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Junior Dance Weekend |
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Each year, the junior class organizes a weekend filled with activities, dancing and meals for the entire school. This year, the Class of 2011 planned a fantastic weekend including a pizza night, a masquerade dance, face painting, water fights, a movie night and other all-school games for this weekend.
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Grandparents Lend a Hand During Work Period |
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During a Sunday Work Period in January, grandparents of Miguel Provencio '13, Dave and Linda Bratz, pitched in and helped with campus maintenance. Dave is an electrical engineer, and volunteered to rewire the electricity in Lumberyard. Thank you, Dave!   Dave fixes the wiring (l), while Mr. Graham assists (r) |
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Midland Riders Take Part in Local Fox Hunt |
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On a Saturday afternoon in March, Martina Svennungsen took student riders Miranda Poett '10, Libang Shi '10, and Kevin Jung '11 fox hunting with the local traditional hunt group, The Santa Ynez Valley Hounds ( www.syvhounds.com). The hunt proved to be very exciting for the students as the hounds drove out a wild boar in the middle of the ride. To end the fabulous afternoon, Midland students led the first field that follows the huntswoman and her hounds over the hillsides of the land, an unexpected privilege. After the four-hour ride, many group members complimented Midland's riders and their horses, and hoped that they could participate in future outings.
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Camping at The Spanish Ranch |
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The group of experienced horse riders (students who have been in the program before) joined Martina and Gillian '04 for an overnight camping trip at The Spanish Ranch near Cuyama. This ranch belongs to the Doirons, whose son Brendan is Midland '08. The students took two great rides, highlighted by a waltz through meadows of golden field (that's the name of the flower). The program would like to thank Pam (who's a Midland Trustee) for her great hostiptality, and Brendan for not showing up by surprise and letting the bulls out!
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Horse Camping at Rancho Oso |
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Each fall and spring, the returning riders spend a night at a nearby riding area, taking a couple of rides in the process. This fall, juniors Meghan Brown and Ruby Goldberg camped at Rancho Oso with their horses. |
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Annual Triathlon |
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Wednesday, May 19, 2010 marked Midland's 6th Annual Triathlon, organized by Don Redl. 14 teams comprised of students and faculty competed. The course consists of swimming six laps in the Reservoir, a 4.5-mile bike ride and a 2-mile run. The first place team was Beau Lino '10 (swim), Chris Rea (bike) and Peter King '12 (run).
Records were broken in two events: Swimming-Laurie Munger and Running-Evan Kidd '11. While many of the teams were shooting for first place, some were more interested in style. Team Peru, captained by faculty member Paul Gelles, dressed up in mixture of Incan and modern Peruvian outfits and three Chinese students formed Team Made in China. The youngest member of the community to compete this year was Elias Svennungsen who took 10th place in the bike race despite crashing early in the race. A special mention also goes to Kirby Kersels '13, who was the only participant to compete in all three events.
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Conservation Easement Celebration |
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On Saturday, May 15th, Midland hosted a wonderful event to celebrate the Conservation Easement secured in 2009 with The Trust for Public Land and the Santa Barbara Land Trust. The weather was ideal, the food was delicious, the students gave excellent presentations and tours of Midland's organic garden and solar installations, and the mood was festive. It was truly a perfect way to celebrate such important partnerships and to commemorate the preservation of such an incredible resource in the land and programs at Midland. Thanks to everyone who helped and for all those who joined us!
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Garden Crew Hosts Family School Kids |
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On a beautiful Friday in May, Ben Munger '79, Katie Isaacson and the garden crew (Hyemin Lee '10, Nico Palleroni '10, Kirby Kersels '13 and Brian Bell '13) hosted the "Purple Door" students (4th and 5th graders) from Family School for make-your-own pizza in the garden and to introduce them to Midland.
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Miranda Poett '10 Delivers Bravura Performance |
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As part of her senior thesis, Miranda Poett performed the one-woman show Shakespeare with my Father, written by the late Lynn Redgrave. Poett, who has been gracing Midland's stage for four years, directed and designed the 75-minute play, not to mention showering her audience with some of Shakespeare's greatest monologues and soliloquies. Taking place at dusk in the school's amphitheater, Poett delivered an extraordinary performance full of nuance and passion. Pitch-perfect, Poettry!
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Three Faculty Members Race in Local Half Marathon |
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 Don Redl, Jill Redl, and Martina Svennungsen all participated in the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon recently, which takes place here in the Santa Ynez Valley. Don and Martina both took 3rd in their age groups (20-25, right?), Martina setting a PR in this, her 4th race, running a 1:37. Jill Redl beat her course PR by a full 10 MINUTES, making her the true star of the show, and finished 12th in her age group, with a time of 1:44. Don, who is training for the Western States 100 in June (which is a 100-mile exercise in masochism in the mountains), took his time on the course, and then decided running another 10 miles would be a good idea. For all his smarts, sometimes you gotta wonder about Don. Anyway, congratulations, runners! |
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Alumni/Parent Weekend Celebrates Kathy Munger |
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Over the course of a weekend in late April, hundreds of guests visited Midland for the spring Alumni/Parent/Friend Gathering. This year's event had special significance, as the school helped the Munger and Landreth families celebrate the remarkable life of Kathy Munger, who passed away in February. Both lacrosse teams won, the horses put on a great show, the spring play was superb, the food was awesome (and largely homegrown), there were terrific student work displays, and the ceremony for Kathy was perfect. Whew! Also, visit this link for granddaughter Molly Livingston's gorgeous slideshow about Kathy's life. Read a special address by Head of School Will Graham.
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Midland's Annual Shakespeare Night a Fashionable Display |
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2010's Shakespeare Night was a fashion show, MC'ed by Lady Glam Glam, a failed America's Top Model contestant. Students and faculty members donned a variety of outfits and presented excerpts from several of the Bard's plays. Most Midland students dressed up, and so the audience too was involved. Judges Inochi Fukui and Kyle Hong (both dashing and smashing in their own rights!) awarded the best dressed prize to Derek and Martina Svennungsen, who portrayed Antony and Cleopatra (up to a point, anyway). Go to the Midland Videos page to see highlights from the evening.
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10th Annual Mason Willrich '50 Lecture on Environmental Issues |
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Dr. Robert Wilkinson, Lecturer,  Environmental Studies, and Adjunct Associate Professor, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara, gave Midland School's Tenth Annual Mason Willrich (Midland Class of 1950) Lecture on Environmental Issues entitled "Water, Energy, and Climate: Integrated Strategies to Build Resilience." Midland faculty, students, some parents and local neighbors attended the lecture.
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Ping Pong Tournament |
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On Sunday, March 21st, Midland faculty members Paul Gelles, Ian Cummings, Ben Munger '79, BG Kresse '68, and faculty spouse and Ping Pong Czar John Nygren led a contingent of 18 Midland students to play Dunn at both the singles and doubles level. The day was filled with intense play, good food, and a lot of commingling with our Dunn counterparts, which made for a special event. While Midland did not ultimately prevail, several individuals and doubles teams did quite well. Indeed, while Midland may not have an underground ping pong bunker, an expensive machine that spits out balls at two per second, nor consider ping pong a full time sport as does Dunn, the Midland players held their own! (Photos by Rachel Featherstone '11).
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Mad Hatter Tea Party |
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Faculty member Jill Redl extended an invitation to anyone who wanted to join her for a Mad Hatter's Tea Party. The only requirement was to show up in a "mad" outfit. Guests enjoyed iced tea, cookies and cucumber sandwiches.
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Midland Students Share their Talents |
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At the annual "Coffee House," students and faculty did their best to impress the crowd. Acts ranged from a few student-made movies, poetic recitals, stand-up comedy, songs, and some dancing. Highlights were Mr. Graham's impersonation of Tevita on the dance floor, Anna Moiseyeva's perfectly-pitched song, a movie about Kyle Hong's quest to throw light, and Kevin Jung and Martin Huerta's acoustic song that closed out the evening. For a "live" look, click here.
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| Last song of the night, a quiet number from Kevin and Martin |
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Supervisor Doreen Farr Honors Midland Students |
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3rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr recognized Midland School students who volunteered for Project Healthy Neighbors in Santa Barbara recently. Project Healthy Neighbors is a mobile medical clinic that provides services to homeless and near-homeless individuals by offering a range of services in one place. For 3 days, Midland students walked participants through the process and also handed out shoes donated by Soles 4 Souls.
Farr thanked the students for their time, participation, and for including social justice in their actions. She also commended the entire school for its sustainable practices, such as organic gardening and solar installations, which she indicated are so important in our society today.
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| Head of School Will Graham introduces Doreen Farr |
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