After a lengthy process of writing, editing, and submitting her stunning poem, The Bloom of Peace, to the WNC4Peace Poetry contest, Kafira Adams was presented with the Issac Colemen Poetry Peace Award last Saturday at the Center for Art and Spirit. Kafira is a current 5th grader at Rainbow Community School. She turns to poetry under every life circumstance. When asked why she writes, Kafira responded, “I write when I’m happy, sad, mad, bored. I write poetry all the time, really, whenever I’m feeling anything at all” Her fourth grade teacher, Susie Robidoux, who supported Kafira in writing and submitting her poem last spring, affirms Kafira’s passion for poetry, “She really knows who she is as a writer. When I suggested a small edit here or there, Kafira advocated strongly for her choice.”
At the awards ceremony, Kafira and Susie were joined by the two remarkable Peace Makers of the Year recipients, Holly Roach and Delores Williams. These inspiring women were being honored for their social justice work within Asheville’s chapters of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) and Black Lives Matter respectively. At the heart of WNC4Peace, lies a drive to attain peace through justice. Kafira’s Poetry award is named in honor of Issac Coleman, himself an activist as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960’s, and later in life the founder of Read to Succeed.
Kafira demonstrated her understanding of the connection between justice and peace in her Author’s Notes. She writes, “As a seed, it is hard and difficult to take the risk to grow. This is similar to the challenges that people face in life that encourage them to act with peace” The path to peace is full of challenges and tests. Kafira’s poem begs the question, how can we encounter these challenges and these injustices with the same resiliency and grace with which a seed is urged to grow into a sprout? We are very proud of Kafira’s beautiful writing and her commitment to peace. As a school we are honored to teach children like Kafira who know they have something valuable to share with the world. In expressing her creativity and giving voice to nature’s inherent intelligence, Kafira has herself become the very thing she writes about: “a symbol of peace… a reminder for the world”.
The Bloom of Peace
by Kafira Adams
The seed is planted peacefully not knowing what is ahead.
Not knowing what it will become.
The seed sleeps quietly dreaming about peace.
It is awakened abruptly as it hears the cracking of its outer pod.
Scared and unsure what to do next,
It hides.
Thinking about mother earth, the seed trusts the future.
Pushing through the soil, it emerges gracefully.
Suddenly joy and happiness burst through the sprout
As it feels pride in its accomplishment.
Thinking back
It falls into sleep.
Days pass as nature protects and helps the spout grow into a bud.
Thinking that time should not be wasted the bud tries to burst
But is not ready yet.
It waits patiently in the sun knowing the right moment will come.
Knowing that it will be soon.
It sits.
The time has come.
The bud bursts into bloom
A beautiful bright rainbow
For all to appreciate.
Done with its journey the flower sits and smiles at the sun.
A symbol of peace…A reminder to the world.
Author’s Note:
This poem was inspired by the idea that nature is a great symbol of a human’s journey of walking a peaceful path. As a seed, it is hard and difficult to take the risk to grow. This is similar to the challenges that people face in life that encourage them to act with peace. However, if we act together, (much like how a flower depends on the soil, water and sun) our struggle is more manageable. Even though the journey is hard, it is worth it to get to peace. In the end, the beauty is seen and felt by all, like a flower’s bloom.
Back-to-School Summer Camp at Rainbow Community School!
Student Support Coordinator, Ali Banchiere, and Sixth Grade Teacher, Jenny Armocida, will be leading academic, organizational and creative activities to help your child transition into the new school year with ease and confidence.
Camp sessions will be held from 9 AM to 3 PM:
August 1st – 5th for rising Kindergarteners through 3rd graders
August 8th -12th for rising 4th through 7th graders
Rising K – 3rd Grade Activities Include:
Reading, Math, Handwriting and Writing skills
centering activities and mindful movement
arts and crafts
social skills and teambuilding games
outdoor games and water play
Rising 4th-7th Grade Activities Include:
Reading, writing, grammar and spelling
Math review based on Singapore Math curriculum
Note-taking strategies
Effective organizational habits and routines
Typing and word processing
centering and mindful movement
engineering challenges and teambuilding games
arts and crafts
outdoor games and water play
To enroll:
Camp fee is $250 for the week, with $50 due upon enrollment. To enroll, please email Ali at ali.banchiere@rainbowlearning.org with your name and your child’s name, age and grade. The $50 deposit can be made by check made out to Rainbow Community School,
or can be withdrawn from your school account if you prefer.
In May we submitted the next portion of our XQ Super School Projectapplication and are now eagerly awaiting to see if we advance to the final stage on July 1st, potentially moving from 50 applicants to the 5 winning finalists in August! Creating our very own alternative high school model, rEVOLution High, has been an inspiring journey that has engaged our entire community, from students, parents and educators to mental health professionals, consultants, and activists. It has shown us time and time again exactly why “Community” is our middle name. When thinking about what’s best for students and the vision they all deserve for their future, we must pull on all our resources, all our unique strengths and skills to create a team of powerful, creative, and transformative adult guides and mentors. Our students are our greatest teachers. Watch as they submit our XQ application!
From January through March 42 students from as young as six-years-old to as old as thirteen-years-old gathered every Friday to create magic together. The magic invoked was theater at its finest complete with pirates, heroes, and villains. This fun twist on the old Treasure Island classic by Robert Louis Stevenson featured Josie, an adventurous and courageous young girl, as the main character. The theme of the play was one of empowerment, imagination, and actualization as Josie learns that in the end it truly is always her adventure no matter what obstacles and challenges come her way. As the performance drew nearer it became clearer and clearer that these youngsters were transforming and evolving not only as confident young actors and techies, but also as an extremely multi-aged and connected ensemble. Whispered cues were hurriedly exchanged backstage as actors reminded each other of their blocking, while stagehands stepped into their less visible yet powerful roles of supporting the production as a whole. By the time the curtains closed on that epic first and last performance, those 42 students stood together as friends, artists, storytellers, performers, and family. Huzzah and congratulations to these brave pirates!
In their first trimester electives, Omega students had the choice to take either Home Economics, Theater of the Oppressed, Advanced Art Techniques, Creative Writing Workshop, or Choral Explorations. These four brave 7th and 8th graders chose to deepen their understanding of vocal technique, harmony, and choral arrangement in Choral Explorations with Sue Forde, our wildly creative music director. They performed their original song “Love is More” to an amazed audience during our Annual Winter Program. The Jaegens’ insightful lyrics and playful melody delighted and inspired all in attendance. Love is overused, abused, confused with admiration, attraction, creation, temptation, obsession, emotion, relation, confusion, delusion… The song starts with this somber note on the misuse of Love and then continues to motivate us to build a new and more compassionate relationship to Love itself.
