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MIDLAND MINUTES

  • MLK Day Activities: On Tuesday, January 20th, all Midland faculty members and students will watch President-Elect Barack Obama's Inauguration as a community. Then following Obama's speech, we'll hear Babatunde Folayemi speak, followed by lunch and an exercise led by Silviano Valdez '09 and Andrew Hurley '09, who attended a Student Diversity Leadership Conference. Then we'll break into groups by class and answer questions such as, "Where do I hope to be as an individual a year from now? An American in the world? As a school, etc.?" to keep and revisit on next year's MLK day. The Monday and Tuesday schedules will be switched to accommodate our activities.


  • Welcome, Lake! Lake Singh '12, joined the Midland community after Holiday Break. Lake is from Santa Barbara, and his job is in the kitchen.


  • Experiential Week: During the week of February 9-13, Midland students will participate in activities by class. The purpose of this week is that we take trips and do activities with entire classes that supplement our curriculum and our mission, with our students having experiences in the field rather than the classroom. Here are the activities by class, with the faculty member point-person indicated for each class. If you have any questions, please contact the class point-person.
    Freshmen will be camping on Midland's property at the Manzana campground, and will create on-campus art and work projects. They will also visit the Natural History Museum and Museum of Art in Santa Barbara. Contact: Ben Munger '79 for camping questions or Ashleigh Rosa regarding on-campus projects.
    Sophomores will focus on energy, installing a 3.5-kW photovoltaic array that ties into the electricity meter at Stillman Hall. This will mark the 6th year in a row that Sophomore classes will have helped install a solar array on campus, a claim that is unique to Midland School. At that point, over 15% of Midland's campus electricity needs (not including faculty homes) will be met with solar power. The sophomores will tour Morro Bay Power Plant and Diablo Canyon's nuclear power plant visitor center. The week will culminate in an overnight camping trip in the Los Padres National Forest, with a hike to the top of one of the highest peaks in the area. Contact: Lise Goddard.
    Juniors go to Mascota, Mexico for two weeks (leave on January 30th), in an effort to further enrich our language program and promote global awareness, where they are immersed in the culture, each living with a different host family and attending school with their new "siblings." Mascota is a small town at the base of the Sierra Madre, 225 miles from Guadalajara and 60 miles from Puerto Vallarta. La Preperatoria de Mascota (La Prepa) is a college preparatory school which is under the administrative umbrella of the University of Guadalajara. Students from La Prepa came to Midland for two weeks around Thanksgiving this school year, so it is a true exchange. This year marks the 6th in a row of this exchange program. Contact: Jose Juan Ibarra '87.
    Seniors are given the opportunity to explore and experience an area of interest beyond what is offered in a classroom setting at Midland School. The project is a personalized learning experience that allows students to develop a sense of self reliance beyond the Midland community. Students may select a potential vocation of interest or perform community service and are expected to fulfill a minimum of five hours per day for the five day week. Ideally, projects will directly relate to the Senior Thesis topic as a supplemental resource and hands-on experience. Currently, topics range from job shadowing a reporter for Chattanooga Times Free Press, physicians at Sansum Medical Clinic, post production sound professional at Oregon Sound Recording, working with non-profit organizations Global Majority and Orange County People for Animals, an Eagle Scout project and Midland property solo. Contact: Martina Svennungsen. Also, a reminder to parents that travel arrangements for seniors need to be scheduled for Saturday, February 7th, after their last school obligation.


  • Camping by the Light of the Moon: On Saturday, January 10th, Derek Svennungsen with students Ross Kellogg '09, Becca, Towne '09, Blaze Elation '09, Joey Hermosilo '09, Callie Bryan '12 and Jack Marcus '12, spent the night camping above the Rez on a great little meadow. A warm night, near-full moon, and really stale marshmallows made for a perfect Hard Luck night.


  • On Sunday, faculty member Martina Svennungsen was invited by friend Sarah Chamberlin to join the Santa Ynez Valley Hounds, a local foxhunting club that rides weekly in the longtime sport tradition of riding to hounds on local ranches. Sunday's hunt was on neighboring Chamberlin Ranch. Martina stated that "the experience was absolutely exhilarating and an impressive testament to the art of horsemanship." The Hounds have generously invited a select group of Midland student riders to join a hunt later this spring. Over 30 years ago, Midland used to host hunt rides on the property, which longtime hunts members speak of enthusiastically.


  • Athletics:
    Basketball: Midland's basketball team beat Orcutt on Wednesday, 45-23. The team plays OVS at home today at 4 PM. Current record is 4-1.

    Soccer:     There's a Soccer Triple Header at Home on Saturday (unprecedented, at least during his time here, according to Ian Cummings): JV Girls play Orcutt at noon, Varsity Boys play Thacher at 2 PM, and JV Boys play Thacher at 3:30 PM. Varsity Girls play Besant Hill away at 2 PM.
    Varsity Girls current record is 3-3. JV Girls record is 0-1.
    Varsity Boys record is 1-1-4. JV Boys record is 3-1.
    On Thursday, January 15th, Midland hosted the Anacapa School in a fun coed scrimmage.

    See Midland's sports section online for a full schedule and photos.

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