Thursday, February 26, 2009

Students Hear About The Woolman Semester Experience

This week Kathy Runyan from The Woolman Semester visited our school along with Wellsprings graduate, Max, who attended the program last year. Thirteen students gathered in the art room to hear a presentation by Kathy and Max plus watch videos of projects done by young people who attended the school in northern California.


The Woolman Semester is a high school semester studies program for juniors, seniors, and 1st year postgraduates. During their four-months of study, students live in a circle of eight cabins and explore the Quaker values of simplicity, peace, equality, integrity, community, and stewardship together. Their classes focus on world issues, peace studies, environmental science, and humanities and ethics.

Every semester begins with a wilderness trip for a week. Max noted that some of his fellow students who came from all over the country "had never been in the woods and were scared by the dark nights in the forest." Students also do a service learning trip during the semester. Max spoke about going to a small town in Mexico, saying it was "an 'insane' experience seeing the level of poverty in a different culture. It was enlightening to see how happy people were to see us and meet us. I worked on building walls of a clinic while we were there."

Kathy said a "food intensive offers another interesting experience for students. They read Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma and visit an organic farm, a slaughterhouse, an industrial organic farm or factory, and an industrial monoculture farm. At the end of the class, students prepare a dinner together made from local foods."

At the end of each semester, students complete projects that document what they have studied. Max worked on a sustainability project with another student, rehabilitating a solar panel which is now atop the meeting house at the school. He was also involved in a peace studies video created by a group of students.

Asked if his experience had changed him, Max said "I've become calmer and more patient. You have to when you live away from home with other people!" He said going to Woolman was "a great experience and I grew a lot from from it."

Before watching videos creating by students, Kathy answered questions about costs to attend the school and suggested ways our students could get financial aid to attend a semester. We look forward to hearing from other Wellsprings students who have the opportunity to experience Woolman in the future .

Thanks for coming back to share your experience, Max! And thank you, Kathy, for coming to Eugene to talk with our students about the school (and home) you dearly love.

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Students Hear About The Woolman Semester ExperienceSocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Lots of Music & Fun at Our Benefit Concert

On Friday the 13th, Cozmic Pizza was packed with people attending our annual Benefit Concert to support music and art programs at Wellsprings. The room came alive with music when teachers Chanci, Bob, Tyler, and Paul (dubbed Chanci Pants & The Educators) took the stage. What followed were nearly four hours of great music -- rock & roll, rap, and more -- by our students, teachers, and their friends in local bands, Fortune Cookie and Strum Theory, plus teacher Dante and friend Chris, rapper's extraordinaire (Resident Anti-Hero). Other students offered their artistic creations for sale to attendees. And lots of pizza slices were consumed by the enthusiastic (and hungry) crowd of teenagers, parents, and friends of Wellsprings Friends School.

Thank you to all who attended the concert and for your generous donations. You helped us "go over the top" to receive a matching grant of $10,000 by Valentine's Day!

Click on photos to enlarge for better viewing.



If you missed the concert, here are links to a sampling of music played during the evening:


Antony, Tom, & Tyler

Nico Raps

Chanci Pants & The Educators

Dante & Friend

Fortune Cookie

Paul, Tyler, & Strum Theory


See you next February at Cozmic Pizza in Eugene for another great performance by our students and teacher bands.


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Lots of Music & Fun at Our Benefit ConcertSocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

Friday, February 6, 2009

Benefit Concert - Friday, February 13th


Next Friday, the 13th, our annual benefit concert will be held at Cozmic Pizza in Eugene. The concert features our student musicians and artists as well as our teachers who play in local bands Fortune Cookie, Chanci Pants & the Educators, and Strum Theory. Teachers Paul, Chanci, Tyler, and Bob will perform along with several students.

Posters have been created by students and placed around town to let people know about the concert. The all-ages event is a great time for our students, parents, relatives, and other members of the community to celebrate Wellsprings and donate funds to support the school's art and music programs.

Join us from 6 - 10 p.m. on February 13th at Cozmic Pizza, 199 W. Eighth in Eugene.

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Benefit Concert - Friday, February 13thSocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Life at Wellsprings: Word & Quote of the Day



In the main hallway leading to our community room is a white board that each day presents a word (with a definition) and a quote of the day. The teacher who chooses the "word of the day" calls for the definition during Morning Circle and makes a statement that demonstrates usage of the word. Often, art work "mysteriously" appears during the day -- the handiwork of a student artist -- bringing a smile to passersby who read the quote of the day.


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Life at Wellsprings: Word & Quote of the DaySocialTwist Tell-a-Friend