Focus on Girls’ Issues
There was a terrific turnout for the Girl Rising movie showing at the school today. This stirring film explored the lives of nine girls around the globe from Afghanistan to Peru striving to overcome the obstacles to bettering their lives. Girl Rising illuminates issues such as sexual assault and child marriage, denial of education for girls, human trafficking and slavery, and poverty. The students from The Community School raised issues that are faced by girls in our own community as well. There was a good representation of girls and boys, women and men in the room and many poignant observations were raised in the discussion that followed. It was announced that the school will initiate a series of movies with discussion next year that will focus on the issues faced around the globe and in our own communities. Thank you to everyone that attended and supported this film. For more information about Girl Rising Click here.
The students attended a performance of the percussion dance troupe, Step Afrika! today. It was amazing! This dance style, that developed through African-American fraternities and sororities, had everyone moving. The troupe also explained how a form of this dance was used among South African miners as a way of communicating when language between them was a barrier. We found out that one of our students, Claivonda Taylor, was in a step group and now she is being encouraged to start a group in our own school. The performance was sponsored by Arts on Stage and took place at Goucher College. To learn more about StepAfrika!, 
Larry Gross, spoke with the class via Skype from Los Angeles to share the story of his journey to retrace his family’s life before and during the Holocaust. As part of a roundup of Jewish people, his family was removed from their home after a normal life in the village of Munkacs, then part of Hungary. They were transported by rail car to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration & Extermination Camp. Larry visited this site in 2005 and walked the ground where his family was personally examined by the notorious Nazi doctor Mengele when they arrived there by boxcar. Larry’s Mother and Grandmother were in the gas chamber where they were to be killed when there was a malfunction and then were taken back to the barracks. Larry’s mom, Alice Sylvester, survived the Holocaust and today still stands as a witness to the Holocaust and the power of the human spirit. The students were keenly interested in this very personal story that both shed light on the history that they are studying as well as the human condition and the need to stand up to hatred and discrimination. Larry has been a friend of the school for many years through his leadership of the Coalition for Economic Survival in LA. We are very grateful for his sharing with our students. You can read the letters that students wrote to Larry by 
“Think About What You Saw” was displayed on posters around the Holocaust Museum as the students viewed the exhibits today. Yet this admonition wasn’t needed for our students who were deep in reflection and engagement as they moved through the permanent exhibit of the horrors of the Holocaust. Today’s visit to the museum made their U.S. History studies of World War II even more real. This was the first trip to Washington D.C. for most of the students and will remain etched in their memories. To learn more about the Holocaust or the museum in Washington D.C. 
The long winter also gave way to a late planting this year in the greenhouse. Today Ryan McCauley, Alex Polyak, Ryan Gavin, and Tom Culotta prepared the growing areas and planted seeds for lettuce, zucchini, beans, peas, Swiss chard, onions, squash, basil, rosemary, cilantro, parsley,and cucumbers. Looking forward to good growing and great eating at The Community School.