The First Day School’s Corner of the World: April 2023
RE Coordinator Charlotta Koppanyi
Let’s hope April brings some warmer weather… We start off the month with Birthday Sunday, followed by Easter Sunday with the Annual Easter Egg Hunt and Potluck hosted by House & Grounds. For Pancake Breakfast on April 16, Emma will step in with the team – let’s see what kind of yummy pancakes she will make us! Saturday, April 22 is Earth Day and a great weekend to practice the last letter in SPICES – Stewardship of our Earth and Nature!
In Middle School we had two guest teachers in March, Carolyn A. who spoke about Quakerism, how Quakers are perceived by others – and the peace testimony and Carol M. who talked about the history of the Quaker symbol, the Light. Needless to say, they had a great time and will come back! I was also reminded about the “Quaker Talk” on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/@Quakerspeak , which consists of short videos where Quakers share and talk about different aspects and topics of Quakerism.
For the first April class, Clayton D., will share basic knowledge of the foundation of philosophy in order to understand the faith, values, and philosophy of Quakers with the Middle Schoolers. Clayton is a returning guest teacher as requested by our students!
May will have two guest teachers and one intergenerational, all ages, class. More about that in the May newsletter. What a great way of creating intergenerational, educational, friendly programs where we have the opportunity to get to know each other, share with and learn from each other, and building a stronger Friends community. A big “Thank You” to all our guest teachers – past, present and future!
Intermediate students and Steve and the Primary class, with Liz as our Story Teller, will continue to follow their schedule. Camille, who is joining us on Sundays until mid-May, will be assisting in our classes. Norma and Raphael will as always be with our youngest friends!
Last Sunday Camille and I had a joint class with our Primary and Intermediate students and instead of reading a story, we created our own story on being a friend at EFM, which included objects (see picture). The plan is to share the story with EFM, just not sure when yet…Summarizing the content would be a focus on community and love, sharing stores and our love for nature. Just as the picture illustrates.
Another joint class is our Easter Sunday class on April 9. We have a call in for the Easter Bunny for our Annual Easter Egg Hunt in our yard, preceded by An Easter Story for Friends for all students, except for Middle School students who will prepare for the Annual Easter Egg Hunt under the guidance of the Easter Bunny. Liz and Steve will both be off from teaching on Easter Sunday while Camille and I will take on the Story Teller and Door Keeper roles.
One Sunday I had the opportunity to work with the Intermediate students and we had an interesting conversation about what God/the Light/the Divine/the Source looks like which we then illustrated with dry pastels. The students’ description and the work were deep, touching, and age appropriate. The art work is on display in the Intermediate classroom and I invite you to come by.
In March friends from the Scattergood Friends School visited and stayed at EFM. In May, friends from Richmond Friends School will visit us. One of their staff, Jennie will be visiting EFM on Sunday, April 2. Please feel free to say “Welcome” …. and our own Mimi H., who left in order to pursue a MDiv at Earlham School of Religion, also works as the Music teacher at Richmond Friends School. This is a great opportunity send along a friendly “Hello” to Mimi!
