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| | Jeff joins the rising 8th graders leading songs this morning. |
Thursday evening our Class of 2015 was graduated in the Gym. As is typical this year's graduation was primarily a series of speeches and performances by the students themselves. In each element of the songs performed, talks given, and even in the class video, we bore witness to the creativity, intelligence, and thoughtfulness of this class. They took time to thank teachers, parents and classmates. This morning, with graduated 8th graders on a class outing, we gathered the remaining students and faculty in the Gym to celebrate the close of another school year. We 'installed' the rising 8th graders as the new student leaders of the school, and honored each class's 'graduation' to the next class. We celebrated staff summer birthdays and, more important, offered heartfelt farewells to departing teachers and staff--Alyssa Roark (2/3 Viceroys), Tom Kim (MS Humanities), Julie Vega (MS Math), Elizabeth Schachter (Counselor), Stephanie Borges Folarin (Director of Academic and Student Support), and Kari Cafeo (Assistant Head), along with retiring Librarian Ann Van Deusen and Drama Teacher Deborah Ives--before Cathy Manley and Emily McCrory led us in song.
It has been a great last week of school, capping off a great year. Next week, while teachers and administrators wrap up with faculty work week, there will be an exciting Gap Camp. The following week, as Kari and some of the teachers continue work on curriculum, the Burgundy Summer Day Camp begins with Burgundy Center for Wildlife Studies Camp starting soon as well. More details on our camps are below!
Regardless of your summer plans, have a wonderful summer. Thank you to teachers and staff for the incredible amount of work put in and the love afforded our students. Thank you to parents for your support, always!
We will issue 2-3 summer issues of Constant Comment to keep you up to speed on Burgundy news.
Jeff Sindler
Head of School |
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Coming Up at Burgundy ...
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Board Meeting June 16
Burgundy's Board of Trustees will have its final meeting of the school year on Tuesday, June 16, at 6:30 p.m. in the Loft. Please notify Board President Charlie Rawls if you plan to attend to ensure adequate seating.
Staffing Updates As the school year closes, we want to share transition news and make some introductions. Vicki Hayes, who rejoined the Burgundy staff last fall to support the bibliotech and Middle School teams, will move next year to the 2/3 Viceroys team alongside Kayla Parton, taking over for Alyssa Roark. Vicki is a long-time former Burgundy teacher with more than 25 years of experience including 16 at Burgundy. She is also the mother of Carolyn '96 and Matt '00. Vicki has made a strong positive impression on Middle School students and parents this year, and will continue to showcase this dedication in a full-time return to the Lower School and the Viceroys classroom. We will continue to have a Middle School resource teacher next year. We are also planning to have our new Director of Academic and Student Support, De Shan Lett, be based in the Middle School as a supportive presence for students and teachers. De Shan will join us this fall. She is currently Director of Cognitive Skills at Emma Williard School (Troy, NY) and formerly was Middle School Learning Specialist and Head 5th Grade Teacher at The Packer Collegiate Institute (Brooklyn, NY). She also taught at the Windward School, the Bronx Charter School for the Arts, and a public elementary school in New York City. DeShan holds degrees from Wayne State University and CUNY, Lehman College, and is a candidate currently for a master's degree from Cornell University. Joseph Edwards will join the Middle School faculty next year as a humanities teacher. Joseph is currently a fifth grade teacher at Friends School in Baltimore. Previously he was a seventh and eighth grade teacher and reading specialist at New Song Academy in Baltimore. Between his time at New Song and Friends, Joseph was an Academic Content Liaison and Educational Associate for the Baltimore City Schools as well as a Literacy Professional Developer for the Fund for Educational Excellence. Joseph holds a history degree from Columbia and a M.Ed. from Towson University. Matthew Reames will also join the Middle School team, as a math teacher. Matthew recently completed his Ph.D. in Mathematics Education at the University of Virginia and also has a B.A. and M.A. from Virginia Tech. While working on his doctorate, Matthew taught various courses in the Curry School of Education at UVa. Previously, he was Head of Mathematics and ICT Coordinator at St. Edmond's Junior School, Canterbury, UK. He began his teaching career as a middle school math and science teacher at Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Roanoke, Virginia, where he was Teacher of the Year in 2003.
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8th Grade Service Learning Projects
In the last several weeks, 8th graders have been working on service learning projects. This is the culmination of the 8th grade Humanities curriculum, which is themed around "voices of change." Students learn about historical figures whose actions have created change, and current events where change is ongoing. For the service learning projects, students selected a social or political issue that sparked their interest, researched on their own, and interviewed someone with knowledge in the topic area. Then the students decided on a way to present their results and inspire change. There was a broad range of service learning project topics, including gun violence, blood diamonds, big game hunting, vaccinations, single-use plastic grocery bags, and treatment of orca whales.
Nick Sansone focused on the topic of deforestation and wrote an op-ed for a local newspaper, the Alexandria Gazette-Packet. His commentary appears on page 23 of the May 28 issue (PDF) .
Christiana Cody researched cruelty toward animals in the fur industry. She created an informational advertisement and asked to share it in Constant Comment:
Kendall Johnston looked at portrayal of women in advertising and media and its effects on young girls. She wanted to share her conclusions here as well:
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Two light-skinned plastic dolls stand side by side, both wearing bikinis, and the one on the left was the doll six out of seven girls liked better. Why? The doll on the left was a Barbie, adorned with long blonde hair, purple eyeshadow, extremely thin limbs, and tiny waist. The doll on the right was a Lammily doll. The Lammily doll was designed to try and depict a more realistic young women. Unlike Barbie, Lammily is based off of the real measurements of an American 19-year-old girl. She is less skinny, shorter, and wears minimal makeup. The doll comes with stick-on stretch marks, acne, and cuts and bruises. She is not perfect.
Seven Burgundy Kindergarten girls were asked what they thought about Barbies and what they thought about Lammilys. All of the girls talked to admitted that Lammily's body shape was the closest to that of their own, saying that; "Barbie's waist is too skinny..." "Barbie is not the right body shape," and "I don't have that skinny legs like her." Even after realizing this, almost all of the girls said that they liked Barbie better, due to her looks. One kindergarten girl tells me, "Barbie is just prettier."
When asked what Barbie's job would be if she was a person, the majority of the girls said something like pop star, or fashion model--something related to looks. When asked what Lammily's job would be, girls responded: mom, lifeguard, teacher, but most said lawyer.
This study was conducted by me, Kendall Johnston, an 8th grader at Burgundy Farm Country Day School, with other female students. For my service learning project, I have become passionate about the issue of the portrayal of women in the media and products, and how it can affect women and especially young girls.
But why is Barbie prettier, or more worthy of being a model than Lammily, I wonder. Girls as young as 5 years old are beginning to believe that skinnier is prettier, even though they don't think they look similar to the one they prefer. Is hyper-sexualized stick-thin Barbie brainwashing America's youth?
Maybe an exposure to more realistic dolls will change the image of beauty in the eyes of young girls, and help build self-esteem. |
BPA Election Results Thanks to everyone who voted in the recent BPA steering committee elections. Joining Kelly Abramson as president for the 2015-2016 school year will be Mary Quillian Helms '85 as president-elect; Chad Breckinridge and Lia Miller-Spicer as volunteer coordinators; Tara Carter as communications officer; and Ann Blakey as secretary. All the nominees were approved with more than 85% support. Campus Renewal Construction Update |
| | Several new trees were planted in the center of campus. |
This week's wet weather has prevented some parts of work on the Outdoor Classroom and Discovery Playground, but landscaping has continued. Several new young trees were planted around in the middle of campus between the Library, Meyers Barn, and West Barn. Even with the weather, Burgundy students have enjoyed using most of the Blacktop again, after much of the construction fencing was removed late last week. Several PE classes have made use of the Blacktop for games, and first graders decorated it with beautiful sidewalk chalk drawings earlier this week. Community Service Report |
| | 6th graders recently did a year-end cleanup along Burgundy Road. |
Over the past two weeks, Middle School students have completed their final community service projects of the school year. On May 27, the 6th graders did a year-end cleanup of Burgundy Road as part of the Adopt a Highway program. Students separated trash from recyclable items and disposed of everything properly on campus. These students then discussed what they found, noting that the most common items were cigarette butts and plastic bottles. Thanks to parents Jill Reuter, Marissa Regni and Tory Cracas for helping with the cleanup. At the same time, other students made a nutritious trail mix for Meade Memorial Episcopal Church. The church provides lunch and snacks to hungry people who need assistance. Thanks to parent Maria Gilroy for her help with this project. On May 31, a large group of Middle School students and parents came out to clean up the Occoquan River at Occoquan Regional Park. They spent a couple of hours in kayaks on this beautiful Sunday morning, and returned with full bags of trash and debris, including a plethora of water bottles, a plastic table and a wooden pallet. After the cleanup, they shared a lunch and dessert at one of the park's gazebos overlooking the river.
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