The film Race to Nowhere documents the ramifications of America’s achievement culture. Hosted by UNCA Department of Education, the film will be viewed in the Highsmith Student Center at UNCA at 7pm, this Thursday, April 11, with a panel discussion to follow. Click on the live link above to watch a trailer.
Photo credit: Michael Tracey, Public Domain
A couple of weeks ago I took a tour of Africa in 15 minutes with out having to get my passport renewed. I not only saw all the beautiful sights, I met the people and I learned about sand storms from the Tuareg tribe, medicines from the Baka tribe and the Maasai tribe offered me their traditional meal. I passed. It was raw milk mix with cattle blood. (They actually didn’t have any to share). I even learned how to say hello in Swahili . I had a wonderful visit. My tour guides were extremely knowledgeable and even though at one time I thought I was to be a lion’s dinner, I would visit again and again, so lovely it all was.
Every year the first grade class studies Africa and it’s inhabitants. They end the thematic unit by transforming the classroom into Africa, giving tours to the other classes and when the traveling is done they celebrate with an African feast. Learning through doing is one of the ways Rainbow Mountain students live what they learn.
Here are some snaps from my trip.
The Baka people.
Diorama of a Maasai camp
Mask made by the 1st grade
My tour guides
Lions and humans together.
Without equivocation, Rainbow Mountain Children’s School is a unique learning environment. Everyone knows it the minute they step onto campus. Although Americans would find Rainbow’s education very different compared to American prep schools, it is not at all unusual compared to Scandinavian schools. Read More
The Gnome Village is being installed. Max, our incredible facilities manager, along with Asheville Playgrounds, have designed what may end up being the most creative and exciting play structure in Asheville. Last week they began installing the main posts which Max, along with wonderful parent helpers, hand harvested. The post are locust wood– the strongest, longest-lasting wood available. Hand railings will be made of local laurel — also hand harvested and strong. The roofing will have cedar shingles.
Asheville Playgrounds has the best reputation in town for imaginative, safe structures. They have been great to work with, and obviously really know what they are doing! The basic structure is expected to be complete in the next 3 to 6 weeks, with some detail work remaining after that.
We are very excited to see our playground metamorphosing into the beautiful, creative, space we knew it could be.
Did you know Rainbow Mountain has an Odyssey of the Mind team? Odyssey of the Mind has been described as “Olympics for Geeks” (Geek being an affectionate term these days.) Kids form teams and spend weeks solving massive, multi-page problems, and then present their solutions in the form of a performance, a contraption, or whatever is necessary. “OM” is where wildy creative meets rigid logic. Our team will be competing at the high school level at regionals this Saturday. You can see their innovative performance at 2pm at Erwin High School. We have a feeling they are going to advance to the state level.
Rainbow Mountain Children’s School has grown slowly and steadily since 2007, my first year as director. However, I have never seen anything like what we have been experiencing over the last few months. We have about three times the inquiries and tours of any previous year. We have at least six times the number of new applicants than we normally have this time of year. Happily, our strategic plan had already identified a desire to grow by another 40% to 50%, in order to reach an enrollment number that will best serve the children, the community, and provide economic efficiency for Rainbow. (We need to construct another building to accommodate those numbers, but that is another chapter.) Until a new building is a reality, we have limited space. Sheila Mraz, the admissions director, and myself are scrambling to determine where each classroom will be located next year in order to best accommodate everyone who needs a spot, while continuing to enhance the quality and creativity of the program. If you have a sibling of a current student who is going to attend next year, please don’t delay in getting your application in. It would be heart-breaking to turn any members of current families away. As for new families, if you know anyone who is considering Rainbow, but has not yet toured or applied, please encourage them to do so as soon as possible. We anticipate several classes being full as of March 5, although we will try to open up new spots, if possible. Thank you everyone for your faith and support in our special school. Your synergy is making this happen, and it’s very exciting.
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