Newsletter: December 18, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Dear Pilgrim School Families, First Church Members, and Friends Near and Far,
This is my last e-letter for 2009, but there are more to come in 2010!
I want to begin by thanking parents, students, faculty and staff for a wonderful holiday program last Friday. Parents scrambled to get our pre-concert events out of the rain-filled forecourt and into the Barnum and Amanda Scott rooms, but no one would ever have guessed that it wasn’t planned that way! I cannot thank TAPPS enough for the hard work they put in to make our campus shine.
What a delight to see our students dance, sing and play instruments. It was a magical evening, and Santa’s surprise was such excellent news! We now have a quartet of Pilgrim School Vans to transport our students to field trips and athletic events safely (and in style!). Thank you also to all who brought food for Hope-Net; buckets were overflowing. Your generosity is appreciated.
Rev. Colglazier and I had the wonderful opportunity on Monday to take vanloads of gifts to Commonwealth Elementary School. When Rev. Colglazier announced that every student would receive a gift, I saw a fifth-grade boy pump his arm and say, “Yesss!” It was a privilege to catch his joy and enthusiasm. Thank you to our parents and First Church members who purchased items for our neighbors so that these children can also enjoy Christmas.
All are invited to a reception this Sunday, December 20, hosted by Rev. Colglazier at noon after the 11 a.m. service. It promises to be a special time for fellowship and Christmas cheer.
Christmas Eve services will be held on Thursday, December 24. The 5 p.m. service features carols, a special child-friendly sermon, with gifts from Rev. Colglazier for the children. All are cordially invited to participate in this beautiful service. I will be reading the Christmas Story, a Pilgrim family will light the candles, and I encourage you to attend. This service is one of the highlights of the year, and illustrates the connection we have with First Church. I look forward to seeing you there! There is also an 11 p.m. Candlelight Service of Lessons and Carols to which all are invited.
Our Elementary classes each “adopted” a charity this year, rather than exchanging in-class gifts. I am so impressed by our young philanthropists (and our teachers and parents who supported these programs)! http://www.youtube.com/pilgrimschool#p/a/u/0/HpyBPb7h9sg
Kindergarten students brought in new toys for "Toys for Tots" for children who might not receive presents this holiday season. Third grade donated unwrapped toys to New Horizons in Glendale. New Horizons helps under privileged families with day care and other support services. Mrs. Koller’s 4th Grade Class donated money to buy books for children at Little Wound Elementary School on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The poverty level there is said to exceed that of anywhere else in the nation. Additionally, this charity coincides with the 4th grade study of Native American cultures. And Grade 5 raised $275 for A Hope, a charity that works with Ethiopian orphanages that serve children with HIV and AIDS. Mrs. Lang has a friend who visits these orphanages a few times a year (he works for an airline so uses his flight privileges) and takes supplies and donations personally.
As always, I am deeply touched and impressed by the Pilgrim School community.
Students in K through High School return on January 4 for a special week of immersion in Japanese culture. “Golden Week” will include classes in oshi-e, sumi-e, calligraphy, anime and manga, taiko, ikebana, samurai culture and tea ceremony, karate, kendo, music, judo (taught by Mr. Grady), sushi making, kabuki and nihon buyo, origami, and introductory Japanese (taught by Miss Takahashi). Some of the teachers who will be sharing their expertise are Japanese Living National Treasures, so the quality of instruction will be incredible. We are excited about this new Pilgrim tradition, and grateful to grandparent Noritoshi Kanai for his generous donation, which makes this possible. Please note that chapel dress will not be necessary on that Monday.
The calendar year is almost over, and I wish each and every one of you a wonderful holiday season, and all the best for 2010.
With all best wishes,
Mark A. Brooks
Head of School
PS: I want to congratulate our Secondary students who are on the Headmaster’s List (3.75 GPA and above) and the Honor Roll (3.3 to 3.74 GPA). Their names are listed below.
DATES TO REMEMBER
Club Pilgrim is available for students in K through Grade 8 on the following days:
Monday, December 21
Tuesday, December 22
Wednesday, December 23
Monday December 28 – Wednesday, January 30
Preschool is open December 21 – 23, and reopens on January 4
January
Financial aid requests due; forms are on our website
January 4
School resumes
January 4 - 8
“Golden Week” for grades K-12
Monday, January 11
All-School Chapel
Tuesday, January 12
Tasty Tuesdays are inaugurated!
6 pm: Admissions Open House
Wednesday, January 13
7 pm: Pilgrim Book Group meeting, Secondary Library
Thursday, January 14
8 a.m.: Coffee and Conversation for Grades 10, 11 and 12
Monday, January 18
Martin Luther King Holiday: No School (pre – 12)
HEADMASTER’S LIST
Congratulations to our hard-working High School students who have earned GPAs of 3.75 or above:
12th Grade (A full 62% of the class is on the list!)
Gabriel Andreen
Dustin Aspiras
Nikki Barnston
David Cho
Jay Hyug Choi
Ki Lim Steven Choi
Amanda Hurtado-Harding
Yihong Jiang
Junghan Kim
Patricia Lee
Jia Hui Vivian Lin
Homer Mason
Christopher Park
Zachary Perry
Jacob Weber
Ryan Williams
11th Grade
Valentine Adell
Ja Yoon Jenny Choi
Kaiwen Liu
Reed Lovitt
Sun Joo Sophie Park
Camille Reyes-Gilpin
Clare Reyes-Gilpin
Andre Voloshin
Caroline Wade
Jing Ting Tillie Wu
Jingzhuo Angela Xu
10th Grade
Audrey Dalton
Cosmo Kelly
Nathaniel Nelson
8th Grade
Alec Palchikoff
Marina Pena
Christopher Yoon
7th Grade
Jacob Hamilton
Chloe Taylor
6th Grade
Juliet Kim
Jonathan Lee
Avery Lopez
Mujtahid Rahman
David Shin
Sydney Walton
HONOR ROLL
Honor Roll students have GPAs from 3.3 to 3.74:
12th Grade
Lili Arakaki
11th Grade
Jeffrey Bradshaw
Yihan Chen
Yilin Chen
Henry Downs
Christopher Han
Grej Pesjaka
Mingan Zhu
10th Grade
Chloe Chais
Ji Hye Choi
Samuel Kim
9th Grade
Joseph Casabar
Grace Cho
Ana Cisneros
Hong Jang
Eric Seo
James Stoppani
Yong Chang Jr. Yi
8th Grade
Andrew Kim
Gavin Somes
Robert Villagomez
Sofia Walton
7th Grade
Mae Humphreville
Harmony Streams
Michael Wong
6th Grade
John Gittens
Jake Gleiberman
Chaz Groves
Jason Hilaire
Xavier Orozco
Hanna Streimer
Jasmine Yang
ELEMENTARY ART NEWS
Art teacher Katrina Alexy writes:
“Looking for a COOL art activity over the holidays?
“Check out the snow-related art that's happening at KidSpace in Pasadena. You can make real snowmen with real snow in the Museum Courtyard! Art activities include ice texture painting, creating mini edible snowmen, writing wish cards for the new year and much more. No advance ticketing required. For more info:
http://www.kidspacemuseum.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index.
“As we near the holiday break, I want to wish you all a peaceful and joyful holiday. Take time to make a little art that celebrates the season. You can create collages from used Christmas wrapping, paint a starry winter night, color a snowman wearing the weirdest, craziest hat ever seen, make reindeer antlers from gift wrapping tubes, and so much more. See you next YEAR!”
LIBRARY NEWS
Mark Wednesday, January 13 on your calendar for the Pilgrim Parent Book Group. They are reading The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. Set in Seattle, it is the story of friendship between a Japanese girl, who is sent to an internment camp, and a Chinese boy. All parents are invited. Refreshments will be served, and future books to read and discuss will be decided.
SECONDARY NEWS
Secondary students Steven Choi, David Cho, Chris Park, Sophie Park and James Stoppani will all be participating in the Science Bowl competitions on Saturday January 16 for the mandatory practice round and Saturday February 27 for the real competition. Wish them the best!
TASTY TUESDAYS
On Tuesday, January 12, students from preschool through high school will receive a taste treat! The “Tasty Tuesday” committee is committed to sharing seasonal and organic treats to our students, every-other-Tuesday through the rest of the school year. The committee will prep the produce on Monday afternoons, and serve on Tuesdays at snack time. Thank you to TAPPS for the seed money for the program! If you would like to earn some delicious volunteer hours, please contact parent Vera Borges to sign up for a slot!
PRESCHOOL NEWS
The Preschool students have been busy learning how Christmas is celebrated around the world and the different cultural foods, songs and stories enjoyed during this time of the year. They enjoyed exploring the culture and family backgrounds within our community. Ms. Lee’s Junior Kindergarten Class made a beautiful Szopka with Mrs. Johnson (Astrid’s mom) and learned more about Poland. She brought in the base structure of Szopka, and the students enjoyed decorating it with colorful buttons, jewels, pompoms, ribbons, etc. She also shared Chopin music and babka (traditional polish bread) with us.
We had a special visit from Santa Claus. Each Junior Kindergarten student took a turn to sit on his lap and shared his or her Christmas wishes. Mr. Claus even brought in a sweet treat for us and shared a Christmas story.
Our Christmas Luncheon gathering is scheduled on Wednesday, December 23rd from 11-12. Ms. Alma is also hosting a Junior Kindergarten Art show on the same day in the preschool playground. If you have signed up to contribute items for the party, please bring them by 10:30 a.m. We thank all the parents for all of their hard work and dedication to their child(ren). You have done a wonderful job!!! We are excited to see what the New Year will bring. School will be closed from December 24th until January 1st. School resumes on Monday, January 4, 2010. We also thank all the parents who brought the lunch for all the teachers last Wednesday. Have a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year everyone!
