Letter of the Month

June 9, 2008

Happy summer!

It’s hard to believe that we’ve already survived our first heat wave, and the children are out of school and into their various summer activities. But it’s true — the 2007-08 school year has come to a close.

And a wonderful year it was. The autumn highlights included the annual Silent Auction and Soup Supper, on which our scholarship funds so depend. This year we had ceramic bowls specially designed and made for us by Miami Valley Pottery. Many friends of the school bought bowls for themselves or as gifts; but we have plenty of bowls left for next year, and the experience of "reusing" dishes inspired more such efforts throughout the year.

After the renovation (if you still haven’t seen it, come by! The school is gorgeous, although [or maybe because] it looks more "lived in" every day), Kathleen Boutis reorganized the kitchen and bought lots of plates, flatware, etc., so that we are no longer using disposable items. What a treat, to eat off real plates AND to do good things for the environment. We are recycling more these days, and the children are really aware of the impact of trash.

As always, we had a very theatrical year, with Halloween plays and the Mad River Theatre workshops taking place on the Art and Science room "temporary" stage. The stage also featured the "hambone" magic of Crosspulse in April, thanks to Jennifer Berman and the Antioch School Revolving Cultural Events Fund. This fund, set up by donors, will offer seed money for extra cultural events that we haven’t budgeted for. Through sales of tickets to non-Antioch families and baked goods, the fund was replenished after the performers were paid and is ready for another event. Let us know if you have a good idea!

The Antioch College Theater hosted our holiday plays and party (excellent as always, with the YG play particularly environmentally focused — funny, but filled with a rather stark message) as well as The Phantom Tollbooth in May, put on by Chris Powell, the OG and the thirds. The two casts were both wonderful, and the children had a great time.

Another new development — still in process — is the Virginia Hamilton and Arnold Adoff Fun and Useful Children’s Library. Arnold and Virginia’s two children both went to the Antioch School, and when he came to the renovation open house in the fall, Arnold offered to donate books and funds to update our collections. We’re carving out a wonderful space in the entryway of the school — where the chairs purchased by the Ad Hoc Couch Committee reside — and ordering seals for the book collection. The children themselves unpacked the books and began reading at once. Thank you, Arnold!

This year there were many discussions about starting a senior group — in fact, Charlotte Dungan produced a very detailed and helpful report as a college project. There is much enthusiasm, but for now that’s as far as it’s gone.

The Common Space Project — an idea for a straw bale building on our campus that can serve as a general purpose and gathering space — is still in the works. If you’re interested in working on the project and fundraising for it, please get in touch with Steven Conn.

What a year! We said goodbye to our longtime manager Didi, and "broke in" new teachers and staff — Linda Greene in the YG, Deb Housh in aftercare, Charlotte Dungan as our lunch aide, Judy Wood as our reading specialist, MJ in the office. We will miss Charlotte and her family as they start a new life in North Carolina, and will miss Deb’s patience, creativity and wisdom after school (though we gain her as a nursery parent and volunteer!). At our annual meeting we remembered Tom Long, beloved parent of Indy and Izzy and firebuilder extraordinaire at many OG campouts. Our many graduates were looking awfully grown up, and it was particularly nice to see 7th and 8th graders come back to watch their friends receive their Antioch School Graduate t-shirts.

Over the summer we will host two art workshops of the Yellow Springs Arts Council, including a large puppet workshop for kids 8-12 co-taught by our own Linda Greene. Our two new board members, Pete Griffin and Chasilee Crawford, will be hard at work (with their committees and other volunteers) painting and repairing the Annex and hiring a new Aftercare coordinator.

Visit (or volunteer at) the school booth at Street Fair on June 14 — several members of the OG have put together a fabulous band to entertain the crowds.

Next year we’ll have more projects and plans, including a buddy program to link new school families to old hands. In the meantime, have a lovely summer, and do stay in touch.

Yours,

Angela

P.S. from Philadelphia — as some of you know, our family summers in the city, and we arrived last week just in time for Olivia and I to attend the Pennsylvania Ballet’s production of Carnival of the Animals, starring its author, John Lithgow.

The ballet, based on his children’s book of the same name, finds a schoolboy asleep in the American Museum of Natural History, where in his dreams all the animals (and fossils) come alive, looking like his friends, classmates, teachers and family members.

John played the narrator (as a night custodian) and the school nurse/elephant in a large gray silk dress. He was wonderful, of course, and it was neat to think of him as Johnny Lithgow -- way back when -- a student of the Antioch School. Liv and I went to the Green Room to meet him, and he remembered Antioch School and Yellow Springs fondly.