Assemblies
Assemblies at George School are different. They will probably challenge your opinions and worldviews, inspire you, and give you and your friends a lot to talk about. Here are some highlights of assemblies from the 2008-09 year:
Friday, April 3, 2009
Doug Tallamy, “Conservation of Biodiversity”
Doug Tallamy—professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware—explained how a sustainable approach to gardening and landscaping helps to create a healthier planet. “Biodiversity” is a term that refers to the number of plant and animal species that exist in a given ecosystem. The United States is dominated by human-centered ecosystems that lack biodiversity, with 41 percent of land used for agriculture, and 54 percent used for cities and suburbs, Doug said. He described biodiversity as an essential, non-renewable resource; without it, an ecosystem cannot adequately perform functions—such as producing oxygen and clean water, building topsoil, and moderating weather systems—that are necessary to sustain life on our planet. He reported that as many as thirty-three thousand species are currently endangered in the United States, and our natural parks and reserves are not large enough to sustain nature. The solution, he said, is to share our spaces by replanting half of our lawns, as he has done at his own home. Traditional landscaping favors non-native plants, which do not support the native insects that allow animal life to thrive. Doug explained that native plants with a high “carrying capacity”—or ability to support life—are necessary to create healthy ecosystems on our lawns. He showed photographs of the insects that inhabit his lawn, and encouraged audience members to feel empowered by the ability to conserve nature in their own backyards. The author of sixty-nine research articles and the book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens, Doug teaches courses about the conservation of tropical ecosystems, debates in conservation biology, behavioral ecology, and insect taxonomy.
Monday, March 30, 2009
International Baccalaureate Music Students
Students in Jackie Coren’s International Baccalaureate (IB) Music Seminar performed at this assembly. The IB Music Seminar offers students who have studied a specific musical form the opportunity to study various musical genres and forms, to work with guest musicians, to compose several works, and to participate in performances. The class is part of George School’s IB Program, a rigorous and challenging curriculum that is offered at schools in 130 countries. Instrumental music at the assembly included performances by a guitar, piano, and percussion ensemble; a Korean harp accompanied by drums; a flute duet; and an electric bass guitar solo. Vocal selections included a traditional Afghan song, and a jazz piece.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Andrew Bourns Social Justice Awards
Religion Department Head Maria Crosman introduced this assembly, in which Associate Director of College Guidance Tiffany Fujioka and senior Emma Folk presented the projects they did as recipients of Andrew Bourns Social Justice Endowment grants for 2008-09. The Andrew Bourns Social Justice Endowment enables George School students and faculty to participate in social justice projects. It was established by David and Ruth Bourns in memory of their son Andrew, a 1987 graduate of George School. Tiffany described her work volunteering for the Philadelphia Education Fund's College Access Program, which focuses on improving college access and choice for low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented students. Emma presented a video about her volunteer work at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, which serves meals to the hungry in Trenton, New Jersey, and provides adult education and other programs to help its constituents achieve self-sufficiency.
Friday, February 20, 2009
The Fantasticks, George School musical
At this assembly, George School musical theater and stagecraft students presented scenes from The Fantasticks by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt in order to promote the full productions scheduled for the evenings of February 20 and 21, 2009, in Walton Center Auditorium. The world's longest-running musical, The Fantasticks is a romantic comedy about a young boy and a young girl who live next door to each other and fall in love in spite of a feud between their families. Unbeknownst to the boy and girl, their parents want them to marry and have conspired to stage the feud, believing that young people will fall in love only if they are forbidden to do so.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Frida Herskovits, Holocaust survivor
Frida Herskovits has been speaking for nineteen years about the horror of what happened to Jews, gypsies, homosexual people, and others whom the Nazis sent to concentration camps during World War II. Frida was forced to take a train from her home in Czechoslovakia to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp when she was seventeen years old. She described the heinous acts she witnessed there and at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where she was later imprisoned. By the end of the war, both of Frida's parents and seven of her sisters and brothers had been killed in the Holocaust. Only three members of her immediate family survived: Frida, a brother, and a sister. Frida believes that it is not right to criticize people's differences, and that people must learn to accept one another. She stated that hate is a disease that shouldn't exist, and that everyone must work hard to find a cure. She explained that she shares this message at schools because young people are the future. Frida received a standing ovation.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Inkhay
Inkhay, a group that plays traditional music from the Andes, performed at this assembly, which was funded by the Chuck O'Neill '94 Musical Performance Fund. Tom and Kate O'Neill established the fund in memory of their son Chuck. Tim O'Neill '99, Chuck's brother, introduced the assembly, speaking of his brother's love of music. The five members of Inkhay played on a variety of flutes, pan pipes, whistles, drums, and string instruments, presenting a number of songs that originated in the Andes in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador.
Monday, January 19, 2009
MLK Day
George School's twentieth annual all-day commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day began with an all-school assembly featuring storyteller Mark Judelson. A performer who dramatizes true stories of individuals who responded to violence and hatred with acts of peace, Mark has told stories at high schools, colleges, churches, synagogues, prisons, and conferences for over twenty years. At the assembly he presented a story entitled "In the Lions' Den," which recounted the life of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002. Told from the point of view of Daniel, the story depicted the events leading up to the kidnapping, Daniel's love for his wife and unborn son, his commitment to truth, and his love of music. Following the assembly, various workshop sessions on campus encouraged participants to discuss and reflect in a variety of ways on Dr. King's message of multiculturalism, diversity, and peace. The day's events concluded with an all-school meeting for worship in the afternoon.
Friday, December 12, 2008
ESL Assembly
Students in George School’s ESL (English as a Second Language) program gave performances to share elements of their cultures with the community, drawing enthusiastic cheers from the audience. The performances included a Korean song; an Arabic dance; and a humorous skit about martial arts, in which students appeared to be floating in slow motion. George School has one hundred students of foreign nationality or Americans living abroad, from thirty-two countries: Afghanistan, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Peru, Portugal, Rwanda, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.
Monday, December 8, 2008
25-Year Awards from Nancy Starmer, TERRA Presentation
During the first portion of the assembly, Head of School Nancy Starmer recognized three faculty members who have reached their twenty-five-year anniversary of teaching at George School: Scott Hoskins, Carter Sio '76, and Norm Tjossem.
Scott Hoskins teaches stagecraft and video production and serves as the coordinator of performing arts. After attending Quaker secondary schools and Earlham College, Scott spent over twelve years as a scenic carpenter, stage electrician, and sound technician for off-Broadway, regional, national tour, and Broadway productions. Nancy said, "In his twenty-five years here at George School, Scott and the students in his stagecraft classes have designed and executed an extraordinary number of superb productions."
Carter Sio teaches woodworking and design. He was introduced to woodworking as a student at George School, learning from his predecessor Palmer Sharpless, before studying fine arts at Marlboro College. George School has had a woodworking program since its founding, and Carter is only the fourth woodworking teacher in the school's history. "In the wood shop and with his advisees, Carter is known as a teacher who both inspires students and cares about them as individuals," said Nancy.
History teacher Norm Tjossem has headed Orton and Campbell dormitories, and spent a year as a Fulbright Exchange Teacher. He is a graduate of Scattergood Friends School, Antioch College, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Nancy noted, "For the past eighteen years Norm has taught IB World History, where, one of his colleagues writes, 'He has a flawless record of achievement and his professionalism is meticulous. One could not ask for a better, more disciplined and committed colleague than Norm.'"
Continuing a school tradition, Nancy presented each teacher with an engraved bowl from the George School Committee, the school's governing board, to mark the occasion.
During the second part of the assembly, the student environmental group TERRA presented tips for recycling and energy conservation on campus.