Last week, a group of 14 teachers from the Japan-U.S. Teacher Exchange Program for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) visited Explorer West for an educational exchange on sustainability.  Both the faculty and students were excited about their conversations with our visitors. Please check out the coverage of this visit in the West Seattle Blog and the West Seattle Herald.

West Seattle Herald: Japanese teachers travel all the way to Explorer West Middle School for sustainability’s sake

West Seattle Blog:Explorer West hosts ‘exchange teachers’

For all new and returning families, you should have received a packet in the mail with your student’s registration papers for next school year. Please return the Emergency Data and Release form, the Outdoor Ed Program Release Agreement, and the Concussion form as soon as possible. Now is a great time to set up an appointment with your child’s doctor to get their Physical Exam form filled out.

Forms are available below to download. Please contact Donna (donnat@explorerwest.org) with any questions and thank you in advance for getting these registration forms turned in by the deadlines.

EW April 2012 Letter to Parents

Outdoor Education Release of Liability

Medication Administering

Concussion Information and Acknowledgement

Certificate of Immunization Status

Authorization For Administration of Oral Medication

2012-2013 Emergency Data and Release Form – Student Information

2012-2013 Physical Exam Form

Sherman English - Incoming EW Dean of Students and English Teacher

The Explorer West community is excited to welcome Sherman English as our new Dean of Students and English teacher starting in the 2012-13 school year. Amy French, EW’s Marketing Director and a 6^th grade parent, recently checked in with Sherman to learn a little more about him and what brought him to Explorer West.

To start, Sherman has been an educator or school administrator for most of his career – working exclusively with middle schools since 2001. Moving to Seattle from the East Coast about four years ago, Sherman and his wife have completely connected with living in the Pacific Northwest. Sherman has three children and five granddaughters (some of whom live in Seattle).

In the past, people have nicknamed and called him “Doc” since he has a Doctorate in Education and Masters degrees in Literature and Divinity.

A few more details from Amy’s interview with Sherman:

What interested you about working at Explorer West Middle School?

I like working with middle schools and especially enjoy working with middle school kids due to their sense of humor and energy. They are a fun age group that reminds me that I have a kid inside of me. Although Explorer West is established, I like the idea of working at a young school where I can add my skills.

What were your first impressions when you visited the school?

I was really impressed by the welcoming environment of the school. The kindness and decency of the students was obvious from the start. The students introduced themselves and asked me questions, which showed me that they were polite and outgoing. It’s difficult to characterize some of the appealing aspects of the school. There is a feeling, though, when you walk into the building, that captures and enthralls you. It made me want to jump in and be a part of it.

This may seem like a minor thing, but I also liked the fact that Explorer West is a small enough school that everything is on the same floor.

Can you give us a brief overview of your professional experience?

I’ve taught English across my career mostly at independent schools with some brief windows of teaching Latin, US History and Math over the years. I also created and taught interdisciplinary courses on ethics and other leadership programs. My administrative experience includes roles as an Admissions Director and Assistant Head of School (the latter most recently at Billings Middle School).

What do you enjoy teaching the most?

I love to teach grammar. That includes everything from sentence structure and diagramming sentences, which are important skills for students to use to become good writers. I also enjoy teaching literature and writing.

What is one of your favorite books to share with your students? Why?

“To Kill A Mocking Bird.” It provides teachers with an opportunity to talk about the level of discrimination and bias in the South during that time. It is also a wonderful story of the maturation of a young girl experiencing life. I often have the students put themselves in the place of the jury in the story. I like to teach that book in conjunction with “ The Secret Life of Bees,” which addresses the civil rights movement 30 years later.

What is a memory you have from your years in middle school?

I had wonderful teachers at The Pingry School in New Jersey (where I later taught English and was the Admissions Director). I remember when my English teacher posed the question, “How many is a pair of twins, two or four people?”  It made such an impression on me that I have used that question in my own teaching over the years.

Additionally, my teachers were very significant to me at that point in my life. I even remember most of them by name. They led me to start dreaming about being a teacher even when I was in middle school.

Who were some of your heroes when you were growing up?

I didn’t have sports heroes, but instead appreciated the people more directly in my life. I grew up on a farm, and I really looked up to one of my older cousins who lived just around the barn. During the summers, we were put to work and he always had amazing skills and taught me how to do things around the farm.

As I mentioned earlier, my teachers were very special to me as I was growing up. The school and teachers pushed me to excel beyond what I thought I was capable of. It was very satisfying to end up working at the same school later and getting to relate that importance to some of my teachers who were still working there.

What are some of your interests outside of the classroom/school?

I love being outdoors – kayaking, hiking, and biking. I also enjoy being creative, especially with music and cooking. I play the piano and have done some composing. A few of my pieces have actually been published and performed.

In addition, I love learning new vocabulary, doing crossword puzzles and having fun with puns.

What are you most looking forward to as you join the Explorer West community?

I’m looking forward to being back in the classroom and working with students. I also am excited about building new relationships with colleagues and doing what I can to help Explorer West grow and develop. I certainly can never replace Rick, but I am committed to moving forward the mission and values that he has helped to establish at the school.

Suma Shares Her Story

Suma Yagi, a great aunt of an Explorer West student, joined Ben Wheeler’s 7^th grade American History classes on March 26 to read her poetry and speak of her experiences during the WWII internment of Japanese Americans.

Suma was introduced by her nephew and shared her story through a poem/essay that began with her childhood in the Central District neighborhood of Seattle.

Suma’s Story

Her parents and siblings had all been born and raised in the United States and considered themselves “bubbles in the melting pot” of America. She reminisced about the times she played the role of a Pilgrim in class plays wearing costumes hand sewed by her mother.  Suma had also grown up memorizing sections of the United States Declaration of Independence, such as “all men are created equal,” and painstakingly learning how to properly salute the flag.

When Suma was 14 and a freshman at Garfield High School, war broke out with Japan and President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the internment with Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. This order gave the military the power to exclude people of Japanese ancestry from the entire Pacific coast and put them in internment camps. Suma’s family was given 8 days to pack up and disperse of all of their belongs except what could be fit in a couple of trucks or suitcases. She remembered her family selling their car to someone for $20. They left cherished family photos, pets, and toys behind. Ironically, Suma’s family was transported initially to a camp that was housed on the grounds of the Puyallup Fair where Suma had enjoyed cotton candy and the rides many times in the past. This newly named, “Camp Harmony,” was a changed place with barbed wire and armed guards keeping the 700 people imprisoned.

After four months of living in an 18 by 20 foot room called “Barrack 2B,” Suma’s family was transferred via train and bus to Minidoka in Idaho where they faced internment with 10,000 other people for another three years. Once again, her family was forced to share a tiny room with barely enough room for six beds and a potbelly stove that they heated with coal. Suma shared that it was very difficult as a teenager to adjust to the lack of privacy of group living where she had to use communal bathrooms and often had little space between strangers. There were schools for the children but the supplies and teaching were very inadequate and the students fell way behind in their studies. The food was also very basic and was mostly comprised of canned Vienna sausages. Over time, the interned people found ways to grow their own gardens and finally have some fresh vegetables.

The biggest shock to camp life was when the young Japanese American men were asked to volunteer for military service. Although many were appalled at this request, others thought it was a chance to prove their loyalty. Ultimately, over 300 men, including Suma’s brother, took this chance to wear the US Army uniform and leave the camp. Suma became very sick with asthma due to the extreme weather and dusty conditions at the camp. Because her family had some close friends in Utah who were willing to house them, they were allowed to leave about a year before Minidoka was closed down.

When they finally returned to Seattle, they had to rebuild their lives in an environment of extreme racism. She started back at Garfield High School as a senior and moved on with her life. It was very common for families to never mention their time spent in internment camps. Only when Suma was in her sixties and taking a writing class, did she start to capture and share these stories.

Students Share Questions

Suma finished each classroom session by answering a series of questions. The Explorer West students had been studying WWII and had completed some background reading on the internment. A few of the questions that the students had prepared for her visit:

7th Graders Ask Questions

- What were your favorite things to do at the camp?
- How did you get news of what was going on in the outside when you were in camp?
- Did you make friends in camp?
- Were there any riots or people trying to escape from the camps?
- Who do you consider great leaders in American History?

Thank you to Suma

The Explorer West community respectfully thanks Suma for so graciously sharing her living history with the 7^th grade students. Her stories were even more impactful since the students are about the same age that Suma was at the time of the internment camps and many live in neighboring communities.

Thank You From The EW Community

The Explorer West Summer Theatre and Arts Camp

Theatre, Fine Arts, Dancing & Singing

WHAT: A two-week performing and fine arts camp designed for any incoming 6^th grade to outgoing 8^th grade middle school students (not limited to Explorer West students).

WHERE: Explorer West Middle School, 10015 28^th Ave SW, Seattle, WA, 98146, 206-935-0495

WHEN: June 18^th – June 29^th, Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 3:00pm

COST: $395

For more information and enrollment forms, please download: 2012 EW SUMMER CAMP Enrollment Form.

Questions? Please contact David Kelly, 206.290.8212 or email: davidk@explorerwest.org

8th grade students on annual trip to Rome

Aligned with the spirit of “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, Explorer West Middle School’s Latin curriculum starts to prepare students for their 8^th grade trip to Rome during their first few days in middle school. In addition to learning the Latin language, they are immersed in learning about the Roman culture and the city that they will ultimately visit 2 1/2 years later.

In 6th grade, they learn about every day life in a Roman household; major Roman buildings, road construction, and aqueducts; the way the army worked; and a basic outline of Roman history.

They read “To Be a Roman” in 7^th grade. This book explores a wide variety of topics including: family roles, rites of passage, the way the Romans told time and organized the calendar, the sequence of offices in the Republic, the role of slavery, agriculture, and various occupations.

By 8th grade, the focus is learning about the city of Rome through the ages. They research the rioni (districts) of Rome on the internet and locate them on maps, learn about the seven hills, the draining of the forum, what exactly was in the forum, and the location of about 15-20 major structures and landmarks.

The 8^th grade students are assigned a research project on a structure in Rome. They need to present this project via a poster, slide show, short movie, or other visual fomat. This year, one student did a movie on the Domus Aurea, incorporating various reconstructions of how Nero’s house looked in 68 AD. Other topics ranged from the eleven aqueducts, the Aurelian wall surrounding the city, the Palatine and the Pantheon to Baroque buildings like St Peter’s, St Ignatius with its false dome, and San Clemente with its four layers of building. On the trip to Rome, the class plans visit the “big ten” structures, and select from others that the students have studied as time and interest allow. Some monuments close and open to the public with little notice, so each year there are different options.

In the week before the trip, the student travelers review different maps of Rome, find the hotel where they will reside and trace various routes to age-old landmarks. They also go on Google Earth to see how things looked in their heyday vs. modern times. The teachers then use the digital projector to literally walk them around areas they will be visiting.

Some highlights of this year’s trip:

• Planning to visit the underground “insula” – apartment house, underneath Sts. Giovanni e Paolo on the Caelian Hill, which was a student project this year.
• Going to “3D Rewind”, which is a virtual tour of imperial Rome. They use special effects and automated scenographic equipment to put visitors in the underground regions of the Colosseum along with other “gladiators” in 310 AD.
• Embarking on a day trip to Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli.

Explorer West students have been commended by local Roman historians and tour guides for their immense knowledge of Rome and its history, as well as their ability to answer many questions in Latin. Since they have participated in the learning process since they were in 6^th grade, the students are well prepared and extremely excited for this cumulating journey to the magical, ancient city of Rome. This year, Explorer West students and chaperones travel to Rome on February 18-25.

The Explorer West Middle School community is very grateful to Kimm Stammen for sharing her many talents and hard work as the school’s interim music teacher over the last several months. She easily assimilated into the faculty team and worked tirelessly while also having a lot of fun with her peers and students. Through her efforts as a teacher and advisor, it was clear how much Kimm cared about making the most of the program and about each student.

Although her teaching duties ended when Aurora returned from leave last week, we wanted to recognize some of Kimm’s accomplishments:

Curriculum Highlights

• Introduced a new world music unit, Turkish music, to all grades. For this unit: she set up listening assignments and activities on a website for students to access from home; George Sadak came to the school for drumming workshops during classes, an assembly, and during their final concert; all 6th graders created their own middle Eastern-style drums in art class, which were used for one of their concert pieces.
• Arranged music and guided students in composition for the concert.
• Continued to work with small ensembles during lunches – an optional activity for students who wanted more opportunities to perform.
• Brought a wealth of talent and insight in teaching students how to be better musicians and ensemble members.

 Implementing Fund-A-Need Budget

• Improved the soundproofing of the music room and recording studio.
• Purchased high quality new and used instruments – upright bass, trombone, baritone horn, baritone saxophone, three keyboards and several hand drums.
• Purchased a new sound system with several microphones that stays in the gym and can be easily set up for Explorer West events.
• Obtained a variety of gear, equipment, and storage systems for bigger instruments that don’t fit in the music lockers.
• Worked many weeks over the summer overseeing the soundproofing, getting the music room better organized, and searching for good deals on instruments.

We so appreciate all of these extras that Kimm brought to the music program! As we welcome back Aurora, we are so pleased for Kimm to continue to be part of our parent community.

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” – Plato

Explorer West’s eighth graders are involved in a letter exchange program with a school in Ladakh, India. This pen pal partnership began in 2010 when the founder of Global Family Travel, a company offering cultural immersion and service learning tours for families, contacted Ben Wheeler (Explorer West history teacher). Global Family travel had facilitated a trip to Northern India that included an environmental cleanup project with Siddhartha School Students. The founder, Jennifer Spatz, visited Explorer West to share a slideshow of her visit to Ladakh and Siddhartha School.

Explorer West students were engaged by the exciting mission of the Siddhartha School – especially due to the similarities between the schools since they both focus on sustainability and sustainable living practices. Both sides embraced the opportunity to communicate and learn from each other, so the students exchanged their first letters in spring of 2011. This fall, the Explorer West students wrote letters inquiring about economic sustainability, starting with the economy of the household.

Some of the things Explorer West students shared in their letters:

 An introduction about their connection

This year, we are learning about the economy, and how it is connected to our main theme of sustainability. We have been learning about economy in our country, as well as in other parts of the world. Recently in our Global Studies class, we watched a movie about the history and life of Ladakh. We also learned a lot about the economy and culture. I have a few questions about sustainability in your home, and about everyday life in Ladakh.”

 Sustainable practices in our homes

For us, the most sustainable things we do are the little things. We use eco-friendly light bulbs and dish washing soap. We eat foods that were grown in an 800-mile radius from us. We don’t like artificial flavoring or other weird and unnatural substances in food; we try to avoid junk food.”

 Material or natural resources that come in and out of our homes

In my home, we use electricity that is mostly from dams that are created to harvest the power of the water, and turn it into electricity. We also have water that comes from multiple rivers in the state and is cleaned, and transferred to our homes through many pipes underground.”

 Who does what in our household economy

Some examples of these are chores, childcare, cooking, cleaning, income earners, teaching, leadership, and emotional support. In my household I do chores, I clean and sometimes do childcare, my mom and dad do most everything else.”

The Explorer West students are looking forward to receiving their return letters from the Siddhartha School students in the coming months. This is a wonderful partnership via Global Family Travel and the teachers at the Siddhartha School who work hard to facilitate their side of the letter exchange. Thank you to all who are involved!

Character building inside and outside the classroom.

An article came out recently in The New York Times Magazine that has been a big viral hit in the parenting and educational communities. Here is a link to the article:

“What if the Secret to Success Is Failure?”

The Dean of Students at Explorer West Middle School, Rick Marting, sent an email to parents recommending this article about “character” in education. Unlike the two school programs profiled in the article that are just recently trying to integrate character development into their school programs, Explorer West has been working on non-formal character development of adolescents since its founding 16 years ago. The school combines academic rigor with a special emphasis on the character growth of each student by fostering confidence and discovery through every aspect of the school.

For example, the school had a robust Outdoor Education program and all of the students and faculty started the year with a three-day camping trip (each grade to a different location) where they experienced some challenges and hardships that they need to overcome by working independently and in teams. Various aspects of Explorer West’s character building were expressed by one of the Outdoor Education instructors upon her return from the fall trip with the 7th grade group. In a letter to the Explorer West team, she wrote, “Throughout the trip, I observed the school’s culture of resourcefulness, teamwork, accountability, community, reflection, and a concern for protecting and conserving the environment.  This culture mirrors that which I aim to develop in my groups as an outdoor educator because I believe these cultural attributes are imperative, on a larger scale, for the resilience of our society.  It is humbling to see students understand the importance of this and continue to cultivate it on their own.”

The school also has small groups called Advisories that are comprised of a faculty lead and students from all three grades. These Advisories address both performance and moral character issues through a variety of discussions, writing assignments and hands-on projects. Each group is responsible for some aspect of maintenance of the school, so the kids actively are completing chores as they dialog about a variety of topics. In addition, the teachers are not hesitant to mention how their own failures have made them stronger in life. They bring that support and willingness to catch kids as they fall as part of the learning culture. Explorer West is process not results driven. With only 90 students, each child’s academic and social progress can be followed and supported. Grades are not assigned in 6th and 7th grades, but students are assessed on a variety of academic and social factors that they share with their parents at student-led conferences.

Another example of the trickle-down effect of this culture of character building, is something that happened during the fall trip after the 6th grade students and chaperones stopped for ice cream at a small shop on their way back from Ft. Worden. The store owner called the Head of School the next day to compliment him for having more respectful and polite students than he had experienced in 20 years of owning his store.

Explorer West Middle School is proud of our work with character building both inside and outside the classroom. It is exciting to see this becoming a priority for other learning communities.