|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Annual Triathlon |
|
 |
|
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 marked Midland's 6th Annual Triathlon, organized by Don Redl. 14 teams comprised of students and faculty competed. The course consists of swimming six laps in the Reservoir, a 4.5-mile bike ride and a 2-mile run. The first place team was Beau Lino '10 (swim), Chris Rea (bike) and Peter King '12 (run).
Records were broken in two events: Swimming-Laurie Munger and Running-Evan Kidd '11. While many of the teams were shooting for first place, some were more interested in style. Team Peru, captained by faculty member Paul Gelles, dressed up in mixture of Incan and modern Peruvian outfits and three Chinese students formed Team Made in China. The youngest member of the community to compete this year was Elias Svennungsen who took 10th place in the bike race despite crashing early in the race. A special mention also goes to Kirby Kersels '13, who was the only participant to compete in all three events.
|
|
Conservation Easement Celebration |
|
|
|
On Saturday, May 15th, Midland hosted a wonderful event to celebrate the Conservation Easement secured in 2009 with The Trust for Public Land and the Santa Barbara Land Trust. The weather was ideal, the food was delicious, the students gave excellent presentations and tours of Midland's organic garden and solar installations, and the mood was festive. It was truly a perfect way to celebrate such important partnerships and to commemorate the preservation of such an incredible resource in the land and programs at Midland. Thanks to everyone who helped and for all those who joined us!
|
|
Garden Crew Hosts Family School Kids |
|
|
|
On a beautiful Friday in May, Ben Munger '79, Katie Isaacson and the garden crew (Hyemin Lee '10, Nico Palleroni '10, Kirby Kersels '13 and Brian Bell '13) hosted the "Purple Door" students (4th and 5th graders) from Family School for make-your-own pizza in the garden and to introduce them to Midland.
|
|
Miranda Poett '10 Delivers Bravura Performance |
|
 |
|
|
|
As part of her senior thesis, Miranda Poett performed the one-woman show Shakespeare with my Father, written by the late Lynn Redgrave. Poett, who has been gracing Midland's stage for four years, directed and designed the 75-minute play, not to mention showering her audience with some of Shakespeare's greatest monologues and soliloquies. Taking place at dusk in the school's amphitheater, Poett delivered an extraordinary performance full of nuance and passion. Pitch-perfect, Poettry!
|
|
|
Three Faculty Members Race in Local Half Marathon |
|
|
|
|
|
 Don Redl, Jill Redl, and Martina Svennungsen all participated in the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon recently, which takes place here in the Santa Ynez Valley. Don and Martina both took 3rd in their age groups (20-25, right?), Martina setting a PR in this, her 4th race, running a 1:37. Jill Redl beat her course PR by a full 10 MINUTES, making her the true star of the show, and finished 12th in her age group, with a time of 1:44. Don, who is training for the Western States 100 in June (which is a 100-mile exercise in masochism in the mountains), took his time on the course, and then decided running another 10 miles would be a good idea. For all his smarts, sometimes you gotta wonder about Don. Anyway, congratulations, runners! |
|
|
Alumni/Parent Weekend Celebrates Kathy Munger |
|
|
|
Over the course of a weekend in late April, hundreds of guests visited Midland for the spring Alumni/Parent/Friend Gathering. This year's event had special significance, as the school helped the Munger and Landreth families celebrate the remarkable life of Kathy Munger, who passed away in February. Both lacrosse teams won, the horses put on a great show, the spring play was superb, the food was awesome (and largely homegrown), there were terrific student work displays, and the ceremony for Kathy was perfect. Whew! Also, visit this link for granddaughter Molly Livingston's gorgeous slideshow about Kathy's life. Read a special address by Head of School Will Graham.
|
|
Midland's Annual Shakespeare Night a Fashionable Display |
|
|
|
2010's Shakespeare Night was a fashion show, MC'ed by Lady Glam Glam, a failed America's Top Model contestant. Students and faculty members donned a variety of outfits and presented excerpts from several of the Bard's plays. Most Midland students dressed up, and so the audience too was involved. Judges Inochi Fukui and Kyle Hong (both dashing and smashing in their own rights!) awarded the best dressed prize to Derek and Martina Svennungsen, who portrayed Antony and Cleopatra (up to a point, anyway). Go to the Midland Videos page to see highlights from the evening.
|
|
10th Annual Mason Willrich '50 Lecture on Environmental Issues |
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Robert Wilkinson, Lecturer,  Environmental Studies, and Adjunct Associate Professor, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara, gave Midland School's Tenth Annual Mason Willrich (Midland Class of 1950) Lecture on Environmental Issues entitled "Water, Energy, and Climate: Integrated Strategies to Build Resilience." Midland faculty, students, some parents and local neighbors attended the lecture.
|
|
|
Ping Pong Tournament |
|
|
|
On Sunday, March 21st, Midland faculty members Paul Gelles, Ian Cummings, Ben Munger '79, BG Kresse '68, and faculty spouse and Ping Pong Czar John Nygren led a contingent of 18 Midland students to play Dunn at both the singles and doubles level. The day was filled with intense play, good food, and a lot of commingling with our Dunn counterparts, which made for a special event. While Midland did not ultimately prevail, several individuals and doubles teams did quite well. Indeed, while Midland may not have an underground ping pong bunker, an expensive machine that spits out balls at two per second, nor consider ping pong a full time sport as does Dunn, the Midland players held their own! (Photos by Rachel Featherstone '11).
|
|
Mad Hatter Tea Party |
|
|
|
Faculty member Jill Redl extended an invitation to anyone who wanted to join her for a Mad Hatter's Tea Party. The only requirement was to show up in a "mad" outfit. Guests enjoyed iced tea, cookies and cucumber sandwiches.
|
|
Midland Students Share their Talents |
|
|
|
At the annual "Coffee House," students and faculty did their best to impress the crowd. Acts ranged from a few student-made movies, poetic recitals, stand-up comedy, songs, and some dancing. Highlights were Mr. Graham's impersonation of Tevita on the dance floor, Anna Moiseyeva's perfectly-pitched song, a movie about Kyle Hong's quest to throw light, and Kevin Jung and Martin Huerta's acoustic song that closed out the evening. For a "live" look, click here.
|
| Last song of the night, a quiet number from Kevin and Martin |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Supervisor Doreen Farr Honors Midland Students |
|
|
|
3rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr recognized Midland School students who volunteered for Project Healthy Neighbors in Santa Barbara recently. Project Healthy Neighbors is a mobile medical clinic that provides services to homeless and near-homeless individuals by offering a range of services in one place. For 3 days, Midland students walked participants through the process and also handed out shoes donated by Soles 4 Souls.
Farr thanked the students for their time, participation, and for including social justice in their actions. She also commended the entire school for its sustainable practices, such as organic gardening and solar installations, which she indicated are so important in our society today.
|
| Head of School Will Graham introduces Doreen Farr |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lise Goddard Receives Educator of the Month Award from Montecito Bank & Trust |
|
|
|
|
|
 On Wednesday, February 24, 2010, Lise Goddard, Midland’s Director of Environmental Programs and chemistry teacher was awarded the Valley’s Educator of the Month Award. Monica Trouve-Sapp, President, and Larry Edwards, Investment Officer/Portfolio Manager, of the Montecito Bank & Trust Valley Oaks Branch in Solvang, presented the award. Lise earned her B.A. from Stanford University and her M.A. from UCSB. She spent a year studying and working in the Caribbean and taught biology and coached crew at St. Andrew’s School in Delaware. With her husband Jeff and identical twin sons, Ziggy and William, she is delighted to be in a boarding school community, especially one that embraces using the natural world as the classroom. Jeff is a research biologist at the Marine Science Institute at UCSB and enjoys identifying native and non-native plants on Midland’s property with Ziggy and Will.
|
|
|
Presentation by Chumash Language Apprentices |
|
|
|
|
|
 Four Chumash Language Apprentices gave a presentation to Midland students and faculty recently. Speaking on topics ranging from medicinal plants and the Tomol crossing of the Santa Barbara Channel to language recovery and cultural programs to material culture and the importance of inculcating Chumash youth with a sense of pride in their cultural identity, the apprentices kept a rapt audience for almost two hours. Nakia Zavala, Cultural Programs Director for the tribe, gave a power point presentation about the different linguisitic and cultural programs being implemented by the tribe. Frank Dominguez (pictured) showed off the different headdresses, flutes, whistles, weapons, and art work that he has made and spoke of how the recovery of the language and the culture helps heal what he calls the "intergenerational trauma" of culture loss and forced relocation suffered by the Chumash and other native peoples. Carmen Sandoval spoke of the different plants and their uses among the ancient Chumash and the Chumash today. Tom Lopez spoke of his experience as a Tomol paddler for several years and the different hazards and the profound meaning that the crossing of the channel has for different Chumash peoples. After the presentation students and faculty had many questions and after the presentation students continued to talk to the speakers until the 9:45 bell rang!
|
|
|
Fundraising for Children in Nepal |
|
|
|
I am a senior at Midland School. Last summer, I spent 5 weeks working at a day care center for kids in Kathmandu, Nepal. The day care center is named Orchid Garden Nepal (OGN). The kids at the day care center average 1-2 years old. They are absolutely gorgeous. I helped feed, clean and take care of the kids in many ways. I realized that they don't just need good food, nice clothes, and warm homes. They need a lot of attention and love. However, their living condition is really poor. I visited 8 homes which are in extreme poverty. One of the saddest scenes I've ever seen was when I saw a single mother living with her two daughters in an area much smaller than my cabin without a bed. I had many conversations with the president of OGN, Bina Basnet, and became friends with her. She is a single mother, too. She has two daughters, one of whom is adopted. She also has a son at the age of 17. The work she is doing is incredible, but she is using her own resources to keep the organization going, which is extremely hard in a country like Nepal. I was determined to help them. In Nepal, a minimum cost for food is 2000 Rupees (approximately $26 US dollars). However, many families only earn 3000 Rupees a month or even less. A whole year's tuition for a kid to go to private school is $300 US dollars, including the uniform and textbooks. Also, OGN is building a preschool because in Nepal, only the kids from wealthy families can afford a private education. Poor kids can only go to public schools with poor facilities. Since the beginning of this year, after I had done all my college applications, I started raising funds for OGN with classmate Inochi Fukui. I gave a presentation in Chapel talking about my fundraising project and the kids and their families that I worked with over the summer. The first thing I did after the presentation was prepare a traditional Chinese dinner. I prepared all the food, including a pork dish, a chicken dish, two vegetarian dishes, and a soup. Inochi made cookies and we showed a movie. The dinner generated $201, and the total amount we raised was $310. $270 will go to the preschool project and improve the food at the day care center for the kids. $40 of the donation, at the request of Mara Gabriel '11, will be given to a family that I talked about in my presentation. We are looking forward to raising more money, and also wish to find sponsors who are willing to sponsor kids to go to school, which would really change their lives. We are looking forward to generating more funds in the future. Please contact me if you have questions or need more information. Sincerely, You can also search for "The Orchid Foundation" on Facebook
|
| Yuchen and Inochi cooking the Chinese dinner at Midland to raise funds |
|
|
|
|
|
|
When Art Meets Science |
|
|
|
|
|
Art teacher Johnny Ninos and Physics teacher Chris Rea accompanied students, William Johnston-Carter '10, Anna Moiseyeva '13, Nessa Ryan '11, and Peter King '12 along with curious faculty members Paul Gelles and Marguerite Graham to view the David Bermant Collection at the Bermant family ranch in Santa Ynez. This pre-eminent private assemblage of kinetic art exemplifies what can happen when art and physics meet. Although this is a private collection, the Bermant Foundation generously opened the gallery for a Midland tour. Many thanks to Katherine and the Foundation for hosting these inspired Midlanders!   Watching a ceiling exhibit of neon light (left); William controls television art by voice (right)
  A group favorite by George Rhoads (left); Dancing magnets (right)
|
|
|
Sudanese Major General Speaks to Students |
|
|
|
|
|
Major General Maciek, a member of the Sudanese Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA) visited Midland recently, a special guest of the family of Marcus Schmidt `12. Major General Maciek spoke at length about what the future holds for Sudan. In an entertaining yet sobering lecture, he discussed with Midland's students, which included all of the sophomores (who take World Studies) and others who wanted to hear from him, the difficulties of establishing a lasting peace in Sudan, and other parts of Africa. A magnanimous man and speaker, his experiences and speaking ability made for a wonderfully informative evening, and gave every listener much to think about. Whether the students and adults agreed with his views, he presented a model of not only how complex relations in Africa are (particularly between non-Christians, Christians, and Islamic fundamentalists), but also how one man with a huge heart can work to affect positive change in a bleak landscape charged with tension. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us, Major General Maciek.   |
|
|
Thanksgiving at Midland |
|
|
|
Thank you to all who joined us for a picture perfect Midland
Thanksgiving! With the temperature high of 80 degrees, and sunny skies,
it set the tone for a pleasant celebration.
We stopped and appreciated the moment, we ate an incredible
meal with family and friends, and we enjoyed art, Shakespeare scenes,
soccer games, and the junior class silent auction. Thanks to all who
pitched in to help - especially BG Kresse '68 and Gloria Murillo for
their amazing efforts in the kitchen! Here's a slideshow of the weekend's activities.
|
| Anna `13 getting into character |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|