TTA at Community School Blog

Monday, August 12, 2013

Welcome Weixia, Oliver, Caitlin, and Annie! Melanie, welcome back!!! What an impressive group of interns! Thoughtful, articulate, funny, and love Green Team already. Community School welcomes you to become part of our family. We will inundate you with an overflow of information about your life at Community School as an intern for the next two weeks. Your life will be very busy and full of joy!

Today Ben spoke about our guiding principles. Which guiding principle spoke to you the most? Why? Have you ever had an educational experience that was or wasn't an example of one of these principles? What do you remember about it? How did it affect you?

Long ago, in a galaxy far away, there was an elementary school named Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Oklahoma City. In a first grade classroom, a young towheaded Nancy sat in her reading circle. I remember sitting on a HARD chair and swinging my feet because they didn't touch the ground. I also remember my first grade teacher, Miss Hoefackett. She was a large woman with massive hands and feet. She had cat eye glasses that she wore on a chain around her neck. She was a no-nonsense, get-to-work child terrorizer, in my book. I know you won't believe it, but I loved to talk to my friends in class. Apparently, I loved to talk even in reading circles which, according to Miss Hoefackett was some kind of grievous sin. In the midst of my chatting (instead of reading or listening), I felt a stinging slap on my skinny, white calves from the large Hoefackett palm descending swiftly across the circle. Crushed and mortified, I hung my bright red face, tried to look at my book and act as if I were reading, and cried. That was one reason that I didn't like reading circles for a long, long time. That is also one reason why principle four sings to me.

Principle four of a Community School Education:

(4) We provide intimate learning environments, defined by small classes, informality, close faculty-student relationships, respect and compassion toward others, tolerance of difference, collaborative learning, and classroom participation. We aim to meet students where they are, intellectually and developmentally, and to nurture intellectual, emotional and moral development.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Hellooooooo 2013-2014!

Summer is ~~coming to an end~~ over, which can only mean....

New Interns!

NPB, JS, and I have been working hard to prepare for this year's round of interns. We are still working on a name for them since they can't be 'Pioneers'. Any suggestions? Maybe, Frontiersman? That would be pretty comical since we have a team of four females and one male! Anyway, the name is in progress.

We have an exciting Orientation planned, about ten days worth! Interns will be learning everything they need to know from our CS school mission to weekend activity planning and blogging 101. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Idaho

Well, February is gone. That's terrifying.

All is going well on the dorm front. Admissions is the busiest we've been all year. From reviewing applications to granting financial aid - we haven't been bored!

Luckily, I've budgeted time for some fun Idaho firsts. It was my first time on skis, yurt trip, on a snow mobile, boiling snow for water, playing hockey and addition of a new my family member.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

February -Month of LOVE

Well I can't believe it is already February! Where has the time gone? I feel like it should be November- though I'm glad we are a little closer to Spring and warmer weather =)

Life has definitely been eventful in the Valley of the Sun. I'm in 3rd grade full time now and loving it! I miss those kindergarteners and it is always fun to see them at recess or walking through the halls. I've also been sending them mail once in a while, just to make sure they can't forget about me ;)
The Residence Hall has been bustling with kids- it seems strange to have everyone home at the same time for a few days since the skiers have been traveling so much. They had a competition at home last weekend and all did really well! It was great to see them do so great at home and was good for them to show us that all their hard work is paying off!
Also big news in the dorm --we have a new intern-- Melanie Palmer who attended the College of Idaho with me. It has been so much fun to have her in the program.
Honestly...it's been a lot of girl time with Melanie and Team Sarah. I'm talking smoothies, magical potato soup, long walks on the freezing cold bike path, a day trip to Stanley, and HOT SPRINGS! And probably the most important, Coyote Muffins. I'm not going to talk about them any more in the blog; you have to come to the dorm on a Saturday or Sunday morning to be let in on this secret recipe. (by morning I mean no earlier than 9:30a.m.)
So anyway- Welcome Melanie and Happy February to all y'all!

Here are some pictures from our trip to Stanley. What fun!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

"Interns" a documentary.

Here is a documentary style video created by CS SVSA Senior Chris Nalen on the topic of the TTA internship program. The documentary features Hannah Mangham, Sarah Thompson, and Connor Wade!

"Interns" by Christopher Nalen from Community School on Vimeo.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Just a lovely snapshot from the valley...it may be cold (in the negatives!) but the sun is wonderful. The ski racing season is well underway, and our athletes are traveling the U.S...and even Europe! I've gotten to go on two trips so far with them (and am currently writing from Schweitzer, ID in the panhandle of the state) which have been really great. It's so fun seeing them race, and just chillin' afterwards. Going to these ski races brings back so many memories of my own races at these same mountains, and it's so cool to be on the other side of it and see it from a whole new perspective.