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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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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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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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Presentation by Chumash Language Apprentices |
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 Four Chumash Language Apprentices gave a presentation to Midland students and faculty recently. Speaking on topics ranging from medicinal plants and the Tomol crossing of the Santa Barbara Channel to language recovery and cultural programs to material culture and the importance of inculcating Chumash youth with a sense of pride in their cultural identity, the apprentices kept a rapt audience for almost two hours. Nakia Zavala, Cultural Programs Director for the tribe, gave a power point presentation about the different linguisitic and cultural programs being implemented by the tribe. Frank Dominguez (pictured) showed off the different headdresses, flutes, whistles, weapons, and art work that he has made and spoke of how the recovery of the language and the culture helps heal what he calls the "intergenerational trauma" of culture loss and forced relocation suffered by the Chumash and other native peoples. Carmen Sandoval spoke of the different plants and their uses among the ancient Chumash and the Chumash today. Tom Lopez spoke of his experience as a Tomol paddler for several years and the different hazards and the profound meaning that the crossing of the channel has for different Chumash peoples. After the presentation students and faculty had many questions and after the presentation students continued to talk to the speakers until the 9:45 bell rang!
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Highlights from Midland's 5th Annual Round Up |
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Nearly 2/3 of Midland's families were on hand in early October for the 5th Annual Midland School Round Up. Round Up is a weekend that families come and see their kids in full Midland action, sitting in on classes, watching sports (way to go Mighty Oaks!), having wonderful bbq'd tri-tip, and having an old-timey dance in the Pole Barn. For more images, please click here.
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Grass Mountain Day 2010 |
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Midland's annual Grass Mountain Day happened this year on March 26, 2010. It proved to be another in a long series of challenging and stunningly rewarding days. Temps in the low 70s, a nice cool breeze, and flowers galore--conditions, in other words, were perfect. Several students and faculty descended the mountain by alternate routes back to campus, including a horde of students who tore down the face (poor poppies!). Everyone in the school, minus a student on crutches and another getting his teeth worked on, made it, a testament to the spirit and enthusiasm of this wonderful student body and their teachers!
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Junior Leadership Workshops |
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The juniors have been getting ready to lead the school next year. They completed a day and a half of Leadership workshops facilitated by Head of School Will Graham, and faculty members Hayley Anson, Johnny Ninos Rob Hopkinson, Paul Gelles, Laurie Munger and Don Redl. Day one began with a day of play and bonding at the Douglas Family Preserve and Hendry's Beach in Santa Barbara, followed by a second day of intense discussion, role playing and various activities to prepare them to be senior leaders and prefects.
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Stillman Renovation--A Slideshow |
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During the summer, Stillman Hall, the heart of our school, went through a major renovation. While this mostly affected the kitchen, dish house, and serving area, the project rejuvenated the entire building. Jim Quick `68 and his crew worked 6-7 days per week all summer to finish; the last nail was pounded the day the students returned.
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Holiday Spirit |
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In the spirit of the holidays, and to give students a break from doing jobs while studying for exams, Midland faculty members did Kitchen and Dish House jobs during Final Exam Week, and Gloria Murillo made tamales for everyone.
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Interdisciplinary Project |
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In Don Redl's Statistics class, students used GPS devices to develop a Google map of the oak restoration project headed by Lise Goddard, Director of Environmental Programs. The goal of the project was to introduce students to new technologies and techniques for visualizing data. The map is color-coded by germination rates with the aim of aiding Lise in identifying successful sites for oak restoration. Each tree was planted by a Midland student, and if you have planted one in the last four years, you can find your tree by choosing "View Midland Oak Restoration in a larger map" at the bottom left of the map. Each tree is sorted alphabetically by the person who planted the tree.
View Midland Oak Restoration in a larger map
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School Prefects for 2009-10 |
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Libang Shi, from Ningbo, China, and Heather Waldroup, from Chatsworth, Georgia, are Midland's School Prefects for 2009-10. Both in their third years at Midland, Libang and Heather will be overseeing a great deal of student life. School prefects are chosen by the head of school, with input from students and faculty. Their duties include creating and overseeing the job program, prefecting the seniors, and serving as the liaison between the head of school and the student body. Without a doubt, the school is in very good hands.
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Visiting Artist Teaches Basket Making |
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The Foundations in Visual Art students (the freshman art class) had a treat recently. Visiting the US from Denmark, basket weaver Steen Madsen shared his passion and expertise for working with willow. Showing images of his work along with hands-on demos on the basics of the craft, students came away with their own willow soap dishes. We were lucky enough to have Steen (pictured below R, in the middle) visit Midland after teaching a 5-day practicum to Cal Arts' students in Los Angeles. In addition to willow basketry, Steen's other works involve large scale outdoor installations, and 'Dionysian Stage,' a 14-foot willow nest that he helped Martin Kersels, artist and father of Kirby Kersels '13, fabricate for a show at the Pompidou Center in Paris. You can follow this link to see his amazing collection of work: http://www.steen-madsen.dk/. Thank you so much, Steen! |
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Marine Biology Class Goes Whale Watching |
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In October, Lise Goddard and her husband Jeff, who teach Marine Biology, took the class Whale Watching in the Santa Barbara Channel. The students who went were sophomore Kendrick Holmes, and seniors Dominic Cala, Gus Dene, Beau Lino, William Johnston-Carter, Inochi Fukui, and Kyle Hong. They saw a pair of Humpback whales and a pod of more than 1000 dolphins. See more photos.
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MLK, JR. DAY 2010 |
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On Monday, January 18, 2010, Midland School celebrated and honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a series of activities. Several students read the “I Have a Dream” speech to start off the day. Head of School Mr. Graham shared some of his thoughts about self-reliance and freedom, and the entire school watched the documentary film, “Mighty Times: The Children’s March,” followed by an insightful discussion. Freshman art students presented collages they made in Foundations of Visual Art class, which depicted several different concepts in social justice through the use of overlapping pictures. In the afternoon, Blues Guitarist and local author, Byron Laursen, talked about the history of the Blues and demonstrated by playing and singing various examples. Eight students who comprised the Midland Dance Ensemble performed a dance, and in the evening, a fireside discussion in the Library served as a final recap of the day. Click here to see the Santa Ynez Valley Journal article about the day.
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