and 10 miles each day, in three separate groups the 8th graders backpacked the pristine Olympic Coast between the Ozette River on the North and Rialto Beach on the South.

The 8th grade trip is no "walk in the park." Hiking the rugged Olympic Coast entails miles of rock hopping and scrambling over headlands. Rainfall made for extra slippery footing this year.

Campfires, rope swings, and abundant wildlife
provided fun and surprises.

A doe and her newborn fawn walked the stretch of beach between the surf and driftwood where students sat in quiet reflection, journaling.

Outdoor education remains a central component of Explorer West's mission. These trips take great effort on the part of staff and students, from careful preparation (thanks go to parents for much of this!) to everyone's best intentions and exertions out in the field. Nature the teacher provides a tremendous range of lessons for our students: independence and team spirit, physical trial and accomplishment, self-sufficiency and collaboration, and last but not least, adolescent drama and comedy on the stage of nature.

The only"trace" left by the class of 2008 is now erased by tides.
A fresh beach awaits the class of 2009.

UW Jackson School of International Studies Visits 8th Grade Global Studies

2008-05-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

The 8th grade has been studying governance and global economics. Yes, they know all about the WTO, IMF, WB, UN Millennium Development Goals, outsourcing, micro-lending, fair trade, and arguments for and against globalized economics!

To add a sense of the great academic, service, travel, and employment opportunities awaiting them outside the walls of the Global Studies classroom, on Thursday, May 8, the 8th grade class enjoyed a blast of higher education from four students from the University of Washington's Jackson School of International Studies.

This energetic and well-informed quartet of political science students broke the students into three groups to study apparel, mining, and coffee industries in Guatemala. Our visitors had all traveled to Guatemala to study last summer.
Studying statistics, first hand accounts, and photographs, our students learned about the hazards and limitations of marginal employment, and the struggles of labor organizers in Guatemala. They also explored solutions to be pursued here in the U.S. Finally, each of the three groups presented a poster outlining issues and solutions for the class.

The class ended with 8th graders asking questions to learn more about the wide world of study and career opportunities awaiting them in global affairs and the growing green economy.

Connor designed a lovely thank you card for the class to sign, and Ben heard back from one Jackson School student that she was so inspired by their level of engagement, enthusiasm and intelligence that was now redirecting herself towards teaching. Well done, 8th grade!

Bella Roma!

2008-03-04T14:43:00.000-08:00

It's amazing what you can see during a week in Rome! The annual 8th grade trip lucked out this year with fantastic weather, so we were out and about all day every day. Maripat did an excellent job of preparing the students for the trip in their Latin classes! Each student researched a different landmark and gave a presentation to the class. Petyr, Virgil, Kristin and Mr. Hundley also contributed their expertise to the success of the trip.

After a long flight, the excitement was palpable as we drove into Rome, and students recognized places like the Colliseum and Palatine Hill. We unpacked at the hotel and then set out to get our bearings and visit the Pantheon. After an early dinner (most Romans sit down for an evening meal around 8pm) and gelato, we meandered back to the hotel to hunker down and try to get some sleep.

Bright and early (VERY early for those with a bit of jet lag) Monday morning we set out for the Piazza Navona to meet our Ancient Rome tour guide. The colorful piazza, a former site for ancient Roman games, came alive as we waited surrounded by Bernini sculptures, local artists, and the stunning Church of St. Agnes in Agone. The tour was a mixture of very old (the Forum), old (the Trevi Fountain), and modern (HUGE jars of Nutella). We also visited the Palatine Hill, where the Roman elite made their homes and played soccer and frisbee in the Circus Maximus.

Day 2 included many more sites including a trip to the Colliseum, St. Peter in Chains, more soccer and frisbee above the Domus Aurea, gelato and delicious food.

On Day 3 we divided into our smaller groups and explored the city while slowly making our way toward the Vatican. Each group chose different things, some of which included visiting Hadrian's Mausoleum, exploring churches, and shopping at open markets. The afternoon tour of the Vatican Museum was highlighted by seeing the Sistine Chapel followed by a visit to St. Peter's Basilica. Jerick climbed the steps to the very top of the Cupola to take in the view of Rome and the Tiber.

Thursday we took a bus tour to the ancient seaport ruins of Ostia Antica where we got to see how the "real" ancient people lived. We saw the remains of ancient baths, a fire station, burial sites and a well built directly in the middle of the ancient road. Back in the city, we walked to the Capitoline Hill Museum. We also tested our honesty at the Boca Della Verita: legend has it that the mouth of this ancient manhole cover will close on the hand of a liar. Everyone in our group returned with two hands.

For our final day, we walked to the Spanish Steps, spent time on the grounds of the Villa Borghese and visited the Borghese Museum.

After somefinal gift buying and an early supper, we made one last trip to the Trevi Fountain: one coin to return to Rome, two coins to find love in Rome and three coins to live in Rome.

2008-01-16T19:44:00.000-08:00

7th Grade Makes Fast Tracks (in the snow)

When it snows one inch in Seattle that can mean a foot up at Snoqualmie Pass. With record snowfall already this year, the 6th graders hiked into the fluffy stuff with their homemade snowshoes, the 8th graders shredded Snoqualmie Summit with alpine skis and snowboards, and the 7th grade brought their natural talents to Nordic skiing. Those would be attitude, fearlessness, style, and smiles.

For their first outing of the 2007 Explorer West outdoor education season, the 7th grade had both snow and sun aplenty. Nordic names were assigned on the bus, then 7th grade spirit took over. They matched the blessings of nature with gusto and attitude that only 7th graders can muster. Here's Dagrun wondering, "So what's so hard about slithering about on ice atop flimsy little sticks?"

They tolerated faculty attempts at instruction well, and then cooked it their own way. One essential ingredient is always fearlessness, and willingness to fall, as demonstrated by Asta.

The next ingredient is style. You can't lose with Leopard mittens, as Magnus shows us.

It is always wise to accessorize with a viking hat, like Lars. Nobody messes with vikings. Would you mess with this guy?

Friendship and camaraderie are perhaps the most important ingredients. That's what will carry us through whatever the next three weeks of Nordic adventure bring. Asta, Axel, and Brigitta bring smiles.

Native Plants Garden Takes Root!

2007-11-30T19:03:00.000-08:00

Explorer West's Award Winning Sustainability Initiative lives on with a NEW NATIVE PLANTS GARDEN!

Last year, in October of 2006, our students planted 25 trees on campus, including an inauspicious circle of eight maple trees just south of the upper parking lot and west of the gym (see photo to left). Thanks to students' (and parents'!) tender loving care (planting, mulching, weeding, and watering), all 25 trees survived their first summer.

In the fall of this year the entire student body and faculty voted on student designs for a native plants garden. Dakota's design won for its star shaped layout and ambitious plant choices.

Supervised by Westside School parent and professional landscaper Matt Stanowich, with help from our David (drama) and Eric (PE), the garden plot was rototilled and composted in preparation for planting. Hardscrabble was transformed into welcoming and rich soil beds.

Every EW student participated in the planting, watering and mulching of native plant starters secured from local nurseries and the Seattle Arboretum -- whose knowing Master Gardeners have been generous with advice and donated plants. Our planting spree was just in time to beat the first frost. This fall planting gives the tender young plants winter months to settle and take root in anticipation of spring warmth and new growth.

Keep an eye out for soon-to-come permeable pathways and benches!

It's Snowshoe Time!

2007-11-27T14:45:00.000-08:00

The Sixth Graders are once again designing and building their own snowshoes for use at Snoqualmie Pass in January. Under the tutelage of Cascade Designs Winter Products Manager, Lee Getzewich, students brainstormed various snowshoe features and narrowd down their design by testing different qualities. This year's design will focus on choosing materials for how well they hold up under pressure, tension, and shear as well as in cold and wet conditions.

8th Graders Test Buildings for Earthquake Resistance

2007-11-27T14:23:00.000-08:00

The 8th grade science students culminated their study of Earthquakes today by testing their "buildings" on a shake table. Using what they had learned about building shape, mass distribution, and friction, teams competed to design a the tallest structure that would sustain a powerful earthquake. After each test, the class rated the amount of damage using the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale. The winning building was over 6 feet tall! This activity connected this year's sustainability theme of "Structure" with the earth science curriculum.

Pinwheels for Peace at Explorer West

2007-09-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

On September 21, 2007 -- United Nations International Day of Peace -- Explorer West Students made pinwheels-for-peace, and installed them on the fence adjacent to our school parking lot.

We joined over 1,000,000 students from around the world who make and displayed pinwheels. Pinwheels for Peace is an art installation project started in 2005 by two Art teachers, Ann Ayers and Ellen McMillan from Coconut Creek, Florida. It was created as a way for students to express their feelings about whats going on in the world and in their lives.

Explorer West students created pinwheels and wrote their thoughts about war and peace, tolerance, and living in harmony with others on one side. On the other side, students drew to visually express their feelings. They assembled these pinwheels, and on International Day of Peace, Sept. 21, 2007, they planted their pinwheels outside as a public statement, and as an art installation.

The spinning of the pinwheels in the wind will spread thoughts and feelings about peace throughout the country and the world!

Mr. "H" Urges Students Towards the Zone

2007-09-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

It's official! In The Zone is in the house!

Today Mr. "H" introduced the entire student body to a tool that students, teachers, and parents can use to maximize their growth, productivity, and performance. "In the Zone" is a method Mr. "H" has employed extensively in his many years of teaching and coaching tennis.

All Mr. "H" asks is that every student commit to becoming more aware of where they are in the scheme of the "Zone" as they face challenges, and try to cope appropriately.

If you are "Tanking" you have simply given up before you even tried. Your fears and low confidence kept you from stepping up to the challenge, whatever it was. At this point it might be good to get some perspective on the source of your fear. Seek advice, support, and clarification. You deserve it. Then try a fresh start.

If you are in "Anger" you have been overwhelmed by frustration. There is no point in beating your head against the wall. Take a break. Do something you will like better, or feel more confident with. Then, when your anger has subsided, try the challenge again.

If you are "Choking" you have momentarily dropped the ball due to pressure. But pressure is a good thing that can call up our best effort, as well as creativity and new angles. You came to play, and did so, even if you were not entirely successful. Ultimately, you will need to show renewed commitment. When you choke, just admit it and move on. We all make mistakes. Our best moment may follow.

The "Zone" is where we all want to be, and where we hope most of our students will be frequently by the end of the school year. When you are in the zone you are prepared and confident, even hungry for challenge. This is when you at the top of your game. When in the zone in class you produce exemplary work -- and then seek extra credit. Or, you might help a classmate, taking your zone to a whole different level.

Experiment with this at home, work and school. Pay each other respect for trying to be "In The Zone."

6th Grade Geography and Ancient Civilizations Classes Explore Cave Art

2007-09-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

According to the geological record, the earliest fossilized record of bacteria, a sign of life from the Precambrian era, is 3.5 billion years old. Spiders started showing up much later, just 400 million years ago. Lucy, the oldest upright, bipedal who seemed more human than ape, lived just 50 million years ago.

But hey, we’ve got the woolly mammoth beat! They were late to the show, arriving a mere two million years ago – barely yesterday in geological time.

Using Larry Gonick’s Cartoon History of the Universe and a variety of supplemental sources on archaeological method, cave art, early religion, and the roots of language, the 6^th grade has been exploring how humans came to be so complex in so little time – geologically speaking.

You can admire original 6th grade cave art (pastels on crumpled paper!) in the hallway. This display features hands – one of the most common motifs in Cro-Magnon’s Ice Age artistry. These hands – traced, stenciled, and drawn throughout caves 10 to 20 thousand years ago – appeared across the globe, from the Americas to Europe, Africa, and the South Pacific. What did these ancestors of ours intend? Worship? Ritual? Signature? The hunt? Control? Graffiti?

Cave art seems to be a combination of narrative (story), ritual, and symbolic language. These markings tried to say something in an organized fashion, perhaps to give a challenging Ice Age existence meaning and hope.

What language will our students leave for the future? Part of our mission at Explorer West is to give students the tools to envision and work towards a lasting future. The past is a rich place to start.

7th graders experience true Northwest weather at Snow Lake

2007-09-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

The 7th graders learned a ton about packing and being prepared for the weather on their trip to Snow Lake. They also found out that teamwork, cooperation and a positive attitude are good things to bring along on a backpacking trip.

We left the Alpental parking lot, elevation 3100 feet, at 11:40 am in overcast but dry weather. It took almost 2 hours to get a mile and a half gaining only about 7 or 8 hundred feet in altitude. There we stopped for lunch and put on our rain gear as the wet stuff started to come down from above. Motivated by the rain to cover some ground, the hikers made the next steep section (900 feet of altitude in about half a mile) in around and hour. From there it was all down hill.

We reached Snow Lake around 3:30. All were a little damp and very tired. We found a fairly dry camp site that would fit us and the kids had their tents up in no time, avoiding a pretty good shower that drenched anything not already wet from the day.The campers cooperated to make dinner and stay warm and dry. By morning the rain had let up, though it was foggy and damp.

We made a day hike to Gem Lake at 4900 feet where the students ate lunch, did some writing in their journals and an art project. They also learned a good lesson about leaving no trace on the clean up from lunch. The 2.5 mile hike back to camp took and hour and 40 minutes.

The highlight of the day was a silent hike down to the lake shore once back in camp. The kids sat quietly at the edge of Snow Lake for close to an hour. Later in the day we reflected on that time and students saw the value of experiencing "awesome nature" up close and in person.

The second night we were mostly dry at lights out - and despite a downpour in the middle of the night and some pretty fridgid temperatures, we awoke to blue sky. We broke camp after breakfast and discussed what we had learned about hiking together and taking less breaks. The hiking time on the way out was two hours and ten minutes, quite an improvement from the first day.

6th grade at Fort Worden

2007-09-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

The 6th grade class experienced front-country camping at Port Townsend's Fort Worden State Park this fall. Highlights included a 3 AM tidepooling-by-flashlight experience, a hands-on invertebrates class at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, and of course, exploring the bunkers and getting to know new classmates. This trip was Mr. Hundley's initiation into the world of EW outdoor education and was also the second trip led by alumni Willi Sears ('99). Students also performed community service in the form of litter patrol. Our good deeds and enthusiasm didn't go unnoticed as six different people made an effort to come over from their motor homes to congratulate us on how well behaved and enthusiastic the students were - even when it was pouring rain!

Outdoor Ed Trips: Big Fun in the Fall!

2007-09-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

Last week students returned safe and happy from the first round of '07 Outdoor Ed trips: 6th grade to Camp Worden on the Olympic Peninsula, 7th grade to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, and the 8th grade to Mt. Rainier.

This blog is a quick summary of the 8th grade trips, with photos from Ben and Meghan's group at Summerland. Each of three groups hiked 2-4 miles from separate trail heads to alpine sites just above the tree line with views on the shoulders of 14,410 ft. Mt Rainier.

Each hiker carries all they need in order to be warm and safe, in addition to substantial group gear and food. Hiking and camping leadership rotates so that all may share the responsibility of decision-making and looking out for the group.Typical activities over the three day trip include student-made gourmet dining (such as hot oatmeal breakfast, cheese and bagel lunches, and pasta dinner), day-hiking, glaciation journals, drama games, nature watching, storytelling, and council style discussions.

In addition to hearing an elk bugle (it's the fall rutting season), groups spotted mountain goats, deer, a bear, plus innumerable squirrels, chipmunks, pika ("eepers"), and marmots.

Fall at Mt. Rainier can bring all sorts of weather, and it did! After sunny mornings the clouds rolled in. There were rain and snow showers, proving the need for warm and waterproof layers.

One of the trips even featured application of henna tattoos by Explorer West's trip guide (and administrative assistant) Meghan Harris!

No trip is complete without ice cream on the way home!

Thanks to unflappable Outdoor Ed Queen Kristin Moore, intrepid trip guides, supportive parents, and willing students for making the fall trips successful. Exacting gear checks, dramatic Leave No Trace skits, and "I'll try" spirits all paid off.

We can all look forward to getting out again this winter for snowshoeing, x-country skiing, and alpine slope fun!

Explorer West Sustainability Initiative – Year Three!

2007-09-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

Last school year, 2006-2007, was the second year of the Explorer West Sustainability Initiative. We enjoyed campus wide progress in the form of green advisories, curriculum integration around the theme of “family”, and our third annual sustainability festival.

The Sustainability Initiative brought Explorer West regional honors in the form of the King County Earth Hero Award, as well as national recognition through the National Association of Independent School’s Leading Edge award for environmental sustainability.

For the present school year, 2007-2008, we intend to deepen our understanding and practice of sustainability. After all, it is this current generation of students whose careers and lives will sway our success with major issues such as global warming.

Already this year, in addition to preparation for fall trips and regular classes, significant new efforts have taken place to further the Sustainability Initiative. During August In-Service sessions, the faculty benefited from the expertise of Kim Bernier and Dave Wilton from Facing the Future. Kim and Dave led the faculty through a history of sustainability education and core concepts.

With impressive team spirit the faculty also arrived upon Sustainable Design and Structure as the theme for 2007-2008. We helped each other get a jump on this by brainstorming possible curriculum and projects around this theme in each subject area.

Then, in the first two weeks of school, in advisory students completed a set of core lessons on sustainability. They mapped ecological footprints, defined and analyzed the sustainability of objects and activities, explored how global issues are interconnected, played systems thinking games, and envisioned what a spaceship would need to survive for thousands of years as a closed system. We intend for our students to be the architects of a bright future for this planet – which is also a closed system, gaining nothing from outside except for solar energy.

Each advisory also spent over three hours conducting audits on either garbage, recycling, energy or water use at Explorer West. They tracked uses and logged data, then set goals and suggested methods for reducing usage, reporting their findings to the whole school. As the year evolves we will keep you posted on our progress with the “greening” of the campus.

Finally, you can look forward to the establishment of a small native plants demonstration garden in the circle of maples planted last fall just south of the upper parking lot. Students will vote on their own student-generated design of choice. Work will begin in earnest this fall so that plants can take root this winter and spring. As our garden takes shape, look for shrubs, benches, walkways…

We are happy to report that all twenty trees planted by students last spring are happy and healthy, thanks to attentive weeding, watering, and mulching by students, as well as a devoted team of families that watered the young trees over the summer.

The Sustainability Initiative is a work in progress at Explorer West. We are glad to report that, in just the first two weeks of this year we’ve seen both work and progress in substantial measure!

Coming Soon: Native Plants Garden!

Ben Wheeler, History and Global Studies

7th Grade Backpackers Partner with Washington Trails Association

2007-06-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

Outdoor education lies at the heart of the Explorer West sustainability initiative, and backpacking lies at the heart of the outdoor education program. In addition to cultivating self-reliance and teamwork, backpacking builds character and confidence. Backpacking in the rain builds lots or character, and trail work in the rain tests that character.

Is it possible to "play at work"? This was the theme of the 7th grade spring backpacking trip, a unique blend of "leave no trace" back country travel, public service to Washington's trail users, and as much singing, games, and teen fun as can possibly be had.

To launch all this, Ms. Krista Dolley, schools coordinator for the Washington Trails Association, (WTA) visited Explorer West prior to the trip to show a video about trail work and to discuss the proper use of trail tools such as the mattock, polaski, and loppers.

Then, donning WTA green safety helmets, two groups of 7th graders set off in torrential rains for four days of backpacking and trail work on US Forest Service trails along the Quilcene River on the eastern slope of the Olympic Mountains. Ben's group worked up the Lower Quilcene River, while Aurora's groups worked their way down. Together, the two groups cleared four miles of gorgeous riverside trail.

Loppers were the tool of choice, as the kids quickly learned how prolific and green the trail side growth can be in this temperate rain forest. Under a canopy of old growth cedar, hemlock, and douglass fir, intrepid young Explorer West trail workers trimmed Devils club, shrubs, and conifer saplings to clear the way for spring and summer hikers and horse riders.

Aurora, Ben, and WTA supervisors were all impressed with the kids' stamina and determination to make progress, despite incessant rain and thick undergrowth. This work goes to the heart of the Explorer West sustainability ethic: meeting our own present needs for a safe, productive, and fun backpacking trip, while ensuring that future generations of hikers can do the same on safe, clear trails.

Explorer West Celebrates Family with 2nd Annual Sustainability Festival and 10th Anniversary Party

2007-05-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

Imagine the 10th birthday party of a child prodigy raised in a loving family, a person gifted with intelligence and vision far beyond their years who knows the value of kindness. This is a smart and good little person...

On Friday, April 11, 2007, the greater Explorer West Middle school community, past and present, gathered to celebrate 10 years of middle school energy and excellence, as well as a growing emphasis on sustainability. Enthusiasm and thoughtfulness were present in equal measures for this “child prodigy” school – itself now just on the brink of a promising adulthood.

Since September classes had addressed the question, what sustains families? At the festival students rotated through stations to explore projects on family, entering responses in their personal Family Matters Passport. Displays and posters captured every Explorer West family from the multiple perspectives of art, music, and books. Eighth graders produced surveys on indicators for quality of life, posting graphed data and their interpretations of data on how well different sectors of the Explorer West community are “living the good life”.

Time and attention were also devoted to those not privileged by adequate resources or a stable family. Valerie Thomas from Seattle Department of Human Services gave a talk on the plight of children living on the streets or in foster care in Seattle. Eighth grade posters on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children explored challenges faced by children around the world in the areas of labor, health, education, displacement, detention, war, and justice. Posters also highlighted solutions to these problems.

On a lighter note, in a family budgeting activity students discovered that even within the same family not everyone values the same thing. Finally, to end the afternoon, Seventh and eighth graders approached Latin perfection in two hilarious skits, We Are Family and Romans Go Home!

Then, in anticipation of the evening festivities, staff and students worked together to host over 400 guests, including former teachers, alumni and families from each of the previous ten years, as well as founding board members. Outgoing board Chair Petyr Beck introduced incoming board chair Doug Pedegana, and offered acknowledgements to Pat Preib, founding Head of School, and to Rick Marting for his two years of stellar service as interim Head of School. Incoming Head of School Evan Hundley was introduced to the community to hearty applause.

Aurora de la Cruz and Kristin Moore directed attention to each of the previous ten years of alumni in attendance and Ben Wheeler highlighted Explorer West’s dual 2007 honors for environmental sustainability: the National Association of Independent Schools Leading Edge award and the King County Earth Heroes award.

Like a child prodigy and like the goal of global sustainability, Explorer West is a remarkable work in progress. If Explorer West continues to harness the energy of youth with the foresight and long view of sustainability, the community can look forward to another ten years of uncommon middle school excellence.

8th Graders Place 5th in National Contest

2007-05-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

The Explorer West 8th grade weather forecasting team: Barite, Kyle, Christyn, Indigo, and Ally, placed fifth in a month-long national competition sponsored by Weducation, Inc. Each week the students were given a different forecast city and were tasked with forecasting the high temperature, low temperature and precitipation for that city for each day using data about climate, terrain, from satellites and more. The students also worked as a team to complete a weekly Earth Science test. Our team placed 5th overall and was the winner for the Dallas, Texas forecast week. Prizes will be awarded before the end of the year. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

King County Executive Ron Sims Honors Explorer West with Earth Heroes Award

2007-04-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

On April 19, 2007 King County Executive Ron Sims hosted regional winners of the annual Earth Hero Award at the Maple Valley Country Club. About Explorer West, Mr. Sims said, "The Sustainability Initiative integrates curriculum and experience into a unique school culture of decision and action. In the classroom, science, global studies, English and math courses all connect to the earth as an integrated system. Outdoor education includes 'leave no trace' wilderness practices, an annual Sustainability Festival, and green campus components of composting, recycling and native plant gardening."

Speaking for Explorer West, Ben credited all the teachers for participating enthusiastically in the Sustainability Initiative by integrating their curriculum around the annual theme, contributing to the sustainability festival, and guiding the green campus advisories. Ben acknowledged the pivotal role played by Kristin in founding and continuing to lead Explorer West's exemplary Outdoor Education program. It turns out that Mr. Sim's neighbors in southeast Seattle are Ben's parents. Over his wife's objections, Mr. Sim's just installed a worm bin composter in his garden (Explorer West has three!). Ben warned Sims to feed the worms -- or suffer the wrath of 80 year old Martha Wheeler, a dedicated environmentalist before the term existed!

Kristin, Aurora and Ben pose with Mr. Sims for the award photo.

For a King County link to more photos of the event:
http://www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/swd/education/earth-current/index.asp

For a King County news release about the 2007 Earth Heroes Award: http://dnr.metrokc.gov/dnrp/press/2007/0417EarthHeroes.htm

Green Advisory Promotes Global "Worming"

2007-03-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

Worm Condos. Lovely, aren't they?

With spring just around the corner and a successful auction funding of the native plants garden, Ben's advisory has built and installed two outdoor worm bins to handle increased volume of food scraps from ever-more conscientious lunching teens.

Dakota's parents provided the necessary do-it-yourself plans that require only a garbage can and drill. Students wielded the power drill with scary efficiency to make sure that local worms would have ready access and egress from their two new condos. The holes are carefully sized to keep out rodents, of course.The next step is to dig holes big enough to accommodate the shiny new condos. This job requires a strict ration of 3 supervisors for every 2 shovelers.
The new worm hotels now await their legless visitors, as we await the rich soil they will pay as rent. The native plants garden will emerge slowly, staring with a design contest and basic preparations this spring, and planting next fall.

EW Girls' Basketball 2006-2007

2007-03-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

The girls’ basketball season has come to an end. Congratulations on an exciting season and thank you to our veteran players, 8th graders Barite, Indigo, Natalie, Ali, Christyn, Laura, and Madie! With seven 8th graders, four 7th graders, and five 6th graders, EW had a great team this year. Coached by Josh Uhlir, the girls ended the season with a record of 4-6. Also, thank you to our parent volunteers, and our team managers and score keepers Diego and Tyler. Way to go Lady Falcons!

EW Boys' Basketball 2006-2007

2007-03-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

The boys’ basketball season has come to an end. Congratulations on an exciting season and thank you to our veteran players, 8th graders Diego, Tyler, Emmanuel, Kyle, and Ray. With five 8th graders, seven 7th graders, and four 6th graders, EW had a great team this year. Coached by Josh Uhlir, the boys ended the season with a record of 3-7. Also, thank you to our parent volunteers, and our team managers and score keepers Madie, Barite, and Ali. Way to go Falcons!

EW Wins King County Earth Hero Award

2007-03-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

Explorer West has earned yet another award, winning in the "program" category of King County Earth Hero for our Sustainability Initiative! On April 19 Ben, Kristin, and Aurora will attend a dinner with the other honorees to receive the award from King County Executive Ron Sims.

Interestingly enough, we received notice of this award just as EW officially named Evan Hundley as the choice for head of school, and as the first leaves are sprouting on the 20 young campus trees planted in the fall. This also occurs just as King County sprouted Dr. Martin Luther King's image as it official logo. Seems to be a season of blossoming in many ways.
In brief, our Sustainability Initiative "was selected for its impact on student learning and action on behalf of the environment" and for "doing exceptional work to protect natural resources." As in the case of the recent NAIS Leading Edge Award for Environmental Sustainability, the Earth Hero award acknowledges EW's multi-pronged approach, where we are addressing academic curriculum, green campus, and service learning aspects of sustainability. Notably, EW has done this by relying on the the earnest creative efforts of its human resources, rather than on money.

The Sustainability Initiative at Explorer West is entirely “home grown” on the enthusiasm and dedication of its students, teachers, and parents. What we have found is that the Sustainability Initiative has enriched the quality of curriculum and school life immensely, giving us the confidence and know-how to take the message of sustainability out of the classroom and into our families and communities.

In addition to increasing integration of EW curriculum around sustainability, the Earth Heroes award acknowledges the importance of elements of our program that support environmental sustainability, including Green Campus Advisories, Outdoor Education, Service Projects, and the annual Sustainability Festival. The Sustainability Initiative at EW is an on-going process, just as sustainability itself is a work in progress -- not a finished product. The future success of this initiative depends on the collaboration of students, teachers, and community partners.

The entire EW community deserves congratulations and thanks for supporting the Sustainability Initiative. We are confident that it will continue to bear fruit.

EW Celebrates Pi Day

2007-03-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

Wednesday March 14 was Pi Day and Explorer West celebrated with a contest to see who could recite the most digits of Pi. Thirty students recited as many digits as they could in order to win a piece of apple, berry, or “surprise” pie. Three students broke the record this year. Sixth grader Bo recited 112 digits, seventh grader Tan recited 140 digits, and sixth grader Alisa won the contest by reciting 240 digits of Pi. The top three winners won a pizza pie to share at lunchtime.

EW 8th Grade Goes to Rome

2007-03-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

Explorer West's 8th grade and their chaperons are almost fully recovered from a week of touring Rome on foot followed by seemingly endless hours on planes. One student remarked, "Rome has had a lot more influence on stuff today than you'd think. Their language has survived, and so have their buildings."

Thirteen students set forth on Saturday, 17 February after months of planning by Debbie Ehri, our intrepid business manager and travel advisor. Debbie speaks Italian and French, and is a miracle of organization, so we were in good hands.

Also accompanying the students were Petyr Beck, Chair of EW's Board, Board member Doug Pedegana, and Latin teacher Maripat Webber.

Our Bed and Breakfast was in a converted townhouse a few
blocks from the Colosseum. All of us were excited to see remnants of the Aurelian Wall enclosing the ancient city, Triumphal Arches, temple
ruins, and, of course, the Teatro Flavio--the Colosseum--on our trip
into Rome from the airport. That night we walked through rainy
cobbled streets past Trajan's forum and column and the Largo
Argentina, where Laura S. was pleased to spot some resident cats,
toward the fabled Pantheon. Even though we were nearly asleep on our
feet after a day of plane rides, this most influential of buildings
impressed and delighted. That oculus cannot be 142 feet above us!

Next morning we headed out for Rome's "Living Room"--the Piazza
Navona--which our guide Valentina informed us was built over the
remains of Domitian's stadium. We walked a few blocks back to the
Pantheon, which we all considered well worth a second look,
especially with the added attraction of Valentina's informative and
amusing guidance.

Valentina brought us up the Campidoglio to view the remains of the
ancient fora from the top of the Capitoline Hill. Emmanuel E. spotted
the familiar outline of the remaining columns of the temples of
Saturn and Venus, the subject of his Roman Architecture project.
Diego found and named for us two of the Triumphal Arches his project
focused on. We all enjoyed sitting in the sun on ancient pieces of
looted temples while listening to Valentina tell us what we would
have seen had we been there during the early days of the Roman Empire.

We followed the via Sacra, treading in the footsteps of Augustus and his successors, to the Colosseum, where our tour ended. Everyone enjoyed the
impressive and awe-inspiring sight of this immense amphiteheater, and
we proceeded afterward toward the Palatine, playing fierce and
enthusiastic games of soccer and Frisbee on via San Gregorio with the
Colosseum and Constantine's Arch in the background.

We were looking forward to viewing the palaces, gardens, and stadium
atop the Palatine, where the first settlers of the area built their
huts, and which became the most prestigious address during the late Republic and early Empire. Unfortunately, it was late in the afternoon, and we were chased
out by guards who closed the park at 5pm.

Over the succeeding days, we toured the Vatican Museum and Sistine
Chapel, St Peter's Basilica, and several churches of historic or
artistic significance. Students particularly enjoyed the palimpset church
of San Clemente with its multiple layers of structures, the earliest
containing a Mithraeum. Its caverns were dank and kind of spooky,
making it the favorite of many students.

On Thursday we traveled south to Pompeii. Natalie observed that just
last week we were watching a movie about Pompeii, and now we were
actually THERE! We saw many buildings and mosaics that students have
studied or seen in various movies and documentaries viewed the
week before in Latin class.

The sun came out for our last day as we tested our veracity at the
Bocca de la Verita, then walked North to the Piazza de Spagna and the
Spanish Steps. We all agreed that a highlight of our trip was the al
fresco lunch of rolls, salami, cheese, and apples we shared while
sitting on the steps in the sun and enjoying the view. We then hiked
up the hill to the Borghese Gallery. Many students spent several
minutes with each of the Bernini sculptures in the collection.

Throughout the week students found Latin inscriptions they had
learned about in class, and the consensus was that it was fun and
enlightening to see in person buildings we'd been reading and writing
about in Latin class. We pondered how a city has existed on this spot for more than 2,000 years, and that aqueducts built in the first century CE are still providing fresh water to modern Romans. "It makes you look at city planning in a whole new way," remarked one student.

NAIS Leading Edge Award

2007-03-09T17:03:00.000-08:00

Ben and Kristin are back from the annual NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) conference in Denver. Ben presented two workshops with Facing the Future to standing-room-only crowds on global issues in the classroom, including Global Health Connections and Service Learning. He highlighted the work being done at Explorer West and brought attention to our recent Leading Edge award for Environmental Sustainability. Kristin was on hand to receive the award and participated in several workshops on campus wide sustainability initiatives.

There was an impressive lineup of speakers including Jim Collins (author of Good to Great), Azar Nafisi (author of Reading Lolita in Tehran), Paul Rusesabagina (subject of the movie, Hotel Rwanda), Lisa Ling (special correspondent for National Geographic and the Oprah Winfrey Show), and Erik Weihenmayer (blind climber who has climbed the highest summits on each continent - including Mt. Everest). Pleas stop by the office to see the latest addition to our growing "trophy case".

8th Grade Team Forecasts the Weather

2007-03-09T16:52:00.000-08:00

Five 8th graders, under the guidance of science teacher, Kristin Moore, have opted to compete as a team in the 5th annual Weather Forecasting and Earth Science competition sponsored by Weducation, Inc. They are competing against teams of 8th, 9th and 10th graders from schools all over the country to accurately predict the weather in four US cities throughout the month of March. Using the same tools and data that professional meteorologists use, the students have done a great job of predicting the weather in the first week's city, Eureka, California. These dedicated students have held "working lunches" to make their forecasts and answer a series of Earth Science quiz questions.