“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
Helen Keller
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Green School Newsletter. We apologize in advance if it doesn’t have the humour and quips of past versions as this one is not put together by our good friend Ben Macrory as he is still away. We have many great updates this week from our Facilitator, Board, teachers and upcoming events. Most importantly we talk about the value of community and the special one we have here at Green School.
In this issue:
1. Thank You Letter from Chris Thompson, Green School Facilitator
2. An Update from the School Board
3. THE GREENEST CLASSROOM ON EARTH: Green School’s Forest
4. Upcoming Assembly
5. Recommended Video
6. BAMBOOPALOOZA 2 JUNGLE STYLE
7. Bali Starling Release
8. Middle School Elective Week
9. SHIFT – 30 Day Wellness Challenge
10. Clean Water
11. Lost and Found
12. BSSA Update
13. News from our Green School Yoga Studio
14. Parent/Teacher/Student Conference
15. Student Village Hosts Waterbom Day!
16. Surf to Support Our Good Friend Nina from Eduardo Petta, Green School Parent
17. Our own weekly news
Thank You Letter from Chris Thompson, Facilitator
Dear Green School Community,
We often talk of the word “community” here at Green School. It isn’t used casually. It is meaningful and part of the ethos of the School.
Never have I seen it better exemplified than what I have witnessed over the past two weeks. The School has experienced some very tragic and trying moments as our very kind friends were hit with desperate situations. The response to the situations we had with Nina and Ben showed the power and beauty of this community of people.
We were flooded with people wanting to support and volunteer. We had parents, staff and friends dropping their lives to do everything possible to help. I had people coming to me asking how they can assist. We came together to support Nina in her time of challenge. We had people flying to Singapore to support Ben. I had people asking me where they can help the School. And while Facebook is often seen as a place of distraction I saw the power of community and support and love coming through in the Green School parent’s Facebook page.
I have been deeply moved by all of you. What a blessing to have a parent community like we have here. And I cannot thank our Green School staff and team members enough in all that they have done. These weren’t the only challenges the School faced and so many stepped up.
I spoke with Nina today and she just wants to say thank you for all of you who reached out to her. We will continue to give everyone love and support. And Ben is on the mend and we hope to see him back in a few weeks.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for all you do. Thank you for your lovely children. You showed me this week what it means to be part of a community. And I wouldn’t want to be in any other place than Green School with all of you.
With kindest regards.
Chris Thompson
Facilitator
An Update from the School Board
At Green School we continue to develop a transparent governance structure. The School Board has been working behind the scenes, meeting monthly and endorsing new policies.
Here’s a few links and updates from the Board, together with the latest moves and appointments:
Board Minutes
We publish our monthly minutes on the website. You can find all of our minutes since we began the Board here: http://bit.ly/GS-Board
2012-2013 Annual Plan
The school’s Annual Plan has been created by the school’s Management Team, and approved by the Board. It also includes our annual budget. It’s the school’s fifth year, and as you’ll see the plan contains a set of ambitious targets, as we continue to strive to improve and grow the school. You can download it directly here: http://bit.ly/GS-Plan2012
Leadership Team
The school is working towards a Distributed Leadership Model, to share the responsibilities for leadership across our incredible management team and faculty. As part of this shift, Chris Thompson, who in our previous structure held the title of Managing Director, has changed his title to Facilitator. Andy Slavin, who held the title of Principal, has changed his title to Student and Teacher Manager.
They now share leadership as part of a wider leadership team, made up of the following positions:
Facilitator – Chris Thompson
Learning Manager – Alan Wagstaff
Curriculum & Discipline Manager – Andy Slavin (commonly referred to as Student and Teacher Manager)
High School Coordinator – Leslie Medema
Student Assessment & Support Manager – Teri Mason helping to create role
Teacher Development Manager – Shaun McGurgan (w/ support from AS)
Operations Manager – Nina Tresia
Admissions Manager – Tim Fijal
Finance Manager – Adelia Candra
HR Managers – Andy Slavin & Chris Thompson
Communications Manager – Ben Macrory
Green Camp Manager – Conor McMullan
We would like to acknowledge and thank this leadership team, the faculty and staff for the enormous effort and expertise they bring to the school every day.
Board Members & Advisors
We have had a number of changes in the make up of the Board. As part of our governance structure, Chris Thompson has stepped down as a voting member as he holds an active (and pivotal) role within the management of the school. We have appointed Chris Saye as a new Board Advisor, and re-appointed both Anne Hockett and Matt Lorentzen as Board Advisors.
The Board is now made up of 6 voting members: John Hardy, Cynthia Hardy, Roger James Hamilton, Ronald Stones OBE, Nadya Hutagalung and Mickey Ackerman; and 5 Board Advisors: Matthew Lorentzen, Anne Hockett, Tom Navasero, Renee Martyna and Chris Saye.
You can see a full list of all Board Members & Advisors together with their details here:
http://bit.ly/GS-BoardMembers
Our Big Three Milestones
What are our big three milestones this school year? The first is our commitment to the three frame day and delivering the highest quality Green School learning experience for our young students.
The second is the development and delivery of our unique High School curriculum with our very first graduating Grade 12 students. The third is to take the final steps at taking Green School off the grid, becoming a fully sustainable community.
These are the big three that we are focused on. There are many other goals in our annual plan, and we continue to seek the support of all parents, students and teachers to get involved in the projects that inspire you and spark your passion. Thank you for your ongoing support, and let’s make this our best year yet.
Sincerely,
Roger James Hamilton
Board Chairman
THE GREENEST CLASSROOM ON EARTH: Green School’s Forest
Matt, Noan, & Brynn all agree that the forest on campus (located above the vortex) is one of our favorite places to teach our children. Although it is a young forest that is working hard to be restored, it is an oasis of tangible biodiversity waiting to be touched, smelled, & studied. As Bali’s forests continue to be targeted for development, it is crucial for our students to be able to experience a truly wild environment with minimal or no human impact.
By maintaining an area for wild forest growth the students are granted the ability to monitor, experience, & study living ecological systems, flows, cycles & biodiversity.
In one recent experiment students estimated the biodiversity for the forest as a whole by measuring a 1m X 1m plot. They calculated the variety of plant & animal life thriving in one small section of the forest. The students found 16 different plant species & 12 different animal species in the tiny quadrant & estimated that the forest as a whole must house at least 300-500 different species in total! Also, check out the cool video some kids in high school made to spread awareness about Green School’s forest.
Another thing that us Green teachers like to experiment with is the ways in which being in nature imprints, impacts & influences the human psyche. Often times you will find us in the wild environment exploring our senses, participating in meditations, & asking the students how nature changes the sensations of their bodies & the busy-ness of their minds.
Take a walk down there for yourself & really tune in to the life around you.
You will see that nature is our best teacher/healer & the forest really is our most dynamic classroom at Green School!
Remember to leave nothing but footprints.
If you are interested to know more about what happened in the past with the Green School forest & hear about the plans for the future, please read Ben Brown’s “Green Forest” article here: http://goo.gl/01hQ5
Upcoming Assembly
Assembly next Thursday, October 18 at 2:15. Grades 1, 2, and 4 will be performing various musical numbers, songs, and plays. Our assemblies are by the children and for the children (but hopefully entertaining for all!) so please come and join us. They are a great part of Green School and shows how our children are growing and engaged.
Recommended Video
Here is a great video shared with us. Please enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMfSGt6rHos
BAMBOOPALOOZA 2 JUNGLE STYLE
Dear Green School Community,
It is with great excitement to announce our upcoming BAMBOOPALOOZA 2 JUNGLE STYLE Community Event.
The date is December 7.
Festivities will commence after school at 3.15 pm.
It promises to be even more awesome than last year !
50 % of the profits will go to the Green School Scholarship Fund and 50 % to Performing Arts and Music department.
We will follow the same format as last year’s event. IE: Silent Auction, Vendors selling jewelry, clothes, bags, food etc. Class stalls, performances (including the 2nd annual Green School Cabaret and The High School’s debut performance of “The Princess Bride”), lots of kids activities by Green Camp, pony rides, bouncy castle, great food, bar, raffles and much more.
We are meeting weekly to discuss further developments on Tuesdays at 3 pm at the Living Food Lab.
If you are interested in being involved please come along and join us.
There are many areas that we are looking for help or donations.
- SILENT AUCTION - donations or suggestions of a contact please contact Olivia
- VENDORS - if you have a business or friends who would like a stall, please contact Renate
- CLASS STALLS – volunteers to assist with each class activity, please contact Linda
- BAR MANAGER – to organise the alcoholic beverages and have a great time doing so, contact Linda
- SMALL DONATIONS – for roaming sales persons, for a door prize, and 4 prizes for the best jungle costumes, contact Linda
- VOLUNTEERS ON THE DAY – to help with collection of money at the entrance and bouncy castle.
Contact Details:
Silent Auction - Olivia Lennan - 081 237 225 094 and olivia@tanandbrown.com
Vendors - Renate Hamilton - 081 338 292 986 and singaporebabe@hotmail.com
Class Stalls - Linda Jenour - 081 558 959 042 and linda.jenour@gmail.com
Please feel welcome to contact us for any information or donations.
Kind regards,
Bamboopalooza Team
Bali Starling Release
One of the most unique aspects of the Green School campus is the presence of the Begawan Foundation’s Bali Starling breeding facility. This has provided many rich learning experiences for our students who have been been involved in the foundation’s efforts to save the Bali’s last endemic species from the brink of extinction in the wild. Our students have been involved by feeding the birds, monitoring breeding pairs, fund-raising activities, and auditing previously released birds on the island of Nusa Penida.
Monday, November 5 will be another giant step for Green School’s partnership with The Begawan Foundation and the community of Sibang Kaja, as they will be releasing four breeding pairs right here in Sibang Kaja with the full support of the community.
Please join us for a special ceremony prior to the release of the birds at the Mepantigan outdoor arena beginning at 2:00. We will then move into the shade of the Mepantigan building to hear from one of the founders of the Begawan Foundation, Bradley Gardner, as well as student presentations.
Don’t forget to wear blue and white to help our our new neighbors feel at home!
Following the assembly we will be selling baked goods and Bali Starling T-shirts (designed by GS students) to raise money for the continued support of the Bali Starling Project. Contact Pak Glenn or Pak Matt for more details.
Middle School Elective Week
During the week of October 15-19 Middle School students will be involved in Elective Week. Activities include Diving, Mountain Biking, Film Making, and a surf trip in Java!
SHIFT - 30 Day Wellness Challenge
Green School’s 30 Day Wellness Challenge is open to all. Join us for 30 days to wellness.
Registration in SHIFT is a challenge to adopt a new and healthy lifestyle by focusing on 4 areas of wellness.
Together we will create and commit to ideas and programs to SHIFT the way we EAT, PLAY, PAUSE and SLEEP.
November 5th – December 5th
Launch Party – Friday November 2nd 3:30PM (Living Food Lab Dinner by Pre Order)
To Register or Enquire email shift@greenschool.org, for poster link : http://goo.gl/TqLXO
Clean Water
Green School has various water sources at the School and we do regular testing of our water supplies to ensure we have safe drinking and non-drinking water used for gardens, etc. Our recent test showed that our filtration and overall systems have a clean bill of health and are all fine. So drink in good health from the springs of Bali!
Lost and Found
Hi Green Schoolers, below are some of the lost and found items that we found over the past few weeks. We found lots of hats, water bottle, shoes, accessories, bag, jackets and clothing.
Please take a look and see if they are yours:
Our security team does a great job in sweeping the grounds and collecting things but we ask that everyone continues to do your best to collect your items. If you are missing something please come to the Welcome Desk and speak to Yani.
Save the Date: Friday, 19 October – Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences
Just a reminder that there will no school the last Friday before our mid-term break. Parents and teachers (and in some cases students) will be conferencing from 8am-4pm.
Teachers will be sending home information soon and asking parents to sign up for a conference time.
BSSA Update By Pak Colin
Green Schools hosts the French School:
We hosted the French School at Green School with games for the 6-8s, 9/10s and 11/12 boys. In a fun and friendly carnival atmosphere, we saw exciting and close games. It was a great way to end our football season and an enjoyable afternoon for players, coaches and supporters!
Well done to all our teams and big thanks to Pak Eduardo, Ibu Michelle, Pak Jonathan, Pak Peter and Pak Chris!
13/14 Boys: BSSA semi-finalists by Pak Yeshi:
This season 13/14 boys played at Canggu, where they started with a nice 5-2 win for the team. I would like to commend all the boys; Ritvik, Emmet, Avalon, Alex, Joe, J.J, Luke, Leeland, Rean and Miro for their dedication throughout the season, which led to their making the semi-finals.
During the semi-final, Alex’s work in Goal earned compliments from the other team. Emmet scored the most goals for the team this season, finishing with a celebrated goal in the semi-final. The boy’s showed a resilience and enthusiasm, which they maintained throughout the season, competing with teams who where often stronger in skill, strategy and fitness. They where finally knocked out by a much stronger BIS team. However they maintained good sportsmanship and celebrated their goal against this team.
BSSA 15/O Tournament at Canggu Club:
We entered 2 girls and 1 boys team into the annual BSSA football tournament. In a long and hot day, 9 boys teams and 8 girls teams battled it out for the BSSA title and trophy.
The boys put up a great display of fast paced football. With great control and accurate passing we scored some great goals and the boys were unlucky to fall short of the final playoffs. Yet they displayed great drive, enthusiasm and sportsmanship! Well done boys!
This tournament was going to belong to our girls teams. In Division B our girls played very well and scored some lovely goals on their way to the final against Dyatmika. The final ended 0-0 after extra time. Onto penalties and the scores were still even! Then unfortunately in the “sudden death” round of penalties the girls lost out. A very unfortunate way for any team to go but that’s football! Our girls B team did themselves proud and were worthy finalists! Well done girls!
Our Girls A team went through the Division A round robin undefeated and also scored some great goals! Against very tough opposition from BIS and Dyatmika(both games ending in tight draws) the girls hung in there and played their hearts out- at times defending non-stop! Eventually they made the final with least goals conceded! In our final again Dyatmika A the scores were tied at 0-0 with less than 2 minutes to play. The Dyatmika team dominated the first half but our girls showed their mettle and came back with a stunning goal in the dying minutes of the game! Absolutely fantastic!
And so they were awarded the trophy and title as BSSA champions for 2012!
Big congratulations to our all girls- you did yourselves and Green School proud!
Once again thank you to all our coaches for their time and commitment this season!
VOLLEYBALL season:
Training Schedule: 3:15-4:30pm
Mon: 11/12 Boys Ibu Audrey
13/14 Boys Pak Yeshi
Tues: 11/12 Girls Ibu Kriss
13/14 Girls Ibu Brynn
Wed: 15+Boys and Girls Ibu Eva and Pak Colin
Thurs: 9/10s mixed Ibu Mary/Pak Peter
No training week of Monday 15th October, except 15+ (MS Elective week) and Monday 22nd(half term break)
First round of BSSA Games for 9-14s: Wed 7 November
Please return BSSA permission forms to coaches ASAP!
Pak Colin
News from our Green School Yoga Studio
“Samskara saksat karanat purvajati jnanam. Through sustained focus and meditation on our patterns, habits, and conditioning, we gain knowledge and understanding of our past and how we can change the patterns that aren’t serving us to live more freely and fully.” ~ Yoga Sutra III.18
Come experiment with us, we will make you sweat, stretch and relax, after each class you will bring home with you a little bit of sunshine :-)
Yoga Schedule for this week Oct 15 – Oct 19:
Monday:
9:00-10:15 am : Vinyasa Flow Yoga level 1-2
Tuesday:
7.45-8.15 am : Easy yoga in 30 min
9.00-10.15 am: Vinyasa Flow Yoga level, 1
Wednesday:
9.00-10.15 am: Yoga in Motion
Thursday:
9:00-10:15: Prana Yoga level 1
4:00-5:30pm: Yoga in Motion
Friday:
9:00-10:15: Yoga in Motion
Student Village is hosting a Waterbom day for teachers, staff, and all Green Schoolers and their families.
This Saturday October 13th, 2012 at 9am, details below :
Please meet at entrance of Waterbom by 9am to receive discount.
ADMISSION ONLY :
IDR 114.000,-/Children (2 – below 12 years old)
IDR 158.000,-/Children (Junior & Senior High School)
IDR 180.000,-/Adult
Inclusive: Entrance ticket and usage of Waterbom Bali facilities from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm
Waterbom address:
Jl. Kartika PO BOX 1055 Tuban
Tel: +62 361 755 676
Fax: +62 361 753 517
Kuta – Bali 80361, Indonesia
info@waterbom-bali.com
Surf to Support Our Good Friend Nina from Eduardo Petta, Green School Parent
On Saturday, 20th of October, starting from 10 AM at Double Six, Seminyak, in front of Zanzibar (Circle K Market), we are going to run a Surfing Day to support Nina and her family. It will be a fun beach day with surfboarding and instructors giving short classes for half an hour (maximum eight per class).
The class will be by donation and all the profits will be returned to help Nina and her family. Please bring your board shorts, towel, sun cream and happiness to join us.
If you are interested please contact Eduardo Petta at: petta@agenciatie.com.br
Our own weekly news
To submit your own news updates for inclusion, please send it to communications@greenschool.org by 12 noon each Wednesday.We cannot always guarantee inclusion and we may have to delay for a week at times.
Visit the Green School Website: http://www.greenschool.org
Visit the Green School Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/greenschool
