Sunday, May 23, 2010

Wellsprings Prom Night 2010


This year, the theme for our Wellsprings prom was "masquerade." Of course, there were lots of masks along with girls in dazzling dresses and boys in black tuxes (and one white), plus some with stylish black top hats.

The room was ablaze with lights and silver streamers and there was a great spread of food and refreshments for nibbling during the evening. Music from the DJ was lively and loud (but getting the dancing started was a challenge!). There was lots of conversation as well, especially about what people were wearing for the masquerade party.

Thank you to all the students, parents, and teachers who helped make the prom a memorable experience for everyone who attended!

Here are several photos taken during the prom (click a photo to enlarge for better viewing):



And here's a short video of the event taken early in the evening:



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Saturday, May 22, 2010

"Free Sale" Serves Our Community

On a gray day with light rain falling, the school's parking lot filled up and a crowd of people came through the doors for our second "Free Sale" of the school year. Our super-organizer of the event, Yancey, and several students had arranged items on tables and stacked clothes for people to take away for free.

The sale provides people in our community with household items, clothing, toys, and other goods that they would not otherwise be able to afford for their family members. For our students, it is one of many community service projects they participate in during the school year at Wellsprings Friends School.

Thank you to the many friends who contributed items, to the students who helped with the "Free Sale," and to everyone who showed up on a rainy Saturday morning in Oregon.

And once again, dear Yancey, we deeply appreciate the many hours of work you do to make this community service project possible and for all you do for our students and for Wellsprings!

Here are more photos from the event (click on a photo to enlarge).



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Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Invitation to Graduation 2010

Only four weeks until graduation day for our eighteen seniors. Here's the invitation they're sending to family and friends:




Please join us to celebrate our seniors on their very special evening. It's a great way to experience the joys of "the little school with the big heart."

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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Storyteller Visits Wellsprings


Diane Ferlatte, an award-winning international storyteller, visited our school last week to share stories with us. She sang and spoke both ancient and personal stories from her life as well as used percussion to "move" the audience and her stories along.

Diane's website notes that "While Diane loves to tell stories to adults and families, school performances are what she loves the most. It is here that she feels she has the greatest impact as the stacks and stacks of letters, drawings, thank you notes, and handwritten stories from thousands of school children attest to. Her vast repertoire and ability to relate make her equally popular with all ages from pre-school through high school.
Singing and signing (American Sign Language) are an integral part of these performances. While many performances can be theme oriented along the program types listed above, Diane´s main focus is to promote reading-readiness, visual imagery, imagination, and character/moral development."


Diane came to Eugene to headline the Multicultural Storytelling Festival and to perform at schools in the area. We're pleased that Wellsprings was chosen to be one of the schools! Here's a video sample of Diane Ferlatte at her finest:




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Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Peace & Justice Festival 2010


"Peace is our gift to each other."
-- Elie Wiesel

Our 8th annual Peace & Justice Festival was held at school on a beautiful, sunny May Day. Teacher Eva spearheaded the festival and did a great job with arranging for speakers and organizing the event (while volunteer Mary Steinberg-Pichey arranged for a wonderful spread of food donated by local businesses). Several students helped set-up for the event and clean-up after all the festivities were done for the afternoon.

The program began with a presentation on "Fair Trade" by Melanie Bigalke from Cafe Mam. Martin Jones followed with a talk about Beyond War and "How Military Expenditure Impact Economic Problems" (see video below). Next up was Wes Shirley from the Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network who spoke about the labor movement in our area. Samantha Chirillo followed with a talk about the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign as well as her personal experience of networking for social justice.

Here's a video of the Beyond War presentation by Martin Jones, MD.


Head of School, Dennis Hoerner, moderated a student/teacher panel which explored the topic of "Teenagers, Jobs, Fairness." Members of the panel included recent graduate, Mo, current students Nataya and Emily, teacher Eva, and parent-jobs specialist, Laurel Henry. Everyone shared their experiences in getting a job as a teenager (or not) and shared their ideas about what would be helpful for young people seeking employment.

Our thanks to everyone who helped and participated in the festival (especially Eva!) and to the businesses who provided food and refreshments: Cafe Mam, Sundance Natural Foods, Eugene City Bakery, Toby's Tofu Pate, and Dana's Cheesecake.

See you next year on April 23 for our 9th annual Peace & Justice Festival!

NOTE: See more photos on our Web Albums.

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