Have you seen what’s over on the roof of the auditorium? Getting solar power was one of those far-off dreams until…it became reality!
In 2017, an anonymous donor awarded Rainbow the funds to get solar panels installed. These are located on the east side of the auditorium. This donation will help to reduce the school’s reliance on fossil fuels.
In fact, the installation of these solar panels will provide a benefit of 60+ years. The bulk of Rainbow’s utility bills go toward the auditorium. It’s a big space. Heating and cooling can get expensive.
There’s also the environment to consider. Rainbow will reduce its carbon footprint by huge margins. The solar panels help to reduce the school’s utility expenses while helping the planet. In about 30 years, the panel efficiency will go down some, but will still yield significant energy savings.
Interconnection
Over the course of the process, one of our Rainbow parents had been in touch with representatives from Duke and other organizations to get the interconnections turned on. “Interconnection” means how a “distributed generation system, such as solar photovoltaics (PVs), can connect to the grid.” (Source)
A local solar installation company, Sugar Hollow, installed the solar panels late in 2017. The school had to wait until 2018 to turn on the interconnection. This was due to a rebate from Duke Energy, which also helped with significant savings for the school.
When Sugar Hollow installed the solar panels, they felt really connected to the school and what it stands for. Sugar Hollow is a living wage certified company and their philosophy parallels Rainbow’s mission:
At Sugar Hollow Solar, we care deeply about moving our society towards a more sustainable future – not just in the environmental sense but in how it relates to overall quality of life, now.
The panels they used for installation were manufactured in the US, as well. As a company, they work hard to source everything here in the US.
The Sugar Hollow team installing solar panels on top of the auditorium.
Because this was the first year that Rainbow started the interconnection process, it took awhile to get the power systems connected, approved and ready to go. When it came time to “flip the switch,” the whole school community was so thrilled and the anticipation was palpable. Rainbow elected to have a school-wide celebration to commemorate the event.
Students gathered at the auditorium to view the solar panels and have a “solar song circle” – it was RCS’ first song circle of the year.
Sugar Hollow also joined us for that celebration. Now, students will be able to tell exactly what the solar panels are doing moment by moment that demonstrate power output and usage. Check out the Solar Power Resources section on our website. It has the link to the energy performance of the solar panels.
Since the founding of Sugar Hollow, they have surpassed 1.5 gigawatts hours of energy generation – from the sun! That’s like planting 28,931 trees!! We have so much gratitude for these folks and the work they do!
Summer is a time when folks often invite freedom and creativity back into their busy lives. Maybe they pick up a project that has taken a back seat, take a workshop, or reconnect with a lost skill, art or craft. Maybe they learn, read, or try something new. Summer is a great time to nurture the young inventor in each child.
The long days of the season allow more time to drop into open-ended, free and constructivist play. Making time for STEM concepts, for inventing and engineering can tap into imaginations, foster creativity and enhance problem-solving capacities. You can try offering this space to them by spending some time exploring, asking questions, creating and building. Allow for simple invention and engineering projects by providing tools and materials such as items found in a junk drawer, recyclables, or simple office supplies.
Once you have ignited their passion for inventing, try stretching their thinking with various books.
What do you do with an Idea? By Kobi Yamada
This is a great book a child’s brilliant idea to bring it to the world. After reading, you can begin by asking what an animal needs to survive. Then you might ask what more the animals need to grow and thrive. Continue the discussion by likening animal growth to “idea growth.” State that our ideas can grow, thrive, survive, and evolve by nurturing them. Follow up with a discussion about the author’s message: stick with your idea, follow it through, persevere and your idea could change the world.
Not a Box
Next time you read with your child, you can try reading Not a Box by Antoinette Portis. This is a fabulous book about a rabbit with a very BIG imagination. After completing the book, you can discuss with your child how imagination and creativity are magical elements of who they are. Talking about different perspectives allows children to see that showing and sharing are part of what makes them unique and special.
Next, lay out a box of recyclables or knickknacks and let your child choose one or more items to repurpose. Ask your child to reimagine how this ordinary object can become extraordinary. Encourage them to use their artistic skills to reimagine it by creating something new. You may also want to extend their learning by inviting them to use the materials and resources to create a 3-D representation of their new invention. Once they have finished, it’s always quite powerful to spend time reflecting about it together.
Implications of Your Work
Children appreciate “thinking outside of the box.” They thrive off of creation and love to deep dive into their own imaginations. They approach STEM activities, such as this one, in the most authentic way when they know that their learning environment is supportive and safe. Children are most creative when the learning environment highlights many perspectives, emphasizes process over product, and failure as opportunity.
Rites of passage are important, sacred ceremonies that highlight a transitional period in a person’s life.
In many cultures, tribes and soceities around the world, children engage in various rites of passage. Often these are times when a child is recognized for passing though the threshold toward adulthood. Graduation at Rainbow Community School serves as an integral rite of passage for our graduating Omega Middle Schoolers.
Preparation for this rite officially begins as they join the Omega program. Subtle and more obvious practices support each Omegan’s readiness. For example, each day that middle schoolers pass through a physical threshold. As enter the building, they pass under a wooden panel inscribed with “Know Thyself.” Additionally, their arrival is also marked with a sacred time called Centering; this time is used for grounding, centering, pondering life’s big questions. Lessons, activities and learning experiences throughout the day not only foster a culture of connectedness but support the work of nurturing the child to individuate- to
Know Thyself.
These opportunities, although grounded in the safety of community, encourage personal identity development, person spirituality and ultimately- wholeness. According to decades of research by Dr. Lisa Miller, head of clinical psychology at Columbia’s Teachers College, teens who have the benefit of developing a personal spirituality are 80% less likely to suffer from ongoing and recurring depression and 60% less likely to become substance abusers. To that end, it is reasonable to suggest that spirituality is indeed the cornerstone for mental health and human well-being. Intentional rites of passage are but one way to nourish that health.
To KNOW THYSELF is to answer these questions:
Who am I?
Who are you?
Why am I here?
What is my purpose?
Graduating Omegans write commencement speeches that reflect on their time at Rainbow and acknowledge their gratitude, growth, challenges, hopes and dreams. Each student, as part of the rite, share these speeches publicly. This public sharing is an amazingly brave yet vulnerable challenge.
But more importantly, the words of wisdom spoken by these young adults are nothing less than profound.
They are informed by years of social, emotional and spiritual engagement and learning. They are guided by opportunities to explore life’s big mysteries and ponder personal purpose. They are rooted in a a collective AND personal identity.
If you are curious what happens when soul is invited into the classroom, please click here to listen to Noah Mraz’s graduation speech.
Please also consider:
What are the implications of integrating rites of passage, existential questioning and the spiritual domain into your own work with children?
What are you already doing that serves the spiritual development of your students? What more can you do?
Academic Achievement of Rainbow Learners: Alumni Performance After Rainbow
We wanted to track our alumni performance after Rainbow and share just how well our students perform.
Finding data that accurately reflects how our holistic learners perform academically is complex.
Standardized tests certainly don’t reflect our curriculum or our beliefs about developmentally
appropriate education. Our curriculum emphasizes critical thinking and innovation.
In looking at facts and figures in math, Rainbow students score highest on quantitative reasoning and sometimes lower in rote computation. Language arts and reading scores commonly reflect slightly lower numbers on mechanics (spelling, punctuation, etc.), but high on reasoning, analysis, and organizing ideas.
Our Students Are Prepared to Lead
As we move into the age of artificial intelligence, our graduating students are prepared to be leaders. They know how to truly think, design, plan, and act. For a child who progresses sequentially through the grade levels at Rainbow, the early years allow ample time to explore, think, and learn content – especially science and social studies. Students explore their world, ponder it, organize, and eventually learn how to re-create it, with unique ideas.
In later years, students learn mechanics and perfect their computational skills. This allows them to learn those skills quickly and easily. This frees up time in the younger years so that they have every opportunity to “light up all areas of the brain.” They don’t have to overly drill on these few, narrow skills. By the end of 8th grade, our students are ready for high school and beyond. They often test out of introductory courses into more advanced levels of Math, English language and reading, as well as more advanced world language classes.
How Do Rainbow Graduates Do In High School?
One of the most common questions parents ask during the admissions process is “How well do Rainbow graduates perform in high school?” While the majority of our graduates attend SILSA – an all honors science inquiry-based program at Asheville High – RCS students attend a variety of schools.
The Data
Recently we asked SILSA and Asheville High to disaggregate the GPA data of Rainbow students attending high school there. They analyzed all 29 RCS graduates, from freshmen to seniors, and compared their GPA averages with the rest of the SILSA student population overall:
We’re grateful to SILSA for compiling this data for us! SILSA often compliments us on our Rainbow graduates. We get news of the many awards they win, and this numerical GPA data is very helpful in helping us track how well our students are doing.
The second most common school our graduates attend is Carolina Day School. We will be sure to collect a list of the many awards they will be garnering at the end of this year. Last year, a Rainbow graduate won the Faculty Prize at the Carolina Day graduation. This is a terrific honor. This prize is prestigious: all the faculty vote for a student based on character, academics, and service.
We are so very proud to send Rainbow students into the world who are accomplished, confident, and creative learners. They are prepared to be compassionate leaders in a changing world. They think out of the box and are poised to innovate.
In fact, our current 4th grade teacher, Susie, shared a funny story recently. In her first year at Rainbow, she was administering a standardized test to her students. She knew she was at a different kind of school when her students started coming up to her saying, “We don’t like any of these answers. Can we just write them in?” This is not unusual for an RCS student, and it’s what sets Rainbow Community School apart.
We had a FABULOUS first day! After getting ice in the coolers filled with snacks and breakfast foods at the first rest stop we came across, we were on our way. We watched The Princess Bride when en route. Many kiddos enjoyed seeing it again, quoting it, and even, for some, seeing it for the first time.
We arrived at Bull Island at 1:00PM and boarded a boat/ferry that took us across the Intercostal Highway to the barrier island, Bull Island.
We experienced many different ecosystems, and we saw a variety of life forms. Almost immediately, we spied some chilly alligators trying to soak up the few sun rays that made it through the clouds today. Additionally, we traversed the barrier island and made it to the ocean where we all played and explored the windy landscape for just over a half an hour.
Once we returned to the main land, we boarded our bus and headed out for dinner to finally settle into our home for the next three nights.
Thank you to everyone for getting your Omegans to us on-time this morning. Gratitude for the Kerns who grabbed some milk jugs of water. Additionally, a huge thank you to the Tintingers for getting out snacks and breakfast items. They then sorted them in the most efficient way. Finally, they also created a special homemade treat we all enjoyed after dinner tonight.
It takes a village!
Enjoy the photos, and if I didn’t get a close up of your Omegan today, don’t fret, more photos will be coming each evening.
Until tomorrow!
March 27
Wow, what a LONG and incredibly fulfilling day! Alarms (that had been left set for a normal school day) started to chirp, buzz, and play at 5:30AM in some cabins this morning. Even though that was earlier than necessary, with sleepy eyes, our Omegans started to stir. By 8:15, we were able to circle up and center before our adventures.
We began with a tour of the aircraft carrier, USS Yorktown. Next was the destroyer, the USS Laffey. Afterward, we went to see a submarine, the USS Camagore. Students (and teachers) marched up and down stairs, and across grates and steel. They experienced the day in the life of our veterans.
From there, we moved to the waterfront to enjoy lunch and quality community building time in play. Students saw dolphins in the bay, and practiced their latest gymnast tricks. Of course, they also showed off their ninja moves, and laughed (a lot!).
In the afternoon, a small group of students ventured to the Charleston Museum, and a larger group investigated the Aquarium. From sea turtles to stingrays, tea parties to dress-up, smiles were infinite.
Dinner was at the Screen Door, and everyone had their fill, for we had all worked up quite an appetite.
Our final destination was the beach where students jumped waves, enjoyed a sweet treat, and eventually formed a HUGE volleyball game.
All is quiet in the cabins now as we rest for Day 3.
Here are some shots of the day, and (lucky us!!) we have more to come from Sheila!
Look out for an update tomorrow night.
Thank you for trusting us with your kiddos. We are enjoying the time with each of them! Click on the gallery of images to enlarge them.
March 28
What an amazing last day.
We had a late start, which was nice, so we didn’t circle up until 9:15 this morning. We started in circle and by stating the following quote:
“The more often we see the things around us- even the beautiful and wonderful things- the more they become invisible to us. That is why we often take for granted the beauty of this world: the flowers, the trees, the birds, the clouds- even those we love. Because we see things so often, we see them less and less.” –Joseph B. Wirthlin
A quote to remind each of us to listen deeply to those who had information to share with us today: information new to some and known by others, regardless, information and ideas easily and often taken for granted.
We boarded the bus for the 40 minute trek to the Birds of Prey exhibit. It is beyond words. From bald eagles, to baby owls, we were reminded of the impact humans have on our planet and the creatures on it, and how truly incredible ALL birds are.
After our 2 hour tour, we boarded the bus and headed back to Charleston. We ate lunch on the bus while we were entertained by the Gullah Tour founder, Alphonso Brown, who opened our eyes to some of the history that doesn’t make its way to traditional history books. After he serenaded us through the East side, we switched to a second tour guide and headed off to the Angel Oak. It was majestic and this tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable.
We returned to the city for dinner at Mellow Mushroom ~ and some time in community. It is so great seeing these kids eat a meal while laughing and sharing tales from our week.
We then returned to the water front to play before our haunted tour. The guides were fantastic story tellers leaving many of our Omegans a tad frightened to go to sleep tonight!!
Take a look at the gallery to see the photos that illustrate our adventures.
I hope to send another message out before we get home tomorrow. Again, thank you for letting us spend this time with your children. Memories have most certainly been made and will be cherished for a long time to come.
Aside from being the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet – 𝚷 – it is also a unique number.
If you take the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, no matter how big or small a circle is, this number is the same. That is, dividing any circumference of a circle by its diameter, you’ll still get the same result: pi.
Before we share the number, we need to explain that it’s an irrational number. Its decimals are infinite. They go on forever, though they do not repeat, such as when you get the decimal form of 2/3: 0.66666666…and on to infinity.
Here are the first 100 digits of pi: 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679
A Pi Day Tradition
Each year in 6th grade Omega, on March 14, students have a “Pi Day” showdown. Students who want to participate in Pi day spend time memorizing as many digits of Pi (after the number 3) as they can.
Students get up and recite them in front of their classmates. Even if they have memorized hundreds of numbers, the added challenge of doing this in front of peers doesn’t guarantee that a person will be able to flawlessly recite their memorized numbers.
Some students memorized the first two digits (ha!). Some memorized 30 digits, 61 digits, 71 digits, 73 digits, 103 digits, and one student kept going…and going…to 220 digits!
Why Memorize Digits of Pi?
It may seem at first glance that memorizing lots of numbers in rapid succession for “rote memorization” isn’t a great use of time. Besides, why do that when you can just search that number on the web?
You might not know about the real benefits of doing an exercise like this.
First, let’s talk numbers.
In 1981, Rajan Mahadevan (of India) correctly recited 31,811 digits of pi. Eight years later, Hideaki Tomoyori (of Japan) would recite 40,000 digits in competition. In 2005, Lu Chao (of China) broke the world record for correctly reciting 67,890 digits of pi.
Impressive, no?
But get this. Those folks don’t have extraordinary memorization powers. Oh, no. It’s strategy.
These people simply learned different methods for effectively memorizing large amounts of information. It’s not hard to see how this would translate to the classroom. By learning how to memorize numbers in various ways, students can apply those skills to memorizing other important information, such as historical dates, social security numbers, drivers license numbers, and more.
They also start to understand their own process of learning and what is most effective.
Memorization Strategies
Mind Palace or The Method of Loci
Basically, this method uses location as a way to trigger the memory. Let’s say someone wants to remember 24 digits. Standing in front of the kitchen sink, for example, they would memorize four or five digits. Then they could move toward the window and memorize a few more, and move again to the couch, then to a door, each time memorizing a few more digits of a number.
To recite the numbers, the person then starts again at the kitchen sink, moves toward the window and retraces the path they first took – essentially moving “through the palace” to visualize and remember the numbers.
Chunking
This method calls for memorizing numbers in smaller chunks. To make it more effective, a person could put them on cards, write them on paper on different lines, or write in names of people and “assign” a chunk of numbers to them.
Major System
This is another memorization technique in which numbers have consonant sounds and memory aids.
In fact, there are many ways to do this! The website The Art of Memory has many different techniques of improving memory skills and resources for learning how to memorize large amounts of information.
Here is a fun video on “How to Memorize Pi the Easiest Way Possible” by Memorize Academy:
At the very least, anyone looking up resources to memorize pi naturally gains research skills and cognitive reasoning skills to sift through all the information!
It’s More Than A Friendly Competition
Students who choose to get up and recite these numbers face some challenges. It’s not easy getting up in front of peers. But at Rainbow, teachers and students spend time on developing the “whole child,” and this includes developing those empathy skills that allow students to be supportive of each other as they go up and present in front of the class.
Everyone received an applause, a little hedgehog sticker for participation and support from classmates.
Then They Ate Pi…Er…Pie!
Though Rainbow has a policy on not eating sugar during the day, teachers will make exceptions for special occasions. This was definitely a special occasion: not eating pie on pi day amounts to…mathematical error.
Instead of regular pie, however, Jenny, our 6th grade teacher, got “cookie pie” as it was easier to transport. What would a celebration be without 3.14 candles?
We’re not sure which memorization method students used, but one thing is for sure: students learned about how they learn, and figured out different memorization techniques.
