Introducing Manhattan Country School’s new website - www.manhattancountryschool.org!

More and more, we have come to rely on our website to tell our story, share what is happening, and highlight the unique qualities of MCS as a school. The new design incorporates feedback from parents, faculty and staff, and alumni about ways the website can be used to communicate within our community. We have worked hard to create a user-friendly website that we hope will be an informative, timely, and useful resource that represents our vibrant community.

New website features include:

*Homepage with latest blog updates, photo galleries, videos and social media
*Easier website navigation
*School calendar integrated into MCS website
*Online store with MCS logo gear from Land’s End apparel
*Online applications for prospective families

Check out www.manhattancountryschool.org and let us know what you think at siteteam@manhattancountryschool.org. We’ll continue to update the new website throughout the summer/fall and your feedback is appreciated.

PLEASE NOTE: This WordPress version of the MCS blog will not be updated in the future. Please visit the www.manhattancountryschool.org homepage for new updates as our blog is now integrated into the new website. Thank you! 

By Robert Berkman

Break out the Tablet

Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad math apps out there which are little more than electronic flash cards. At gottasolveit.blogspot.com you’ll find in-depth reviews of tablet based puzzles that will develop the grey matter in your child’s brain; there’s enough content there to entertain your child on a 37 hour road trip across the Amazon!

Read a Book

Attached to this newsletter is a reading list of general interest books featuring mathematical themes, including The Housekeeper and the Professor, a novel about a mathematician and his relationship with the woman who minds him, and her lonely son. The Man Who Counted is a wonderful collection of mathematical adventures, and for those who like biographies, In Code: A Mathematical Journey is the true story of Irish teenager Sarah Flannery who masters the art of cryptography.

Go to an Exhibit

The arts are a wonderful way to experience mathematics, whether you are looking at the beautiful geometric sculptures of Mark DiSevero on Governors Island, or the geometry laid out by Robert Smithson, Dan Flavin and Frank Stella at MOMA. Mathematics is out there, waiting for you to discover, appreciate and enjoy.

Watch a Video (?)

Violet Hart, a teen living out in the wilds of Long Island, calls herself a “recreational mathematician.” Her blog, www.vihart.com, features captivating (and quite silly) short films about everything from how to do a finger dance to the binary system, to a discourse on why she is against pi (the transcendental number, not the dessert). Great fun for the avant garde performer that lives within all of us.

Click here to read the MCS Summer Math Newsletter

The event began with a keynote speech by Debo Adegbile, an MCS alumnus and Interim President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. He spoke to students about the importance of data in his work as a civil rights lawyer, as well as the important role of the people who collect and interpret such data.

Afterward, parents, teachers and fellow classmates were invited to the fifth floor to speak with students about their data findings. Students created exhibits on various topics, including teen pregnancy, food waste, death penalty, youth homelessness, racial breakdown of women in political roles, and more.

View a photo slideshow from the Social Justice Data Fair.

Good Morning from the Catskills!

The 7-8s are having an amazing time at the farm. They are honing their frog-catching skills, exploring the landscape of the farmyard, and indulging in the joy of fresh milk, even fresher salad greens and homemade ice cream with milk from Milky Way (the cow).

Yesterday, we had a beautiful sun-filled afternoon and evening. Most of the kids were immediately drawn to the stream and enjoyed water play with a mix of caution and adventure. Some enjoyed shooting hoops with their friends, while others greeted the farm animals for the first time. By dinnertime, many of the kids were telling each other which cow was their favorite and why.

Today, the 7-8s are off to their first day of farm classes: textiles, cooking, nature and farming. They’re planting the oak saplings from the classroom in the woods, weaving a class rug, cooking cake and tacos for lunch and snack, and weeding around the broccoli plants. All of the children are getting properly dirty from a farm-experience filled with outdoor play and the real work of exploring the farm with their hands.

We will see you all tomorrow afternoon, with heads full of hay and stories so numerous that three more days at home won’t be enough time to hear it all.

Best,
Aimee, Claire and 21 new farmers

The 8-9s joined the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy with a catch and release fishing day! Students caught a variety of fish including striped bass and blackfish. They discovered the living estuary of the Hudson river, mussels and all. We had a great day, full of fish tales. – Lindsay Velazco

Click on each image for larger view.

During the 9-10s class trip to the MCS Farm, students were exploring nature on the MCS Farm, feeding cows and chickens, finding snakes, and jumping in the hay loft, cooking food, and so much more.

Baking was one of the workshops offered to students during the teach-in.

By Flannery Denny
7^th/8^th Grade Math Specialist

MCS celebrated its 45th anniversary on April 4th with our first-ever Teach-In. We started the day with a whole school assembly during which we sang and laughed, heard stories from founder Gus Trowbridge about the first years of the school, shared what each grade is thinking about with their curriculum, and honored a number of community members who have been working at MCS for more than 20 years (including three who have been here since the school started!). After the assembly, we split into small mixed-age workshop groups to attend workshops. We sang, discussed, cooked, created, explored, advocated, moved, and learned from parents, teachers, former parents, students, and friends of the community.  The Teach-In Committee would like to thank everyone for all of your hard work planning and executing this event. View a photo slideshow from the event.

Join us in the Music Room during these show times:

Today at 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 12 at 7 p.m.

The Mobile Unit to Promote Mathematical Thinking (Mü-Math, for short), is now in residence in Building 315 on Governors Island every weekend from now until September 30th from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Come try out three rooms filled with unique hands-on, minds-on activities that will stimulate your brain, entertain your kids, and even tickle your funny bone. Fun for ages five and up!

Contact Robert if you’d like to volunteer to help visitors learn about math. Governors Island is reachable by ferry from the old Staten Island Ferry Terminal in South Ferry. Vist www.mu-math.com for more information.

Manhattan Country School’s
Farm Outing Day 2012

is Saturday, June 16th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
All MCS friends, families, new families, and alumni are invited
to a community picnic at our 180-acre farm in Roxbury, N.Y.,
150 miles north-northwest of NYC in the Catskill Mountains.

Come to the Farm and celebrate MCS’s 45th year!
RSVP via Facebook

Lots of fun and food to enjoy:

Pizza from our pizza oven
Local beer
Homemade lemonade, iced tea and water
Pig Roast
Salads galore
Frito Pie
Hay Jump
Tours of the farm
Frog Pond
DJ
Relay races
Enjoy our farm’s own lamb, hamburger, eggs, milk, garlic, pickles, relish, lettuce, pesto, spinach, & pork.
Food and drinks are available at a reasonable cost. 

Don’t forget to bring:

Water shoes for being in the stream
A change of clothes
Kites
Frisbees
Balls

For an extended stay in the Catskills, visit www.margaretvillelodging.com

A chartered bus leaves from the school at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday morning. Call Lorraine Walton at (212) 348-0952 to reserve by Tuesday, June 12th. Cost: $35 per person and $120 for a family of four. Space is limited.

About the MCS Farm: The MCS Farm consists of 180 acres of meadows, pastures, woods and streams at the base of Plattekill Mountain. There is a three-story farmhouse, an attached greenhouse, an outdoor wood-burning oven, a large barn, nature lab, weather station, textiles studio, and sap house for producing maple syrup, a recreation building and a historic building, the Stone House, used for demonstrations of traditional woodstove cooking and conferences. On the farm there is livestock, including milking and beef cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens. Two large gardens provide vegetables consumed year round.

Dear MCS Community,

It’s hard to believe that the school year is coming to a close. I’m asking that all of you please check your homes for any library books. All books need to be returned by Wednesday, June 13th unless you have made other arrangements with me. I also wanted to take this time to thank the entire community for your support, book questions and chats, your generous donations, and general kindness. I do have the best job! The summer reading lists will soon be available on the blog, but if you need an e-mail copy, just send me a message at jfung@manhattancountryschool.org. Also, if you have any questions about books or the library, please feel free to contact me at that address.

Have a fantastic summer and happy reading!
Jay Fung
MCS Librarian

By Lindsay Velazco
Lower School Science Teacher

This school year has brought many changes, some have been years in the making. When I became Lower School science teacher, the 5-6s food study did not include homegrown food. Little by little the use of the rooftop garden grew. It wasn’t long before we found the parent-made wooden planters had been loved too long.

In addition, we had hopes to supply the kitchen with school-grown herbs and some vegetables. In coordination with numerous faculty and staff as well as parents and farm staff, I am proud to announce our rooftop garden has been completely made over. From six small planters, we have grown to 11 large, lightweight planters, an apple tree and a rain barrel. Currently, the garden has apples, sugar snap peas, corn, strawberries, apples, marigolds, summer squash, tomatoes, basil, soybeans, red kidney beans, potatoes, chives, parsley and milkweed for Fall caterpillars.

MCS parent, Jamie Evans graciously volunteered his time and resources to plan our rooftop garden makeover. He came with Delia Rollow, farm-based education intern (2010-11), to build the gorgeous table students use as a workspace. He has been a supporter of the garden project for more than two years. With heartfelt gratitude, we would like to thank Jamie for his work. Our garden makeover wouldn’t have happened without Jamie’s devotion to this project.

Delia also built a rain barrel to collect water for the garden. She salvaged the barrel and installed the hardware needed to make it useful for our garden. She also spent a Saturday with Jamie and I building the workspace table. We would like to thank her for her time and efforts. Anna Sobel’s 5-6s class (2010-2011) sold valentines they made to raise money for an apple tree. They were able to pay for a dwarf yellow delicious apple tree that has already begun its first apple crop. Thank you 6-7s, soon to be 7-8s!

Señorita Naomi and señorita Maria Tere have tolerated numerous interruptions to their class due to our garden work. Whether I tramp through their class with 20-pound bags of dirt, or with five 5-6s students in tow, or whether I’m shoveling dirt from bin to bin with a rapt audience of Upper School Spanish students, Maria Tere and Naomi  have suffered through my  distractions  for years. I appreciate their patience and cooperation, as well as the patience of the entire fifth floor.

George and Leonard have been an invaluable resource in hot summers as well as building structural questions. They have dragged our old enormous wooden planters away for disposal, and watered the garden over vacations and hot summer days. George also built storage/seating out of salvaged wood and milk crates for us! I appreciate their continued help taking care of our garden.

I would also like to thank Paul and Leonard, for their planting advice. They have graciously offered solutions to problems that have arisen, from organic aphid mitigation to ensuring the planters, full of wet soil, are lightweight enough to reposition.

Muchisimas gracias a Ana y Celia por cocinar la comida que los estudiantes traen del jardin!

While I leave MCS this year with a heavy heart, I am comforted to know that this garden will continue to be a long-lasting contribution to benefit the students of MCS for many years to come. Claire is well equipped to handle such a large garden as well as the numerous minutiae of maintaining it. I am happy to know that the people that make up the MCS community have built this garden, it is a treasured space. Without every person’s help, our garden wouldn’t be. Thank you all!

Photos by Lindsay Velazco

By Lynn Haroldson
Farm Textiles Teacher

This year’s 8th grade textiles are characterized by the wide variety of fiber media used in their creation. For their graduation projects in textiles, students on the fifth floor create a useful object from the MCS Farm’s wool using one of the media they have learned about in earlier years in my classes that have introduced them to spinning, dyeing, weaving and braiding.

In creating their project students may choose to weave fabric on the four-harness table or floor looms or on the eight-harness table loom. They may choose to make a basket, to knit their project or to make something with wet felting, needle felting or needlepoint.
If they choose to weave a strap with a card-threaded inkle loom as an exception they may use cotton, which works better on that type of loom. They may also mix media using, for example, a needle felted design on a woven piece or a braided strap on a loom-woven bag handle.

Students may work on their textiles project in 7th and 8th grade, but many who start in 7th grade end up making multiple projects. The graduation requirement is one of the few times in textiles class where individual creation is emphasized. Except for the graduation project and weaving on pocket looms, textiles class usually focuses on a joint product. My class is as much about cooperation and community as it is about fiber.

The four youngest classrooms at Manhattan Country School are some of the most sought-after placements for teachers-in-training at colleges such as Bank Street, Sarah Lawrence, City College, and others whose mission is to prepare educators who eventually teach in public or charter schools. Our interns and assistants generally stay for two years, working closely with teacher mentors of various age groups. They learn about themselves as educators, and about community building and teaching diverse students. They also bring contemporary research they are discussing in graduate courses to the faculty discussions at MCS. As Lower School Director, Mary Trowbridge oversees this program and has made the following four assistant teacher appointments for 2012-13.

Lesley Plimpton (4-5s). Lesley has a B.A. in Public Policy and Program in the Environment from the University of Michigan, and is a candidate for a M.S. in Early Childhood and Childhood General Education at Bank Street. She has completed placements in New York City at the Liberty School, Bank Street School for Children, Children’s Workshop School, and at The Common School in Amherst, MA. Lesley is fluent in Spanish as a result of her participation in The Quito Project.

Dawn Newman (5-6s). Dawn has a B.F.A. from Emerson College with a focus on drama and music, and is a candidate for an M.A. in the Art of Teaching Program at Sarah Lawrence College. Dawn is a graduate of MCS ’98, has been an intern and professional actor, singer, dancer with Sesame Street Live’s National Tour, Interactive Youth Theater with The Little Orchestra Society, and TheaterWorks USA. She chose to pursue education after three years of substitute teaching in MCS Lower School classrooms.

Nicole Joseph (6-7s). Nicole completed a B.A. in Liberal Studies at CUNY Medgar Evers College, and is a candidate for an M.S. in Science, Literacy, and Childhood General Education at Bank Street. She completed student teaching placements at Bronx Community Charter School (co-founded by Sasha Wilson, ’87) and in the 8-9s at MCS. She is also an affiliate of Facing History and Ourselves, Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, and NY Cares.

Paulo Arango Bermeo (7-8s). Paulo completed a B.A. in Languages and Linguistics and Education at Universidad de Narino-Pasto in Colombia, and an M.S. in Education in the Art of Teaching Program at Sarah Lawrence College. Paulo has been an assistant in the 6-7s at MCS, co-taught an environmental art workshop at the 45th anniversary Teach-In, and developed and implemented an extension of the bird study that is on display in the Living Room. He is also the recipient of a summer grant to serve as a volunteer at Camp Sunshine.

Please join us for the year-end breakfast and Parents’ Association celebration on Friday, June 8, 8:30 – 10 a.m. in the Music Room.

Schedule:

8:30 a.m. Breakfast
9 a.m. Directors’ Year-End Reflections

It’s easy to come up with a list of reasons to put the morning of June 8th on your calendar. Here are just a few…

* Gathering as a community of adults who are fully invested in children,

* Hearing Mary Trowbridge and Maiya Jackson’s insights into children as they reflect on a year’s worth of children’s development, progress, surprises and accomplishments,

* Acknowledging the many ways parents have engaged the 45th anniversary and thanking those who have fulfilled PA leadership roles.

Ending a school year well takes place in more than one meeting, in reality it’s a month-long flurry of activity. The final assembly (June 14) and Farm Outing Day (June 16) are like a coda on a symphony of final projects, progress reports and conferences, and a dizzying schedule of wrap-up meetings. The number of culminating events has grown significantly in recent years. Most are the result of purposeful decisions about how to do things in ways that are meaningful for children, or that build a deeper experience of our shared goals as a diverse community. We look forward to a good ending to a fulfilling year.

By Susan Harris
Afterschool Director

Students in the “All About Dogs” afterschool class are crazy about canines, and last month they visited a local veterinarian’s office.  It was a high point for these children who had spent semester learning about canine behavior, different breeds and appropriate human behavior around dogs.  The photos speak for themselves!

During the semester, a different dog and their owner would ride the elevator once a week to the third floor where a group of Lower School students eagerly awaited their arrival in the 6-7s room. Children gave verbal commands to the dogs, walked them on a leash, watched a doggie/owner dance routine, and observed a grooming session and brushed dogs’ fur – and teeth!

We thank Connie Formosa, class teacher, dog trainer and groomer, for sharing her knowledge and of love of dogs with MCS kids.

The Door is Open
By Ayla

I am so happy that we stand here today,
No longer distant people.

Thanks to the immigrants
We are a whole community,
Living as one.

I am so glad these immigrants,
Giving everything up,
Leaving everyone,
All worldly possessions,
To get these tickets,
To get to America,
With nothing but their dreams,
Ventured forwards into the path of unknown darkness.

Whether on a plane, boat, or sometimes stuck in a bucket,
One thing is for sure,
These are some of the bravest people
I have ever known.

These immigrants brought a change in history,
They mixed their blood with ours,
And now we have multi cultures,
Because the immigrants are our parents,
And the Americans are our parents.

Now that the immigrants have come,
Our religion is not just one same religion,
That has being going on and on,
Generation after generation.

Now when children ask their parents,
Grandparents or maybe even great-grandparents:
Where were you born?
Or where did you come from?
We will not just say America…

We will say
“I am from Mexico”
Or “I’m from Africa “
Or “I’m from Europe”
And these are your roots, too.

A bridge in the North Woods of Central Park where 7-8s students learn about nature.

Dear Friends, Parents and Colleagues,

On Friday, June 1st from 1-3 p.m., I hope you can join me for a talking and walking tour of my Master’s Project research, “Learning in Urban Outdoor Spaces.”

We will meet in the Living Room at 1 p.m. for an overview of the research and then walk through Central Park’s East Meadow and the North Woods as I talk about emergent and planned learning opportunities that the 7-8s’ students have experienced this year.

Bring stories of your childhood nature experiences or of your child’s learning this year as she/he moved through the 7-8s’ curriculum. Wear your walking shoes!

Here are two slideshows to whet your palate. See the 7-8s in action and some of their reflections:

• Learning at El Sitio Feliz
• Learning in the East Meadow

By the way, this will be a grown-ups only event. The 7-8s’ students will be busy in their weekly Friday Worktime in the classroom with Claire and Marina.

Hope to see you on Friday at 1 p.m. in the Living Room!

Aimee Østensen
7-8s Head Teacher

Daily activities are divided between sustainability and recreation at the MCS Farm in Roxbury, N.Y. MCS Farm Camp is open to students in the 9-10s class through the 8th grade. Enrollment is limited to 20 students who will be selected according to their expressed interest and their participation during school farm trips. A number of spaces at Farm Camp are available to MCS students at a reduced fee, based on a family’s financial circumstances. (Sliding-scale tuition applies to fees to make it affordable for all.)  If interested families can contact Chris for more info about the camp activities or Nancy about cost. There are a limited number of spaces during the first week of Farm Camp, from July 9 through July 15 for students who can only attend one week. Session fee: $4,200.

For more information, please contact MCS Farm Program Director John McDaniel at (607) 326-7049 or Business Manager Nancy Diekmann at (212) 348-0952.

Click here to download the application for MCS Farm Camp.

>> READ MORE:

• MCS Farm Camp Update: A Visit to Howe Caverns
• MCS Farm Camp Update: A Night on the Deck
• MCS Farm Camp Update: Rollerskating!
• MCS Farm Camp Update: The Farmers’ Museum

By Sarah Leibowits
4-5s Head Teacher

The 4-5s class hatched 10 ducklings as part of their study of changes in the physical world. The ducklings stayed with us for more than one week. During their stay, they went on home visits, were cuddled by 4-5s students and 
had their first swim in our water table. It was a great experience for all.

I said goodbye to 4-5s ducklings at the Windwood Farm in Clintondale, N.Y. They have a beautiful new home, which they share with the ducklings we hatched last year (now fully grown), guinea hens, chicken, geese turkeys and a pair of rabbits!

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Debo Adegbile

By Flannery Denny
7^th/8^th Grade Math Specialist

Parents are invited to attend the second annual MCS Social Justice Data Fair on Thursday, May 31st following the spring concert.

We will kick off the event in the Music Room at around 10:15 a.m. with a keynote address given by Debo P. Adegbile, MCS class of 1980.  Debo is currently the Interim President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., where he has served in various roles over the last decade.  In 2009, Debo successfully argued a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court which left in place a core provision of the historic Voting Rights Act following its Congressional reauthorization.  The Act is being employed by the U.S. Department of Justice as an important shield against the recent attack on voting rights. Debo will speak about the importance of data in his work as a civil rights lawyer, as well as the important role of the people who collect and interpret such data.

Parents are invited to an exhibit of student work on the fifth floor (11 a.m.) following the keynote. The exhibit will include:

• A big graph of the 7-8′s compost collection this year
• The 5th grade’s analysis of calculating gross domestic product for countries around the globe by applying three different methods.
• Individualized 6th grade graphs connected to their activism project on veterans
• 7th & 8th grade activism committee public service announcements on immigration
• Individualized 8th grade culminating research projects on renewable energy, teen pregnancy, homelessness, body image, birth control, abuse, the death penalty, human trafficking, food waste, and how closely our government representatives reflect the demographics of its constituency.

The 8-9s class visited our 180-acre working farm in the Catskills during the week of May 8th. View a slideshow to see students cooking, gardening, and greeting baby chicks at the MCS Farm.

On Saturday, 17 students from Manhattan Country School participated in a regional Model Congress at Packer Collegiate in Brooklyn. They competed against several independent schools to support bills they’ve been working on with the guidance of 5^th grade teacher Pinki Shah and Community Service teacher Jermaine Lloyd. MCS students have been involved in Model Congress for the past four years. They learn to debate, research and write their own bills and get to experience how change takes place in a democracy.

MCS teams argued the merits of a wide range of subjects:

• An act to grant citizenship to undocumented immigrants through medical research
• An act to ban Barbie dolls from public elementary schools
• An act to limit the amount of money that can be spent on or in support of a presidential campaign
• An act to give high school students, who come from a low income family with a grade point average between 3.0 and 4.0 to get a free college education
• An act to shut down social network websites during school hours for minors
• An act to justify warfare
• An act to lower the voting age to sixteen
• An act to ban saccharin that is used in diet soda and other sugarless products

MCS won three golden gavels, awarded to Altana (8th grade), Stefan (8th) and Naomi (6th). We had five honorary mentions awarded to Camrin (8th), Kai (8th), Mikah (8th), Isaiah (7th) and Oliver (6th). Of the 17 delegates, nine attended for the first time. And of those nine, two were honored (both 6th graders).

Of the eight bills our students wrote, two passed in their committees and one made it all the way through. That bill belonged to Altana and Camrin, who wrote: “An act to limit the amount of money that can be spent on or in support of a presidential campaign.”

“Feel free to congratulate the delegates as you see them. They worked very hard!” said Pinki.

Congratulations to Stefan, Altana, and Kai who have been with Model Congress since it began four years ago.

Full list of delegates:
8th: Stefan, Khalil, Mikah, Kai, Altana, Camrin
7th: Isaiah, Kevin, Jamal, and Savio
6th: India, Naomi, Oliver, Abraham, Evan, Atiya, and Camille

Other schools participating in this year’s Congress included Brearley, Chapin, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Foote, Hackley, Hewitt, Hudson, Little Red School House, Marymount, Packer Collegiate, St. Ann’s, St. Bernard’s, and Staten Island Academy.

Please join us for the year-end breakfast and Parents’ Association celebration on Friday, June 8, 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. in the Music Room.

Schedule:

8:30 a.m. Breakfast
9 a.m. Directors’ Year-End Reflections

It’s easy to come up with a list of reasons to put the morning of June 8th on your calendar. Here are just a few…

* Gathering as a community of adults who are fully invested in children,

* Hearing Mary Trowbridge and Maiya Jackson’s insights into children as they reflect on a year’s worth of children’s development, progress, surprises and accomplishments,

* Acknowledging the many ways parents have engaged the 45th anniversary and thanking those who have fulfilled PA leadership roles.

Ending a school year well takes place in more than one meeting, in reality it’s a month-long flurry of activity. The final assembly (June 14) and Farm Outing Day (June 16) are like a coda on a symphony of final projects, progress reports and conferences, and a dizzying schedule of wrap-up meetings. The number of culminating events has grown significantly in recent years. Most are the result of purposeful decisions about how to do things in ways that are meaningful for children, or that build a deeper experience of our shared goals as a diverse community. We look forward to a good ending to a fulfilling year.

Manhattan Country School’s
Farm Outing Day 2012

is Saturday, June 16th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
All MCS friends, families, new families, and alumni are invited
to a community picnic at our 180-acre farm in Roxbury, N.Y.,
150 miles north-northwest of NYC in the Catskill Mountains.

Come to the Farm and celebrate MCS’s 45th year!
RSVP via Facebook

Lots of fun and food to enjoy:

Pizza from our pizza oven
Local beer
Homemade lemonade, iced tea and water
Pig Roast
Salads galore
Frito Pie
Hay Jump
Tours of the farm
Frog Pond
DJ
Relay races
Enjoy our farm’s own lamb, hamburger, eggs, milk, garlic, pickles, relish, lettuce, pesto, spinach, & pork.
Food and drinks are available at a reasonable cost. 

Don’t forget to bring:

Water shoes for being in the stream
A change of clothes
Kites
Frisbees
Balls

For an extended stay in the Catskills, visit www.margaretvillelodging.com

A chartered bus leaves from the school at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday morning. Call Lorraine Walton at (212) 348-0952 to reserve by Tuesday, June 12th. Cost: $35 per person and $120 for a family of four. Space is limited.

About the MCS Farm: The MCS Farm consists of 180 acres of meadows, pastures, woods and streams at the base of Plattekill Mountain. There is a three-story farmhouse, an attached greenhouse, an outdoor wood-burning oven, a large barn, nature lab, weather station, textiles studio, and sap house for producing maple syrup, a recreation building and a historic building, the Stone House, used for demonstrations of traditional woodstove cooking and conferences. On the farm there is livestock, including milking and beef cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens. Two large gardens provide vegetables consumed year round.

Anna Sobel is expecting a baby next October and will be taking a one-year leave of absence from being 5-6s teacher. She will work part-time for MCS on writing and website projects.

We are delighted to welcome Marina Tan to a new role as the 5-6s teacher for one year. Marina is a familiar presence in the Lower School, working as an assistant with the 4-5s, 5-6s, 6-7s, and 7-8s since 2008. Marina is a graduate of The New School for Social Research and, like many other MCS teachers, she received her training at Bank Street College of Education. She has also taught at The Children’s Storefront School and Resurrection Episcopal Day School. Mary Trowbridge, Marina, and Anna have already begun planning. We are very pleased that this transition can support continuity at the same time that Marina’s interests, strengths and training in the arts can bring new highlights to the 5-6s’ program.

Lower School Science & Resource Teacher (4-5s through 8-9s)

Lindsay Velazco will be teaching at The Dalton School next September.

Claire Galya has accepted the Lower School Science and Resource Teacher position at MCS. She is a graduate of Brown University, Smith College, and Antioch University New England. She has been the Assistant Teacher in the 7-8s this year. She is looking forward to joining the 7-8s on their upcoming farm trip and building connections between the city and farm programs. She will join the staff of MCS City Camp, and work with students in the rooftop garden. Claire also has experience as an artisan baker, adventure counselor, teacher naturalist, organic farmer, and environmental education intern. She joined the Go Green Committee of faculty and staff and will pilot a new composting effort next fall. We are very pleased to welcome Claire into her new role at MCS.

Accompanist

In June, Ray Jones will retire as the accompanist for the Upper School chorus after 26 years. He has had a remarkable career as a choral accompanist for venerable New York choirs, as well as an artist, chess aficionado, and trader of stocks. MCS choral directors, students, faculty members and parents have been lucky to have had such a long relationship with this talented musician. Susan Harris’ profile of Ray will appear in the upcoming issue of the MCS Courtyard.

By Debbie Weiss
8-9s Head Teacher

Here are some highlights from our trip so far:

First, it didn’t rain at all today.  Even this morning the weather said that it would thunderstorm.  It was sunny and in the 60s for most of the day.  Free time highlights included many frog pond visits, playing with cats, building a stone castle by the stream, basketball games, and hikes.

In classes, the 8-9s spun their own ropes in textiles, planted broccoli and watched the annual sheep shearing in farming, made apple crisp, mashed potatoes, taco fixings, and pound cake in cooking, and saw orange spotted newts on a hike in nature class.  We hear rumors that the new baby chicks are being delivered tomorrow, which will be very exciting if that is true.

Last night we had a great costume party (pictured above.)  Tonight we had an 8-9s Olympics, which included events such as getting out of a human knot and spinning around a baseball bat five times and then trying to run straight. We look forward to the talent show tomorrow!

Thanks for all your great letters!

Dear MCS Community,

Big Night Out! is a thrilling evening any year, but MCS’ 45th anniversary celebration this past Saturday, May 5, was a historic gathering “thrilling” only partially describes. Some highlights from this year’s celebration include:

• Eloquent remarks from two inspiring honorees, Frank Roosevelt and Michele Hatchette. Click here to read more about the 2012 “Living the Dream” Mentor Award Honorees.

• The premiere of a new short film, MCS: 45 Years of Impact, produced by parents, Deb Levy (4-5s) and Lizzie Berne DeGear (5-6s). Click here to watch the film.

• Record turn-out of parents, alumni, and former trustees, parents, and staff. See photos from this year’s BNO. 

• Delicious food — including lamb, broccoli, carrots and radishes from MCS Farm — and desserts prepared by current MCS parents.

Thank you to all those in the community who attended or supported Big Night Out! We are profoundly grateful to this year’s event co-chairs and committee, and to everyone who played a role in the success of this important annual benefit.

We are profoundly grateful for your continued support and commitment.

Michèle Solá & Roxanne Elings

Photos by Corris Little and Chris SooHoo
Video produced by Deb Levy and Lizzie Berne DeGear

By Chris Guajardo

After meeting with New York representatives in Congress, we decided to try to meet with Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. We walked into his office and asked if we could speak with the congressman. The staffers told us that he was on the floor voting, but that we could wait until he got back and try to see him even though we didn’t have an appointment. Sure enough after he returned, he welcomed us into his office with open arms and took us out on the balcony for a beautiful photo with him.

Students were so excited to meet one of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement they studied in the sixth grade. Emma even pointed out to the congressman that they dedicated their sixth grade civil rights play in honor his leadership in the movement.

MORE INFORMATION

• Activism updates on the MCS blog
• Read the student-run Activism blog
• Support the Fifth Floor Activism Project

By Kristen Lee Berger

In Emma and Altana’s fundraising letter for the activism trip they wrote that the project was the culmination of all that they had learned at MCS about social justice and activism. In many ways, there are parallels with this Farm trip – it is a shining example of how they have learned to be with one another. It’s fun to watch them in different groupings throughout the day, floating freely between different friends and different activities, enjoying each other’s company. There is of course some conflict as emotions run high, but it has been kept to a minimum as they all agree that this trip is to be fun and focused on togetherness. They have gone on hikes, played Twister, swung on the swing, and played in the stream. The mural has been steadily moving toward completion, with compromises and collaboration at the center of its production.  They are happy and enjoying their experience with the appropriate amount of nostalgia and reminiscing but also an appreciation for the present and a look toward the future.

During work times, the 8th graders have been focused and productive and they help each other memorize play lines and complete Flannery’s substantial trigonometry packet. After delicious dinners of Farm favorites such as pizza and sesame noodles, we have spent quite a bit of our evening activities time running around, playing manhunt, ghosts in the graveyard, and sardines. Last night, we had an extensive talent show, featuring Magic Brad, videos with special effects from Stefan and Mikah, and musical numbers that spanned multiple genres and levels of political correctness. For William’s talent, he fell out of a chair – it was a hit (and he was not injured!) Finally, Altana and Kai read a beautiful poem they wrote about the 8th graders that you should all insist on reading at some point.

Yesterday was Becca’s birthday and an extensively decorated cake was prepared and songs sung in her honor. The 8th graders are looking forward to today’s special activities including a walk to town, the final bonfire, and barn night but they are not wishing it to come too quickly as it will signal the end of their time at the Farm and we’re not quite ready for that yet.

Hope all is well in the city!

Our 2012 Big Night Out! Auction is open!
Place your bids now to support MCS!

There are amazing items you can win! Prizes include tickets to the U.S. Open, vacations to Antigua and Mexico, cooking classes, a private concert in your home, Yankees, Rangers hockey tickets, and more. All proceeds go to support Manhattan Country School.

You’ll have your final chance to bid the night of BNO! on May 5th!

• Click here to purchase tickets to Big Night Out!
• View all auction items.

You’re invited to BIG NIGHT OUT!
to benefit MCS on Saturday, May 5, 2012 from 6:30 – 10:30 p.m.
at The Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street

Cocktails Dinner Dancing Auction
Special MCS Video Alumni Hall of Fame
featuring Latin Jazz by Folklore Urbano

2012 “Living the Dream” Mentor Award Honorees

Michele Hatchette ’01
Director of Multicultural Affairs, Westminster School
Co-founder, Harlem Seeds

Frank Roosevelt
Teaching Faculty in Economics, Sarah Lawrence College 1977–2011
MCS Trustee 1970–2010

CLICK HERE to buy tickets.

On Thursday, March 15^th, the 8^th grade woke up bright and early and traveled to 25^th Street and 8^th Avenue in Chelsea to watch a live taping of Democracy Now! Democracy Now! is an independent radio and television news program that attempts to provide its viewers and listeners with an alternative perspective from mainstream media sources.

Our experience at Democracy Now! began with juice and pastries and a tour of the control room. We were able to meet some of the people that work behind the scenes during the broadcast, including the sound editor, the teleprompter manager, and the graphics coordinator.  While in the control room, we learned that Democracy Now! purposefully films its anchors in front of the control room so that viewers can see the many people who contribute to the show. This was just one of many ways the show highlights its group effort.

After our tour, we sat and watched the hour long broadcast. We were able to sit right outside the filming area and watch anchors Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez at work. They even let us wave hello to viewers!

After the show, Simin Farkhondeh, Democracy Now!’s education coordinator, led a discussion about what we had seen. The 8^th graders were impressed with the depth of the stories, that the program provided multiple perspectives on each story, and that the anchors allowed guests and interviewees to speak for themselves, without interruption. They were also surprised that many of the stories had not been covered in other news sources that they or their parents read – for example, many 8h graders did not know that the U.S. had a hand in keeping a Yemeni reporter imprisoned because he spoke out against the American military.  We learned that part of the reason that Democracy Now! is able to cover stories that criticize U.S. policy and to provide many different perspectives about each story is that Democracy Now! is mostly funded by its viewers and does not have commercials. They see this as a way to maintain their independence.

After de-briefing with Simin, while we toured the studio (and got to sit in the anchor seats!), we ran into Amy Goodman.  She quizzed the 8^th graders about current events and told stories about students like them who used an opportunity to meet President Bush to tell him that they disagreed with his policy on Iraq. This inspired our 8^th graders to use their voices, a perfect message to hear only weeks before the activism lobbying trip to DC.

After we thanked Simin and Amy, we went to brunch at the Moonstruck Diner and headed back to school for electives. It was a long, but exciting, day continuing our education about media bias and about the role of the U.S. in the world.

Manhattan Country School’s
Farm Outing Day 2012

is Saturday, June 16th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
All MCS friends, families, new families, and alumni are invited
to a community picnic at our 180-acre farm in Roxbury, N.Y.,
150 miles north-northwest of NYC in the Catskill Mountains.

Come to the Farm and celebrate MCS’s 45th year!
RSVP via Facebook

Lots of fun and food to enjoy:

Pizza from our pizza oven
Local beer
Homemade lemonade, iced tea and water
Pig Roast
Salads galore
Frito Pie
Hay Jump
Tours of the farm
Frog Pond
DJ
Relay races
Enjoy our farm’s own lamb, hamburger, eggs, milk, garlic, pickles, relish, lettuce, pesto, spinach, & pork.
Food and drinks are available at a reasonable cost. 

Don’t forget to bring:

Water shoes for being in the stream
A change of clothes
Instruments
Kites
Frisbees
Balls

For an extended stay in the Catskills, visit www.margaretvillelodging.com

A chartered bus leaves from the school at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday morning. Call Lorraine Walton at (212) 348-0952 to reserve by Tuesday, June 12th. Cost: $35 per person and $120 for a family of four. Space is limited.

About the MCS Farm: The MCS Farm consists of 180 acres of meadows, pastures, woods and streams at the base of Plattekill Mountain. There is a three-story farmhouse, an attached greenhouse, an outdoor wood-burning oven, a large barn, nature lab, weather station, textiles studio, and sap house for producing maple syrup, a recreation building and a historic building, the Stone House, used for demonstrations of traditional woodstove cooking and conferences. On the farm there is livestock, including milking and beef cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens. Two large gardens provide vegetables consumed year round.

From left: Kai and Rebecca pose with their award for their websites on history and Broadway.

By Kristen Lee Berger
7th/8th Grade History Teacher 

This year, 8^th graders, as part of their Computer/History Seminar class participated in New York City History Day. NYC History Day is a subsidiary of National History Day, a history competition whereby:

“Students conduct extensive primary and secondary research through libraries, archives, museums, oral history interviews, and historic sites. After analyzing and interpreting their sources and drawing conclusions about their topics’ significance in history, students present their work in the format of an original paper, website, exhibit, performance or documentary.”

For several months in Computer/History Seminar, the 8th graders been worked in pairs or small groups to create websites for New York City History Day.  Their interpretations on this year’s annual theme – Revolutions, Reactions, and Reforms — ranged from the history of graffiti art to Jacob Riis as a key reformer of the Progressive Era. On February 1st the 8th graders evaluated each other’s work and voted on the top websites in their class that were then submitted to NYC History Day competition (there is a cap of 3 entries per school).

The three websites that MCS submitted to the city-wide competition were:

The American Reaction to the Haitian Revolution (Emma, Oni, and Camrin) – 53866006.nhd.weebly.com

How the Microscope Revolutionized Biology (Stefan and Khalil) – 6593915.nhd.weebly.com (no longer available)

“No Day but Today”: Broadway and History (Kai and Rebecca) – 30522702.nhd.weebly.com

On Sunday March 11^th, the official competition took place at the Museum of the City of New York. Each group of students was interviewed by teachers and historians who evaluated their websites for their historical quality, relationship to the theme, and clarity of presentation.

Rebecca and Kai’s website about Broadway and History was selected as the third place winner for their category — Junior Division Group Websites. While only the top two finishers in each category advanced to the state competition, all 8^th graders who created History Day websites learned a lot about creating an argument in a visual form and working with primary sources.

Next Parents’ Association Meeting

Tuesday, April 24^th from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Child care provided!

Paul Williams, MCS Technology Instructor and IT Manager &
Joey Brenneman, Sexuality Educator
will lead us in a discussion on
“Media, Connectivity and Our Kids”

 As we encounter increasing levels of digital connectivity in our lives, it is important to keep in mind that our children have never experienced the world in any other way. Beneath their technological savvy, they still have the same issues of adolescence we have all experienced. They have the same questions, the same concerns, and the same insecurities of that age group. They still look to the adults in their lives for guidance and help. Our children need us to provide boundaries, help them keep things in perspective and to better understand the world. How can we help them manage their online identities and make good decisions about how to move through this hyper-connected world? How do we do this in a way that keeps them safe, fosters independence, and remains true to the values of our families and our community?  We will explore the ways in which media and technology have shifted the dynamics of family interactions and are changing the way our children communicate with their peers and with the rest of the world.

We hope you to see you there,
Jennifer Morgan and Liam Pleven
PA Co-Presidents

Our 2012 Big Night Out! Auction opens for bidding this Friday, April 20, 2012 at 8 a.m.  

We’ll be adding new items to our auction for you to preview as Friday approaches. Feel free to place a Watch on your favorites so that you’ll know as soon as bidding begins!
You’ll have your final chance to bid the night of BNO! on May 5th! 

• Click here to purchase tickets to Big Night Out!
• View all auction items.

By John McDaniel
MCS Farm Program Director 

On their spring Farm trip a few 7the grade students took a field trip to Blenheim Hill Farm located near Roxbury, NY. Blenheim Hill was created to supply fresh produce, beef, pork and eggs to Smorgas Chef, which operates three restaurants in Manhattan. While there we toured their state of the art hydroponics greenhouse. The kids learned from Alex, the greenhouse manager how their salad greens, tomatoes, kale, and Swiss chard are grown without soil. The students also had the opportunity to meet Boris, the farms’ six hundred pound boar pig.

For more information on Smorgas Chef and Blenheim Hill Farm go to www.smorgas.com and www.blenheimhillfarm.com

Photos by John McDaniel

By Laura Swindler

The 6-7s were excited to return to Yorkville Common Pantry.  Many of them remembered visiting the pantry when they were in the 5-6s class.  Debbie Weiss, 8-9s Head Teacher, helps to organize visits for interested classes.  The 6-7s are in the final stages of writing grants for the money we raised through our Common Cents Penny Harvest.  Common Cents has allotted us $400 to make a difference in our neighborhood community.  On our visit we learned more about the pantry’s work to help people meet their needs.  We learned that they provide groceries for 1,300 families each week.  We were then able to help bag apples so that they were ready for pick up.  The 6-7s also dropped off some baby clothes as a donation.  Look online at www.ycp.org to see how you can volunteer or donate necessary items to this great community resource.

MCS fifth graders and teachers Pinki Shah and Chris Guajardo visited our 180-acre working farm in the Catskills during the week of March 19th. View a slideshow to see students learning, growing, and playing at the MCS Farm.

Photos by John McDaniel

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By Aimee Arandia Østensen
7-8s Head Teacher

Our book drive for the Union Settlement pre-school was a huge success.  Thank you for all of your donations. We have had a relationship with Union Settlement since the fall through our use of their community garden, El Sítio Felíz.

In October and November, our work centered around composting plant litter and planting empty garden beds with a cover crop of winter rye. It was a thrill this week to return to these beds after the winter and to see our rye flourishing.  This coming week, we will go back to the garden to harvest the rye for Jeffrey, the rabbit in the 4-5s classroom and to prepare the garden beds for spring planting.

Now, our relationship with this East Harlem community center has taken on a new dimension through a reading buddy program with one preschool class. It was impressive to see our 7- and 8-year-olds taken on the role of the older mentors in a reading buddy relationship. They were caring, responsive, encouraging, and skilled readers and caregivers for our 2- and 3-year-old partners. I think that a number of our 7-8s students were surprised to see how much they have learned about books and reading since they were preschoolers.

The Union Settlement teachers were so thrilled with this new community connection that they immediately invited our children back to read with their students three more times this spring! While we are not likely to be able to schedule that many more reading buddy times, we will definitely return one more time in April for another round of book sharing.  So, if you rummage up more books that a preschooler would enjoy, please send it our way. We will reach out to other classes at MCS for this second book drive.

Daily activities are divided between sustainability and recreation at the MCS Farm in Roxbury, N.Y. MCS Farm Camp is open to students in the 9-10s class through the 8th grade. Enrollment is limited to 20 students who will be selected according to their expressed interest and their participation during school farm trips. A number of spaces at Farm Camp are available to MCS students at a reduced fee, based on a family’s financial circumstances. There are a limited number of spaces during the first week of Farm Camp, from July 9 through July 15 for students who can only attend one week. Session fee: $4,200.

Click here to download the application for MCS Farm Camp.

By Maiya Jackson
Upper School Director 

We are having an amazing time in Washington!

We arrived on Tuesday after a long bus ride, but instead of getting settled in our rooms, we had to rush off to make our appointment for a tour of the Capitol.  Rachel Sussman, former MCS history teacher, has a connection in Senator Max Baucus’ (D-MT) office, so his staff graciously offered to host us for a tour.  We tried our very best to make it on time, but after dropping off luggage, navigating the Metro, and passing through security, it proved impossible.  We were disappointed about missing the tour, until they offered to take us to see the Senate in session instead!  We even got to ride the secret subway underneath the Capitol, which your children will tell you all about, since it was the highlight of the day for many of them.  While we were in the Senate Chamber, we saw Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) arguing before a committee.  We also learned a little about the Capitol building and how to get a job in a Senator’s office.

After a photo shoot and a walk in the sun, we headed off to Ben’s Chili Bowl, a DC institution, for dinner.  Our feast included unlimited French fries with chili and cheese sauces and then chili or half smokes or burgers.  We learned about the history of Ben’s and its connection to the African-American community.  Many students noticed familiar faces on the walls in their paintings and photographs, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and President Barack Obama.

Adam’s Inn Bed and Breakfast is quaint and quiet, and we’re trying to be quiet, too!  We end each day with some time in our cohort groups to reflect on the day’s events and then a little quiet time before bed.

On Wednesday, we started in the morning with breakfast at Adam’s Inn and then went to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) building to meet with Voto Latino.  This organization aims to increase the number of Latino voters, primarily focusing on those ages 18-35.  They use a variety of social media tools, as well as support from celebrities, to encourage people to vote.  At the beginning of their presentation, we learned interesting statistics about the growing population of Latinos in the U.S. and their potential power in the ballot box.  Then we talked about how to tell a convincing story, beginning with how an issue affects you personally, then how it affects your community, then what you are going to do to make change.  We concluded by breaking into small groups and filming short public service announcements to support the DREAM Act.  Maybe our work will be on the Voto Latino website someday!

We had a delicious lunch from the food trucks in Farragut Square, with meals ranging from fish tacos to teriyaki chicken to burritos to Ethiopian.  A gourmet popcorn truck was a big hit, as was the frozen yogurt place across the street.  After a brief break at home to meet with our lobbying groups, we went out for a monument scavenger hunt.  Each group tried to answer trivia questions about the monuments, such as “Name two of the eight columns from the World War II memorial that have places engraved in them that are not part of the United States.”  The hunt was fun but exhausting, and we ended at the new Martin Luther King Memorial with barely enough energy to take a group picture.

We ended the night with dinner at Hard Rock Café and a tiny bit of park time.  And now we’re all in bed getting a good night’s sleep before Lobby Day on Thursday.  A couple of groups are assigned to representatives who have voted against the DREAM Act, and they are super excited to try to change their minds.  We will also be asking those who support the DREAM Act to be leaders in this cause.  We are all looking forward to the experience!

MORE INFORMATION

• Activism updates on the MCS blog
• Read the student-run Activism blog
• Support the Fifth Floor Activism Project

This project is an exploration of our immigrant roots and their connection to our activism project this year. How is it that a country built by immigrants has such a negative sentiment towards immigrants today? Is it not the same? The search for a new life and more opportunities? How can we forget our history? The eighth grade students, under Señorita Naomi’s guidance, considered and answered these questions (and many more) and here are the results.

Thank you,
Señorita Naomi Raquel Enright
Khalil, Stefan, Bradley, Camrin, Mikah, Cara, Altana, HG, Oni, Sophie,
Cara, Becca, Emma, James, Kyle, Rebecca, William, Kai

Este proyecto es una exploración de nuestras raíces de inmigrante y su conexión a nuestro proyecto de Activismo este año. ¿Cómo es que un país construido por inmigrantes puede tener un sentimiento tan negativo hacia los inmigrantes actuales? ¿No es igual? ¿La búsqueda de una nueva vida y más oportunidades? ¿Cómo podemos olvidarnos de nuestra historia? Los estudiantes del 8° grado, bajo la dirección de la Señorita Naomi, consideraron y contestaron estas preguntas (y muchos más) y he aquí los resultados.

Gracias,
Señorita Naomi Raquel Enright
Khalil, Stefan, Bradley, Camrin, Mikah, Cara, Altana, HG, Oni, Sophie,
Cara, Becca, Emma, James, Kyle, Rebecca, William, Kai

Each year, the seventh and eighth grades plan a weeklong engaged citizenship project in connection with their social studies curriculum. In recent years they traveled to Mississippi to work with children after Hurricane Katrina; helped renovate buildings at a camp for children with terminal illnesses; and participated in a “Teach In” in West Virginia while learning from activists who protest mountaintop removal and coal mining. Research, debate, writing, fundraising and budgeting are part of the preliminary work that makes these projects substantial learning experiences.

“Activism means fighting for your beliefs and against social injustice throughout the world. Through our Activism Project, we apply what Manhattan Country School has taught us about standing up for civil rights and environmental justice,” a student said.

These students will lobby for the DREAM Act, which provides a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who have lived in the country for more than five years and have completed two years of college or two years of military service. While the DREAM Act does not apply to all youth immigrants, passing this bill would be a major step in our fight. In addition, students will meet with representatives from Voto Latino to learn about, and participate in, grassroots activism in support of youth immigrants. Together we will show the nation that this issue cannot be ignored anymore.

Manhattan Country School teaches students to know about the world they live in and to play an active role in making it better. Students are cultivated to be agents of change, who bring passion, perspective and intellect to solve the world’s problems.

MORE INFORMATION

• Activism updates on the MCS blog
• Read the student-run Activism blog
• Support the Fifth Floor Activism Project

On March 14th, eighth graders did what many adults do every morning — they headed off to work. Some students took the subway or walked, while others experienced a commute by car to New Jersey. Once they arrived at their destinations, it was time to learn about their chosen career from a mentor.

Mentor Day is an annual tradition at Manhattan Country School. It allows for students to spend a few hours at the workplaces of alumni and friends of the MCS community. Mentors expose students to their own professions; give a sense of what they do, share personal experiences and help the students to make informed career decisions.

This year, the following MCS alumni, parents, trustees, and friends generously shared their expertise as mentors in the following career categories:

• Acting: Alan Altschuler, MCS Parent and Trustee
• Psychology: Dr. Elizabeth Berger
• Music: Ezra Gale ’85 and Marika Hughes ‘85
• Animal Medical Care: Erika Gibson ’86
• Midwifery: Rochelle Lipshutz
• Filmmaking: Anastas Michos
• Journalism: Gabe Miller ’71
• Art: Paulo Rivera
• Website Development: Elin Waring, MCS Parent and Trustee

The eighth graders were split into groups based on their own career interests. Here are some of their reflections on Mentor Day:

Cara E. hoped to learn how to travel by herself on Mentor Day. “I got to walk through the park!” Also, she found it really interesting that her mentor, Dr. Elizabeth Berger, is the mother-in-law of Kristen Berger, our history teacher. “It was funny because everywhere I looked there were photos of Kristen. I loved the match. She was very interesting and unexpected.”

It was a thrill for Bradley to meet Elin Waring, a web guru and former president of Open Source Matters. “Everyone should look forward to Mentor Day because it’s awesome! I learned about coding and website design. I thought it was the perfect match.”

Jamie met Paulo Rivera, a Marvel Comics-exclusive artist, and became interested in the illustrating process of comic books. “I’m interested in the arts and never thought about comic books. I learned about anatomy and how it’s applied in comic arts. Also, it was awesome to see the originals that he made.”

Mikah, William, Cara J. and Becca recorded a song and talked shop with musicians Ezra Gale and Marika Hughes. Becca said, “being a musician is really fun and can be managed if you discipline yourself.” Cara J. and William enjoyed the experience of meeting professionals in the music industry and Mikah discovered that “creating music doesn’t just pop into your mind, you need patience.”

HG and Rebecca shadowed Gabe Miller, a copy chief at Sports Illustrated, and gushed about their visit to their classmates. “He asked us about MCS, told us about what it was like when he was here, and how it made him a different person.” Rebecca added, “his job is so cool! And HG went in an elevator — up 31 floors!” HG urged upcoming eighth graders to “choose something interesting” for Mentor Day. “I had a great time!”

Budding filmmaker Stefan was excited to spend the morning with cinematographer Anastas Michos. “I visited Technicolor and Panavision, two major film companies, and finally got to study more in-depth technology,” he said.

Khalil, Camrin, Oni, Altana visited an animal hospital in New Jersey with Erika Gibson, a veterinary neurologist. “I learned how animals are treated and how humans can help them. I also learned a lot about animal surgery,” Oni said. Getting a better understanding of the various jobs at the hospital was important to Camrin. “I learned what the jobs of a neurologist, cardiologist and oncologist involve and require as well as how surgery on animals are performed. I loved going there! It was informational and educational.”

Kyle, Sophie and Kai toured two theater spaces with Alan Altschuler, who is currently starring in a “Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the West End Theater.

Kai realized “theater is a hard business to crack into, but it’s worthwhile. I gained a new first-person perspective and the inside secrets.” Sophie hoped to understand the “struggles of being an actor and how you work with those struggles.” Kyle saw a different side of acting. “It was more realistic. I learned it’s competitive and met someone else in acting other than my grandmother.”

In the afternoon, they all returned to MCS for a pizza party hosted by Upper School Director Maiya Jackson and Communications Coordinator Corris Little. Students also wrote letters of thanks to their mentors. When asked what advice they’d give to the upcoming 8^th grade class, there were a variety of answers. “Keep an open mind. … Be open to who you get. … Cherish and keep with you the things that you learn while you’re here, especially if it relates to what kind of job you want to do in your life. … Trust your teachers when they say that mentor day is awesome!”

A very special thanks to Flannery, Maiya, Akemi, Corris, the mentors and everyone who helped make Mentor Day educational and inspiring.

To host an MCS student on Mentor Day 2013, please contact Corris Little, Communications Coordinator, at clittle@manhattancountryschool.org