by Admin | Apr 18, 2017 | Blogs
Rainbow Community School has teamed up with The Vanishing Wheelchair to bring magic to Asheville on April 28 and 29!
Magic is all around us. At Rainbow magic is kept alive everyday through daily centerings, ceremonies, story-telling, and the spectacular wonder of learning. Rainbow teachers use many names for magic. Sometimes magic is the love shared between classmates, sometimes magic is watching the transformation of your citizen-science tree on campus, and sometimes magic is the patterns made by prime numbers on your math sheet.
The weekend after next we have the opportunity to learn from the people who have honed the craft of stage and street magic. The magic of illusion is one of the oldest performing arts in human history. We have been gathering around magicians, entranced by the hint of the supernatural, for hundreds of years. We invite you step back into the world of make-believe, while supporting Rainbow and The Vanishing Wheelchair in the process. Buy your tickets today for this weekend extravaganza of not only magic shows, but magic workshops too!
“Magical Moments of Asheville” is a two day magic festival beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday with The Vanishing Wheelchair’s “Magic, Mirth & Meaning” show and continuing all day Saturday with workshops on magic and juggling, a talk from Appalachian Fairy Folk School, a Kids Magic Show at 3 p.m., and a closing show at 8 p.m. highlighting a variety of Asheville performers.
Show tickets ($10 for adults, $5 for kids) can be purchased in the RCS office, at Magic Central magic shop at 175 Weaverville Highway, or online at http://www.vanishingwheelchair.org/the-rainbow-community-school-is-raising-money-by-magic/.
All events will be held at the Rainbow Community Center, 60 State Street. This event is a fundraiser for RCS and The Vanishing Wheelchair. Rainbow is a preschool through 8th grade alternative school located in the heart of West Asheville determined to share the Rainbow Seven Domains holistic education approach with teachers and students around the world. The Vanishing Wheelchair, Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit public charity dedicated to helping people with disabilities find their passion and meaning through the arts.
***FESTIVAL SCHEDULE***
Friday, April 28, 2017:
7 – 8:30 p.m. “Magic, Mirth and Meaning”:
$10 Adult, $5 Child
A family-friendly show with a meaning presented by members of The Vanishing Wheelchair, Inc., featuring magic, juggling, story telling, and singing. www.VanishingWheelchair.org
Saturday, April 29, 2017:
10 – 10: 45 a.m. Principles of Magic Workshop:
$10 Adult, $5 Child
Wendal Wandell helps you become a magician by learning tricks from the seven basic principles of magic (limit: 20 people). www.MagicWandell.com
11 – 11: 45 a.m. Juggling Gestures Workshop:
$10 Adult, $5 Child
Wendal Wandell demonstrates juggling techniques for the beginner with fun interactive practice (limit: 30 people). www.MagicWandell.com
1 – 1: 45 p.m. Appalachian Faeire Folk School:
$10 Adult, $5 Child
Storyteller Vixi Jil weaves together original and ancient faerie tales, enchanted walkabouts and personal accounts to help guide folks into explorations of discovery in the etheric realms (limit: 30 people).
www.VixiJil.com
3 – 4:00 p.m. WNC Magic Club Kid’s Show:
$10 Adult, $5 Child
A magic show presented by members of the Western North Carolina Magic Club for kids of all ages! www.WNCMagic.com
5 – 5: 45 a.m. Balloon Twisting Workshop:
$20 General, $5 Share
Marcie the Balloon Fairy teaches the basics of balloon twisting creations. Workshop includes professional kit Qualatex balloons, pump, and instructional DVD. Families wishing to share a kit just pay $20 for the kit and $5 each additional person for the workshop (limit: 30 people). www.Facebook.com/MarcieTheBalloonFairy
8 – 9:30 p.m. Magical Moments of Asheville Show:
$10 Adult, $5 Child
The Grand Finale, family-friendly show, featuring local talents of the Carolinas including comedian and magic shop owner Ricky D. Boone, magician and theatrical entertainer Wendal Wandell, cardician and magician Bobbini, the amazing magic of Wayne Anderson, story teller Vixi Jil, Forty Fingers and a Missing Tooth with jugglers Keith Campbell and Walter Beals, and famed WLOS’s Tales from the Red Rocker, Storylady Gwenda LedBetter.
www.VanishingWheelchair.org
by Admin | Apr 13, 2017 | Blogs
Next Thursday we have the honor of hosting Building Bridges of Asheville in partnership with the YWCA of Asheville for a panel discussion on how the paradigm of both racial oppression and racial equity has shifted over the last 25 years. Come listen to Building Bridges members, including RCS Equity Director, Danae Jones Aicher, share their stories of persistent resistance and courageous change making!
This event is free and open to the public. It will take place from 6pm to 8pm in the Rainbow Community Center at 62 State Street, Asheville NC 28806. More information about childcare is coming soon. For more information visit the How Racism Has Changed Over 25 Years Facebook Event or email danae.aicher@rainbowlearning.org.
by Admin | Apr 11, 2017 | Blogs
School for the First Grade Jellyfish began as usual this morning with stations of building blocks, coloring sets, puzzles, and games neatly contained on each of the four-person tables. Bowie and Judah were busy building extraordinary creatures that turned effortlessly into whirring machines, a forrest of trees, and then finally into the flying contraptions pictured below with their amazing ability to land upside down and hang from the “ceiling”. Next came a special centering. Every first grader grabbed their sturdy sketch book and a pencil on their way out the door, as they prepared to spend some quite moments centering with their tree. Children drew the images that came to them in the silence as well as creative representations of the trees they’ve been tracking throughout the changing seasons. As soon as she had sat down at the base of her tree, Jett sprung back up and ran to her teacher. “My tree is flowering, Ms.Itiyopiya! Look!” she said. After ten minutes of relaxed mindful presence with their trees, the First Grade Jellies gathered around the candle Ms.Itiyopiya had lit in honor of nature and waited ceremoniously for their teacher to blow out the candle, signaling the end of centering and the beginning of a bright new spring day.
by Admin | Apr 11, 2017 | Blogs
Australian children’s book author and comedy writer, Andy Griffiths, took Rainbow first through fifth graders by storm this morning. His childlike imagination coupled with his hilarious kid-oriented sense of humor brought the Rainbow auditorium to thunderous laughter. Throughout his presentation about his journey as a writer, comedian, and story-teller, Andy never missed an opportunity to engage our students’ imaginations. In preparation for his visit, Rainbow students drew upon their creativity to design the treehouse of their dreams, taking inspiration from Andy’s wildly popular Treehouse series. One of the treehouses in his series has “a bowling alley, a see-through swimming pool, a tank full of man-eating sharks, an underground laboratory, a vegetable vaporizer, and a marshmallow machine that shoots marshmallows into your mouths when it detects that you are hungry”. It is with this delightful absurdity, that Andy Griffiths and illustrator Terry Denton, have captured the attention of young readers around the world. Our young readers were smitten and eagerly lined up to get their books and bookmarks signed. If you’re looking for more Treehouse books we suggest you buy them from our local children’s bookstore, Spellbound Children’s Bookshop, who helped organize Andy’s visit to Rainbow. Thank you to Andy and his team for making this morning exceptionally hilarious, enlivening, and inspiring for us and our students.
by Admin | Mar 2, 2017 | Blogs
In the depths of winter, as the school year wound its way back through January, our Kindergarteners learned of the bear’s hibernation, the geese’s migration, and the rabbit’s adaptation. How do we, as animals, respond to winter’s harsh demands? Do humans hibernate, migrate, or adapt? Depending on your community and career, you might do all three!
During winter some beekeepers migrate south with their hives. Although as humans we can’t achieve the hibernation status of a depressed metabolism, a lower body temperature, and a falling heart rate, we do experience similar tendencies to cozy up, stay inside, and feed off stored foods; in our case we store pickled vegetables and smoked meats, instead of fat in our bodies, but the principle remains the same. Finally, we adapt. We adapt by growing layers of fur in the form of coats and scarves and mittens are . We adapt by turning up the heat and eating steaming bowls of stew and soup. By understanding themselves as part of the animal world, our students grow up with a systems-thinking approach to environmental sustainability.
The other species of animals who live alongside us, are not just obstacles standing in the way of human civilization, nor are they just cute oxytocin-boosters meant to entertain and love us. Animals serve as reflections of our human experience here on planet Earth. Grounded in their bodies and in their purpose of survival, animals can teach of us of the simplicity of the present moment. What are the basics of our lives? How wholesome do we feel in the simple routines of eating, sleeping, moving our bodies, and gathering in families?
In the pictures above, Kindergarten Assistant Teacher, Doreen, dramatically hides the Mama bear in her cave, where she’ll stay hibernating until spring flowers open in late March.
