Explorer West Alum Wins Essay Contest

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

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

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!

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

“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!

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!

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!

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

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

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.