Brubaker Bowling, Windsor Coffee House,
Goodrell Holocaust Speaker
March 20, 2006
Several Brubaker teachers have become mentors to students. PE teacher Kathy Hermson organized the activity to give the mentors and mentees a fun way to get to know each other better, and even learn a thing or two.
The school plans to continue providing fun, outside the classroom activities for the mentoring program. Philosopher Kahli Gibran once said, “Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.” Well, at Windsor Elementary, it’s all that, and a whole bunch of fun!
This was the scene recently at Windsor’s second annual Coffee House Poetry Night. Students had been experimenting and working with a variety of poetry styles in class. They then got to share their creations with over 250 parents and guests in the schools auditorium, which had been transformed with lights and music into a perfect backdrop for a poetry slam. And the standing room only crowd really got into the event, by snapping their fingers instead of applauding the kids as they read their poetry.
And finally, students at Goodrell Middle School studying the Holocaust got the opportunity to hear from one of its survivors.
Marion Blumenthal Lazan was the featured guest speaker recently at the school. She is a survivor of the Holocaust and the author of a book, called Four Perfect Pebbles, that recounts her experiences in concentration camps during her youth. She spoke to the students and told them how tolerance and understanding are the foundation for peace, and that we must remain vigilant to keep another Holocaust from happening.
Marion spoke at several Des Moines schools during her visit, as well as an engagement at Drake University. She has shared her story with thousands of students and adults over the past ten years. A documentary about her story called Marions Triumph will air on statewide IPTV this Spring.
For more information about Marion's book, and the documentary based on her life, visit her website at www.fourperfectpebbles.com |
