Blog

Mama Denise & Sister Ebony Are Back!

Bringing their considerable and varied artistic talents into the classroom, Ms. Denise Gantt and Ms. Ebony Evans are back again. This year’s weekly seminar will focus on reading and understanding plays, but will include monthly somatic workshops at The Lyric. The students will also write and perform a work based on their own life experiences.

As a kickoff to this year’s class, the students visited The Lyric, a historic former opera house built in the 19th century. We started with a delicious lunch and then toured the venue and learned about its history and the many performers who were on the same stage the students visited including such varied performers as Chris Rock, Diana Ross, the Grateful Dead and Alvin Ailey. The last part of the day had the students developing and acting out short scenes.

It was a fun-filled trip and a great start to another terrific year thanks to Mama Denise, Sister Ebony and The Lyric.

https://www.lyricbaltimore.com/education/about-1

First P.E. Class of the year with Mr. Eduardo

Physical Education with Mr. Eduardo Viana is an anticipated tradition that stretches back for 7 years now. Through the generosity and kindness of Mr. Eduardo and The GreenMount School community and their Head of School, Ms. Liz Dover, the students have a weekly P.E. class at their gym and fields.

Eduardo is so much more than their P.E. teacher, he is also an important mentor, bringing his life experience growing up in Brazil to the students. He exposes the students to new sports from around the world as he develops each student’s potential, fitness and appreciation for varying forms of physical activity.

Mr. Eduardo adds so much to the educational experience of our students and we are very thankful to him and The GreenMount School.

Ms. Peggy with ASL & Great Lunches are Back

Ms. Peggy Lashbrook returned for the school year to teach her American Sign Language (ASL) courses this week. Driving all the way down from Delaware for her weekly ASL I & II seminars. Ms. Peg is a fixture in the school. She has been involved in the school for nearly 20 years and her weekly lunches are legendary!

We started off with the new students introducing themselves to Ms. Peggy followed by Mr. Tom talking about the impact Peggy has had and continues to have in the school besides what’s visible to all. She was instrumental in having the school recognized as a state certified high school by the Maryland State Department of Education and her tireless resource development work over the years has been a cornerstone to keeping the school operating.

Peggy talked about her lifetime of work with young people with severe disabilities, how she entered into the profession, her career path and her important perspective on the potential and importance of people with disabilities as part of our greater community. Ms. Peg adds so much to our community and we are thankful for all of her hard work and sacrifices for our students.

Getting it Done with Done Construction

Everyone was excited to have the Women of Done Construction back at the school for another year of monthly seminars. Beth, Sarah Senior, Kristin, Sarah Junior and Catesby first gave each of the new students a fully equipped tool bag to match the ones they gave all of the continuing students. After going over each of the tools in the bag, there was a class on the measuring tape and how to read it.

The students will build two projects this year. The first is to build and finish a bookcase that they can take home. This will come in handy because the students get a copy of each book we read in the school. The second project will be to build and wire aa lamp.

Beth and crew talked about how they each entered into home renovation work and the unique culture of their company. We are fortunate to have Done Construction as part of our school community.

Conversation with Trustees

We have a long-running weekly series on Fridays called “Conversation with…” where we bring in people from a variety of backgrounds, careers, cultures and passions to meet the students and share conversation. It brings the world into the classroom in a very real and personal way.

The first conversation of the year is always with the Board of Trustees of the school. We were honored to have Dave Bayer, Jeanette Norris (who joined us virtually), Ed Gavin, Fleesie Hubbard, Justin Switzer and Donald Lacy join us. Unique to our Board is that all of the members are either alumni of the school or former sponsors or family members of students. They each have a personal relationship and investment in the students and school. The group also is intergenerational from folks that go back over 40 years to a graduate from just 4 years ago.
The Trustees have oversight over the school and assure that it fulfills the TCS mission, serves the students and is built for future generations.

The students and Trustees introduced themselves and had a deep conversation about their backgrounds, challenges and keys to success. It was a memorable experience and a great start to the year.
A special thanks to the Trustees for their dedication to the students and school and also for the delicious lunch they brought in to share.