A Study of Light by Camille Hayward

Teachers take the time in setting the year’s thematic program in order to carefully ponder what topic to focus on each year when December arrives.  Wanting to capture something of the essence of the season, we wish to do so in a way that is sensitive to all families and cultures.  We also seek to identify a topic that has academic relevance and that, while it may reference a prior year’s focus, will be new for every child currently enrolled at  Lake and Park.

We completed  the school year last June with a unit on Newton’s laws of physics, a component of which was a study of light.  At the time we introduced the color spectrum, working with mirrors, flashlights and spinning objects.  In planning this year’s work it occurred to us to build on that established background by looking closely at the essence of light-- so amply displayed at the darkest time of year.  Our study allow us to look beyond the physical properties of light, to learn of human attempts since prehistory to bring warmth and light under human control.    This broad approach would  allow us to engage students in the following topics:  discovery of electricity, invention of the light bulb, energy sources that allow electricity to be channeled, circuitry which allows it to be directed.  We would also make room in our program to consider pre-electric sources of light.   At the same time, we would think about the broader effects of overuse of traditional sources--fossil fuels, water--in the production of electricity and of its impact on climate change.   Our Scientist in the Schools, Mary Fisher,  presented a lesson about the carbon dioxide cycle, and the need for conscientious use of sources.

Looking at a Light Bulb as a Scientist

Each child was asked to bring in a light bulb to begin our unit.  We often ask our classes to draw scientifically, usually this is from nature:  a whale bone, a pinecone, a mushroom.  We took this same approach of drawing scientifically, applying it this time to human invention.  Children throughout the grades participated in this exercise, honing skills of observation, coming to see the extraordinary in the commonplace.

        

Drawings of lightbulbs by Ellis, Abe and Omar.

Questions arose spontaneously in their minds as children studied what they were depicting.   As they held bulbs up to the light, they noted that some could be looked into, others not.  Many went on to make larger than life size paintings of light bulbs on our easels,  turning what began as a scientific drawing exercise into an expressive art project.

The Very Beginning Room displays paintings of lightbulbs created on the easel.

Thinking Both Philosophically and Scientifically

Soon after, teachers in the North Room and Big Room posed the provocative question,   “Was electricity invented or discovered?” nvent  This struck me as a wonderful question to put before children as it asked them to grapple with a complex topic about what is so readily taken as a commonplace in their lives.  They were able to articulate their thinking in a variety of ways, accessing prior knowledge.    Children recorded their responses in their journals:

I think it is not an invention because it was there all along.  We just did not know how to use it.   I think how we use electricity was invented.

No, it is not invented because lightning is electricity in its natural state.  

Electricity is an invention because Thomas Edison made it and we would not have light.  

I don’t know whether electricity is an invention or a discovery.  I wonder if it is or not.  

Is electricity an invention?  Yes, because someone had to invent power lines or at least come up with the idea.  I know someone invented the lightbulb, but not sure who.  A lot of people helped with ideas.  I wonder if maybe the scientists ever thought of keeping the light bulb to themselves.

Learning to Light a Light Bulb

 

Little houses lit up from below on the light table in the Big Room.

The  children set to work learning to light a small bulb with a battery and wire.  They were given time to experiment with various arrangements of wires and bulbs and to work with simple switches in order to turn circuits on and off.  Each child in the Upstairs Classrooms created a small cardboard house that they then powered with bulbs and batteries.  

             Children cluster about as a wire lights the bulb.

Invention or Discovery?

The same question was then posed for the youngest children, after they had had exposure to working with the basics of circuitry:  Was electricity invented or discovered?

Responses were given out loud in front of classmates and recorded by the teacher on a large chart:

People found it out.  

I think it was invented.  

Invented, because I heard of a man who caught thunder with a kite.

Discovered, because my brother told me.

Invented, because my mom told me.

Discovered, because maybe if they saw lightning they could make light.

Discovered, because how could people make a lightning bolt?

The progression of the group’s thinking together is revealed as one answer furthers another.

A Timeline of Electrical Progress

We then went on to read” Ben Franklin’s Big Splash”.  He invented swimming fins, as a child.  We read further about his discoveries with electricity.  From there, we moved to reading about Thomas Edison’s work with the invention of the light bulb.

Vivienne Strickler presenting about her grandfather’s work in The Edison Labs.

Children in the Upstairs Classrooms were able to make an extraordinary connection to a family member of our school community who is related to a major player in the  development of electrical progress.   During the above pictured presentation they connected what they had read and heard in their classroom studies to the fact that Keira’s great, great grandfather,  Max Loewenthal, worked in Edison’s laboratory in New Jersey and is credited with inventing the lightbulb socket.  Keira’s grandmother, Vivienne Strickler, Loewenthal’s grandchild, offered a history on Loewenthal’s work, exhibiting a prototype light bulb,  socket, and various patents, including his patent for the electric iron.  Strickler told anecdotes of Loewenthal’s experiences working with Edison, including an account of Henry Ford visiting Edison to suggest designs for an electrical car.  (This thought was downplayed by Edison as he knew that the storage life of a battery at the time would be an issue in how far such a vehicle could travel.  According to the account, he suggested that Ford put his energies into development of the gasoline engine.)    Such an encounter with a close relative of a figure of historic importance brought the past into our setting in a very real way, allowing us the rarity of seeing primary source material firsthand.

Children in the Beginning Room will continue their work with major figures of electrical history, notably Nikola Tesla, making timelines of developments in electricity upon return to school from Winter Vacation.  We will be inviting Strickler to visit the youngest children in the near future, so they, too, can learn of the work of an influential colleague of Edison’s.  Children in the Downstairs Classrooms will also learn about using electricity safely.  

Cultural Aspects of Light Brought to Life in a Presentation

Beginning Room children arrived at school on December 15th with the classroom darkened, so that they could enjoy their lanterns as they walked about, shedding light.  Pictured are Olive, Kitzia and Yael, with Kim Martinson, who was involved in helping the children make their lanterns.

Let Your Light Shine, a school wide performance, was presented in the late afternoon of December 15th.  As Very Beginners and Beginners entered the Trike-Room-Turned-Theater holding homemade lanterns powered with LED candles, everyone joined in singing “I Walk With My Little Lantern”.  The closing number was a reprise of a poem recited near the beginning of the event.  In between, each child in the school was fully involved in a participatory program of “In the Round”--filled with song, and folktales dramatically interpreted and acted out with musical instruments for sound effect, and original stories told in Reader’s Theater or skit fashion, and dance,  as six of the Downstairs Children performed as stars in front of a  captivated audience.    Attendees and participants were each given a sugar cookie in the shape of a star, rolled out and cut by children during Choice Time and After Care, later dipped in chocolate frosting, as a parting gift, as they walked out into the night.

Rehearsal of “The Light Keeper’s Box”, a Venezuelan folk tale, by children in the Big Room, featuring the fire that North Room children made and lit with simple circuits.

 

A Message from Max B.'s Grandparents

Max with his family.

Happy holidays to all who are connected with the Lake and Park School in any way. Congratulations to the school staff on a fall filled with creative programs which bring education to each student's level of learning in an interesting, stimulating manner. We loved the mushroom project. We are so impressed with the school that we have contributed to your annual fund. We hope that many other family, friends and supporters will also participate in the fund-raiser.

     Jim and Sue Swanson, grandparents from Denver, Colorado

Sue and Jim Swanson

Looking for a Primary School by Annie Musselman

Maggie outside gathering and collecting.

When we began looking for Maggie’s primary school, I was overwhelmed by the choices, but also found it hard to find a place I felt would nurture her soul and allow her to grow peacefully, without loading academics on her at such a young age. More than anything, I wanted her exposed to all kinds of learning.

 

My husband’s aunt Pat introduced us to Camille, who we met at a family party in Port Townsend a couple years ago.  I loved her relaxed way and the kindness she exuded, and even remember wanting to be her best friend that evening! But beyond the besties day dream, I imagined her being an amazing teacher. And I was right.

When we visited Lake and Park in the spring for a tour, I couldn’t hold back my tears. Children were learning while classical music played softly in their classes; some were reading quietly on the stairs, while others were working together to make the most amazing block fort ever created. The whole school felt very special, as if it had been curated with all the finest possible tools for learning. To me it all glittered and sparkled (though, I suppose I was wiping away the tears.)

Maggie and classmates exploring a tree stump.

In our home, we try hard to expose Maggie and her little brother Jude to nature in as many forms as possible. We have allowed countless hours and space for nature in our lives, this has allowed Maggie to create that space in her life for nature. If I could count how many flowers, herbs, and objects of nature my daughter has given me as gifts over the years, our house would be overflowing with dried flora and fauna. I've had pockets full of beautiful things. In my life, I'm a conservation photographer, I focus on endangered species living in sanctuaries, particularly species which if saved would save countless other species as well. Maggie has always been right there with me, a true lover of the earth, the dirt, the flower and the beauty surrounding us. I very much hoped her school could continue to nurture this idea, and I believe Lake and Park does.

Maggie mastering the monkey bars. 

 There was barely any transition for Maggie at Lake and Park, she has been smiling nearly every day at pick up since she started, I couldn’t be happier.

Inclusion, Attention, and Social Growth: A Guest Blog by Erica Tiedemann

My husband, Bill, and I have made the Lake & Park School a priority in our charitable contributions for several years. As parents, we have had to develop new giving priorities with respect to our role in the community of families. Two basic principles guide us in our response to many of the appeals that we receive:

1. We support the people and the programs that are important to our children.
2. We are lucky to have access to excellent schooling and extracurricular activities. We give with the desire to make those programs stronger and available to more children.

After reminding ourselves of these principles, we find it easy to identify programs that deserve our support because we benefit by our own involvement with them year after year.

These principles alone do not explain why Lake & Park is a priority to us. Certainly, the children spend more time there than in other activities and that is a consideration. Lake & Park has become a priority because the school stands out in our experience for the personalized attention that each child receives.

Children in the multi-age classrooms have individual strengths in markedly different areas. Lake & Park teachers work deliberately to create a culture of social inclusion. They respond to all of their students and draw them to a common purpose.

The process is not always easy. Our graduate, Delphine once said, “You better try to get along because you have to go back and see those people every day.” Although you may read some frustration in these words, they also show Delphine’s growing understanding of the practice of getting along. It isn’t a gift, or magic, or luck -- getting along requires some trying every day in anticipation of the next day. She and her entire class spent good years at Lake & Park learning how to cultivate long-term relationships.   

Our current Lake & Park student, Ted, can be found at school running with the roiling swarm of 8-10 year old boys. Unlike Delphine, he had the good fortune to belong to a Lake & Park family when it came time for kindergarten. From day one, he adored Camille. To his great satisfaction, he logged hundreds of hours with the wooden blocks.

Halfway through that year, Ted had a medical setback that put him in intensive care for a week. He came back to school with new medication and a cloud of uncertainty hanging over him. We had no idea whether we were managing the problem well or if we might expect his body to continue to fail him.

Camille welcomed Ted back to school without fuss. She put his new emergency medication in a wallet on a string and wore it around her neck. Some weeks later she confided to me, “I don’t make anything of it, but I keep him close. That way I know how he is.”  

Camille’s actions helped to turn my attention from worry to my responsibilities as a caregiver. I built a small kit with instructions and medications that I could carry in my purse and hand off to supervising adults. A clear envelope containing Ted’s Emergency Care Instructions and seven days’ medication is the second generation of Camille’s neck wallet.

Today, Ted has gone more than four years without incident. We are still monitoring. We still keep him close. We are grateful every day that Ted is known so well at school.

The long-term relationships that were such a benefit for Delphine’s social growth give us a feeling of security with Ted. His teachers know and attend to him as they do all their students. We don’t have to worry that he might go quiet and get lost in a corner one busy day. Everyone at Lake & Park is working, or trying to work, together toward a common cause.

Lake & Park has become a priority for us among all the organizations where we are involved because we have benefitted so much from the culture of the place. With our continued support for the Annual Fund, want to help ensure the stability of the organization and we want other families to benefit as we have.

Inspiration to Give in our own Special Way: A Guest Blog by Young-Bean Song

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m still emotionally spent from the last election.  I’ve been avoiding the news and social media.  What used to be lively political discussions with my friends have turned short and worrisome.   The political climate in our country is full of anger and divisiveness, and the last election cycle made that abundantly clear to everyone including our kids.  Who in their right minds would launch into a civics curriculum with a bunch of elementary students, whose parents most likely supported the losing side?  Lake and Park.

It takes a lot of courage to teach civics amidst the last presidential election.  But classically, Lake and Park went for it.  In the school’s highly curated way, they started with the birth of Western democracy in ancient Greece and reviewed historical milestones like the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.  They learned songs which Teague proudly displayed when he stood up at a recent dinner and sang us “Which way America”.   They’ve conducted live votes and opinion polls on global human rights and local issues like the expansion of Light Rail in Seattle.  They marched to promote everyone to vote on election day.  And they even talked about taxes! (I kid you not.)

The lessons haven’t all been rosy. Kelly and I have been surprised to get questions about race and gender, regarding historic eras when minorities and women didn’t have the right to vote or go to certain schools. How racism, although illegal now, still occurs in our society.  We’ve had to answer awkward questions about the difference between public and private schools, why some people don’t vote, and why we’ve been so stressed about the election.

As uncomfortable as some of these family discussions have been, they also make me proud.  I’m proud of my kids and proud of what they are learning at school.  Lake and Park’s fearless approach to learning took on a difficult yet fundamentally important aspect of our society, and did it during an especially controversial and emotionally charged time.  They’ve enriched my family dialogue, and have given me a spark of hope in these anxious times.

There are a lot of things to love about Lake and Park: the time spent outside, teacher-to-student ratio, progressive
philosophy, quality teachers, the small handcrafted feel, the value placed on play… these are some of the reasons why we chose the school.  But what’s less talked about is the uncommon courageous spirit of the teachers and curriculum.  There is an undying confidence that our kids will find inspiration no matter how complex the topic (e.g. Is there anything more complex than fungi?).  I’m sure there was some trepidation on the timing of their civics course, but they dove into it anyway, whole hog.  

It is perhaps this underlying vibe that makes the school most unique.  Culturally, our schools have evolved to become more careful, standardized, planned and scaled.  Lake and Park goes against that grain.  That’s not an easy thing to do, especially the way Lake and Park does it.  Simply put, going against the grain requires extra funding.  The General Fund allows our teachers to approach topics with the depth and bravery they deserve.  On any given subject, somehow the school crams in: field studies, a science fair, expert lectures, homemade videos, poetry, visual arts, music, sometimes even a celebratory feast, all about the same topic.  It bewilders me sometimes, but always in a sanguine way.  Like the elections, I hope everyone chooses to participate in the Annual Fund.  Family budgets are daunting and complex, but like our children, I hope we all find some inspiration to give in our own special way.

From a Student's Perspective

Lake & Park is the best school ever! 

 I’ve been at Lake & Park for three years and I’ll be very sad to leave at the end of this year.  The teachers are great and it’s really fun.  A few of the great things about Lake & Park are:

·       Long recess

·       Great teachers

·       Great units

          Students have some say

·       Not too strict

·       Good books

·       Lots of time to read

·       A lot of support from teachers 

·       Varying schedules

These are just a few of the great things about Lake & Park.  Because it is such an amazing place I am going to donate some of my own money to the annual fund. I hope you will too.

Max Buchsbaum, North Room

Why I Support the Annual Fund by Sacha Vignieri

                                          Let nature be your teacher” William Wordsworth

I am a biologist, more specifically; I am an ecologist, as is my husband. We ecologists study how species in nature interact with other species and their environment. Though ecology has many important scientific and societal impacts, most ecologists became such due to a love of nature. When Griffin was born we initiated him into this life, from working in the garden with him strapped into a baby wrap days after he was born, to carrying him in a back-pack during field work on beaches in Florida, to teaching him how to identify chanterelles and pick huckleberries, to catching spiders, lizards, snakes, frogs, mice and whatever else we can get our hands on. This interaction with nature, and learning what it has to teach us, through experience, is fundamental to our lives.

My own educational experience was grounded firmly in public schools and I had always believed the same would be true for my son. When we began the process of searching for schools, it became clear to me that schools are not the same as they were when I was a child. I was disheartened by the limited time children spent outside and expectations that they suppress their natural urge to learn through movement, play, and interaction.

Creating music to accompany a poem.

Lake and Park became known to us almost by accident, but I can’t have imagined a better fit for Griffin and our family. The school’s own focus on learning through experience, time in nature, and play has not only allowed Griffin to blossom, but has allowed a community of children to blossom and carry these profound experiences with them. The approaches employed by the school, to develop minds and foster learning, produces children that are engaged, confident, curious, resilient, and compassionate.  One only has to listen to the speeches of any of the graduates in the past few years to understand the gift this school is to the children, parents, and community. I regularly feel grateful that we were lucky enough to find it; it is a truly unique and wonderful place.

Exploring electricity during a study of physics.

Falling in love with an independent school is not the same as being able to pay for one. Tuition costs can represent a significant portion of a family’s income, and for all families it is a serious commitment. Given that we all pay tuition, the question often arises, why contribute to the Annual Fund as well? There are many reasons why Annual Fund contributions aren’t just added to tuition. The most important one, in my opinion, is our school’s commitment to maintaining tuition at a below-market, broadly accessible rate. This fosters economic diversity and emphasizes the fact that parent’s choose Lake and Park for its child centered, experiential focus, not an elite status.  Despite the fact that it remains separate for this, and other, reasons, money that comes in as part of the Annual Fund is essential to the learning experiences our children engage in every day. For example, these funds support providing teachers with benefits and professional development, allow for the purchase of quality classroom materials which support the thematic studies, and allow the school to invite artists and experts to extend and enrich the studies. Most importantly to our family, they help to facilitate the maintenance of nature exploration as a fundamental component of the curriculum. 

Salmon release at Issaquah Creek.

“[What is the] the extinction of a condor to a child who has never seen a wren” Robert Michael Pyle

Whale watching trip to Port Townsend.

As a part of my current position as an editor for a scientific journal, I am regularly faced with sad news about our environment and the species with which we share the planet. Similar statements could be made about human conditions across the globe. The only way to ultimately tackle these concerns is through education of our children. Our school is producing humans that are not only well educated in the traditional sense, but who care about the natural world and social justice. I contribute to the Annual Fund because, to me, Lake and Park represents the best of this education and I am fully committed to supporting its mission to prepare our children to be the future.

Running and play on the boulevard.

Professional Development for Educators: Gratitude for Those Who Make It Possible

I returned to Lake & Park this fall filled with gratitude for the professional opportunities the contributions to the annual fund have allowed me over the past year.

In April, I traveled to Finland for two weeks to study the globally recognized success of their education system. Many of you had an opportunity to attend my presentation during which I shared my experiences in the Scandinavian country last May. While there are countless aspects of the Finnish philosophy of education that I observed and admired, what I found most inspirational was their holistic approach to education. This approach, which aims to educate and nurture the whole child, rather than just the intellectual, academic side, has been an aspect that I've worked to integrate mindfully into curriculum planning at Lake & Park School.

While I've had many opportunities to share my experiences and thoughts with Lake & Park teachers, I was chosen to present my findings on Finland at the Northwest Association of Independent Schools Annual Fall Conference in October. My audience was large and varied and I left with a sense that a bit of the wisdom of Finland had trickled into the minds of educators from around our region and will hopefully find implementation in their schools and classrooms.

While exploring the schools of Finland was inspirational beyond any expectation I had, I was fortunate to also be accepted in the Harvard Graduate School's summer institute: Passion Driven Learning Through the Arts. While there, I worked alongside international music artists Yo Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble. Glynn Macdonald, the movement director at the Globe Theater in London, as well as Carlina Rinaldi, who worked side by side with Loris Malaguzzi to develop the Reggio Emilia approach to education, were also members of the institute's faculty. The focusing questions that guided our discussions during the half-week experience were, "What does it mean to truly listen?" "How can we create environments in which students are able to listen to themselves?" And, "What is the role that passion plays in education?" We explored possibilities for integrating the arts into academic subjects, as the arts have a unique ability to inspire passion and invite connection.

To learn more about my experience and the role passion plays in education, you can listen to an interview with the Director of the Graduate School of Education and leader of the Passion-Driven Learning Institute I attended.

If you're not familiar with Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, I highly recommend familiarizing yourself with with their wisdom and view their most recent documentary, The Music of Strangers.

Again, it was with the contributions to the annual fund that I could afford to accept their invitation and work alongside some of the world's greatest artists at Harvard. I returned to Lake & Park this fall with a newfound wonder for the power of music, movement and other art forms to instill passion in learners. I also returned eager to implement my discoveries at Harvard and share my experiences with my colleagues. It is important for educators to continue learning and remain curious and passionate about their work. When educators are inspired, passion, wonder and joy fill their classrooms.

Graduation Speeches 2016

Beginning Room students await the graduates.

Our Last Day of School tradition has grown over the years and is a special day for the whole community.  This year every student performed in some fashion to send us off for the summer. Mary Fisher gave the commencement address. Fisher is currently a M.S. student at UW in the School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences. We are very fortunate to have been paired with her last fall as part of the National Center for Science Education teach program which brings scientist in the schools. The program asks scientists to volunteer to work with a school for a semester. The program commitment is for one classroom visit. However, she has met with Lake and Park students six times over this year, including an opportunity to visit her lab at the UW, and she also guided students using the microscope out at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center.  Fisher also created lessons to enrich our thematic studies when we were learning about the evolution of whales at school. Most recently she joined us at the beach where she helped us all gain a better understanding of the diversity of species found on our northwest beaches. We are very pleased that Mary Fisher will continue to work with us as next year. 

Lake and Park School Commencement Address by Mary Fisher

Mary Fisher speaks at the 2016 Graduation.

“For the past 8 months or so, I’ve been helping the Lake and Park School teachers introduce and expand on different topics in science. I’ve had the amazing opportunity to see students have “aha” moments of discovery, and I’ve been on some pretty awesome field trips. But it’s really my first visit that sticks out in my mind.
A lot of the motivation behind my research is better fisheries management. So to help explain some of the major issues facing fisheries, I had the students play a game that is designed to help people understand why fishermen overexploit their common resources. Many of you are probably familiar with the concept - the tragedy of the commons. At first in the game, everyone is “incentivized” to work together and to save “fish” for future rounds. But as the game goes on, the incentives change. Now in order to win, the students have to act more selfishly; they have to “overfish” their resource without regard for their teammates or future rounds.
Every group of students falls into the same trap: by the end of the game, they have all “overfished” their resource, and many of them have double crossed their teammates.  The game is very effective. It works.
Until the Lake and Park School.
You all beat my game. You self-organized and started planning and acted responsibly. So I frantically started making up new rules as we played, coming up with new incentives. But you kept working together, you thought two moves ahead. You wanted to win, but more than that, you wanted to get it right.
I’m sure that your parents already know how smart you all are. But plenty of smart kids have played along with this game. My classmates at Cornell played along with this game. It takes smarts to win this game, but it takes something else to beat it.
It’s that “something else” that the Lake and Park School is fostering. Some sense of awareness or selflessness or stewardship. It’s hard to learn, and even more difficult to teach. But you have it here, especially those of you who are graduating.
I’ve also seen one other unique aspect of your learning here that will help you as you move forward in your education.
You ask a lot of good questions. I know that people say there are no bad questions, and there really aren’t; but there are questions, and then there are good questions. You know how to explore, how to further your learning by exercising your curiosity. This was something that I really saw on my last visit with you all, when we went to the beach to see all of the life on the shoreline at low tide. Between identifying and coming up with names for all of the different color patterns of crabs, to helping me collect one organism of every species on the beach, I really got to see you all drawing on your curiosity; and by doing this, learning more than I think you realize.
When students of marine biology write admissions essays or cover letters, we are told that we should never write about how we developed our passion for marine science because as a child we loved to play in tide pools, or watch dolphins, or go fishing. We are told it’s too “cliché”. Which is ridiculous! Because that is really how it starts. That is what actually happens. As a child, or as a teenager, we are given the chance to explore, and that exploration is how we develop a passion for something that we might end up studying for the rest of our life.
When I was around your age, I used to visit my great-grandmother in Monterey, California. I would spend hours at the beach, exploring the rocky tide pools; pestering my parents with questions about shells and seaweed and anything else I could find. I don’t remember much about the homework I did for school, but I do remember staring up through the kelp forest exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, just taking everything in and questioning what I saw.
That’s what I think good education is really about. Learning how to explore. How to ask questions. How to defy the norms, how to think differently to come up with a better solution.
Each of you is graduating with this type of knowledge. And you’ll have plenty of opportunities to put it to use in the future, as you start really discovering who you are and what you are passionate about. You have plenty of time to do that, plenty of time to continue to grow and explore and ask questions. But because of what you’ve learned here, the special kind of knowledge you possess, you’ll be able to grow a little bit faster, explore a little more, and ask good questions. And I think you’ll find that this makes a world of difference.

So thank you for letting me be a part of your time as a student here; and congratulations!”

This is the second year graduating students have addressed the community. Here are their remarks.

Edith Wolff , President of the Board of Directors and Quynh Cao, teacher award diplomas.

My Time at Lake and Park

by Harriet

My time at Lake and Park changed me a lot and made me a better and more unique person. I’ve been here six years. It’s hard to stretch my memory back. I remember in first grade studying Korea and reading A Single Shard. I remember walking into Kim’s classroom in second grade and thinking it was so magical. The curtains everywhere and Christmas lights on the ceiling. In third grade I remember learning to throw a football, the Seahawks won the Super Bowl that year. Last year I was the stage manager for our class play and got to tell everyone else what to do.  Finishing the ocean project and presenting it this year was very satisfying. I didn’t know if I could finish it in time. I learned that I could finish things very well even under a lot of pressure.
I remember going to the garden the day before everyone else went with my mom and seeing the whole thing. It was a mess. There were brown blackberry vines everywhere, it was just dirt and everything was dead. I remember thinking “How are we going to fix this?” When I look at the garden now, I’m proud of what we did. I really hope that everyone in the school respects what we did and work as hard as we did. If you work hard, you can keep it up and keep it from going back to the way it was before.
In total, I’ve dropped salmon eggs into the tank four times. I don’t think I really understood what was going to happen that first year. Now I know exactly how they mature and how to release them. Earlier this week, I taught the other kids how to release the salmon into Issaquah Creek, and now they can teach the younger kids because they will be the older kids next year.
The songs that we sing at Lake and Park are usually very inspiring and I will take a lot of the songs with me because they are burned into my brain and I am proud to know all the words to many of them I will keep singing these songs after Lake and Park. I still listen to the songs we listened to during our units this year. The songs were very upbeat, and uplifting and helped me focus on the work we were doing at the time we were listening to the songs.

Writing this speech helped me to stretch my memories and actually reflect and look back. It helped me see, “Wow, I’ve done a lot and I’ve been here for this long.” It also made me realize that I’m leaving. It’s a reality now. I’m leaving Lake and Park but I’m really excited to go to my new school. I’ll always be thinking about how much I learned at Lake and Park and I’ll take that with me. 

Dear Lake and Park

by Ruby

I was nine years old when I began going to Lake and Park School, I was shy and I didn’t really know anyone. That's how I was my whole life, but really Lake and Park changed that about me. In about 2 weeks’ time I was so social. I was friends with every girl in the class. ( and many thanks of course to my favorite teachers ever!! Quynh and Grant)
Soon I went to a great part of this school….
The garden, the beautiful, calming garden. The place to read under the trees and in the grass. The place to watercolor the flowers and the sky. The place to relax and just think about life. The place to talk and just have fun. My perfect day at lake and park is to be at the garden, writing, drawing, and reading, it's just truly amazing. My favorite part of this school.
Before I came to Lake and Park I could never imagine being in a play talking in front of so many people, but now it's actually pretty easy.
Typo is my favorite play at Lake and Park., Typo is a play of pretty much what really happened in the fairy tales you hear today. I was little red riding hood and I loved that part. The play was hilarious and I wish you could have seen it. Later that year we did a second play called the phantom toll book, This year I presented a PowerPoint on the blood belly comb jelly in the fall. This spring I wrote a speech on saving water and now I’m presenting this.  All of these things helped me to slowly climb up the ladder of bravery and ability to talk to a crowd with meaning and feeling.
I am glad I came to Lake and Park and excited to bring my new qualities to Asa Mercer Middle School!!
So, thank you Lake and Park for welcoming me.
Sincerely, Ruby

Seven Years

by Wilder

The seven years I've been here I learned and studied so many things. The first time I came here I was scared and shy.
I made great friends who have helped me along the way. I learned how to read and write how to add and subtract. I've studied physics, Spanish, math, science, Ancient Egypt, ocean life, salmon, Greek mythology, time, China, movie making, and much much more.
One of the things I loved studying was movie making because I love making videos for the world.
I’ve gone on many field trips like Issaquah, whale watching, Wing Luke Museum, Cedar River Watershed, Museum of Flight, Keefe and Teague's beach house and many more. One of my most favorite field trips was Keefe and Teague’s beach house. Because I loved exploring around on the beach with my friends and looking at sea creatures like crabs, sand dollars, sea stars, and clams.

Moving on to a new school can be hard but I'm excited to learn new things and study new things. But without Lake and Park I would not be here on this stage. I wouldn't have learned all the great things and I wouldn’t have all of these wonderful memories that I have now.   Thank you.      

GRADUATION

by Delphine Way

I remember my first day at Lake and Park. I remember my mom leading me into the North Room while I tried to hide behind her and seem as invisible as possible. As I met everyone I decided that this wasn't going to be so bad and made my mom leave. By the time the day had ended I had made eighteen new friends.
Lake and Park has been the home of some of my favorite memories. There are the happy memories, there are the sad memories, but my favorite memories are the funny ones. Some of the best are the times like when my nose bled so much that Tom thought he had to call 911. Of course this was the day I wore my new white shirt. And the time Wilder brought his stuffed dog to school. The one that was life sized and could stand up on its own. That day we all went to the beach and a family came up to Kim (our teacher at the time) and said “We have been watching your dog for the last five minutes and it hasn't moved a muscle.”
My favorite study we did was probably the Nutcracker. I think I liked the Nutcracker so much because I had always loved dance and had especially loved ballet and now I could study it. Even though we studied the story more than the dance, we did go see P.N.B.’s Nutcracker and I absolutely loved it. Seeing dancers on stage doing what they loved so well empowered me to become an actress, singer and a dancer myself.
Even though I am moving to a new school next year I won't forget Lake and Park and yes, I promise I will visit.

As a school we celebrate the growth and confidence expressed in the students’ words.   As we go off into this season, we wish everyone a time of both relaxation and adventure.

The whole school joined together to sing "Family Tree".