What’s Happening at Hillside

Spotlight On…

Socially Distanced Camping & Movie Night

Students and their families are invited to come with tents, sleeping bags and pads to our first Hillside camping event of the year, to be held Friday, October 2nd. Families are welcome to arrive at Hillside as early as 5:30pm to pitch a tent before sunset. At 7:30pm, we will be screening a film in our outdoor theater setup. If the weather permits, we also plan to include a few campfires, some socially distanced games, and conclude the night together safely sleeping in separate pods.

We hope to see you there!

Happy National Hispanic Heritage Month!

September 15 to October 15 is officially known as National Hispanic Heritage Month. This is a time to honor and celebrate the amazing contributions from the Latinx community. While labels like “Hispanic” and “Latina/o” are popularly used as interchangeable pan-ethnic categories in the United States, there are some important differences. “Hispanic” is often referred to native speakers of Spanish or those who have Spanish-speaking ancestry. This label, as a result, does not consider Brazilians as Hispanic since their official language is Portuguese. Similarly, the label “Latino” is often used to refer to anyone of Latin American origin or ancestry. This excludes Spanish-speaking countries like Spain since the geographical location is in Europe and not Latin America. To learn more about these differences and more check out this article by The Pew Research Center titled, “Who is Hispanic” (Sept. 2020). No matter what side of the debate you’re on, we can all agree that a Latino/a or Hispanic person can be any race or color. We come in all shades! 

In more recent years, activists, students, and academics have also politicized the grammatical gender in the Spanish language by proposing the “Latinx” label – pronounced \luh-TEE-neks\ – as a gender-neutral alternative to the terms Latino or Latina. Persons who use this terminology do so to advocate for individuals who do not identify with the limitations of the gender binary system, male/female. Critics dislike the term because they argue that it is linguistically incorrect to pronounce. Nevertheless, its supporters believe that the term creates a more accepting inclusive community for individuals of all genders. To learn more about the Latinx term watch #TheKatCall’s YouTube video with Mitu, “What’s With the X In Latinx?”

So, now you know. We have many ethnic terminologies used in our community, but one thing that we can all agree on, no matter the label we choose to identify with, is that we are a proud, resilient community that continues to fight to make the United States a great place for everyone. Join me in celebrating 10 amazing Latinx women who have made history by clicking this link. 

-Lizeth Gutierrez 

Open House

Our first Open House of the school year is days away! This year, the open house will be held via Zoom on Thursday, October 8th from 7:00-8:30 pm. We encourage you to share Hillside with any families looking for the right fit for their students. Our community members are our best ambassadors, so please feel free to extend an invitation to those you know to come learn about Hillside!

Birthdays, Birthdays!

Happy October birthday wishes to: Lola, Ausby, Frances and Harrison!

Birthday Initiative Announcements

Hillside is excited to share the charities chosen by our July, August, and September groups:

July

Inspired by recent events, the July Birthday Celebrants would like to donate to the Black Lives Matter Global Network, one of many organizations that support communities of color. Please consider donating in kind, if so inspired.

August

The August Birthday Celebrants would like to donate to the Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE). CORE is a nonprofit that builds sustainable programs so that communities can “recover, rebuild, and prepare in the face of disaster.” CORE has administered more than 1 million Covid tests this year in the United States.

September

The September Birthday Celebrants would like to donate to the Keith Haring FoodPantry Program, which “…provides nutritional counseling and also distributes hundreds of food packages per month which are specifically tailored to meet the unique nutritional needs of HIV-positive individuals.” This program is a part of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), a non-profit and volunteer-led AIDS service organization based in New York City.

The program shares its name with Keith Haring, an American artist known best for his street art and AIDS awareness activism in NYC throughout the 1980s. His instantly recognizable style captivated many during his time, and Haring’s audience expanded from the streets to prominent galleries around the world. His art attracts fans of all ages today because of its captivating imagery with colorful, dancing figures twirling and exuding beams of joyful movement. Haring himself died of AIDS-related complications at just 31 years old in 1990. The Keith Haring Food Pantry Program continues Haring’s philanthropic legacy and works to uplift the lives of those affected by the AIDS epidemic.

Please consider donating in kind, if so inspired. 

Community Building Day

Students in all grade levels came out on Wednesday to socialize – distantly! – with their teachers and peers. Jean kicked the morning off with a scavenger hunt in the woods. Students were tasked with finding a perfect circle in nature (lots of mushrooms), as well as something really gross (lots of slugs)! Students then broke off into two groups to play games and create usable items and decorations from nature, scavenged from the Hillside woods. We treasure the short amount of time that we get to spend with students on these days! 

Halloween Party

We won’t let ANYTHING cramp our Halloween style this year. That’s right – goblins, and ghouls, and ghosties – oh my! The annual Hillside Halloween Party is still on! Stay tuned for more information later this month.

Events Calendar

Thursday, October 1
Social Justice Club – 3:05-4:20

Friday, October 2
Fiber Arts – 3:05-4:20
Hillside Camping Event – 5:30 p.m.

Monday, October 5
Broadway Club – 3:05-4:20

Wednesday, October 7
Drama Club – 3:05-4:20
Community Building Day – 9-11 a.m.

Thursday, October 8
Social Justice Club – 3:05-4:20
Open House – 7-8:30 p.m.

Friday, October 9
Fiber Arts – 3:05-4:20

Monday, October 12
Broadway Club – 3:05-4:20

Wednesday, October 14
PSAT – On Campus
Drama Club – 3:05-4:20
Community Building Day – 9-11 a.m.

Thursday, October 15
Social Justice Club – 3:05-4:20

Friday, October 16
Fiber Arts – 3:05-4:20

Monday, October 19
Broadway Club – 3:05-4:20

Wednesday, October 21
Drama Club – 3:05-4:20
Community Building Day – 9-11 a.m.

Thursday, October 22
Social Justice Club – 3:05-4:20
Open House – 7-8:30 p.m.

Friday, October 23
Fiber Arts – 3:05-4:20

Monday, October 26
Broadway Club – 3:05-4:20
Block IB Begins

Wednesday, October 28
Drama Club – 3:05-4:20
Community Building Day – 9-11 a.m.

Thursday, October 29
Social Justice Club – 3:05-4:20
Open House – 7-8:30 p.m.

Friday, October 30
Fiber Arts – 3:05-4:20