The Beacon

Chicago ER...R

 

The Middle School put on the play Chicago ERR, by L.R. Karcz, under the direction of Katie Oberlander. Although some humor may have been lost on younger audience members, adults were roaring with laughter at this spoof on the award-winning television show ER. Simultaneously, children of all ages appreciated the slapstick humor interwoven among this melodrama.

The play opened with the handsome heartthrob, Dr. Moss, played by Emmanuel Weinman; he pranced across the ER set, displaying his arrogance and attractiveness. The character played by Alexia Soteropoulos, Nurse Carol Hasaway, tried to warn the newest member of the ER team to stay away from this womanizer. Despite her pleading, his peacock mating dance was not lost on the newest member of the ER team, nurse Cher Silverstone, played by Hope Younger. The new nurse would swoon each time Dr. Moss was near, and she would become frightened each time the Phantom of the ER, played by Milton Crawford, swooped in and out of the scene effectively using his cape to haunt the members of the hospital without a single word.

But, not to fear, Dr. S. Holmes, played by Andrew Gilmore, along with his sidekick Dr. Forrest Crump, played by Aidan Tremblay, were determined to solve this mystery. With magnifying glass in hand and the Pink Panther theme song as background music, Dr. Holmes eventually solved the case, despite his more Gump-like than Watson-like companion.

Meanwhile, the audience was introduced to quite a character, played by Michelle Nee; she was transformed into Dr. Marcus Smelby, a hard of hearing, cane-bearing doctor with questionable hygiene.

Another character, played by Daniel Jacobson, was Dr. Gene Darter. He wore a karate belt around his head, like the title character of The Karate Kid, and demonstrated how he would deal with the Phantom if ever faced by him. Dr. Darter wielded his arms and legs in the supposed manner of the Martial Arts.

A third three-dimensional caricature was one that was mildly based on Mr. Magoo. Dr. Ben Spacey, played by Daniel Cipriani, wore coke-bottle bottom glasses that only mildly helped with his vision, but without them he was totally incompetent.

An entirely different story-line involved the humorous exchange between Intern Noble, played by Jesse Hansen, and his patient Mrs. Bigbill, played by Hannah Soucy. The patient, for certain, lived up to her name as every time she tried to leave the hospital, signing all the discharge papers, something would happen that would cause her an even greater injury. By the end nearly her entire body was bandaged or propped up in some manner. Each time Intern Noble, straight-faced, would try to discharge his patient.

An additional plot-line surrounded a bratty child, acted by Jackson Heath. Brad Simpson carried an over-sized lollipop and a bag of jalapeno flavored jaw breakers, while his father, played by Kirill Zavyalov, dutifully followed his son wherever he went. Eventually, Brat’s, oops, Brad’s, own antics lead to his near-death experience as he choked on one of his own jaw breakers.

Streaming through these scenes was the silent wheel-chair bound Mr. Payne, played by Stephen Davis, who miraculously was able to walk at the end of the play, perhaps he should have loaned it to the accident prone Mrs. Bigbill.

Although random flash mobs denoted scene changes, ultimately it was the receptionists who tied the storylines together. Lila and Lily, played by Lauren White, and Nicole O’Connor, made announcements explaining a plot shift, introducing a new story line. Just like in life, isn’t it the people behind the reception desks who really know what’s going on?

In a play, it is the “characters” behind the scenes that know what’s going on. As all plays put on by Harborlight, the crew is entirely made up of students: Emma Faulkner, Crew Chief; Daniel Lynch, Assistant to Crew Chief; Benjamin Ellis, Sound Manager; Andrew McNulty, Crew Member; and Thomas Franciskato, Crew Member.

With the participation of all members of Chicago ERR, the play was a huge success! David Hursty, our Head of School, put it best: Chicago ERR “captured the Middle School psyche (dramatic broad humor) in a most entertaining fashion."

 

STRIKE!

It may be baseball season, but bowling is the sport of choice on Friday afternoons at Harborlight.  Nearly thirty students, Kindergarten through sixth grade, board the bus to Bowl-A-Mat in Beverly.  The studetns occupy half the lanes as they play for fun, paying more attention to the number of smiles shared with friends than the number on the scoreboards.

One young child even jumps for joy when his turn has ended and his remaining bowling pins have been swept away.  He thinks it’s a strike!  No one has the heart to take away his joy.

Brief, Informative, and Entertaining

For the last three months Harborlight students, grades 1-8, have participated in three Community Meetings.  Every meeting has the same agenda:  1. Thought of the Day   2. Announcements   3. Group Share   4. Faculty Trivia   5. Musical Exit.  Each meeting lasts approximately 15 minutes.

The opening thoughts have been inspirational quotes by various people like Dr. Seuss and John F. Kennedy.  The announcements are very succinct reminders of upcoming events.  One announcer, Alexis, required audience participation, beginning his prepared statement with, “Drum role please…”

The group share is the heart of the meeting.  Different age groups rotate the task of preparing a short demonstration, sharing what they have been doing lately.

Lower Elementary 1 ran our very first meeting since the concept of the Community Meeting concept was introduced to Harborlight by their head teacher, Sarah Goodale.

Lower Elementary 2  performed a Chinese dance and song that they learned while researching Ancient China. 

Lower Elementary 3 demonstrated how their cause and effect machine worked, using all six simple machines.

Upper Elementary shared a skit they learned while at W. Alton Jones, involving a game show and throwing bread as a hobby.

Perhaps the most anticipated part of the meeting is Faculty Jeapordy.  Clues about relatively unknown facts about faculty members are read aloud; then students raise their hands trying to guess who matches up with the real-life experiences.

The community then exits silently as they listen to some musical medium.  At the first meeting, students exited listening to a record on a record player, such a novelty for the very young!

Next time it is up to the Middle School students to run the Community Meeting!

Does a Chocolate Bar a Day Keep the Doctor Away?

Does a Chocolate Bar a Day Keep the Doctor Away?  These and many other questions were answered at Harborlight Montessori School’s Science Fair.  Children, ranging from Kindergarten to eighth grade participated in this annual event. 

Every child had to come up with a question that had an answer that could be measured.  The hypothesis is what the student thought the outcome of the experiment would show.  Then the child had to come up with and perform an experiment that generated data that would determine the answer to the question.  The conclusions weren’t always what was expected. 

The students presented their findings, which took up the entire Middle School space plus the three Upper Elementary classrooms to parents, teachers, other guests, as well as each other. 

Montreal

Submitted By:

Rachael DeStefano,

Lower Elementary 2 Teacher

Last week I had the wonderful privilege of joining the Middle School class and teachers on their annual class trip. This year we headed north and out of the country to Montreal, Quebec.

On Tuesday morning we met at school at 6:15 in the morning and loaded onto a luxury bus for our trek. Our days were jam packed with fascinating sites and exploration around Montreal. When we got to Montreal we went on a bus tour of Montreal and walked around the Mount Royal Park, Briskets Restaurant and Montreal's underground shopping mall. We went back to our hotel in Old Montreal to rest up for a busy next day.

Our first full day in Montreal, Wednesday was busy but exciting. We visited the Cosmo Dome Space Center and got to solve a space mission through an interactive game as well as try out the space simulator machines. After lunch we headed to Montreal's Museum of Archeology and History where we learned a lot about the city and were even within the real stone walls that were built hundreds of years ago. We ended the night with some maple syrup, dinner and dancing at the Sugar Shack where we learned about the process of making Maple Syrup from a 2nd generation Canadian maple sugarer and even got to sample the delicious product.

The next day, Thursday; our last full day in Montreal was a busy one. We started the day at the beautiful St. Joseph's oratory where we learned about Saint Andre and the good he did for the church. We then got back on the bus to visit the beautiful botanical gardens and amazing insectarium. We then visited my favorite place, The Biodome that housed a great natural museum filled with landscapes, waterfalls, plants, animals, and ecosystems. We then toured the Olympic tower that housed the 1976 summer Olympics. Next we continued our tour by visiting the beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral. We went back to the hotel to get dressed up for our wonderful dinner at DeFranco's Italian Restaurant and then off to the amazing Cirque De Soleil.

On Friday we loaded back onto the bus to make the trek home. We stopped in Burlington Vermont for lunch on Church Street and then proceeded to the Ben and Jerry's Factory for some dessert. Full and tired we headed for home. It was great to return back to school with happy, waiting families lining the sidewalk. The entire trip was wonderful and the children were very respectful and interested in every place we visited. I not only learned about the beautiful city of Montreal but also the fantastic 7th and 8th grade students. I was so proud to be associated with these wonderful and mature middle school students of Harborlight Montessori School.

Storyteller - Norah Dooley

Everyone loves to listen to a good story, especially when told by an expert storyteller, like Norah Dooley.  She gained the audience’s immediate attention as she played her penny whistle.  She also played her earrings…   which were mini harmonicas!

Norah Dooley grew up in a multi-cultural neighborhood with representation from every continent in the world, except Antarctica.  Therefore, the stories she tells/writes are from all over the world.  During the assembly she shared stories from Puerto Rico, Ghana, Ireland, Haiti, and more. 

One story was from Nova Scotia.  There was a boy who wore a pink shirt to school.  That day a group of bullies threw the boy up against the wall and said, “Don’t ever wear pink again.  Boys don’t wear pink in this school.  That’s not the way we do things around here.”

There was a group of students who overheard what happened.  They decided to do something.  They contacted every member of the school community, explained what happened to the boy in the pink shirt, and requested that they all wear pink to school the next day.  The next day everyone was dressed in pink, except for the bullies and the original boy wearing the pink shirt.  When the bullies asked what was going on, the student bodied explained, “Don’t ever pick on someone for what they look like or their choice of clothes.  That’s not the way we do things around here.”

The best part about this story is that it is true.

Norah Dooley brought the stories to life, using inflection in her voice, as well as different voices for each character, repetition, sound effects, and hand gestures.  She even included the audience in her stories, requiring everyone’s participation.  Amazingly, she was able to engage an audience ranging in age from 2-12, and that doesn’t even include the teachers who were also entertained.  In addition to telling stories, she explained what she did to engage her audience.   She also explained how listeners of stories co-create the tale by having images in their heads that differ from person to person. 

Her advice at the end of her hour-long show was, “Know your own story.  Know it has importance. Then go tell your story.”

 

Saving Lives with Mosquito Nets

http://vimeo.com/41527060

A Bee Keeper

Preschool 5 and 6, had the privilege of having Finn and Riley Deeleys’s mother come to school today. She is not only a mommy but a Bee Keeper. She keeps bees right in her backyard. Mrs. Deeley spoke to the children about the importance of bees and how our world would not make it without them. Who knew that almonds would not exist without bees! Mrs. Deeley gave us a wonderful explanation of what a bee keeper does and Miss. Caroline even put on the bee keeper suit! The children were able to see how the bee’s honey comb can be turned into candles and soaps. We even got to taste the local honey! Thank you so much for visiting, Mrs. Deeley!

The Bug Song!

Preschool 5 has been learning all about insects! Ava and Katie made up their own song to remember the parts of the bug. Now everyone is learning and singing!

 

 

Spring Cleaning

Early Childhood 5 took advantage of the warm weather by doing some spring cleaning. A very practical life activity took place as the children learned to scrub and clean chairs! They had a blast and continued to ask for more cleaning!