Day Four of EDTs, and we’re hoofing it down from Pine Mountain Lodge (where there has not been a lodge since the 19th century)–windy and cold, but last night, we were warmed, belly and heart, by hot uber-stuffed quesadillas for supper and rousing campfire singing. Our team of troopers (Julia, Ben, David, Carrie, Faith, Sydney, Michael […]
It was rain on the roof the Saturday morning of final exams that got me thinking about sounds and associations, a thought-thread that kept spinning out that day (probably because I hadn’t heard it in so long), the next, and beyond: the sound of a big diesel bus tooting once and then roaring out the […]
It was a beautiful Sunday morning here in Ventura County, and eight young Thacher students (Reade, Brooke, Nick, Hannah, Olivia, Maya, Andrew, and Sydney) joined Mrs. Schryver and me at Kiddie Beach in Ventura to help with the Ventura County Best Day Foundation’s Beach Day for special needs kids. We packed into the Suburbans at […]
I have most likely already shared with you my deep appreciation of the community service program at Thacher. Every Monday, I pile into a school van with a few other students to head into downtown Ojai. We are distributed at our different volunteer places, which range from the Ojai museum to the humane society. I […]
This trimester I started what I hope will be a long career of volunteering. I guess I can say that I was inspired by the plethora of students who take part in what we call ComServe (which sounds like something out of the book 1984). Nevertheless, after 12 weeks of volunteer work, I have come to […]
Two weeks ago, Thacher did something called the Thacher Plays For Change Concert. It was a concert to support the Play For Change Foundation, and we joined 330 other events going on around the world in 52 different countries on that day. The concert was put on by two of my classmates, Shelby Luce and […]
Community service opportunities at Thacher are countless. You can help clean up Ojai’s creeks on a Saturday morning, tutor kids during the day, take part in Habitat for Humanity projects, help out with trail work on Sundays, and/or visit elderly homes on weeknights. Last fall, I started going to St. Joe’s, an elderly home in […]
This morning, the Chamber Singers, Thacher’s vocal group, went caroling at the Monica Ross School nearby. We sang “Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer”, “Sleigh Ride” and many more classic holiday favorites. The kids, whose ages ranged from 2-6 went nuts! Some even sang along with us. When we reached our finale of “The Sugar Plum […]
Junior year has been great. I’m taking classes that I am interested in such as Photography and English Literature. After school, I’m harnessing my forehand daily in JV tennis. This year I am living in Middle School–which is only steps from the the dining hall, classes, health center, and vending machine (what more can you […]
Although only two weeks in, these two weeks have been flying by and I feel like that’s how the rest of this trimester will go. English presentations on Romeo and Juliet, history essays about the Enlightenment period, and even more is happening in a rapid quick fire; it’s amazing how much has happened and how much […]