St. George and The Dragon

Here are some new St. George pictures taken by Stephanie Gross. Thank you Stephanie! You can see all of the photos here (you’ll need the password given out in the Friday newsletter). Click here to hear the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance performed by The Christmas Revels, and see the picture below of this ancient dance.

St. George

Abbots Bromley Horn dance

Holly, Mother Dolly, Ivy and Mistletoe

“In come I, Little Johnny Jack”

The Fool

St. George before the battle

St. George faces the Giant

The Doctor is in!

Watching the battle

The dramatic finish

Most of the cast of St. George

Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2010

On Monday, January 18th, North Branch was open for a day of assemblies, performances and special studies about the life and works of Dr. King. We saw several inspiring performances during the morning and afternoon assemblies. During the day, students were asked to think about the themes of non-violence, freedom and peace.

In this first video, Katrien leads students in an original recorder arrangement of “Free At last,” the spiritual Dr. King alluded to at the end of his August 28, 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech. An interesting note from Wikipedia states: “At the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly improvised oration on the theme of “I have a dream,” possibly prompted by Mahalia Jackson’s cry, “Tell them about the dream, Martin!”

Free At Last

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The second video is of the singing elective performing “Let there be peace on Earth.”

Let there be peace on Earth

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After a discussion of a city where everyone could be welcome, Natasha’s Primary II class sings “Twelve Gates To The City.”

Twelve Gates To The City

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On a side note, one year ago this week, the North Branch blog started off with this wonderful performance from last year’s Martin Luther King day observance!

North Branch students receive writing awards

Two students from North Branch School have received awards in the annual Writer’s Eye contest. Nathan Vance, a 3rd grader, won First Prize in the 3rd-5th grade category. Eleanor Hawkes, a 4th grader, won Third Prize in the same category. Big congratulations to both of them! Both Nathan’s and Eleanor’s stories will be published in a Writer’s Eye anthology. Nathan is scheduled to read his story at the awards ceremony at UVA on March 21. The Writer’s Eye website states: “Contestants submitted original writings inspired by one of 20 pieces selected from the museum’s permanent collection and visiting exhibitions. After conducting tours for more than 2,300 students from local and regional schools, the museum received more than 1,000 entries in the categories of poetry and prose.”