Blog

Conversation with Safiyah Cheatam

The students were honored to have Safiyah Cheatham in for a Conversation. Safiyah works at Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum building youth and community programming and involvement in the museum. Along with her husband, Dan, she also operates Islam and Print, an organization that brings together artists from the Islamic community for both networking and learning how to produce and market prints of their work.

The Conversation explored the students’ interest in art and experience with museums. Safiyah shared her background and her work building teen programming at the Walters. She invited the students to take part in the programs including aa monthly art class and a special Saturday program full of activities on October 4th.

It was an enjoyable Conversation and we are looking forward to working closely with Safiyah during this year.

Lively Sponsor Meeting Held

We had our first in person Sponsor meeting of the year tonight. It was wonderful to have students, their families and sponsors together. It was especially a good chance for families new to the school to get introduced to the school community. It was a lively meeting that after introductions began with the students speaking about the start to the school year.  Families and sponsors had a chance to ask questions and share comments with each other about their experiences.

The first half of the meeting was chaired by Mr. Tom, but the second half was run by new sponsor coordinator Ms. Lisa Knickmeyer. She is pulling the sponsors together into a stronger support team for the school to help with tasks but also to build more social events. This gathering added to the great start to the school year.

Let’s Get Moving with Mr. Eduardo

It was time to get moving as the students went to their first Physical Education class of the year. The students were welcomes by Ms. Bonita Lea, Head of School at The GreenMount School where our P.E. classes take place through their kindness. Mr. Tom introduced Eduardo Viana as both aa teacher and a mentor to the students. Mr. Eduardo has been teaching TCS students for many years now.  He started the class by going over the expectations of the students and reviewing how the class operates.

Soccer was the sport of the day as the students dribbled up and down the court.  They returned to the school in the walk up the hill exhausted but glad for the physical activity.

Welcome back Mr. Eduardo  and thank you, Ms. Bonita and the GreenMount School for welcoming us back around.

Art Seminar with George Hagegeorge

Musician and Artist George Hagegeorge kicked off our new art seminar series.  He shared his creative journey starting with playing music that led to mixing and production for other musicians as well as time as aa photojournalist and then working with watercolors during the Covid lockdown. Following his presentation, George had the students each create a water color painting of their own.  The session concluded with each of the students presenting their work to the class and explaining the inspiration behind it.

This new seminar will have a different prominent Baltimore artist each weeek presenting their approach to their art and then working with the students.  This seminar is curated by friend of the school, Cheryl Fair, who will also present her art in one of the sessions. We deeeply appreciate her efforts to develop this unique experience for the students.

Conversation with Trustees

We continued the annual tradition of having the first Friday Conversation of the year with the TCS Board of Trustees. After a delicious lunch provided by the Board, there was a meaningful session where both the students and Trustees gave extensive personal introductions.  Trustees attending were Dave Bayer, Chairperson, Leah Culotta, Treasurer, and Justin Switzer, Fleesie Hubbard and Dyrrell Moon. The majority of our Board were once students in the school from various periods in our history including the 1980’s, early 2000’s and in recent years. The students had many questions that focused on the role of the Board and the challenges each have faced in their lives. The Trustees were equally interested in the students, their hopes and dreams, and their experiences in the school.  It was a productive and lively conversation for all.