DISCOVER YOUR GIFTS!

What’s Happening at Hillside

Spotlight on…

World Cultures field trip for an African meal

Poetry Out Loud

Please congratulate Lily Maltz and Harrison Lin for their fine performances in the 2019 Poetry Out Loud Competition! Lily edged out Harrison by one point (Lily, 153, Harrison, 152) with her fine recitations of “Dulce Et Decorem Est” by Wilfred Owen and “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman.

Lily will be advancing to regional competition at the Tacoma Little Theatre at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 2.  I will be there to cheer her on, and I hope some of you can make it as well. If she places in the top 2 spots at regionals, she will advance to state competition in March, which can qualify her for scholarship money and a trip to Washington, D.C. later in the spring.

Special thanks to Jess for supporting this program with the high school language arts students, Laura for allowing the 8th graders to attend, and to Kael and Sigrid for assisting with judging. I also hired 2 outside judges who volunteered their time to help us create truly objective scoring.

Please let me know if you would like to hitch a ride in my car to regionals…I can carry 4 people in my car. We will be home by 1:30 p.m.

Happy Friday!

Brynne

Poetry Out Loud Coach/Coordinator

Open House

Whether the groundhog sees his shadow or not, we hope to see you at February 7th’s Open House. As always, we love connecting with you, and we encourage you to connect any prospective students with us! It’s wonderful to share Hillside with students looking for the right fit, so please send any families that are looking for the right school in our direction.

Drama Club Showcase

Valentine’s Day can be rife with drama—but this year, we invite you to see drama of a different sort. The Drama Club’s annual showcase will be on Thursday, February 14th, and we hope you’ll make your evening special by attending!

Conferences

Our spring round of conferences is on Friday, February 15. The sign up link will be emailed out on Monday, 2/4.

Games Club Hiatus

Games Club Families! Please note that there is a hiatus in the club between Mid-Winter Break and Spring Break. Games Club will return after Spring Break in April!

Edible Egypt

The 5/6 students have been studying the art, architecture, and mythology from Ancient Egypt. Just before winter break, we recreated Egyptian landmarks using graham crackers and candy, a la the more typical gingerbread house. Students studied the purpose, history, and architecture of their landmarks before, like the Egyptians of old, building them. Unlike the Egyptians, we could eat the final products.

5/6th Topographical Maps hands-on activity

Events Calendar

Friday, February 1
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, February 4
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, February 5
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, February 6
Teacher’s Meeting—11:35 a.m.
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

5/6th Topographical Maps hands-on activity

Thursday, February 7
No Fencing
Open House—6:30 p.m.

Friday, February 8
No School—WEATHER MAKE-UP DAY

Monday, February 11
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, February 12
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, February 13
Teacher’s Meeting—11:35 a.m.
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, February 14
Fencing—3:00 p.m.
Drama Club Showcase—7:30 p.m.

Glorious caprese skewers for theStaff Secret Pal Reveal Potluck

Friday, February 15
CONFERENCES – NO SCHOOL

Monday, February 18—Friday, February 22
NO SCHOOL – Midwinter Break

Monday, February 25
No Games Club—on hiatus until after Spring Break

Tuesday, February 26
Block IIIA begins
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, February 27
Teacher’s Meeting—11:35 a.m.

Thursday, February 28
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

7th grade weaving baskets

What’s Happening at Hillside

Spotlight On…

Rogue’s Christmas

(from https://townhallseattle.org/event/short-stories-live-a-rogues-christmas-2018/)
A Town Hall tradition! The holiday edition of Short Stories Live (with host Jean Sherrard) brings together unconventional holiday tales for an afternoon of short stories, poems, and seasonal music by returning house band Pineola (comprised of Leslie Braly, John Owen, Josh Woods, Dirk Lebsack, and Ed Brooks). Favorite readers—including Kurt Beattie, Julie Briskman, and Paul Dorpat—take the stage to deliver stories with a gleeful, carousing nature only “A Rogue’s Christmas” can hold.

This year’s stories include: a new Christmas story by Jeanette Winterson (hilarious, magical, and moving by turns); a dark comic classic by John Updike called “The Carol Sing” about the keenly felt loss of one deep voice; “…And Two Eyes Made Out of Coal,” an outrageously funny tale by Augusten Burroughs; Harper Lee’s heartfelt recounting of the gift that forever changed her life (and ours) in “My Christmas in New York”; and KUOW’s Bill Radke reading an audience-submitted short story of holiday disaster!

And for the first year ever, we’re asking for folks to submit their stories with the theme of holiday disasters/humiliations/mishaps. The stories need to be no longer than 5 minutes long. 2-4 of the submissions will be selected and read onstage at the performance.

Open House

As the year changes and the sun lingers in the sky moments longer per day, we start planning for the upcoming year, full of fresh starts and connections with new and long-known people.

Hillside is no exception, and we hope you will invite any prospective families to join us on Thursday, 1/10 to learn about Hillside. We also encourage you to come and chat with Hillside staff, families, and potential new additions to our community.

Intermediate Myth Project

Where can you find endless dark seas, magically fruitful trees, and cosmic eggs? In cultural creation myths across the world of course!

During our Creation Myth Unit we talked about the purpose of myth, read myths from several cultures—then embarked on our own individual myth exploration. Students chose a culture that we will be studying during the year to set up pre-knowledge for when we begin that unit. Each student read a version of that culture’s creation myth, inferred cultural tendencies based on the evidence of the story, retold it to the class, created a poster or advertisement for the myth, and made (or brought) an object that represents the myth.

World Cultures

Brynne’s Latin America Unit for World Cultures was a sensory as well as an academic experience. In addition to learning the geography of Central and South America, students created Repousse Snake Art, individual Latin American Country Projects, and they enjoyed a field trip for some delicious Cuban food.

Events Calendar

8th graders sharing their gothic horror stories with 5/6

Friday, December 7
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, December 10
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, December 11
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, December 12
Teacher’s Meeting—11:35 a.m.
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, December 13
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, December 14
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, December 17—Tuesday, January 1, 2019
NO SCHOOL – Winter Break

8th graders testing chemical properties to identify mystery substances as covalent or ionic compounds.

Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 3, 2019
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, January 4, 2019
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, January 7, 2019
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Teacher’s Meeting—11:35 a.m.
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 10, 2019
NO FENCING
Open House—6:30 p.m.

Friday, January 11, 2019
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, January 14, 2019
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Block IIB begins
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 17, 2019
Teacher’s Meeting—11:35 a.m.
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, January 18, 2019
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, January 21, 2019
NO SCHOOL – MLK Jr. Day

Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 24, 2019
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, January 25, 2019
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, January 28, 2019
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Teacher’s Meeting—11:35 a.m.
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 31, 2019
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

What’s Happening at Hillside

Spotlight On…

Open House

Halloween decorations are coming down, pumpkins are softening on doorsteps, and you know what that means. No, not Thanksgiving. Before that! Do you know?

It’s time for Hillside’s first Open House of the 2018-2019 school year!

Please spread the word to any families looking for the next academic step for their students, and join us to connect and chat with current and prospective members of the Hillside Community on Thursday, November 8th, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Prehistoric Art

The 5th/6th class is journeying through Ancient History, starting with our Paleolithic ancestors. We learned about how they crafted their cave paintings, and then worked to make our own. We ground pigments, made brushes and pencils out of natural objects, and worked to capture creatures important to each of us today in the style of the Lascaux cave paintings. These are hanging in our “cave,” so stop in the Alder Room to see the cave art in situ!

Jane Eyre

The 8th graders read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, enjoyed seeing the Book-It Theatre production in Seattle, and wrote their own gothic horror stories.

7th Graders or Clones?

The 7th graders are reading the award-winning  dystopic novel about clones, House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer. One day,  Brynne saw them all reading on the couch and realized they looked like clones as they all raised their books to cover their faces.

Conferences

Hillside’s Fall Conferences are scheduled for Wednesday, November 21st. Keep a look out for the sign-up information coming to your email soon.

8th graders play the Atom Game in Science

Events Calendar

Thursday, November 1
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, November 2
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, November 5
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, November 6
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, November 7
Teachers’ Meeting—11:35 a.m.
Drama Club—3:00 p.m. (early end time)

Thursday, November 8
Open House—6:30 p.m.

Friday, November 9
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, November 12
NO SCHOOL – Veterans Day (observed)

Kael and special guest Theodore

Tuesday, November 13
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, November 14
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, November 15
Teachers’ Meeting—11:35 a.m.
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, November 16
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, November 19
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, November 20
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, November 21
CONFERENCES – NO SCHOOL

Thursday, November 22-Friday, November 23
NO SCHOOL – THANKSGIVING BREAK 

5th/6th Halloween

Monday, November 26
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, November 27
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, November 28
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, November 29
Block IIA begins
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, November 30
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Mary Poppins and the Book Fairy

What’s Happening at Hillside

Spotlight On…

Community Building

September’s Community Building Day lucked out on the weather! What threatened to be a rainy hike was instead pleasantly cool with periods of sun. We enjoyed the Twin Falls Trail, scenic views, and then reconvened at Hillside for pizza and games. Thank you to everyone who made it to one or both sections, and we hope to see everyone at our next gathering!

New Life to an Ancient Tale 

If you know anything about the story of Gilgamesh, it’s probably that the epic bearing his name is the oldest existing written story. If you know anything else about Gilgamesh, it’s probably that he, king of a city, became best buds with Enkidu, a wild man tamed by the benefits of civilization. We may still have to wait for a blockbuster buddy movie about the two, but we can delve into the drama and the emotion with Lily’s project where she created her interpretation of the Bull of Heaven.

Jean’s New Book is Making History

Jean Sherrard has partnered with Paul Dorpat to create Washington Then & Now, “Westcliffe Publisher’s eighth offering pairing historical photographs with contemporary shots taken of the same locations.“

At 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 28, at the Seattle Public Library downtown branch in the Microsoft Auditorium, Paul Dorpat and Jean are launching the book with a talk and book signing.

To learn more about this project, please visit http://www.washingtonthenandnow.com/index.htm. To order your copy, please visit http://www.washingtonthenandnow.com/purchase.htm.

Hillside Abroad

As you may know, this past summer was Hillside’s Europe trip! Please enjoy the snaps from Kael, including the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, some fine dining á Paris, and some great poses on a London street.

Events Calendar

Averie Garman visiting 7th grade students

Thursday, October 4
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, October 5
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, October 8
Games Club—3:00 p.m.
College Information Night—7:00 p.m.

Tuesday, October 9
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, October 10
PSAT for 11th graders—8:00 a.m.
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

Copper Lab

Thursday, October 11
Teachers’ Meeting—11:35 a.m.
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, October 12
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, October 15
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, October 16
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Copper Lab

Wednesday, October 17
Teachers’ Meeting—11:35 a.m.
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, October 18
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, October 19
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, October 22
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, October 23
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Math AHA moment

Wednesday, October 24
Block IB begins
Teachers’ Meeting—11:35 a.m.
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, October 25
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, October 26
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Saturday, October 27
Halloween Party (Upper School)—7:00 p.m.

Sunday, October 28
Seattle Then and Now Book Launch—1:00 p.m.

Monday, October 29
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, October 30
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, October 31
Teachers’ Meeting—11:35 a.m.
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

What’s Happening at Hillside

Spotlight on…

Clubs

If you are interested in one (or more) of our clubs, please make sure to sign up with Joel (Joel@hillsidesc.org)!

Animation begins on Friday, 9/7
Games Club begins on Monday, 9/10
Fencing begins on Tuesday, 9/11
Drama Club begins on Wednesday, 9/26

Performing Arts

Hillside teacher Brynne Garman returns to the stage in Tacoma this fall, September 8-30, with Neil Simon’s award-winning, autobiographical coming-of-age story, Brighton Beach Memoirs. This production stars four talented teenagers, supported by three veteran adult actors. It is appropriate for ages 12 and up, dealing with sensitive and timeless issues such as racism, sibling rivalry, and the overall challenges of adolescence in an overcrowded two-family home in the 1930’s. The cast is very talented and the show promises to be both comedic and powerful. For ticket information, contact the Lakewood Playhouse.

Community Building Day

Dear Hillside Families,
You are invited to a Community Building Day for all students and their families in grades 5 to 12 who wish to join us on Saturday, Sept. 8, starting at 1:00 pm and ending at 8:00 pm.
We plan to drive to Twin Falls near North Bend, enjoy a hike in the woods, and return to Hillside by about 4:00 for pizza and an evening of games.  Any potluck additions are welcome, but not required.
Please email Joel to let us know whether you and your student wish to attend.

For students riding a school van:
Notify Joel (joel@hillsidesc.org) by Wednesday, September 5, to reserve a space.  To ride a van, students must be dropped off at the school shortly before 1:00.  We can transport up to 26 students in the school vans.  Please let Joel know so we can plan appropriately.

To meet us:
Meet us by 1:30 pm at the Twin Falls Trailhead off Exit 34 near North Bend.  A Discover Pass is required for parking.  We will hike about 3 miles round trip to the views of the Falls. See details about the hike at https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/twin-falls-state-park.

Attending part of the day:
If a student or family wishes to join us for one part, but not the other (the hike, but not the evening, or vice versa), again, please let us know.  We expect to be back at the school by roughly 4:00.

For the hike wear/bring:

• comfortable clothes and hiking boots or walking shoes

• a small daypack with:

• a small snack

• a full water bottle

• a rain jacket just in case

• maybe a camera.

For the evening bring:

• Possibly a game (although we have several available)

• You may bring potluck dish, but as noted above, that is not required.These can be left at the school before the hike.  A limited number can be stored in the school refrigerator.

PNWA Presents a FREE Young Author’s Day

Saturday, September 15^thfrom 9:00 am – 1:15 pm at the SeaTac Double Tree.

This event includes a keynote address by iconic young adult horror author R.L. Stine, revision workshops, plot development workshops, craft classes, and a graphic novel workshop

Writing Workshops and activities for age groups 8-13 and 13-16 only.

Click HERE to register, and click HERE for a schedule .

Curriculum Night—Thursday 9/13

Please join us to learn about your student(s) upcoming year! You will get to meet your student’s teachers, experience a truncated version of their schedule, and meet other members of our community!

Events Calendar

First Day Teambuilding

Monday, September 3
NO SCHOOL – Labor Day

Wednesday, September 5
Teachers’ Meeting—11:35 a.m.

Friday, September 7
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

 Saturday, September 8
Community Day—1:00 p.m.

First Day Teambuilding

Monday, September 10
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, September 11
Teachers’ Meeting—11:35 a.m.
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, September 13
No Fencing
Curriculum Night—6:30 p.m.

Friday, September 14
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, September 17
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, September 18
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, September 19
Teachers’ Meeting—11:35 a.m.

Thursday, September 20
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, September 21
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

Monday, September 24
Block IA begins
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, September 25
Teachers’ Meeting—11:35 a.m.
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, September 26
Drama Club—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, September 27
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, September 28
Animation Club—3:00 p.m.

What’s Happening at Hillside

Spotlight on…

Solar Panels

In mid-May, Julie organized a workshop with Nicholas Montoni, a PhD student from the Clean Energy Institute at UW. He came and helped the Environmental Science class build their own solar panels.

Community Service

Brynne and the Community Service elective have cleaned up Hillside, cleared trails, planted a garden
at a women’s shelter, visited an animal sanctuary, and more. In addition to their good work, they need our help with their food drive.

Brynne writes, “We are specifically serving the specific deficits for food in the Renton community, as the East side food banks did not need our help. Our school goal is at least 10 of each item on the wish list, and we are far short of this goal at this time.

Canned food can be directly deposited in the bin by the front door, and packaged, bagged or boxed food goes in the barrel you can see through the window in Huckleberry.

The last day for the food drive is Tuesday, June 19. Note: all donations are welcome, but there are shortages in the “wish list” areas.

Contact Brynne with any questions. Thanks!

Pioneer Farm Museum

Sigrid, Brynne, and some brave parents took 14 kids on an overnight to Pioneer Farm Museum and Ohop Indian Village. We learned about life in the 1800s for both American pioneers and the Nisqually people. Activities included shaping arrowheads, grinding coffee, learning songs, cooking over an open fire, and carrying a lot of water for the animals. This hands-on experience will be remembered long after the stains on our clothes have been washed out.

Keeping with the 1800s theme, the 5th/6th is planning a Pioneer Potluck on Wednesday, 6/13 for the students and their families. We will be bringing foods made by the Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie as well as foods that Zitkala-Sa, a member of the Dakota tribe and author of Impressions of an Indian Childhood, might have enjoyed.

Junior Projects Presentation—Noon, Tuesday, June 12

 This month our Juniors will be presenting their Junior Projects to their classmates. These projects are self-designed, independent investigations by the student into an area of interest. If any parents would like to attend, please contact Karen at Karen@hillsidesc.org to insure enough space for seating. It is always surprising to see the variety and depth of our students’ interests. 

Karen

Animation Night

This yearly event is great fun. Come see the hard work and wonderful imaginations of the student in the Animation elective in this showcase of their work during the year. Animation Night is on June 17th at 7:00 p.m.

Graduation/Play

You have two chances to see the Hillside production of Midsummer’s Night Dream: Friday, June 22nd and Saturday, June 23rd at 7:30 p.m.

However, you have only one chance to attend our 2018 Graduation! That is on Saturday, June 23rd at 4:30 p.m.

Civil War

To the 5/6 students, the Civil War project has been almost as epic as the Civil War itself, stretching over months and involving a lot of effort. The culmination of this project was to create 9-square quilts of paper or fabric, with each square graphically representing the student’s learning on a specific topic. The topic for each square was assigned, but the order of what square goes where was up to them.

Events Calendar

Monday, June 4
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, June 5
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, June 7
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, June 8
Animation Club (Term I)—3:00 p.m.

Monday, June 11
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, June 12
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, June 13
Little House at Hillside Pioneer Potluck—6:00 p.m.

Thursday, June 14
Fencing—3:00 p.m.

Friday, June 15
Animation Club (Term I)—3:00 p.m.

Saturday, June 16
Animation Night—7:30 p.m.

Monday, June 18
Games Club—3:00 p.m.

Thursday, June 21
Half Day—Last Day of School

Friday, June 22
Drama Performance—7:30 p.m.

Saturday, June 23
Graduation—4:30 p.m.
Drama Performance—7:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 24
Set Strike—11:00 a.m.

Tuesday, June 26
All-School Outing/Picnic–stay tuned for details!

Wednesday, June 27
Work Party—5:00 p.m.

Saturday, June 30
Work Party—11:00 a.m.

Sunday, July 1
Work Party—11:00 a.m.

Monday, July 16
Europe Trip Begins!