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|  32 Friends Select’snd annual bloodmobile on Friday, March 6 was a resounding success. Donors contributed 65 pints, five pints more than last year and eight more than 2008.
The donors included 44 students, 21 faculty and staff, six parents and two former parents. Nine 16-year-olds donated this year – the second year when students that age have been permitted to donate, with parental consent.
The results are a tribute to the students (named below) who worked on the Bloodmobile. Even with the interruption of several snow days, they kept the momentum going to recruit donors. As in previous years, the Red Cross staff was full of kudos for the student volunteers, praising them for their enthusiasm and responsibility.
The Upper School Bloodmobile Committee included: Amanda Mauri, Heather Silver, Nina Iamurri, Ambuj Suri, Keara McLaughlin, Sarafina Kietzman-Nicklin, Cameron Anderson, Lauren Reddick, Stephanie Curtin, Elizabeth Centurion and Michelle Degutis.
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| Sarah Gleason, a junior at Friends Select School, has been named a runner-up for the 2010 Elizabeth Bishop Prize in Fiction for her short story, "Missing Eyebrows."
"Missing Eyebrows," started life as a class assignment in Wendy Buckingham's 10th grade English class last year. Students were asked to write a story using stream of consciousness after reading Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway.
The Elizabeth Bishop Prizes in Verse, Fiction, and Playwriting, are administered
by the Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, Mass. Named after Pulitzer Prize winning-poet Elizabeth Bishop, who attended the school from 1927 to 1930, they are awarded each year to celebrate the freshest, most accomplished examples of imaginative literary craft by young writers from around the world.
"Missing Eyebrows," will appear this spring in the school's literary magazine, The Blue Pencil Online.
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| Friends Select School's Mock Trial Team has advanced to the third round of the John S. Bradway Philadelphia High School Mock Trial Competition organized by Temple University Beasley School of Law and the Young Lawyers Division of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Winners of the next round, scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 25, at the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia, will advance to the quarterfinals of the City Competition, with the chance to represent Philadelphia at the state mock trial finals at Dickinson College, in Carlisle, Pa.
Friends Select's team won the first round on January 30, by defending its client against third degree murder charges and gaining acquittal. "The winning defense team was led by senior captain Melanie Young, with fantastic performances by freshmen Alex Aaron and Sam Gerson, sophomore Alina Drufovka, juniors Maddy Barton and Mahan Zahra, and senior Emerson Hawkins," said faculty advisor Brian Kors, upper school history teacher.
"That team's high score has propelled us to the third round this Thursday, but this time we will compete as the prosecution," said Kors.
The John S. Bradway High School Mock Trial Competition is offered each spring to public, private and parochial schools; approximately 30 schools compete each year.
Friends Select's team has nearly 20 students altogether, although only up to eight students are used for each side in all trials. In addition to the students named above, the team includes: Darien Headen, Ben Behrend, Michael Gomella, Nate Levin, Jonah Rosen, Ian DiMedio, Magnus Deppe, Peter McCurry and Henry Russell.
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| Weather-Related School Closings
It is the policy of the school to follow the lead of the Philadelphia School District in school closings due to inclement weather.
If Philadelphia Public Schools are:
Open, Friends Select is Open.
Closed, Friends Select is Closed.
Open without Transportation, Friends Select is Open without Transportation.
Closing Early because of Snow, Friends Select also will Close Early.
The Friends Select School number is 134.
The After School and Vacation Care programs do not operate on days school is closed. The After School and Vacation Care programs do operate on days school closes early.
Please listen to KYW Radio for school closing information.
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When Philadelphia was hit with more than 21 inches of snow last week, all the schools in the city shut down. But that didn't mean that teaching and learning at Friends Select shut down--on the contrary. When it became apparent last Tuesday there was a good chance school would be closed for the remainder of the week, faculty and students good-naturedly implemented "Plan B"--use the school's Online Learning Center as a means to conduct class, post class assignments and communicate with each other.
Students in teacher Dan Capecchi's 8th grade Latin class, for example, were asked to create snowmen in the form of their favorite emperor. Constantine, known as the first Christian Roman emperor (St. Constantine in the Eastern Orthodox Church) was Juliet K.'s choice (above).
Middle school teacher Martha Van Nuis conducted both 6th grade math class and 7th grade English class throughout the week.
On Wednesday, there were close to 1500 activity records captured on the Online Learning Center, for classes ranging from Western Civilization, to Biology, to Algebra 2.
Does this mean that the long-cherished notion of a snow day--a day perchance to dream, to put the everyday cares of the world aside, if only for a moment--is about to change?
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| Note: Due to inclement weather, the middle school production of Midsummer Night's Dream has been re-scheduled for Friday, March 5 and Saturday, March 6 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, March 7 at 2 p.m.
The Bard himself would be delighted with the upcoming production. In a departure from the usual, the play will be performed in Bailey Circle, instead of the theatre. The staging is distinctly Elizabethan in spirit, with seating for 133, standing room for additional “Groundlings,” and plenty of spirited interaction between the actors and the audience. The troupe of actors will move throughout the space, using the staircase, upper landing and aisles between the seats as the “stage.” They are embracing the formal language and quirky characters of the Shakespearean comedy in a unique 1 ½ hour production of the classic drama. Tickets are free (although limited) and are available at the door.
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| Please donate blood during the school’s 32nd annual blood drive on Friday, March 5, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the gym. In order to reach the goal of 60 pints, 75 donors are needed from the school community of students, faculty, staff, parents and friends.
To give blood, you must be between the ages of 16 and 65, in good health, and weigh more than 110 pounds. The entire process, from sign-in to post-donation snack, takes about 45 minutes. To schedule your appointment (on the hour at 15-minute intervals), please contact Mike Noonan by e-mail or at (215) 561-5900, ext, 109.
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|  Advanced computer science classmates Arman Dezfuli-Arjomandi (left) and Haydn Dufrene woke up one morning late last spring and decided it would be "fun to develop an app."
After teaching themselves Objective C programming language over the summer, courtesy of iTunesU, they did just that. Beginning in December, in a matter of weeks the two students wrote the code, beta tested it with eight classmates, bought a development license, and submitted the app to Apple. After extensive testing, Apple approved it in late January. Dezfuli-Arjomandi, a junior, and senior Dufrene launched the Friends Select app (available for download as FS on Apple) at weekly devotions on February 1, to a rapt audience of upper schoolers. In just one day, 57 students had downloaded it. "This app is my life, " said one satisfied junior.
The Friends Select app enables upper school students to see their daily schedule, e-mail classroom teachers, add and monitor assignments and due dates, access the Online Learning Center and school calendar, even check SEPTA bus and train schedules--all at the touch of their fingertips on their mobile iPhone or iPod touch. Wow! Life just got simpler in upper school.
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| The Parent Association Families for Ethnic and Cultural Diversity at Friends Select School will host a special, one-time only Philadelphia-area public screening of The Prep School Negro on Wednesday, February 24, 2010, at the Blauvelt Theatre. From 6 to 6:30 p.m., the school will host a reception with director and producer André Lee, followed by a screening of the film and a question and answer with Lee. Independent School Consortium is sponsoring the reception.
The Prep School Negro is the searing account of one man's journey between two worlds: a struggling, inner city neighborhood, and Germantown Friends School, the elite prep school just a few miles away.
How he navigates that journey, and the personal price he pays, is the subject of Lee's hour-long documentary.
Juxtaposing the events of Lee's adolescence in the1980s with interviews of current prep school students of color and their classmates, Lee poses the provocative question: What, if anything, has changed in the last two decades? The answer may surprise you.
The event is free and open to the public.
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|  Friends Select School third grader, Sophie E-F, started the day by visiting with her father in Beijing on February 1. She and her classmates in Desiree Tee and Craig Bierman’s classroom sat on the floor and chatted with Paul Edelblut via the Internet, in what turned into an impromptu lesson about Asia. Edelblut was ready with tantalizing facts: The largest country in Asia in terms of land mass is Russia but China has the largest population. Mandarin has around 3,000 different characters, compared to English’s 26. When it is morning in Philadelphia, it is night in China.
Edelblut is circumnavigating the globe on his trip, with stops in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Korea, China and Malaysia, among others, and is spending close to 250 hours in airplanes. During this particular evening in China, he was clearly glad to spend some quality time with his daughter and her classmates, before they signed off with smiles and waves and returned to other third grade pursuits.
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| History teacher Sara Wolf left for Haiti on January 23, where she will be working for two weeks with the relief organization where her fiancé serves as regional director. Called the Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team (AMURT), it is one of the few private voluntary organizations of Third World origin. For more information about this organization, see www.AMURT.net.
Tr. Sara has worked in Haiti previously, developing programs for schools and teachers. During her stay, she will be sending photographs and sharing her insights and observations. Read her blog .
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| As news of the devastation in Haiti continues, Friends Select is helping the school community find a voice with which to respond in a way that is meaningful, that is an outgrowth of our understanding of the Quaker testimonies and that enables us to participate as engaged citizens.
A money collection box has been placed in the Dining Hall through the end of the month. All funds collected will be sent to the organization where middle and upper school history teacher Sara Wolf’s fiancé is regional director. Called Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team (AMURT), it is one of the few private voluntary organizations of Third World origin. For more information about this organization see www.AMURT.net.
Any additional fund raising activities organized by the FSS community will be coordinated by the school’s community service coordinator, and resulting contributions also will be sent to AMURT.
As a community, we hold in the Light the unknown numbers of Haitians who are suffering, as well as the many volunteers and other rescue personnel.
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| The ART of Sustainability, on view at the Select Gallery, features work by 14 artists with close connections to Friends Select. Meet the artists at a reception on Thursday, January 21 at 5:30 p.m.
The exhibition reflected the artists’ visual interpretation of sustainability, exploring such questions as: What is art of sustainability? What does it look like? What does it feel like? Is it the interconnectedness of art and life?
Work by the parents of several current students is on display: Jacqueline Bowman (mother of a junior), Joseph Brin (father of pre-K student), Susan and David Dannenberg (parents of a junior), Aaron Finkbiner (father of a senior), Dawn Kleinman (mother of two ninth graders), and Leo Sewell (father of an 2005 alumna).
Alumni/ae contributors to the show include: Madeline Adams ’96, Alyce Grunt ’91, Sarah Maxwell ’55, Chris McNeur ’65, Margery Schab ’60, Bruce Sussman Bernstein ’71 Mariel Waloff ’00, and Jane Yudis ’59.
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| 'Tis the season for bake sales at Friends Select School. Stop by the Matthew Huffman '91 Dining Hall this final week before winter break for a sweet treat in support of school-sponsored activities.
Operation Smile Bake Sale
Monday, December 14
Baked goods will be sold to raise money for Operation Smile, an organization that provides correctiive surgery to children with cleft palates. Delicious treats will be on sale during lunch and after school in the Matthew Huffman '91 Dining Hall.
SAGA Bake Sale
Wednesday, December 16
Stop by this bake sale during break and MS/US lunch to raise money for end-of-year trips and the yearbook.
Lower School Holiday Bake Sale
Thursday, Dec. 17
8:00 am-12:30 p.m. in the Dining Hall. The proceeds of this fundraiser, staffed by fifth and sixth grade students, will go to the purchase of nets for Africa to provide a way to help eradicate malaria. Each net costs $10.
MS/US Kwanzaa Lunch and Bake Sale
Friday, Dec. 18:
Baked goods will be on sale during US break and MS/ US lunch in the Dining Hall.
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|  Friends Select School and Joseph Fox Book Shop will host Daniel H. Pink, author of the long-running New York Times and Business Week bestseller A Whole New Mind, at Friends Select School on Thursday, January 7, 2010, at 7 p.m. Pink will discuss and sign copies of his new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.
Pink explodes the myths about what motivates us—it’s not all about money, rewards or punishment. Instead, the secret to high performance and satisfaction in today’s world is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves in the world. Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Drive exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of our lives.
This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP by January 4 to Jan Burns at janb@friends-select.org or 215-561-5900, x129 if you plan to attend. Walk-ins will be admitted the night of the event if seating is available.
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| The Strengths and Resilience Program is an after-school program that helps girls identify their strengths and goals, and teaches them skills for handling common day-to-day challenges. Beginning in January, SRP will be offered to 6th, 7th and 8th grade girls at Friends Select through a research project conducted by Swarthmore College and University of Pennsylvania in collaboration with the school.
The program will be held on Wednesdays after school sports practices. It will consist of 10 to 12 small group lessons at Friends Select. Lessons will focus on specific concerns of teen-aged girls, and will include discussions, skits, role plays, games and other activities.
Terry Kessel, director of middle school, will discuss the SRP at her next middle school director's coffee on December 15.
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| Avery Jamison, an eighth grade student at Friends Select School and a graduate of Russell Byers Charter School, recently was named the first recipient of the Future Leaders Scholarship. He will receive $1,000 a year for five years.
The scholarship fund was created by Diversified Search Odgers Berndtson, an executive search firm. Founder and chairman Judith von Seldeneck announced the award at the firm's 35th anniversary celebration on November 5. More than 250 guests attended the affair, including Gov. Edward G. Rendell; his wife, Marjorie O. Rendell; and Mayor Michael Nutter. Jamison and his mother Devra were featured in a photo spread on the Social Circuit page of the Nov. 18 issue of The Philadelphia Inquirer, chatting with Mayor Nutter.
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| Lower School Winter Concerts
Grades 3, 4, 5 / Friday, December 4, 9 a.m. / Blauvelt Theatre
Grades 1, 2 / Friday, December 11, 9 a.m. / Blauvelt Theatre
Middle and Upper School Winter Concert Thursday, December 17, 7 p.m. / Blauvelt Theatre
All School Holiday Sing
Friday, December 18, 2 p.m. / Bailey Circle
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| Live from Philadelphia, it's "Live at Lunch" at Friends Select!
Live at Lunch, a series of informal world music concerts, debuted on Friday, November 13, from 12:45 - 1:45 p.m. in the Matthew Huffman '91 Dining Hall. Beau Django, a five-piece band specializing in traditional gypsy jazz music in homage to noted Belgian Gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, played to a packed crowd of lower, middle and upper school students, faculty and staff. (Full disclosure: Beau Django founder and rhythm guitarist Jon Dichter is married to middle school director Terry Kessel.)
Live at Lunch is the brainstorm of international studies coordinator and upper school history teacher Brian Kors. "It's a way of introducing world cultures to our students using the universal language--music," says Kors. "I'm inviting local bands to perform for one hour, during middle- and upper-school lunch breaks." He also has begun conversation with Metz, the school's food service company, to offer world cuisine matched to the music. Kors is actively seeking other local bands to perform over the next few months. If you know of a band that fits the bill, please contact Kors at briank@friends-select.org.
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|  The Annual Fund Phonathon kicks off November 10 and continues through November 18. Parent and student volunteers will be making phone calls to current parents and alumni/ae. The Phonathon is a great way to find out how your Annual Fund gift makes things happen at Friends Select – the International Studies Program; the fourth grade mapping project; the Upper School play, The Bald Soprano; and so much more. So, when you receive your call from either a student or a parent, please take a moment and speak to them.
If you would like to make your gift before the Phonathon, make a secure on-line Annual Fund gift now by clicking here. You also may return your gift envelope to Friends Select or contact the Development Office at (215) 561-5900, ext. 131.
If you have already made your gift this year, thank you on behalf of all the recipients of your generosity.
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