Weekly Bulletin
April 14, 2021
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Gala Registration
Deadline for food orders is this Friday!
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Saturday, April 24 at 6:30 pm
This year’s gala "A Knight to Remember" will be online with music, an alumnus speaker, the reveal of our new sports logo, and a "raise the paddle" time for the ONE FUND, which supports both the operating budget and financial aid.
There is still time to purchase dinner and drinks for the gala, made by Chef Eron's catering company, Foxhall Catering. Proceeds from the food and drink will also go to the ONE FUND. Deadline for ordering food is this Friday, April 16.
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WWS Students Selected for the Maryland Arts Education Festival |
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Congratulations to 8th grade students Vivian Liebrech (violin) and Bonnie Metzger-Fleetwood (cello) who were accepted to participate in this year's Maryland Arts Education Festival.
Their duet recording "Theme from Up" will be featured in one of the festival's online recital programs on Friday, April 16th at 12pm. Congratulations to both students on their hard work and musical collaboration!
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High School Graduation Speaker |
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We are happy to announce that Annabella Aspiras will be the graduation speaker for the Class of 2021! Ms. Aspiras graduated from WWS in 2004. In her professional work, Ms. Aspiras has had varied roles in the field of healthcare, including responding to the concrete challenges of this last year. This year, the graduation speech will be offered via zoom -- stay tuned for the date and time. |
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Anabella Aspiras, MPA, BSN, RN: Anabella’s passion for improving healthcare has taken her from community hospitals in the United States to West Africa to the White House and now, to the intersection of health and technology. After graduating from WWS in 2004, Anabella went on to earn a BA in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland. She then earned a BSN from Johns Hopkins University and became an RN. Anabella continued on to then earn an MPA (Master of Public Administration), Healthcare Administration Specialization, from New York University. Anabella worked as an ER, ICU, and PICC nurse at hospitals in the Northeast for six years before becoming an Oncology Administrator at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Anabella punctuated her domestic healthcare work with stints abroad in Haiti twice, Guyana, and Sierra Leone – most recently to assist Ebola containment efforts in 2015. In 2016, Anabella joined (then) Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Task Force as an Obama Political Appointee to ensure Task Force deliverables addressed patient access challenges. In April 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, Anabella re-joined the frontlines of New York’s COVID-19 response, working weekends at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in the Emergency Room. Since 2021, Anabella has been exploring new places responsibly as a digital nomad while working for a health-tech company headquartered in New York City. In this role as the Head of the Clinical Abstraction Workforce with Flatiron Health, she manages various teams that convert unstructured data into curated data sets, which supports the development of real world evidence to answer critical oncology research questions.
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Support WWS with Buy-In Party Sign Ups and Raffles |
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This year we are offering a number of our traditionally fabulous Buy-in Parties as well as some delightful raffle items.
Raffle Items include our epicurean picnic baskets - thoughtfully curated with homemade or carefully sourced delights! Some raffles will end the night of the gala and others on April 30.
Buy-In Parties are a great way to support WWS while engaging in a fun activity. A Buy-In Party is an event or experience with a limited number of tickets on a set date with a set cost. There is no bidding - the spots are simply sold on a first come, first served basis. You can sign up for the Buy-In Parties through April 30.
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Staying Up to Date With Our School Calendar
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April
14/ Wednesday
- Senior Project Presentation, 7pm
16/ Friday
- Coffee Break with Jennifer Page, 10am
23/ Friday
- Coffee Break with Jennifer Page, 10am
24/ Saturday
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Calendar of School Days for the 2021-2022 School Year |
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Senior Project Presentation - Tonight! |
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Wednesday, April 14 at 7pm
You should have received webinar information in an email earlier today
Myriam Sarah Joseph-Schilz
Relating to Israel: Conversations with Twelve Jewish American Teenagers
Seniors may elect to do an independent project where they delve into a topic that particularly interests or inspires them. The process culminates in a public presentation for the community. This year Myriam was inspired to do a project in spite of the challenges of the pandemic, and we invite you to join us for her presentation online, with live introduction followed by real time viewing of pre-recorded video and then live Q&A.
We recommend this for audience members in grade 7 and above, and students, parents and friends are invited to join us online!
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Spring Festival Life At Home |
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Ramadan
Our family has had the pleasure of observing the month of Ramadan with the Waldorf community from Children’s Garden through High School. From sharing sweet dates and beautiful puppet plays to deeper dialogue and evening break-fast meals, we have been blessed to share our traditions and even create new ones with our WWS friends. This year we would like to share this lovely piece written for the Waldorf community by Anjum Mir. As you look upon the sunset during this next month, you too can reflect on this holiday.
~ The Kazmi/Mir Family (Grade 12)
There is an unseen sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness. We are lutes. When the sound box is filled, no music can come forth. When the brain and the belly burn from fasting, every moment a new song rises out of the fire. The mists clear, and a new vitality makes you spring up the steps before you . . . – Rumi
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This week marks the beginning of Ramadan in the Islamic world. In a year where the pandemic has necessitated social distancing, more than ever, it will be a celebration of reconnection - to family, to community, to humanity, to spirituality, and to self.
For 30 days, Muslims the world over, will observe daily fasting from the break of dawn until sunset. They will abstain not just from indulgences, but from the physical necessities of food and drink, including water. During the day, they will reach the point of hunger and thirst which they feel they may not be able to overcome, but they do, knowing that they have a good meal to look forward to and understanding that many in the world will not find relief at the end of the day. For one month, they will strive with Michaelic consciousness to rise to their highest selves. They will look inward, self-reflectively, to mediate their anger and impatience, refine the use of their language, improve the use of their time, and balance their temperaments. They will look outward to cultivate the quality of their relationships, give charity and service where it is needed, improve the environments that they occupy, and to nurture their empathy for the other. Ramadan is a festival of thinking, feeling and willing. During this brief window in the year, they will be renewed - consciously changing and refining physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual habits that throughout the year go lax. Learning in the process, the true meaning of self-discipline, that change may be inspired outwardly, but ultimately comes from initiative borne of self-reflection and self-striving.
Each night of Ramadan is a festival. Homes may be lit up with lights and lanterns that signify the warmth and illumination of the month. People go about business as usual in the day and spend their afternoon preparing a nurturing meal for their families. Each culture has its own rich culinary traditions for predawn and break-fast meals. Fasting is initiated in adolescence, but young children delight in practicing with quarter days and half-days and everyone comes together in the evening, exhausted, stomachs empty, yet hearts and spirits filled with gratitude. In healthy times, families and communities gather at sunset to break-fast together with dates and water followed by a delicious meal, prayer, and a night devoted to reflection and spiritual connection. It is a celebration of the day’s accomplishments and the blessing of health and sustenance.
Ramadan is an opportunity for individuals to reorient with a perspective of gratitude while renewing their physical health, their emotional being, and their relationships with others, themselves, and the Divine. This year, Ramadan is also a chance to close the social distance that has defined humanity this year - to break out of the self focus arising from the isolation of the pandemic and extend our hands out to other human beings to share in their struggles and to celebrate the blessings that we may not acknowledge with abundance during the year.
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Virtual Summer Camps at WWS |
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We are pleased to announce that we will offer virtual camps this year including the beloved "Mother West Wind" camp along with new options like a "Pop-Up Bookmaking" camp. We will have virtual camps that are as short as 45 minutes ("Morning Math Club"), or ones that enchant your child for the day ("Leather Making/Bow and Arrow" Camp).
We hope that you enjoy choosing the camp(s) that will work best for your child as much as we have enjoyed thinking about all of the fun that our summer camps will offer them!
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Preorder Your Copy(ies) of the 2020-2021 Yearbook!
Full color coverage of Children’s Garden through 12th Grade & events.
You can preorder a yearbook with free delivery to the School if you place your order by May 15, 2021. Orders placed after the May 15, 2021 deadline will include the cost of shipping the book directly to the purchaser.
Preorders with free shipping cost $40.88 and will be available at the school for pickup by June 1, 2021. All yearbooks are printed on recycled paper and TreeRing will plant a tree for every yearbook purchased.
On the TreeRing login page you will need to enter your name and email address. Under "role" please select "Parent". You will then be guided through to either add a new student if this is your first time ordering a WWS yearbook through TreeRing, or to enter your child's name, grade, and teacher. For high school students, please enter the name of one of their class sponsors. Please contact Caitlin MacKenzie, yearbook sponsor, with any questions.
Preorder online by May 15, 2021. Orders placed after the May 15, 2021 deadline will include the cost of shipping the book directly to the purchaser.
Please Note: TreeRing’s website works best in the Chrome internet browser. If you visit the website directly, the school passcode is: 1015278619434770
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Yearbook ad space is on sale now! A limited amount of ad space is available, on a first-come, first-serve basis (Class of 2021 and Class of 2025 get first dibs!) – please reserve your ad space by emailing Caitlin Mackenzie, Yearbook Club Sponsor, as soon as possible. Ads are due Wednesday, April 28, 2020. Learn More
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Grandparents & Special Friends Contact Information Request |
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This year, to celebrate our students' grandparents and friends, we will send out a special mailing to share snapshots of this unique year at our school.
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Grandparents & Special Friends Day 2019 |
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News From the Class Parents |
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Announcing the WWS Gear Shop! To help defray costs of outdoor gear for families, reduce our environmental impact, and contribute to the ONE FUND, please save any used (and in reusable condition) outerwear and boots that you'd like to donate to the Gear Shop. Boxes will be out front to gather donations at the school the first week of May. Items will be available to the WWS community at reduced prices at an event before school starts in the fall (date TBD).
Items to be collected:
- Outerwear (i.e., outer layer rain/snow jackets and pants, including hats and snow/ski/rain mittens/gloves) and boots (rain/snow/hiking)
- Sizes CG through Grade 8
The WWS Gear Shop is organized by WWS parents. If you would like to help or have questions, please contact Jesse Travis at jessetravis@gmail.com.
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How to Submit a Listing
- We welcome submissions of community news, items for sale, want ads, etc. Please keep notices to 500 characters or less. There is no charge for listings.
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Please submit listings by COB Tuesdays with the subject "Bulletin Submission."
- If you are sending images or flyers, a link to an online version is preferred.
- Bulletin Board notices generally run for 3 weeks - if space allows - unless other arrangements have been made. Listings may not be accepted and will likely be edited.
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Our beloved Mrs. Cox underwent successful open heart surgery earlier this week and she has begun the recovery process. Her family could use our financial support to cover the known out of pocket medical bills plus the other costs not covered by insurance.
Laura has good reason for her choices. Here is a little snippet of why she chose $18,000 as the goal for monetary support:
“The Hebrew word for "life" is the word Chai (חי) which has a numerical value of 18. A custom has arisen in Jewish circles to give monetary gifts in multiples of 18 as an expression of blessing for a long, healthy life.
18 is considered a special number in the Native American spirituality I respect and study, 9 is the addition of 1 + 8, and indicates a new and holy birth. 1 is how we stand before Creator; 8 itself is infinity or the infinite.”
While we would like to get the word out to as many friends and family as possible, Laura has asked that this is not be shared on any social media public postings.
Laura has touched the hearts of so many and we feel that now it is time to help her heart by easing some of the financial burden that will ensue.
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Classifieds & Events from the Community |
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Passion for Rhythm Summer Camp
Kristen Arant (WWS HS West African drumming instructor and the lower elementary music teacher at Lee Montessori PCS in DC) is leading a "Passion for Rhythm" summer camp for 6-11 year olds. This is an in-person camp that will follow all COVID safety protocols including masking, social distancing, handwashing, and pre-screening.
The goal of the camp is to offer children a chance to increase their rhythmic aptitude through fun and engaging rhythm games, and learning to play a variety of percussion instruments including hand and stick drums. Kristen will also bring in a couple of local guest percussionists from different musical cultures to share their passion for rhythm.
The dates for the camp are July 19-23 and it occurs daily from 9am-3pm at the Springwell School in Silver Spring.
Registration before April 23rd includes a $50 discount, and parents can receive an extra $25 off by using the discount code DrumLady25 when registering (this is a special discount offered to those who share community with Kristen).
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Information Session: Montgomery County, 5G, Your Health and the New Zoning Amendment
from Theodora Scarato (WWS Parent)
Date: March 30th, Tuesday at 7:00pm
Want a cell tower 30 feet from your home? WWS Parent Theodora Scarato, Director of the Environmental Health Trust, will discuss Montgomery County Council's proposed zoning ordinance ZTA 19-07 allowing 4G and 5G (so called "small" cell towers) to be deployed 30 feet from your home by replacing street lights and utility poles with short cell towers. No notice nor public hearing required.
Learn the science on health and environmental impacts and how unfettered 5G deployment would greatly increase the greenhouse gas emissions. Fiber networks are ten times more energy efficient, have no health risks and are cheaper. This issue is the center of a lawsuit in federal court led by Environmental Health Trust. MoCoSafeG is presenting this webinar. Link to join Webinar https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88255495579
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Curious about why over 600 Cities in Italy are calling to halt 5G ? Why Switzerland refuses to change their strict wireless radiation laws? Why Italy and several other countries have laws 100x more restrictive than the USA? WWS Parent Theodora Scarato (Director of the Environmental Health Trust) discusses why families need to know about a proposed new law that would allow 5G cell towers to be built in front of homes in Montgomery County, Maryland. Weather you live in PG County, Virginia or Washington DC, similar bills are on the way. Stay tuned for the next session. Contact theodora.scarato@ehtrust.org.
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Foundations of Mindfulness with Michael Danzansky
Saturdays 9-11am, April 17 - May 22
I am really excited to share this with the WWS community! We will cover how to create and maintain a practice, tools to manage anxiety and negativity, origins, history and science of mindfulness, as well as practices to cultivate compassion and gratitude. Classes will be recorded. Can sign up here or email me (danzansky@gmail) with questions or sign up. $100 - no one turned away for lack of funds. Learn more and sign up
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1.5 - 2 y.o. Rain and Snow Gear Available
from Vanessa Vargas (WWS Parent)
Polarn O. Pyret blue rain bib and jacket, one piece blue snow suit, and warm pink jacket size 1.5-2 y.o. Snow boots size 5/6 (other brand).
Contact Vanessa at 202-227-0327
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Published by the Washington Waldorf School
Copyright © 2021 All rights reserved
We welcome your comments and submissions. Contact Alia Goodyear if you would like to be added to our mailing list, or if you have submissions, questions, or suggestions. Please email submission by COB TUESDAY with the subject line "Bulletin Submission."
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Washington Waldorf School
4800 Sangamore Road,
Bethesda, MD 20816
301-229-6107
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Washington Small Schools Association
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