Students, Sponsors and family members gathered at the school for the first sponsor meeting of the new school year. This marked the first meeting where simultaneous Spanish/English translation was used through the very capable effort of student Karla Rivas. Mr. Tom welcomed everyone, reinforced the mission of the school and talked about the importance of attending class every day including how to minimize missing classes when scheduling appointments. To update everyone, each student did a presentation on courses, seminars and activities that had taken place in the school so far this year. Gratitude was given to all who have donated lunches and pantry items. Parent Carla Monge shared her delicious homemade fresh fruit juice with all at the end of the meeting. It was an engaging meeting and enthusiastic support was shown for the students and school. ...
The students were tasked to write a story about the loss of one of their five senses. HECTOR leapt forward 50 years to prove Mr. Tom’s point about headphones leading to loss of HEARING, notwithstanding being in a Nursing Home with a particularly loud cousin. Senses I should have listened to Mr.Tom when he told us to stop listening to music with headphones on. He would always tell us to not wear headphones because, when we reached his age, we were all going to be completely deaf. In my youth, I used to think nothing was gonna hurt me. But now I am dealing with the terrible consequences of listening to music way too loud. Now I am a 65 year old with a couple of kids and a failed marriage. As a result of me being so grumpy! My children decided to put me in a retirement home. Nobody likes to have conversations with me since I can barely hear them. I am always saying Huh? Or, What did you say? But I am not the only one here. Karla’s kids decided that she was too much to handle so they also put her in a retirement home. She is the only person that I can actually hear. You would think that when someone is 67 they would be more quiet but she was the complete opposite. She always had some type of beef with the caregivers at the retirement home. She would argue about how they were always giving her soup and that she wanted a steak for dinner. One...
[embed]https://youtu.be/S1GciCelfH4[/embed] This week's edition of TCS Student News was researched, written, produced and anchored by Danny Buck and Hector Rivas with technical production by Rhys Guilfoyle and advising by Megan Rivers....
Thank you Center Stage for inviting the students of The Community School to attend the play "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill!" It was a captivating play about Billie Holiday, the legendary Baltimore born and raised jazz singer whose powerful lyrics and voice influenced generations. In a very creative and compelling way, the play had Lady Day weaving her life story in between singing her songs at a final performance in Philadelphia. The play not only dealt with her personal struggles with abuse, domestic violence and racism but also put it in the context of what was going on in society as a whole. For the students, it brought home the message of how many of these issues they relate to in their lives today. A special thanks to Janal Daniel, the Director of Learning and Social Accountability for seating us inside the play at the cabaret tables. it made the experience even more real. ...
We had a most amazing, meaningful and deep conversation yesterday as recent alumni came back to share their experiences with the current students. Donald Lacy, Olivia Yates, Jayla Nickens-Gill, Ronan Guilfoyle and Destiny Grimes shared their stories from before attending TCS through their current lives. The students were captivated and the energy between everyone in the room was one of the most engaging of any Conversation we have ever had. There was a lot of honest sharing from both current students and graduates about their lives, previous educational experiences and time in the school. This is the first in a series of alumni conversations that will happen this year. Thus group of more recent alumni will come back in a few months. The next "Conversation with Alumni" will be with graduates from a little further back who are further along in their careers and lives. We are so proud of our graduates and thankful for their continued relationship with the school....
[embed]https://youtu.be/q26GtSVirJU[/embed]This week's edition of TCS Student News was researched, written, produced and anchored by Madison Hansel and Kendall Curtis with technical production by Rhys Guilfoyle....
Sharing 50 years of her art, artist Mary Magenta invited the students to view her exhibit at the Roland Park Community Center gallery. Mary greeted us and shared her story of creating her first calendar art 50 years a go with markers and string to her widely distributed printed copies today. Mary had multiple paintings of various sizes showcasing her many decades of creativity most all of which had nature themes. The students had many questions about how she developed her stylle without any formal training. Her paintings displayed her love for the many places she's lived and traveled including Kentucky and Seattle. Mary is a long time friend of our organization and painted the sign that hung outside our first community center on Lorraine Avenue back in 1977! Our special thanks to Mary Magenta for continuing to share her craft and stories with us....
Returning for a 3rd year, the Berman McAleer financial planning and wealth management company held the first of a series of Financial Literacy Seminars today. This series has a rotating team of presenters from among the staff of BMc that includes the founders, partners and just about all members of the staff who come to the school on a monthly basis. They cover such topics as budgeting and saving, funding a college education, how to use credit wisely and avoid its pitfalls\s and career exploration. This series is led by Kathleen Gower, Operations Director at BMc and was joined this week by Partner and Director of Investment Management Drew Cook and Senior Client Service Associate Ashley Wilkinson. They served a delicious lunch to the students and staff prior to the seminar that was followed by an engaging presentation and discussion. We are thankful for this significant commitment from BMc to share their knowledge and experience to add to our students life skills education....
Emmy Award-winning anchor/reporter Megan Rivers was our guest for our second "Conversation with...