Graduation 2015 Speeches (Videos)
Here are the speeches for our graduating class of 2015:
Who is the killer?
“The perpetrator has been caught, but the killer is still at large.” ย We can always count on Reverend Barber, head of North Carolina’s NAACP and leader of the Moral Monday Movement, to speak the Truth. ย The killer is racism in all it’s forms. ย Nowadays, when blatantย racism is seldom seen or heard in public, the underlying racism in our institutions, societal structure, cultural assumptions, classism, and the like, are even more pernicious. ย The killer who slaughtered nine of the brightest in Charleston is still at large, and as Professor White Cornellย puts it, “The killer is us.” ย All of us who have beenย complicit or ignorant to racism. ย All of us who have watched ourย non-violent prison populationย explode.ย All of us who have failed to make eliminating “othering” from education and to make positive racial identity a key piece of education. ย All of us who have unchecked privilege. ย We are all responsible for what happened in Charleston. ย Once we can come forward and admit to that, hope grows. ย There is hope. ย There is always hope!!
If you want to hearย Reverend Barber’s full sermon, check here. ย (It really gets going about 30 minutes in.) ย One thing you will learn that the media has not highlighted, is that the nine people who were killed were being mentored by the Reverend at Mother Emmanual. ย He had left his post on the SC senate to help his brilliant mentees become leaders in social action and in the church. ย Nine potential Martin Luther King Jr’s were just slaughtered.
Graduation 2015 (Photos)
Graduating 8th Graders
Class Photos
Omega
Omega Song
6th Grade
5th Grade
4th Grade
3rd Grade
2nd Grade
1st Grade
Kindergarten
Photos Courtesy of Rafael Sanchez
Rainbow is getting a Bus!
The bus has left the station! We have just received a generous gift of $2,000, from a donor who only recently learned of Rainbow and our campaign to purchase a bus. He was inspired to give after having a personal conversation with one of our parents and sees this as a great environmental initiative. One bus and less parent drivers! Please take a moment and share this link with a personal message to your social media contacts. Let us all feed this bus and help it gain steam so we reach our goal by the end of the summer!
With your support, we will purchase a used, 15 passenger, mini-bus (no CDL required) to start and will add a second when we can.
You can donate to this campaignย at: www.crowdrise.com/rainbowbus
Every dollar counts. Thank you!
This is your brain on…
Meditation. I think there is new research at least weekly these days about the benefits of meditation and mindfulness. ย Here is the latest from the Washington Post. ย It’s interestingย how our scientific society needs to “prove” somethingย that people of ancient cultures have known for centuries in order for meditationย to be validย according toย the dominant white, western culture. ย “Discovering” that meditation is good for us, is a little like Columbus “discovering” America. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/05/26/harvard-neuroscientist-meditation-not-only-reduces-stress-it-literally-changes-your-brain/?tid=pm_local_pop_b&_cldee=bWFyZ2FyZXQuZ2VybGV2ZUByYWluYm93bGVhcm5pbmcub3Jn
Imagine Brilliance
โWhen I gave my first concert in Chartes, I felt that the cathedral almost kicked me out.ย โGet out with you!โ she said.ย For I was young and I tried to perform as I always did: by just playing my violin.ย But then I realized that in Chartes you actually cannot play your small violin, but you have to play the macro violin.ย The small violin is the instrument that is in your hands.ย The macro-violin is the whole cathedral that surrounds you.ย The cathedral of Chartes is built entirely according to musical principles.ย Playing the macro violin requires you to listen and to play from another place, from the periphery.ย You have to move your listening and playing from within to beyond yourself.โ ย ~from violinist, Miha Pogacnik.
Our quest at Rainbow is so far beyond teaching children how to โplay their little violins,โ that we operate in another galaxy than most schools: We want them to vibrate from beyond (to use Pogacnikโs word).ย We want every child to sing their heart out!
Rainbow graduates are known to be brilliant.ย Brilliance is something more than smart or well-educated.ย ย Brilliance is indescribable light โ so bright it fills us with inspiration.ย Brilliance captures something that is beyond us and vibrates within us. So what is the formula for teaching brilliance?
The arts are one of the most important means of helping children tap into spirit, or the powers beyond and within us. The arts help teach children how to play their macro violin. When one is truly creating, something takes over that is beyond articulation.ย When a group of people create togetherโฆ a force even larger exists.ย Finally, when that creation is shared with an audienceโ if the magic happensโ everyone is united in something that no one can describe.ย ย Welcome to the first IMAGINE performance in our own auditorium โ our own humble version of Chartes Cathedral.ย Sit back, enjoy, and help us play the macro violin together today.ย Our quest is a journey into the beyond.
Love,
Renee
*Quote from Theory U, by C. Otto Sharmer.
