Alumn, Fred Blum, Living GWCS Values

At GWCS, our values don't just express the way that we work together in our community; they also express the gifts we hope we can nurture in our students for when they graduate and go on to bigger things, so it's always awesome to see alumni living and acting out those values. Check out this article from the Sacramento Bee about Class of 2004 GWCS alum Fred Blum demonstrating tons of investment in his city, service towards the less fortunate, kindness to the earth, team play with local nonprofits, responsibility in caring for his crops and, of course, excellence! 

Click image to read full article.

Click image to read full article.

““A lot of people are really interested in the fact that their food is grown so close to where they live,” Blum said. “People really respond to that – it makes people feel connected to their food, which is huge in terms of eating healthy and being sustainable.”
~ Fred Blum, Sacramento Bee 12/4/15”

GWCS Values: Learning, Service, Kindness, Excellence, Responsibility, Investment, Team Play, Intellectual Curiosity

Coffeehouse:Music, Poetry, Theatre, Stand-up Comedy & Puppets!

GWCS Annual CoffeeHouse
December 11, 2015
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

The GWCS Music Club was excited to host it’s first Coffeehouse of the 2015- 2016 school year - a terrific collaborative effort by GWCS students, teachers, Music Club and SGA. 

Audience members were treated to an evening of music, theatre, poetry, stand-up comedy, and puppet creativity! Members of the Music Club, along with advisor Mr. Andrews Bashan, performed a wide variety of songs, with members switching it up to show their talents on a variety of instruments and vocals.

Interspersed throughout the music, Mr. Periera performed poetry readings of three of his excellent original works. Mr. Goldie’s selected reading from his book Faith instilled humorous holiday spirit in everyone.  Emily Sullivan led a group of Coyotes in what can only be called "avant garde puppet rap about a Canadian children's show."  Theater Class delivered an unforgettable performance of the one-act comedy-drama Variations on the Death of Trotsky.  Other GWCS students, who auditioned for spots in the show, impressed the audience with their comical theatrical performances.  (See photos below.)

Mr. Andrews Bashan gets an A+ for expertly integrating all of the elements of live theatre into an entertaining and uniquely GWCS showcase. And, of course, Coffeehouse would not have been possible without the support of the SGA, whose members helped set up, clean up, sell tickets and refreshments, and run things behind the scenes. 

 

““Coffeehouse was really great - two hours of fun - music, theatre, poetry, and creativity. A terrific collaborative effort of GWCS students, teachers, music club, and SGA.” ”
— Mrs. Ternullo
““I had no idea. Coffeehouse is truly an event that captures the talents of our unique community. I am so glad I went and want to participate next year!””
— Ms. Newton

GWCS STUDENTS DIVE IN AT MIT SPLASH!

Annual Trip to Boston - the Center of All Things Tech: MIT SPLASH! Trip

November 21 - 22, 2015

For those not in the know, M.I.T. (Massachursetts Institute of Technology), the center for perhaps all things geeky, holds a wonderful annual opportunity called MIT Splash! for high school students around the country to take a sampling of classes on the sprawling Cambridge campus. Classes are taught by anyone who has an interest to teach, which makes the diversity of courses offered staggering. You could have a class taught by a local chef, artist, Harvard professor, stay at home mother of three, or a lawyer.

Prior to leaving for the trip, GWCS students had to sign up in a lottery for the classes they wanted to take which ranged from technology/robotics to interpretive dance! The fact that they have to have a lottery system tells you how competitive this process can be! Armed with their course schedules and the excitement of missing a few days of school, GWCS students, parents, and teacher chaperones headed to the airport for a north eastern adventure on Friday, November 20th.

In addition to two full days of classes on the MIT campus, the students enjoyed an opportunity to see the Pixar exhibit at the Massachusetts Science Museum, tour a few of the many Boston area colleges, see penguins at the New England Aquarium, ride the T transit system, and take in all the bustling intellectual energy Boston is known for. Certainly a cram packed few days that many (including an equally excited teacher chaperone) are excited to repeat again next year!

GWCS HOMECOMING - NOT YOUR TYPICAL HIGH SCHOOL DANCE

The GWCS Homecoming Party this year featured catering by Chik-fil-a, movies, prizes, minute-to-win it challenges, a surprise dance party, and even a robot maze (courtesy of our Robotics club). With so many different activities, there was something for everyone as we celebrated the success and dedication of all of our school teams (basketball, flag football, soccer and robotics). 

Flag Football Comes to GWCS

This is the first year for GWCS to offer a flag football club. The desire for this club came from the student body who wanted another fall activity to demonstrate their camaraderie to one another while having fun at an athletic endeavor.  This is the first time most of the participants have ever played flag football. Mr. Connelly and Mr. Fedinatz strive to create a fun atmosphere to engage the students outside the classroom providing students with an opportunity to take on new challenges and grow from these experiences. During flag football students not only learn the nuances of football but how to work with others, overcome adversity and experience all the ups and downs of a team sport.  Mostly, they are just having fun!

 

 

FLAG FOOTBALL PRACTICE...

FLAG FOOTBALL GAMES...

Pumpkins & Costumes & Doughnuts, Oh My!

Halloween at GWCS is one of those celebrations that can only be described through photos.   Lots and lots of photos!  

First, SGA sponsors a pumpkin carving contest the afternoon before the Halloween party.  This year the winner of the pumpkin contest was Trevor for depicting respected Halloween virtues such as gooey, barfy, pukey and blaaaaah.  This is Trevor's second year in a row to win the pumpkin carving contest.  He has this art down to a science.

The next morning everyone arrives at school in full costume.  Participation is the key to a successful Halloween party and this year the students did us proud.  The costumes were creative, funny, ridiculous, bloody, and surprising.  The GWCS Halloween party tradition includes a costume fashion show contest.  This year's winners were:

Paul, Doughnut King

  • First prize: Xavier as Slenderman
  • Second prize: Delia as The Joke and
                          Jodie as Harley Quinn
  • Third Prize: Trevor as Wario

Next up was the ever popular dangling doughnut competition.  This year's winner was the same as last year's winner.  Paul was made to eat dangling doughnuts while blindfolded!  

Special thanks to our SGA, Josh, Loea, Lucas, Megan, Paul and Wade, for organizing, decorating and executing a frighteningly fabulous Halloween celebration!

“Today Halloween is primarily marked by putting on a disguise and asking for candy, but Halloween has its roots in at least two Medieval celebrations: the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saint’s Day. The spooky festival’s name, however, comes from only one.Samhain is Gaelic for “summer’s end,” and marks what has loosely been labeled the “Celtic New Year,” the end of the “lighter half” of the year and the beginning of the “darker half.” One of the four fire festivals of the year, it was celebrated on November 1 when, it was believed, the dead arose for one night. Sound familiar?

The other celebration, All Saint’s Day, honors all of the Catholic saints. The Roman Catholic Church refers to it as the “Solemnity of All Saints.” Though this celebration does not bear a close resemblance to the festivities of Halloween, it did give the holiday its name. The word Halloween is a direct derivation of All Saints’ Day. All Hallows in Old English means “the feast of the saints.” Halloween, first attested in the 18th century, is a Scottish variant of All-Hallows-Even. The Even meant evening. The spelling of the word was once Hallowe’en, in which the “v” was elided. The current spelling wasn’t widely adopted until the 20th century.”

Lake Anna Writing Retreat

The Senior Essay Writing Retreat at Lake Anna always stirs up excitement around GWCS.

College admissions essays are many student's one opportunity to speak directly to the colleges they are applying and share the character behind their transcripts, GPA and test scores.

Lake Anna in late October is INSANELY BEAUTIFUL, with fall foliage punching bright yellows and reds into the landscape.

Three days of communal living, hard work and a singular goal, all unplugged from the grid, is an rare event. For many students it's a real breath of fresh air in their sometimes intense senior year. 

This year's crop of seniors took to the retreat with great gusto and aplomb. One wrote about the relationship between water and leadership, another about how losing a PE competition completely changed his life, another about how frying fish taught him the value of diligence. Students spotted Venus, Mars AND Jupiter in the night sky (thanks to a tip from Dr. Cox!), got up early to watch morning fog roll off the lake, and had a general blast soaking up their classmates' company. 

““It was great! It gave me a secluded environment to write my essay, and then a nice opportunity to relax because I got done early.””
— GWCS SENIOR - CHRIS C.

 

THE GWCS CLASS OF 2016


Brisk 5K at Burke Lake Park

Raising awareness at the decoding DYSLEXIA 5K 

Thank you to all of the GWCS teachers, students, parents, siblings, friends and dogs who participated in (and/or contributed to) the 5K Run/Walk for Dyslexia community service event with Mr. Connelly on Sunday, October 11th!  It was an invigorating morning at a beautiful location for a good cause!  GWCS had a great turnout with over 20 participants.   Congratulations to our very own Josh Bane for coming in first place for his age group and tenth overall!  Woot Woot!

For more information about the cause, read this Connection Article.  "...Decoding Dyslexia Virginia, the local branch of a national advocacy organization with the aim of raising awareness of the disorder and providing people with more information about the resources available... hosted its first Decoding Dyslexia 5K Run for Dyslexia at Burke Lake Park on Oct. 11."

MIT SPLASH!

A BUNCH OF SHORT CLASSES ON A HUGE VARIETY OF COOL TOPICS AT AN AMAZING UNIVERSITY IN BOSTON!

Our GWCS Coyotes love learning so much that six of them traveled to Boston from September 21-25, 2015 to participate in the MIT Splash weekend.  They took classes in a variety of subjects from science and math to philosophy and hip hop.  This year our students enjoyed learning about strategy and game design (not to mention the chance to play Super Smash Brothers with MIT students on the day of first release!) at the MIT Game Lab and they programmed robots and toured the MIT museum.  In addition to full days of MIT Splash classes, they extended their visit to explore and tour Boston's history and cuisine.

The six GWCS students (Joshua, Kelley, Holden, Danny, Emily and Bobby) and five parents (Mrs. Bellows, Mrs. Carlisle, Mr. Carlisle, Dr. Dana, and Mrs. Saile) who attended MIT Splash this year had lots of fun filling their heads with new ideas and experiences.  This is the second year in a row that Mrs. Saile (GWCS parent & PAC President) organized this parent-led trip to MIT Splash in Boston, MA.  The feedback about the trip and the students' experiences were so exciting that GWCS plans to make this an annual school sponsored trip in the future.

“For one awesome weekend each November, thousands of high schoolers flood MIT’s campus to take classes, taught by MIT students, on anything and everything. From music theory to Hungarian history to aircraft analysis, Splash offerings number over 400 every year and span a wide variety of areas. Want to take a class on origami? Lasers? Neuropharmacology? All are open to you.

Over the course of 19 hours during Splash, you can get your feet wet with a short introduction to any number of subjects—things you always wanted to learn and topics you never knew existed—or you can dive head first into an in-depth seminar or intensive workshop.

In addition to normal classes, Splash also offers walk-in activities: hands-on events where you can show up or leave whenever you want. Walk-ins are great for filling gaps in your schedule, and they don’t require you to sign up in advance (although you must be registered for Splash to attend). Planned activities include everything from modular origami to bubble tea-making to games of SET to chainmail crafting. There’s something for everyone!”
— MIT Splash Website

COMPUTERS FOR AFRICA

Dear GWCS,

On behalf of the Roger Muntu Education Foundation I would like to thank you for your generous gift of computers. Your commitment to helping education in African schools is sincerely appreciated.

Each year the Roger Muntu Education Foundation continues to advance its mission of assisting schools in Africa. Through our programs “Education First” we are seeing many lives changed for the better.

In particular the “Education First” has enjoyed great success in the past year when were given few laptops from the GWCS school. This jester of kindness triggered the need to assist and to focus on DRC, Togo, Mali, and Chad because their struggles and being the worst education systems in Africa. Our solution is to systematically develop community schools in rural regions of DRC for the purpose of expanding classroom access, improving the quality of learning and providing a safety net for students who face a dismal future without access to school.

The goal of the Roger Muntu Education Foundation is to continue to make a difference in education. With the help of donations from supporters such as you we will continue to see improvements in this field.

Thanks again for your generous support of our efforts to improve schools in Africa.

Best wishes,

Roger Muntu

Is Extinction Permanent?

Ronan Taylor - TEDx Talk:  Is Extinction Permanent?

Ronan Taylor, a GWCS junior, was one of six youth speakers at a Tedx Talk event in Fairfax, VA on Saturday, May 16, 2015.  The theme of this event was:  The Examined Life.  Ronan gave an illustrated talk entitled 'Is Extinction Permanent?'  Ronan talked about the new, exciting possibilities for cloning extinct animals such as the Pyrenean ibex, the woolly mammoth and even the dinosaurs!  If a species dies can it come back? Can we bring it back? In 2000 a beautiful and majestic species went extinct, the Pyrenean ibex. The last individual dubbed Celia was found dead. A biotech company called Advanced Cell Technology attempted to clone one. They succeeded, but the animal died shortly after it was born. Nowadays technology has improved and I believe we can create a completely healthy ibex. In fact I believe we can do better. Perhaps mammoths, mega fauna and possibly even dinosaurs could be recreated. The ecological and tourist applications are almost endless, but there is one very important question we should be asking. Should we bring back extinct species?

Click Here to view Ronan's talk.

Although most people are familiar with TED Talks, many have not heard about TEDx Talks which are becoming more and more popular in communities around the world.  "TEDx was created in the spirit of TED's mission, 'ideas worth spreading.' It supports independent organizers who want to create a TED-like event in their own community."

A Summer Day at Nationals Park

Mr. Fedinatz and Mr. Mallonee were joined by Josh F., Ben F., Zach and Caleb T., Ryan M, Delia O. and two new students Catherine C. and Ryan N. for a wonderful day at Nationals Park. The weather was perfect, especially after the stretch of brutal humidity and our seats in section 202 were in the shade the entire game. This was also Catherine’s first baseball game and hopefully not her last.

The ride to the ballpark was fun as the students and staff caught up on the happenings of the summer thus far. The actual game was even better. The Mets struck first with 3 in the top of the 4th which made Delia (our token Mets fan) very happy. The Nats responded with one in the bottom of the 4th and it looked  like it was not the Nats day. This all changed in the bottom of the 8th when the Nationals’ bats came alive to score 3 runs and Drew Storen shut the door on the Mets in the top of the 9th which made Josh jump out of his seat with a round of high fives for all.

Our ride home was a hour-and-half journey mostly spent trying to get out of the parking lot. This did not dull our enthusiasm  as the students and our intrepid driver, Mr. Mallonee, took it all in stride. It was great to catch up and meet our two new students who seemed like they have always been part of GWCS.  We would like to thank the students for being so wonderful and representing the Coyote way in all their endeavors.

Mr. F.