Last month, Rainbow added “social justice” to our mission statement. Now, more than ever, education needs to be a force for empowerment, rather than indoctrination. This young teacher’s incredible spoken word poem begins with the Horace Mann quote, “Education is the great equalizer of the conditions of man.” He then reminds us that when Horace Mann said that, his people were hung for learning to read. He goes on from there. It’s powerful.
We are compassionate leaders, building a socially just, spiritually connected, and environmentally sustainable world.
We are the Rainbow Standing Rock Delegation; Wendy Sause, Elijah White, Bronwyn White, Cara Hanna, Bob Hannah, and Danielle Hanna, traveling to Standing Rock to provide much needed supplies with the money you donate to this Rainbow Delegation Fund.
We are students, parents, alumni, and teachers at Rainbow Community School in Asheville, North Carolina whose hearts are heavy as we watch our water sources destabilized, the indigenous people of this land dishonored, native sacred sites destroyed, and our children’s futures dismissed as we fail to act on climate change.
Even more importantly, we are a community of whole-hearted learners committed to a transformational journey through compassionate service. Each morning when we turn to face our students we feel it in our bodies as we are undeniably initiated into a sacred contract of leadership. We are not only our students’ advocates and teachers, but their elders and role models. We are not only their parents and counselors, but their mentors and advisors. Our dedication to holistic education, to nurturing our students’ spiritual insight as well as their political power, moves us to take action now at this critical moment in American history.
After months of sustained effort by an indigenous lead coalition to redirect, or preferably shut down, the Dakota Access Pipeline away from traditional Sioux land, Rainbow is now joining this movement.
On October 12, 2016, we hosted our very first holistic education conference. The #MoreThanMindfulness conference was an extraordinary success. Thank you Mountain Express and Citizen Times for your reporting on this transformative event.
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.
Thanks for your interest in the More Than Mindfulness Conference. Registration is now closed but save the date for October 6 and/or 7 2017.
Rainbow Community School has a 40-year history in contemplative and holistic education and has been recognized as a national leader in these areas. Our Seven Domains holistic approach leverages the tools of mindfulness while moving beyond them into the secular realm spirituality. The staff and faculty at RCS invite you to the inaugural More than Mindfulness (MTM) Conference which is a unique and dynamic event that will explore many ways of inviting the “soul” into your schools.
When: October 12, 2016
8:30-5:00 (Centering observations and reflection, break out sessions and workshops)
Cost: $35 for the full day. Participants receive a certificate of completion to be used towards professional development, a Seven Domains and Centering manual that includes informational materials and reproducibles. Breakfast and snacks will also be included and a food truck lunch will be available for purchase. Click here for the menu.
Intended Audience: Educators, parents, school administrators and mental health as well as other education related professionals.
About the Event: School based mindfulness programs are becoming increasingly more widespread in private and public schools throughout our country and research suggests that these programs bolster mental health and well being and have the capacity to improve academic achievement. At MTM we will highlight ways to integrate mindful practices into your school culture but will emphasize MORE than mindfulness by expanding these practices to include holistic and secular methods that nurture the personal and collective spiritual identities of your students, staff and community members.
Participants will engage in and reflect on RCS’s unique Centering curriculum and practice, gain holistic strategies to adapt your own curriculum and/or school culture, and collaborate through rich discussion about these important themes: inviting the soul in to the classroom, cultivating awareness and spiritual identities, exploring education as a sacred art. The conference will also feature break out sessions in which RCS presenters will bring topics of interest to parents, teachers, school administrators, and other education related professionals.
Sponsor Opportunities: If you are interested in being a supporting organization at the 2016 More Than Mindfulness Conference, please contact West Willmore
For more information: Please contact West Willmore at west.willmore@rainbowlearning.org or call 931 808 3722.
You are cordially invited to attend our Omega Middle School’s Open House! There will be two sessions, one from 8:30 to 10:00am and another from 6:30 to 8pm.
We are so excited to host you and your familiy! We are eager to show you what makes Omega Middle School the innovative and thriving holistic middle school that it is. The morning session will allow you to shadow 6th, 7th, and 8th grade math classes while the evening session will provide you with an opportunity to meet the teachers as well as some of our newest alumni.
Morning Session: 8:30am – 10:00am
“Experience the Classrooms”
Meet and Greet, Overview, Tour the Math Classes
Evening Session: 6:30pm – 8:00pm
“Meet the Teachers”
Meet and Greet, Overview, Tour of the Classrooms,
Q&A with Omega Teachers and three of our Omega Alumni!
Thank you for your interest! Check out our newly launched website http://omegamiddleschool.org/ to explore the ins and outs of our middle school. Email Admissions Director, Sheila Mraz, at sheila.mraz@omegamiddleschool.org for more information.
