January/February 2022 Edition |
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Ted Talks: Peace is a Verb |
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By Ted Graf, Head of School
One day last fall, soon after the jury in Wisconsin acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse of murder, I had a conversation with a parent and she said calmly, “I want my kid to know what justice is. Where is my kid going to learn about power and race?” It was a tough, necessary, and understandable question, and I struggled to answer it. Since then, I have thought about this question often, and my answer then is the same today—we, as a school, have not YET caught up with our aspirations and lofty language. And, we are determined to close that gap in the coming year. We will walk our talk.
In the summer of 2016, when we changed the school’s name and its mission and vision to the 3Ps, we consciously chose the phrase, “embrace diversity to bring more peace to the world.” While we value the importance of being at peace (think mindfulness and centering), and keeping the peace (think community agreements and classroom constitutions), it was time to recognize that making peace needed to be central to the school’s purpose and identity.
History teaches us that peace does not appear magically, it comes from identifying injustices, challenging bigotry and bias, and using one’s agency to act on that injustice. We took a stand, nearly six years ago, that peace needed to become a verb.
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Guide Spotlight: Tia Butler
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We are so excited to feature High School English Guide Tia Butler! Tia joined us this fall on the River Campus bringing her love of English and her expertise to the community.
Tia grew up in Washington state, just north of Seattle. As a child, she was an avid horseback rider who competed regularly in show jumping competitions. She and her horse competed together until the end of high school and her horse's retirement. Then, Tia attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington where she received her BA in Spanish Language and Literature. While in school, she travelled abroad to Madrid where she fell in love with “the vibrant city and culture” sparking a life-long passion for travel and World Literature.
Tia moved to Austin after graduating from Whitman in order to pursue her PhD at The University of Texas. Tia’s thesis, "Haiti in Hollywood," focuses on the “portrayal of Latin American and Caribbean Diasporic groups in popular literature and media in the United States, with a particular focus on the US relationship with Haiti.” After receiving a Foreign Language Education Scholarship, Tia was able to travel to Haiti in 2015 to conduct research. She also took courses in Haitian Creole. “Kreyol pale, Kreyol comprann!”
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Creek Library Showcases Black History Month
By Nicole Economou, Creek Librarian
This month at the Creek Library, we are showcasing Black History Month. Our library is full of books about influential Black Americans, so I thought what better way to show our appreciation than to display some facts and books about these historical figures. Our students have been very interested in reading the displays, and flipping through the books. For some, it is hard to look past the graphic novels and the Percy Jackson series, so it has been great to see students expanding their horizons, and exploring our biography and history books. I hope to peak more interest in our Non-fiction section in the future. Next month we plan to display books for Women’s History Month.
Our Creek Creators board is also in full effect this year! The board is used to display different classes’ projects throughout the school year. Last semester we had the Phoenixes display their projects on the Paleozoic era. We also had the Owls class display art projects on butterflies. Currently, we have works from the Kingfisher’s class displayed. They have been studying the timeline of humans, and they became particularly interested in Neanderthals and their art. They were so inspired by the Neanderthal’s cave drawings, they decided to create their own. The Creek Creators board really brings character and color to the library, and it is a great way for all of our students to see what everyone has been working on.
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Our Creek Creators board is also in full effect this year! The board is used to display different classes’ projects throughout the school year. Last semester we had the Phoenixes display their projects on the Paleozoic era. We also had the Owls class display art projects on butterflies. Currently, we have works from the Kingfisher’s class displayed. They have been studying the timeline of humans, and they became particularly interested in Neanderthals and their art. They were so inspired by the Neanderthal’s cave drawings, they decided to create their own. The Creek Creators board really brings character and color to the library, and it is a great way for all of our students to see what everyone has been working on. |
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Engineer Your World
Earlier this semester, the high school Engineer Your World class worked on product presentations to their “board” made up of some Headwaters Guides and Admin. Engineer Your World is an innovative, student-centered curriculum taught by Guide Stephanie Roach that engages learners in authentic engineering experiences and inspires them to embrace an engineer’s habits of mind.
In their unit on Reverse Engineering, the focus was on “students’ understanding of engineering design as a methodical, customer-centered process. This unit asks students to improve the functionality of a common consumer product to better meet the needs of a particular user group.” 10th graders Eli Floyd, Nicolás Marcotte, and Ryan Liedeker worked together to pitch LUXATRON, their innovative new flashlight. The group prepared a pitch deck, and a commercial, and then pitched the product to the board. Congrats to each group on their work!
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This school year our community has welcomed so many sweet new babies across all three campuses! Check out the extreme cuteness in these pics. We love our youngest community members, and we send our support and love to all these families!
Don't forget, if you are having a baby (or have any other big life change occur), our Parent Volunteer Community offers support through our Compassion in Action initiative, where we set up meal calendars, errand support, and other help as needed. You can email compassion@headwaters.org anytime if you know of a family (or yourself) who needs some extra support.
If you welcomed a baby this year and were not included here, please email us so we can shower you with some love!
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Headwaters School ✖ Amplify Austin Day | March 2-3, 2022 |
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Join us for Amplify Austin Day 2022 to support financial aid at Headwaters School. Headwaters, along with hundreds of other non-profits in Austin, will be participating in Amplify Austin Day on March 2-3 to support financial aid for our students. This 24-hour giving event truly amplifies your gift to Headwaters as I Live Here I Give Here matches 100% of all gifts given during the event. Headwaters awarded $450,000 in financial aid to more than 12% of our student body for the 21-22 school year. Your generosity makes these awards possible. Giving during Amplify Austin Day has a direct impact on our community and allows students to attend Headwaters who would not be able to otherwise.
This year we will be taking over Doc’s Drive-In in Buda for our Amplify Austin benefit. Join us on the evening of March 2 for a family-friendly movie night with the Headwaters community. We will also be hosting a car-decorating contest for families to share their creative spirit and a cornhole tournament for the competitive folks in your family! Register for the fun at this link!
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River Civil Rights Day New Date |
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The River Campus is celebrating its annual Civil Rights Day on Wednesday, March 2. This year’s theme is “State of the State: Civil Rights in Texas Today.”
As a school community dedicated to advocacy and peacemaking, we educate our students about the world around them and its history. Part of that learning comes from events and activities that reaffirm our commitment to peace education as can be seen in the school’s Purpose statement to "cultivate identity formation, foster empathy, and embrace diversity to bring more peace to the world."
We are currently looking for community members who want to help with this event. Whether you want to speak on a topic, share a resource, or help in other ways, please reach out to Terra Lynch via email.
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Summer Camp at Headwaters | Enroll Now! |
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Camp Headwaters enrollment is open for Primary and Elementary campers for Summer 2022! Join us for fun weekly themes, playing outside, and hanging out with new friends. Early and After Care are available. Space is limited, so don’t wait! Check out the details at headwaters.org/camp.
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Greats & Grands Day at Headwaters School |
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The Advancement Office is delighted to bring back Greats and Grands Day later this spring on Thursday, March 31 and Friday, April 1, 2022. This special event is designed to welcome grandparents and other adults (aunts, uncles, family friends, etc.) in your childrens’ lives to come visit campus, see the Headwaters magic in action, and help us raise funds for classroom budgets, field trips, and professional development for our amazing guides. While we know that parents would love to participate as well, this event is designed specifically for non-parents to come see what we’re all about.
We need your help in gathering contact information for your child’s grandparents and special adults. Please complete this form at your earliest convenience so we know who to invite. In order for us to send a paper invite, please submit by Monday, February 21. See more details on the day and how to RSVP at this link to our Greats and Grands webpage.
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David Heroy Featured in The New York Times
Check it out! River Campus Guide David Heroy was featured in a piece in The New York Times about how science educators use the publication to teach. We love the focus on finding hope and solutions. Congrats on the feature, David! Read the entire article here.
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Here is the latest visual trivia to familiarize you with new spots or share memorable places on our three campuses. Take a look and name where this spot appears—the answer will be in the next Current!
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Last time, we shared a photo from the River Campus basketball hoop.
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Shop at any of the places below and the companies will donate a portion of the sale to Headwaters! Need more details, click here.
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Just search for Headwaters School in the charity list.
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Randall's
Head to customer service to complete a Good Neighbor card. Headwater's ID is #12529
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Office Depot
Mention the Back to Schools program and our ID# 70204864.
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No need to clip! Use the app to scan your receipt.
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Search and support by using Microsoft's Bing search engine.
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We also recommend checking out the Headwaters School Community Business Directory to shop within our community. See businesses organized by category and even add your own! Click here to visit the directory.
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