THE VOICE OF A PIONEER
In the tradition of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries that brought cultural experiences, enrichment and education to small communities in an expanding United States, Lanette Hunter- Reginelli performed at Rocky Mountain School as Laura Ingalls Wilder in a Chautauqua format. Ms. Wilder is the dearly loved author who won a place in many hearts with her book, Little House in the Big Woods, which immortalizes the many stories her father told her as a child during the late 1800’s. Laura had a vision to make history enjoyable to young readers and after her first book, published in 1932, she continued to write many “Little House” books filled with tales of life on the prairie. Ms. Hunter-Reginelli, as Laura, delivered an unscripted dramatic monologue in costume and in character. She told of her daughter’s encouragement to write down the stories of her life as a child of a homesteader and pioneer who was characterized as a “wanderlust.” After relating tales of her life, many of which were familiar to students from their reading, “Laura” responded to questions including “What were some life changing experiences for you?” (nearly being pulled off a bridge on which she was playing by the rushing waters of a swollen creek) and “Why did you become a teacher?” (to help pay for college for her blind older sister Mary.)
Out of character, representing herself as a humanities scholar, Ms. Hunter-Reginelli answered questions regarding preparation for her performance. Despite having already read the books hundreds of times, she read them again in preparation for the RMS presentation. She related that she read her first Laura Ingalls Wilder book when she was about seven years old around the same time the author died at the age of 93. She encouraged students to follow their dreams and look to Wilder as an example that “You are never too old to begin something new” referring to the fact that Laura began writing her stories when she was in her sixties.
This Chautauqua presentation was funded by the Colorado Humanities. Colorado Humanities is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Colorado Humanities inspires the people of Colorado to explore ideas and to appreciate our diverse cultural heritage.
In a first person presentation for the RMS students as Laura Ingalls Wilder, Lanette Hunter- Reginelli gestures as she relates one of many stories from the books written by Wilder about her childhood on the prairie. Wilder began writing her books when she was over 60 years old.
RMS will host the IZZE Book Trailer from April 1 – April 11 during which gently used books for children in nine orphanages in Kenya can be dropped by the school. This program, sponsored by the Global Education Fund, particularly requests early readers, non-fiction (science, nature, animals), reference (dictionary, atlas) and other elementary reading level books.
UNC@RMS
Q: What did seven graduate students in the Masters program in Gifted Education at the University of Northern Colorado (and their professor) do in the RMS Art Studio for six hours last Saturday?
A: The same thing RMS students do every day…they experimented, explored, practiced and evaluated the results of their effort.
On Saturday, March 8, Nan hosted Stuart Omdal’s Creativity class at RMS. After a tour of the building and description of the RMS program, the class received an orientation to the art studio, which consisted of a collaborative “round robin” to try out most of the “centers” that are set up there. After a lunch break, the class walked the labyrinth, seeking inspiration for an afternoon of art making. In the discussion that followed, questions were asked and pondered such as: how does the classroom environment contribute to creativity? What are some roadblocks to creativity? How can creativity be nurtured? In the end, in addition to insightful discussion, one mural, a giant weaving, a decorative stitchery , watercolor paintings, cardboard sculptures, clay landscapes, weird collages, two handmade books, one landscape/cityscape drawing, four wheel thrown bowls and one wheel thrown vase resulted.
Dr. Stuart Omdal and Gradate student Laura Cole try the potter’s wheel for the first time.
Juggling, Ballet, Mime Come Together at RMS
 On February 6th, the RMS student body enjoyed Peter Davison, a one-of-a-kind performing artist, who transformed the RMS community room into a magical world of motion. Davison is part juggler, dancer, poet, musician, and actor who is full of humor and imagination. His performance was so compelling (and often breathtaking) that he had every member of the audience, from the Explorers (pre-K) to the middle schoolers and adults, spellbound for the entire performance.
Davison’s background is impressive; he has won the national juggling championship as a solo artist and with Airjazz, and he has performed in many 2000 seat halls across the country. He has worked with cast members of Cirque du Soleil, and has been featured on the Tonight Show and on a CBS TV special. Davison has also been a dancer in several Colorado dance companies and is now the director and choreographer of Boulder Ballet.
When asked how he became involved in the performing arts, Davison shared that his interest in juggling began as a young boy. He went to the library, checked out a book and taught himself to juggle. When he was 15 years old he apprenticed with two elderly people who retired from vaudeville. With them he honed his craft. He said, “It has taken me 30 years of practice, developing new skills and trying and failing to reach this level of performance and craftsmanship.”
After the performance, teachers followed up with activities that included identifying the props and art forms Davison used, creating skits, learning to juggle, mime, creative writing, stacking cups, learning to play the spoons and more. RMS teacher Bonnie Phipps, herself a professional musician and performing artist, described the whole experience as “a joyful, fun, inspiring afternoon.”
Fine Arts Teacher Informs National Art Education Community
One-Liners, an article by RMS fine arts focus teacher Nan Hathaway, appears in the January 2008 issue of School Arts Magazine. Nan describes the work of a young Picasso who claimed to his fiends that he could “draw anything using just one line.” Her article details the process and provides lesson plans and extension activities. In celebration, several art classes have re-visited the whimsical drawings of Pablo Picasso and tested his claim. One class devoted an entire class to playing a round robin style game, challenging one another to draw objects using one line. 
RMS Students Put a Face with the Refuge Crisis in Sudan
In preparation for an upcoming study of Africa, two upper elementary classes and two Middle School students representing the RMS Human Rights Committee hosted a visit from two “Lost Boys” now living in Colorado. Refuges from Sudan and hardly boys anymore, the young men shared their experiences of having to flee their homes, leaving family and the life they knew behind. Their tale was told in a short DVD and the men’s availability to take questions from students for more than an hour.
A few of the more memorable details the men shared:
One of the first foods Daniel was offered when he arrived in America was a hot dog. He politely declined saying that he did not eat dogs. Now, of course, it’s one of his favorite foods!
Guot recalled that when he arrived in Denver, it was nighttime and by morning snow had fallen. He wondered, “What is this magic?” even though he had heard about snow as a schoolboy at the refugee camp.
The students delighted in hearing tales of learning to use a light switch for the first time, listening to the men speak in their native tongue, and having the men list what they miss most vs. what they appreciate about living in America.
Of course, there were difficult parts of their story as well, including Daniel’s recollection of a friend being captured and eaten by a wild animal as they forged their way – to where, they did not know. During the DVD presentation students watched as one Colorado Lost Boy was re-united with his mother whom he had long ago believed was killed.
There are now close to 80 Lost Boys (and Girls!) living in the Denver Metro area. Most are attending colleges and hold steady jobs. All give testimony to the spirit of the human heart, to perseverance against great odds, and to the power of a positive outlook – lofty goals we could each take to heart. The RMS Human Rights Committee and the student council sponsored Fund Raising Committee will work jointly to determine how RMS students can support refuges from around the world.
RMS Students to Determine Distribution of Cash Award
RMS was the recipient of a $50 cash award from the Boulder Valley Rotary Club Share-A-Coat Programin recognition of being the third place donor of coats per student enrolled.Over 3,000 coats and many other winter garments such as sweaters, snowsuits, hats, gloves, scarves and boots were collected from Boulder and Broomfield County schools and businesses. The RMS student body will determine how these funds will be distributed among non-profit organizations that impact issues of concern to the students.
RMS Students Monitor Water Quality of Left Hand Creek
 Rocky Mountain School students are active stewards in the health of our watersheds through Riverwatch. Riverwatch is a statewide volunteer water quality-monitoring program operated by the Colorado Watershed Network in cooperation with the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Students have adopted Left Hand Creek at Haystack Mountain Golf Course and are monitoring its waters on a monthly basis during the school year. Students are learning processes and methods of water quality analysis and samples taken include hardness, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, metals, and nutrients. Data is entered into the Riverwatch database and used to help private and public landowners to make positive water management plans.
RMS Middle School Students Design Habitat for South Africa Zoo
RMS middle school science students recently completed a five-week study that immersed the students in an extensive multimedia research project of the 14 biomes of North America. The students integrated biomes, ecology, and human environmental interactions in a way that produced a deeper understanding of the concepts and relationships. Each student created a PowerPoint presentation of the research from her/his biome study. The students participated in the Denver Zoo’s “Young Scientists” program during which they studied emersion exhibits, a relatively new focus of zoo design, and the four key concepts for maximizing the experience for the animals in the exhibits and for the visitors who come to see them: visitors feel part of the ecosystem, and the animals have aspects of the ecosystem which are necessary for their specific adaptations to the wild. In the culmination of the project, working in their biome groups, the RMS students used their zoo research and their biome notebook to design a section of a zoo to be built in South Africa. The 14 biome zoo sections were arranged together to make a completed zoo of North American animals. The designs were sent to the staff of the Johannesburg Zoo for evaluation and further collaboration.
RMS Alumna and Teacher Honored at University of Iowa
RMS alumna, Lindsey Quakenbush, was accepted at the Visual Arts Institute (VAI), which tookplace in June at the Belin-Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development at the University of Iowa. To apply to the Institute, Lindsey had to make an electronic art portfolio, write an essay on why she wanted to attend the Visual Arts Institute and have two letters of recommendation from two different art teachers. Lindsey was accepted to this prestigious Institute and spent a week on the campus of the University of Iowa with 28 artistically talented students who are currently in 9th-11th grades.
The VAI provides talented artists with an intensive and advanced studio experience designed to enhance their creative and artistic growth. Every day Lindsey took part in a challenging “studio experience” that helped develop her skills and better match her advanced art levels.
Lindsey selected Nan Hathaway, RMS Art Instructor, to be honored in October at the University of Iowa’s Belin-Blank Center Recognition Ceremony held on the University campus. The Ceremony recognized students (and their mentors) who earned exceptional scores as part of the Belin-Blank Exceptional Student Talent Search (BESTS), or were selected to one of the scholarship programs, or received special recognition in a Belin-Blank Center program in 2007. Lindsey is now a sophomore this year at New Vista High School and attended RMS from the time she was six until she graduated from the middle school.
Visual Spatial Expert Joins RMS Faculty
We are pleased to announce that Allie Golon has joined the faculty of Rocky Mountain School as a Master Teacher in the lower elementary class that has students ranging from 6 to 8 years old. Allie’s work with teachers, parents and counselors in effectively meeting the needs of visual spatial learners has taken her to Japan, Canada, Australia and across the United States. Allie is the author of Raising Topsy-Turvy Kids: Successfully Parenting Your Visual-Spatial Child, If You Could See the Way I Think: A Handbook for Visual-Spatial Kids and her latest book, The Visual-Spatial Classroom: Differentiation Strategies that Engage Every Learner!
Staff Adds to State and National Recognition of RMS
Rocky Mountain School is perhaps better recognized for its contribution to the field of gifted education on a national and state level than it is locally. This comes in large measure from the number of presentations that our staff have been asked to make at state and national conferences over the past seventeen years and the number of educators, counselors and other professionals from around the globe who have visited the school to gain a greater understanding of the unique environment created for gifted learners at RMS.
This year is no exception. Bonnie Phipps, Explorer’s class Master Teacher, and Nan Hathaway, Art Instructor, presented at the Colorado Association for the Gifted and Talented annual conference in Denver. Bonnie‛s session was about using ZooPhonics for young gifted children who are emerging readers and Nan‛s session described and illustrated how a choice based approach to art education impacts student learning, and how this model informs educational practice outside of the visual art domain.
At the National Association for Gifted Children annual conference in Minneapolis, Allie Golon, Master Teacher, will be making two presentations. One session, targeted for parents, is about strategies for parents raising visual spatial learners. The second is for a teacher audience and focuses on creating a visual spatial classroom.
Finally, Barbara Mitchell Hutton, Founder and Executive Director, will be leading the second annual meeting of the National Consortium of Schools for the Gifted, which she chairs. The National Consortium is a group of nearly 100 independent and special focus schools from across the country that are dedicated to serving gifted students.
RMS School Counselor Contributes to Book on High IQ Kids
Annette Sheely, RMS School Counselor, contributed to the further understanding of the needs of gifted children in the recently published book High IQ Kids: Collected Insights, Information, and Personal Stories from the Experts. Annette authored the Forward as well as two chapters in the book published by Free Spirit Press. The first chapter, Defining the Few was co-authored by Annette with the eminent Dr. Linda Silverman, Director of the Gifted Development Center and former RMS Board member. The chapter offers basic information about the complexity of the highly gifted child. The second chapter authored by Annette, Birds and Bees: Sex and the High- IQ Adolescent, provides a few cautionary notes and practical advice about guiding the high IQ adolescent through the emotional, physical and intellectual challenges of puberty. Barbara Mitchell Hutton, Founder and Executive Director of RMS is quoted and Rocky Mountain School is mentioned in a chapter by one of the editors about raising a twice-exceptional girl.
We are pleased to continue our contribution to the understanding of gifted children and support of those who parent, teach and counsel them.
Art Blog Goes National!
The RMS blog is listed on the National Art Education Website in the list of recommended blogs!
http://www.naea-reston.org/newsarticles.html#blogs
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