Graduation 2015 Speeches (Videos)
Here are the speeches for our graduating class of 2015:
Imagine Brilliance
“When I gave my first concert in Chartes, I felt that the cathedral almost kicked me out. ‘Get out with you!’ she said. For I was young and I tried to perform as I always did: by just playing my violin. But then I realized that in Chartes you actually cannot play your small violin, but you have to play the macro violin. The small violin is the instrument that is in your hands. The macro-violin is the whole cathedral that surrounds you. The cathedral of Chartes is built entirely according to musical principles. Playing the macro violin requires you to listen and to play from another place, from the periphery. You have to move your listening and playing from within to beyond yourself.” ~from violinist, Miha Pogacnik.
Our quest at Rainbow is so far beyond teaching children how to “play their little violins,” that we operate in another galaxy than most schools: We want them to vibrate from beyond (to use Pogacnik’s word). We want every child to sing their heart out!
Rainbow graduates are known to be brilliant. Brilliance is something more than smart or well-educated. Brilliance is indescribable light – so bright it fills us with inspiration. 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. When a group of people create together… a force even larger exists. Finally, when that creation is shared with an audience– if the magic happens– everyone is united in something that no one can describe. Welcome to the first IMAGINE performance in our own auditorium – our own humble version of Chartes Cathedral. Sit back, enjoy, and help us play the macro violin together today. Our quest is a journey into the beyond.
Love,
Renee
*Quote from Theory U, by C. Otto Sharmer.
Strive Not To Drive Week 2015
This week Rainbow Community School will be participating in Strive Not to Drive Week. This initiative started back in 1991 as Bike to Work day with the goal of encouraging bicycle commuting in Buncombe County.
From Friday, May 15th to Friday the 22nd, our community will be striving not to drive by either taking the bus, walking, riding a bicycle or joining a car share.
You can find more information about Strive Not to Drive on their official website here
Images provided by Strive Not to Drive
May Day 2015
Here are a few photos from our annual May Day Celebration. We’d like to extend warm thanks to everyone who joined us. Photo’s courtesy of Luxe House Photographic.
See you next year!
Screen-Free Week
WHAT is Screen-Free Week?
Screen-Free Week is an annual, international celebration when families, schools, and communities swap digital entertainment for the joys of life beyond the screen. Instead of watching TV, surfing the web, or playing with apps and video games, they read, play, think, create, get active, and spend more time with family and friends.
Remember, Screen-Free Week is about taking a break from digital entertainment. You can celebrate, and still use devices for work or school. But if screens of any kind interfere with family time (including meals), you may want to rethink how and when you’re using them.
WHY Celebrate?
Regardless of whether children are consuming “good” or “bad” programming, it’s clear that digital entertainment dominates the lives of far too many kids, displacing all sorts of other activities that are integral to childhood. Excessive screen time is linked to poor school performance, childhood obesity, and attention problems. And it is primarily through screens that children are exposed to harmful marketing.
Screen-Free Week is a fun way to reduce our dependence on digital entertainment, including television, video games, smartphones, tablets, and computers. It’s a chance for children—and adults—to power down and reconnect with the world around them.
Here at Rainbow our 6th graders posted a large banner on the deck with some information about Screen Free Week. They even listed alternatives to screen time, promoting face-to-face conversations and interactions over electronic ones. The 6th graders will also write letters to Mountain Xpress, sharing some information about the importance of a “tech cleanse.”
