Tuesday, May 1
The Middle School Tumblers are holding a Craft & Bake Sale to raise money for tumbling mats. They have worked hard to make beautiful crafts and families are sending in baked good and other treats or healthy snacks for purchase. We truly appreciate your support!

Wednesday, May 2
5:00 pm · Yoga · Free restorative yoga class in the library
6:00 pm · Information table on Guatemala Faces & Culture Program in the school lobby (see information below)
6:30 pm · Lower School Musical— Seussical the Musical!

Friday, May 4
4:30 pm · Boys Volleyball senior night— double header vs. North Town

Saturday, May 19
10:00 am - 3:00 pm · YEA, Young Evanston Artists in Raymond Park, Roycemore always has one of the best booths

May 7 - 18
Advanced Placement Exams (Upper School students)

Sunday, June 17
RACE AGAINST HATE- Roycemore will again be participating in the YWCA's Race Against Hate. There are four different race options to choose from: a timed 5K and 10k, a 5K walk, and a Youth/Family 1 Mile. To join the Roycemore Team, click here: Race Against Hate Team Roycemore. For more information, click here Race Against Hate or contact team captains: Annette O'Donnell [email protected] or Darcy Aksamitowski [email protected].

Trailblazers!

Adrianne with Betty Goerke ‘48 on our hike to view petroglyphs in Tiburon, CA.

Last week I had the great pleasure of meeting Betty Goerke from the Roycemore Class of 1948, and her husband, Jon. Betty is the epitome of a lifelong learner. Betty graduated from Roycemore, then went to Radcliffe College. For those who aren’t familiar, Radcliffe was an all women’s college that served as the coordinate institution for Harvard College which was all-male at the time. Then again, in 1948, Roycemore School was also an all-girls school. Roycemore didn’t become fully coed (it had boys in the younger grades) until 1962, but that was a full FIFTEEN years before Harvard did in 1977! (Moreover, Radcliffe wasn’t fully integrated with Harvard until 1999.) But I digress… graduating from Radcliffe with a degree in archaeology and music, Betty returned to Evanston and pursued a graduate degree in history and education at Northwestern. Betty is a trailblazer. In 1952, only 5.8% of women in the United States had a college education and she went on to graduate school! She even served as a substitute teacher at Roycemore while attending grad school. Betty took great pleasure in sharing with me that when she substituted, she played the piano for our little ones at recess.

Trained as an archeologist, Betty has conducted archaeological fieldwork in places as far and wide as California and Colorado to Kenya and India. During my time with her last week, she shared with me about the Miwok people, the Native Americans who lived in the Mill Valley area of California. At 87 years old, she led us on a hike in Tiburon to see ancient petroglyphs carved by them, along the way pointing out various wildflowers that were used for medicinal purposes. She took note a couple of times to tell me that she forgot what a certain plant was and wanted to be sure that she looked it up so she could get it right for the next group of students she led. (She is a professor at Marin College.) I believe the secret to Betty’s vitality is that she remains an avid learner and teacher, always thinking about the future and new things she wishes to teach and learn. In fact, she is starting a book tour for her latest book about her father’s exciting aviation activities during World War I and World War II— and in-between as a participant in the 1919 Transcontinental Air Race. The book is entitled, “A Broken Propeller: Baz Bagby and America’s First Transcontinental Air Race.” Betty’s father was a trailblazer in his time— thus Betty carved her own trailblazing life.

Inspired by my time with Betty, I returned to Roycemore last Friday just in time to honor our faculty and the life-changing role they play in our students lives through our annual Celebration of Dedication and Excellence. I listened as the students offered thunderous applause for the teachers who inspire the love of learning in them. I joined the students that afternoon along Ridge Ave. for our participation in the YWCA Stand Against Racism and took joy in knowing that we are teaching our students so much more than math and science— although these subjects are, no doubt, important.

We are helping them to appreciate and understand people from all backgrounds, just like Betty.
We are helping them to build confidence and find their voice, just like Betty.
We are teaching our students to be trailblazers, just like Betty.

In the coming weeks, we will feature other Griffin trailblazers that are leveraging their Roycemore experience and education to make an impact in a variety of ways.

Image: Adrianne with Allison C. at the Stand Against Racism

Guatemala Faces & Culture Program · Learn more at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, May 2nd
We are happy to share with you that this year we will welcome Guatemalan students to campus through the Faces and Our Cultures Program. These young participants spend nearly two months living with a host family while attending classes and participating in extracurricular activities at school. The program has led to wonderful friendships and provides our students and our Guatemalan guests with valuable cultural experiences.
In order to participate in the Faces Program, Guatemalan students apply to be Cultural Ambassadors of their country and are carefully selected by the Faces & Our Cultures Team. They go through a preparation process during the year and also prepare cultural projects to share with their host family and school.
This fall, our young cultural ambassadors will arrive October 16th, stay with their host families and join our school community for the following 7.5 weeks, and depart December 9th.

If you are interested in hosting a student, and participate in this life enriching experience, you can contact Adrianne Finley Odell at [email protected] or contact Gaby Padilla, State Coordinator, at [email protected].
US host students also have the opportunity to participate in a Cultural Exchange Experience in Guatemala during the summer (optional program). This experience can be customized from 2 up to 4 weeks.
On Wednesday at 6:00 pm, prior to the Lower School musical, a FACES representative will be on hand in the school lobby to share about the experience of hosting and answer any questions you may have.

Roycemore School is planning to have a float in the Evanston Fourth of July parade this year. If you are interested in participating in the making of the float, we will be building it at school the week of June 25th. We are in search of a flat bed truck/ trailer for the float, volunteers to build, and volunteers to participate in the parade. The parade starts at 2:00 pm on July 4th and is over around 4:00 pm, when we will relocate to Roycemore for a community picnic / barbeque. Following the picnic / barbeque, a group will walk down to the waterfront to enjoy the Palatine Band followed by fireworks. Please email Adrianne Finley Odell to let her know if you have a truck or flatbed, went to participate in float building, participate in the parade, and / or participate in the picnic / barbeque at Roycemore following the parade.

The Book Chat is being rescheduled for next Fall. We apologize for the inconvenience and will alert the community as to when it will take place.

The week of April 23 - 27 several groups of students helped ready R gardens for planting.
Roycemore’s Grade 4 Grow Lab and their fearless leader Tara Skinner is front and center in R garden this spring! They are breaking ground figuratively and literally. Their final interdisciplinary unit of the year has them reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman. They are bringing the story of an urban garden to life by growing, digging, and designing both in and outside the garden. They are also already eating from their window sill gardens.

Water, nutrient, plant life cycles are some of the cycles that they will be studying and making happen before their very own eyes. (Image above— One of six window sill gardens Grade 4 assembled and planted at the start of the unit.)

Students clammored for more! more! sprouts to top their sandwiches and salads during the Sprout Lunch April 25th.

Below: Grade 4 making ready for Grade 4’s Three Sisters’ Garden. Beans! Corn! Squash!

Middle School students also have been integral in maintaining Roycemore’s Herbes Provençales Garden, which was our first garden started 2 years ago. (Above left)

Grade 8 helped to deconstruct some planters, to be upcycled as raised beds in Roycemore’s Straw Bale Salsa Garden. (Above right)

The Roycemore Garden area has more than tripled in size. Several volunteers have been coming forward eager to help. We invite all levels of gardener to join our sustainability efforts: to grow and dig in with us. Please contact Sarah Bixby [email protected] if you are interested in helping now, during the summer, or anytime in Roycemore’s gardens.

We have a Garden Tea Wednesday, May 2. You are invited!
Finally, Join us in the gardens on Tuesdays in May. May 8, 15, 22. Stop by anytime 3:30 - 5:30 pm. Learn about how you can contribute.
A Roycemore that gardens together, grows together.

The Evanston Children's Choir invites all to its free multicultural Spring Concert on May 20th, 2018! They warmly welcome the students and families from Roycemore School to attend. Families are encouraged to contact them about joining the ECC. Early registration is now open for Fall 2018, with programs for all ages— adults too! As always, nobody is ever turned away for lack of ability to pay.

With your generous support, we raised over $156,000 for scholarship support at Roycemore School!
Your gifts made it truly A Night to Remember!!
And help to ensure our continued commitment to economic diversity in our student body at Roycemore.

Visit this FLICKR link to see photos from the event (additional photos continue to be added).

They have a 6 and 1 record this season! Please come support the seniors on Friday at 4:30 pm for senior night before they have a double-header against North Town.

As you are planning your student’s summer activities, be sure to check out the options at Roycemore. Several new opportunities have recently been added, for all ages

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