For the first time in Rainbow history, the Annual Book Fair is being hosted at Firestorm Books & Coffee down the street at 610 Haywood Rd in West Asheville! We are so excited to support our local community business neighbor and hope you will join us in purchasing books from 2pm-6pm from Tuesday, Nov 29th to Friday, Dec 2nd! 15% of cash profits and 30% of credit profits from books purchased within this time frame will be donated to Rainbow Community School.
Our Kick-Off event on Tuesday, Nov 29th from 4-6pm at Firestorm Books will feature marvelous classroom performances, including theatrical readings and original music. We hope to see you there!
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.
Join us for our annual all-school theatrical production featuring individual class performances nestled into the greater structure of the sixth grade play. This year prepare to be whisked away into “The Dream Parade” on a mythic journey through the brilliant shadowlands of the subconcious. Your whole family will be transported to a mystefying world where imagination and dreams come to life and slip into our basic reality.
Don’t miss this one of a kind, meticiloulsy crafted children’s theater production. Invite your friends and their children on this quest to find out what it truly takes to become your very own hero.
Thursday, May 19th
Morning Show: 10:30am
with performances from Preschool through 8th grade
Evening Show: 6:00pm
with performances from Kindergarten through 8th grade
All performances are free, open to the public, and will take place in the Rainbow Community Center at 60 State St, Asheville, NC 28806.
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!
Join us for our annual all-school theatrical production featuring individual class performances nestled into the greater structure of the sixth grade play. This year prepare to be whisked away into “The Dream Parade” on a mythic journey through the brilliant shadowlands of the subconcious. Your whole family will be transported to a mystefying world where imagination and dreams come to life and slip into our basic reality.
