The Student-Edited, Weekly Blog of the Walden Community School Weekly OPEN HOUSE! Attention Everyone!! This Monday, Walden had its 1st open house!! It was a huge success. Everyone did great and the parents loved it!! This week, the Walnuts learned about SPARTA!! Although most of us have not seen it do to being restricted from children under 17, we still learned a lot about their life style. The men and boys fought the ladies and girls stayed at home and were the cheerleaders from the side lines. Also we learned about Greek Mythology. Abigail, Sidney, and Skipper presented an elegant show about the Greek Family Tree and boy was it big! HAVE A HAPPY HAPPY THANKSGIVIG!! - Sideney McCall Arts Activities Lists It looks like the Walnuts just missed America Recycles Day, on November 15. But, recycling lasts all year long! So in honor of America Recycles Day and the Going Green Fair that WCS was a part of last weekend, here is a list of the Top Ten Ways to Recycle, compiled by Office Depot and take from the Environmental Protection website... Top Ten Ways to Recycle 1. Buy recycled paper and print on both sides. When using paper in the office, print on both sides of the sheet and recycle the paper when you are finished. By recycling one ton of paper, you can save 17 trees, almost 7,000 gallons of water and more than three cubic yards of landfill space. 2. Recycle your outdated technology. According to EPA, Americans throw out two million tons of e-waste each year. Avoid adding to that waste by recycling your old technology. For more information on electronic recycling, visit http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/recycle/ecycling/donate.htm. 3. Make recycling bins readily available. Make sure your home and office are outfitted with recycling bins for paper, plastic and metal. Keep them out in the open and label them appropriately. Sometimes the convenience factor is all that is needed. 4. Recycle your empty ink and toner cartridges. Almost eight cartridges are thrown out in the United States every second of every day. That's almost 700,000 cartridges per day. 5.Buy remanufactured ink and toner cartridges. Each remanufactured cartridge keeps approximately 2.5 pounds of metal and plastic out of landfills and saves about a half gallon of oil. 6.Recycle old newspapers laying around the office. When finished reading the newspaper, either leave it for someone else to read or recycle it. 7. Look for the recycled option in all the products you buy. It's not just paper that is recycled. 8. Buy rechargeable batteries. It takes 1,000 regular batteries to equal the lifespan of one rechargeable battery. When you are discarding your batteries, recycle them. 9. Purchase rewritable CDs and DVDs so that you can reuse them from project to project. 10. Reuse your morning coffee cup. Or better yet, buy a mug to avoid the waste caused by throwing away the paper or Styrofoam. News & Need-to-knows This week, there are many necessary news and need-to-knows to share, so let's get started... First off, let's all wish our wonderful life skills teacher, Mrs. Ellen Miller, a very, very Happy Birthday, on November 22! We aren't going to reveal how hold she's turning, but let's just say she's turning older than 40, but less than 42...Mrs. Miller, you are the best life skills teacher we could ask for. We love you and hope that your birthday is nothing less of FABULOUS! We also have another birthday coming up at Walden! Miss. Katelyn "Skipper" Williamson will celebrate her 13th birthday on November 28. Happy happy birthday Skipper, from all of us to you! On a more serious note, it has come to our attention that some students are having trouble respecting other's personal space. While we all love a hug in the morning, or a hand to hold on a field trip, we need to remember good boundaries. Since our discussion a few weeks ago, we haven't had any problems, but it is nice to remind everyone to keep up the good work. Last Saturday, the Walnuts had a booth at the Go Green Fair at the Winter Park Public Library. It was a huge success, and we had a lot of fun. Ms. Gretchen and Dr. Mikulka led fun crafts, such as all natural bird seed center pieces, and bags made from recycled tank tops. Our fabulous 5th graders also entered a diorama contest, with a theme of "the earth is not a trash can." Both Sasha and Maddy did an amazing job, and received ribbons for their hard work. It was great to get out in the community and spread the word about Walden Community School. That's it for news and need-to-knows for this week. A week at Walden is never boring, so check back next week for all new news. - Katie Mikulka Understandings This week, Carrie and Sasha interviewed Carrie's mom, the director and founder of Walden Community School, Dr. Carol Mikulka. Here is what she had to say... MEET...DR. CAROL MIKULKA Q1: How did you get the idea of Walden? A1: I decided that Katie and Carrie needed something unique, child-centered, and non-competitive. Q2: At the time when you thought of Walden, what was going through your head? A2: I was thinking big and out of the box and maybe out of my mind. Q3: How did you come up with the name "Walden"? A3: Henry David Thoreau, an American philosopher, wrote on Walden Pond. I really like his thoughts on individuality and self refection. Q4: How did you get the teachers? A4: Mrs. Miller was Katie's second grade teacher. She had such a powerful and positive impact on Katie, I had to hire her. Q5: Who were the first students? A5: Katie and Carrie Q6: How has Walden changed through the years? A6: Though Walden has changed over the years, our philosophy and roots on which Walden was grounded remain strong. - Interview Conducted by Carrie Mikulka and Sasha Berman Trivia (for Thanksgiving!)
NEW NEWS
As the temperature drops, things start to heat up in the Arts at WCS. Kim and Byron, our fine arts teachers, are enjoying their second week back after maternity leave. All of the Walnuts are enjoying the company of their new family member, a happy and healthy baby boy. While he naps through lessons on portraits and other techniques, there is no doubt that the newest Walnut will have artistic talents of his own. Currently, the rest of the Walnuts are experimenting with acrylic paints, and learning about accurately portraying the human face. In Dance and Drama, there is a mad dash to complete our Holiday/Christmas/Winter show. A full out production with costume changes, songs, readings, and dance, it will be exciting to perform. We are also learning a lot about Christmas around the world, and about Kwanzaa and Hanukah, from Sidney and Sasha respectively. It looks like the WCS department of performing arts will be taking this show on the road! We may be performing at Florida Hospital, on December 10. It seems like the winter holiday spirit has hit Walden a bit early this year, considering that it isn't even Thanksgiving yet...Oh well, a little Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukah/Winter Solstice cheer never hurt anyone!!!
- Katie Mikulka
- Californians are the largest consumers of turkey in the United States.
- The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade tradition began in the 1920's.
- 8 is the number of places and townships in the U.S. of A. that are named "Cranberry" or some variation of the name.
- 13.7 pounds is the amount of turkey consumed by the typical American -- no doubt a good bit of it at Thanksgiving time.
- One sixth of the turkey raised in America is eaten on Thanksgiving.
- Every year two turkeys are pardoned by the President, and the American
- Skipper Williamson
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