FYI Online - April 30, 2009

Here's this week's newsletter. Have a great Derby weekend!

Lower schoolers celebrate Derby

Students in JK and kindergarten had a great time today at their Derby celebration. Kindergartners created Derby floats, and JK students painted their own jockey silks for the big day. After lunch, students took their place at the starting line to race a lap around the track. Everybody got a chance to be in the winners' circle!

Second graders perform classmate's play

Yesterday, second graders in Ms. Dick's class put on a special performance of a play written by their classmate Leah Goldberg. The play was performed on Tuesday morning in the commons in front of an appreciative audience of parents. Leah wrote the play as a special enrichment project with Ms. Holbrook.

More play pictures on Flickr

Exhibition showcases student artists

The annual Studio Art Show kicked off on Sunday and unveiled a really impressive selection of work by upper school students. Head to Flickr for a few examples. These works and many more will be on display in the main lobby until May 5. Don't miss your chance to stop by!

Highlights from the choral music concert

Below are a couple of numbers from the choral music concert last Thursday night. Enjoy!

Great shot from Powder Puff tournament

Teacher and coach Brina Stephens captured this great shot at the upper school Powder Puff tournament on Sunday. The tournament, as well as recent dress-down days in the middle and upper schools, have raised funds to install a rain catchment system for our sister school in Tamale, Ghana. Diversity Coordinator Dexter Mahaffey explains:

Dahin Sheli, our sister school in Tamale for two-year-old kids up to eighth graders has no running water on campus. None. Zippo. Zilch.

If they want or need water, women and girls have to tote large plastic buckets on their heads to the nearest well--which is not next door--and carry it back.

We're trying to raise $10,000 by the end of the school year to put in a system that catches rainwater, purifies it, and collects it in a huge storage tank for year-round use.

A parent has pledged to match however much money KCD raises by the end of the school year up to $5000. SO, all we need to do is raise about $4000 more than we've already raised, and they begin installing the system this summer, in time to collect rainwater before the dry season hits in October.

Every penny you donate, from Powder Puff to dress down, goes towards this.

FYI Online - April 24, 2009

Here's this week's newsletter. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Stitch for a Cause Washington Wrap-Up

Today, Stitch for a Cause members returned to Louisville from Washington DC where they spent the past two days advocating for legislation to improve the lives of newborns around the world. The group included seventh grader Ayesha Singh, fifth graders Sanjana Rane, Divija Sharma, and Sonia Gadre, and KCD teachers Lisa Stringfellow and Marjorie Seely.

The group spoke to staff members of Senator Jim Bunning, Senator Mitch McConnell and Representative Ben Chandler and actually had an extended discussion with Representative John Yarmuth of Louisville.

Representative Yarmuth was very impressed by the students and agreed to sign-on as a co-sponsor for House Bill 1410, The Newborn, Child, and Mother Survival Act of 2009. The students shared their work on the Knit One, Save One campaign and about the tremendous community interest and support that has been generated by their effort to save newborn lives in developing countries. The KCD group was one of only four Advocacy Day teams to win the commitment of their member of Congress (out of 125 meetings on Wednesday).

The KCD students learned first hand about how our government works and had an opportunity to take part in that process by discussing an issue on which they have worked hard to make a difference. Below are a few more video journal segments of their DC experience.

Sanjana Rane and Sonia Gadre discuss their meeting with
Senator Mitch McConnell's staff.

Students discuss the results of their day on Capitol Hill



Final Thoughts on Advocacy Day

Lower School Jams at Jazz Assembly

Yesterday, lower schoolers were treated to a jazz assembly featuring improvisational versions of kids' favorites such as "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Frere Jacques." The numbers were performed by KCD orchestra director James Racine (violin), KCD guitar instructor Craig Wagner (electric guitar), Douglas Latham (keyboard), Lougo Campbell (drums), and Jacob Duncan (saxophone). As you can see from the pictures below, the kids had a great time!

Courier-Journal article: KCD celebrates spring's arrival

Wednesday's Courier-Journal carried a front-page Neighborhoods article on our Grandparents Day Program:

Using colorful streamers, white kites shaped like doves, poetry and music, elementary students at Kentucky Country Day celebrated the arrival of spring.

Hundreds of parents and grandparents filled the gym to see an annual performance that has become a rite of passage for the lower school students.

Emma Baker, 10, remembers being a part of the show when she was in first grade and said being involved has gotten better now that she's older.

'You get to recite poems when you're in the fourth grade,' she said.

All 275 first- through fourth-graders performed during the April 17 music program, which is put on as a reception for grandparents — but parents and friends are also welcome.

Many come each year. This was the sixth time for Anne Williams, who has two grandchildren attending the school. She said it's fun to return every year and see what the students have in store.

'I love it,' she said. 'I can't believe how much hard work it takes to pull this off.'

Happy Earth Day!

The Middle School really got into the spirit of Earth Day today. They started off the day with a trip to Tinseltown to watch the movie Earth (they walked, of course). Later in the day, eighth graders took their solar racers for a spin outside, and some middle schoolers visited lower school classrooms to play games and read books with an environmental theme.

Stitch for a Cause in Washington, DC

KCD teacher Marjorie Seely, Sonia Gadre (5th grade), Sanjana Rane (5th grade), Ayesha Singh (7th grade), Divija Sharma (5th grade), and KCD teacher Lisa Stringfellow in front of the White House. Ayesha is holding a scrapbook of pictures and letters from hundreds of knitters that will be presented to President Obama.

We have had an excellent visit in Washington so far. We made it to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on time for our rendezvous with Save the Children organizers and took pictures in front of the White House. A camera crew from WHAS11 met with the our students and interviewed them about their participation in the Knit One, Save One campaign.

We were invited to a White House briefing and listened to top-level Obama administration officials for domestic and international policy talk about the commitment that has been made to maternal and child health initiatives and praise us all for our passionate and willingness to voice our support for this issue.

Waiting at Louisville International Airport - Introduction to Advocacy Day

White House Briefing on Global Development Policy by Gail Smith, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of Relief Stabilization and Development

Later, at a reception for participants, KCD students were able to meet ABC News Political Commentator Cokie Roberts. Ms. Roberts presented two awards during the evening to Senator Susan Collins and Congresswoman Betty McCollum for their work on behalf of newborn and maternal health initatives.

Stitch for a Cause delegation off to D.C.

Middle school teachers Lisa Stringfellow and Marjorie Seely, along with Ayesha Singh, Sanjana Rane, Divija Sharma, and Sonia Gadre, are off to Washington D.C. this morning. The group will represent KCD community service club Stitch for a Cause at Save The Children's Advocacy Day 2009.

The group left this morning and will meet with Obama administration officials this afternoon at the White House. Further meetings with Kentucky's representatives will follow on Tuesday.

WHAS-11 ran a story on their trip yesterday. Text is below, and the WHAS Web site also has video of their previous coverage.

A group of Kentucky Country Day students and teachers are headed to Washington D.C. to further their message to save premature babies.

This project is called Stitch for a Cause, started by K.C.D. teacher Lisa Stringfellow. Lisa and a few of her students will be meeting with Obama administrators, ABC's Cokie Roberts and other officials this week.

The students have raised money through the Stitch for a Cause project by knitting hats for premature babies. The visit to Washington is part of save the children's advocacy day.

Their schedule is pretty packed, but Lisa said she may have time to post here during their trip.

Atlas of Unknowns is out today

If you're looking for a great book to read this spring, check out Atlas of Unknowns by KCD alumna Tania James '99. The book is out from Knopf today. I just finished the novel and thought it was terrific: a great story, engaging characters, and a wonderful prose style.

Tania will be doing readings at several cities (including Louisville) this spring. More information on her tour schedule and about the book can be found on her Web site.

UPDATE: The San Francisco Chronicle has a glowing review on their Web site (warning: plot spoilers):

Once in a while, a novel comes along that makes you wonder why people don't read more fiction - why, given the right book, anyone would choose to do anything else. "Atlas of Unknowns," the dazzling, original and deeply absorbing debut by Tania James, is this rare book.

Welcome to the Alumni Association!

Last Friday, Alumni Director Mollie Mulloy '01 welcomed graduating seniors to the Alumni Association with a lunch in the Wilder Room. Congratulations on your impending graduation, seniors! We hope the Alumni Association will help keep you connected to each other and to KCD.

Flickr Set

Celebrating Holi at KCD

Last Friday, KCD parent Upasana Chhibber taught lower schoolers about Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors. Ms. Chhibber's visit was part of a program in which parents are invited to share their cultural, religious, or ethnic traditions as a way of highlighting diversity in our community.

Flickr Set

FYI Online - April 17, 2009

Almost everything in this week's issue was already posted here, but I'll go ahead and provide the link to this week's issue for completists.

Grandparents and Special Friends Day

This was a great day to be in the Lower School! Our classrooms were filled with visiting friends and family who were here for the Grandparents and Special Friends Day musical program.

Kudos to Jeannine Ary and LuAnn Hayes for pulling off another fantastic production.

More pictures from the performance

KCD parent honored for contributions to athletic program

Congratulations to KCD alumnus and parent Bill Beam Jr. '76. Bill has been awarded the prestigous 2009 Dr. Rudy J. Ellis Distinguished Service Award by the Kentucky High School Athletic Director's Association. This award recognizes individuals who have made continuous and significant contributions to high school athletics in the state of Kentucky.

Bill has been a key figure in the development of the athletic program here at KCD and the renovation of our athletic facilities. I like to call Bill "Mr. Bearcat" because of his impressive knowledge of Bearcat athletic history and his tireless efforts to promote and advance our school.

Bill receive his award on April 23 at the Brown Forman Club at Papa John's Stadium.

Pictures from Pine Mountain

Thanks to Matt Evans for sending these great pictures from the seventh grade Pine Mountain retreat. What a beautiful setting! Students will be back in Louisville on Friday.

Baseball team wins regional class A title

Congratulations to Coach Maione and the varsity baseball team, who captured their fourth straight Region 7 class A title with an 11-1 victory over Whitefield Academy. Alex King picked up the victory going the distance on the mound. Offensively, King was 4-4, Tyler Robertson was 1-2 with a home run, and eighth grader Will Smith went 2-4. The Bearcats move on to face DeSales in the Semi-State with a chance to move on to the final 8 in Lexington.

Lisa Stringfellow named interim middle school director

Head of School Brad Lyman made this announcement yesterday naming middle school English teacher Lisa Stringfellow as interim middle school director for 2009-2010:

I am pleased to announce that Lisa Stringfellow will serve as the interim middle school director for the 2009-2010 school year.

Lisa has served the KCD middle school with distinction for nearly fifteen years. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Lisa has been active in a variety of school activities including technology integration, Stitch for a Cause, and diversity initiatives to name but a few.

She will return to the classroom for the 2010-2011 school year.

Please join me in congratulating Lisa.

FYI Online - April 10, 2009

I forgot to post this last week, so here's last week's news from KCD. In a weird bit of Internet circularity, the first item contains a link that will bring you back to this blog.

Stories include

• Web site project recognizes KCD's history of National Merit excellence
• KCD welcomes Fort Campbell soldiers
• Food class makes smoothies
• Records fall during 2008-2009 basketball season

Maestro J and band perform at KCD

Consensus seems to be that today's X Period was the best ever. In his alter ego of Maestro J, KCD orchestra conductor James Racine and his band performed for the Upper School. Below are a couple of clips from today's performance. Thanks to Mr. Racine and his band for permission to post them here.

Fort Campbell soldiers visit KCD

Today, we welcomed a group of soldiers from Fort Campbell. Ten Special Forces soldiers and their commanding officer spent most of the day on campus, where they met with students, teachers, and administrators. A number of classes welcomed soldiers as guest speakers, and the soldiers did everything from reading a book to kindergartners to discussing world languages, history, and culture with upper school students.

KCD built a relationship with the soldiers of the 1st battalion and their families during last year's Bridge to Fort Campbell service learning project. Thanks for Chris Brice for arranging this opportunity and to the soldiers of the 1st battalion for sharing their time and expertise with our students.

Theater building may finally rise this time at Kentucky Country Day

During Spring Break, the Courier-Journal ran another, more substantial, article on our new theater building. The article, "Theater building may finally rise this time at Kentucky Country Day," ran in the Neighborhoods section on April 1 (no joke!).

The campaign, Expanding Horizons: Building Upon Excellence, has reached 80 percent of its goal to raise $7.5million for an expansion that will include improved roads, new classrooms and a 400-seat theater.

Head of School Brad Lyman never seems to tire from sharing details of the plans. His laptop has been used countless times to show renderings of the new building, which will sit near the front entrance of the campus. The building, which hasn't been named, will have 25,000 square feet with its theater, orchestra pit, stage shop, ceramics studio, classrooms and a large, airy lobby.

Be sure to click the photo galleries link on the right for more pictures.

Tania James' debut novel set for April 21 release

Atlas of Unknowns, the debut novel of Tania James (class of '99), comes out on April 21. I'm about halfway through the book now, and it's terrific. I'll be doing an interview with Tania later this month for a story that will appear in the upcoming spring issue of Connections.

The Courier-Journal ran a great article on Tania in their Arts section yesterday:

"Junot Diaz, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,' described 'Atlas of Unknowns' as 'an astonishment of a debut, so radiant with life, with love, with good old human struggle that I had trouble detaching myself from its pages.' Critically acclaimed author Nathan Englander ('The Ministry of Special Cases') calls her 'the real deal.'

Accolades like these signal that 28-year-old James is a writer to watch. But despite this praise, James admits she's still nervous about her novel's April 21 release.

'In the writing process I think about audience, but an audience that agrees with me,' she said with a laugh. 'Now it's just a whole different set of conversations. I'm anxious.'

'Atlas of Unknowns' tells the story of Linno and Anju, two girls raised in India by their father and grandmother after their mother's mysterious death. The novel follows Anju's experiences in America, where she ends up after landing a scholarship to a prestigious school in New York — a scholarship she betrays her sister to win.

Meanwhile, Linno begins to blossom back in Kerala, rejecting a wealthy blind suitor and using her artistic gifts to make her own success. But when Anju goes missing, Linno's life is thrown off track and she's determined to get to America to find her sister.

'Family is just a wonderful theater for fiction,' said James, who has two sisters. 'There's just so much conflict and resentment and antagonism and all of this is co-existing with love.'"

The novel's page on Amazon.com includes an essay by Tania about the origin of the novel, and below is the book trailer released recently to promote the book.


Atlas of Unknowns - Tania James - Final Spot from Khushi Films on Vimeo.