March 14, 2008 Vol. 3, No. 22
 
  OES Students Collaborate Internationally
With Schools That Are Growing Greener		  
  Students from California and Australia have been studying and living with OES seventh-graders this week as they work together to improve sustainability at their schools. The joint effort is called the International Collaboration Project, and the goal is to envision and create “Dream Green Schools.” Students are analyzing the sustainability of their school operations in six topic areas—water, energy, transportation, waste & recycling, landscaping, and food. They also have been making things such as costumes or instruments from recycled trash.
From left, Gabe A. '13 and Kate L. '13 joined with two girls from California in making instruments from things they found in the trash.		  
 
 
 

Alicia M.
 Ski Teams Place 5th 
The boys' and girls' ski teams placed fifth overall in the state meet, which included students from 24 high schools, all bigger than OES. Alicia M. '10 won second place in girls slalom, and Chris C. '08 placed 9th in boys slalom. Congratulations, skiers!
Chris C. with coach Scott Northup.		  
 
 
  Former Trustee Greg Morgan Honored for Service  
  Former trustee Greg Morgan on Tuesday received the Cecil W. Drinkward Award for Trustee Excellence. Greg served on the OES Board from 2001 to 2007 and was chair of the Finance Committee from 2001 to 2006. He led an overhaul of the school’s financial management and reporting practices; served on the “Build the Intersection” Task Force; was part of the effort to raise the enrollment cap restriction for the campus; and was actively involved in improving communications with parents regarding the school’s financial model. Greg was also a member of the Head of School Search Committee in 2006-2007. He served on the Board’s Executive Committee and was treasurer of the school from 2002 to 2006. Greg and his wife, Diane, are the parents of Eric '03 and Molly '05.

Greg Morgan
  
 
 
 
Second-Graders Go
On Safari and Say
Bon Voyage
To Mrs. Larson
  
 


From left, Ann Selberg, Chris Smole, Kiah Mounsey, and Sue Larson.

 Sue Larson's Second Grade class this week wished her a safe journey to South Africa, where she is going on a photo safari. The students had a safari of their own that was organized by parent Ann Selberg. She posted pictures of African animals on Aardvark Play Park and gave the kids maps where they could fill in an animal's name after finding its picture. Mrs. Larson will be on sabbatical this spring, and her class will be taught by Kiah Mounsey. In photo above, Cara S. finds a hippo. See more photos of the safari.  
 
 
 
At left, Kristin Q. '14 wrote the value of pi to 499 places. Above, Sydney R. '14, left, and Molly K. '14 made pi bracelets.		  
  Eat It, Bead It, Use It to Solve Math Problems  
  The date today was 3-14, which made it an excellent time to celebrate pi, which begins with 3.14 but continues to an apparently infinite number of places without repeating a pattern. The sixth-graders celebrated by having a contest to see who could recite from memory the most digits of pi (Kristin Q. knew pi to 499 places!), by eating pie, by singing songs about pi, and by reading a story about pi: Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi. Students also made pi-related crafts, such as bead bracelets based on pi in which each color of bead represented a different numeral.  
 
 
  OES Scholar Places 3rd in Olympiad
Anak Y. '08 placed third nationally among 763 students who took the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad, a three-hour test that challenges students to demonstrate their ability to understand and analyze human language. Anak is a Royal Thai Scholar who is spending a baccalaureate year at OES. The Thai Scholar program was founded in 1897 by King Rama V of Thailand and pays for overseas education for top students based on merit. A student must have at least a 3.5 GPA to take the necessary qualifying exams and then must score at the top of the range of test takers to be eligible for a scholarship.		  
 
 
  Remove Invasive Plants From the Woods on April 5  
  The OES Sustainability Committee is sponsoring a work day to remove invasive plants to help restore the health of the OES woods. Any student or adult is welcome, but Lower and Middle School children must be accompanied by an adult.
When: April 5, Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., rain or shine. Come for the whole time, or drop by for an hour.
Where:  Meet in the new parking lot behind the gym.
What to bring:  We will provide a light lunch and drinks.  Please bring your own coffee cup and water bottle. I f you have them, please bring metal garden rakes, loppers, pruners, and heavy gloves. Wear close-toed shoes, long sleeves and long pants.
Questions: Contact by email or by phone at (503) 416-9359.
Students removed ivy behind SPARC last spring and will tackle ivy in the OES woods in April.		  
 
 
  Drop Auction RSVP in Mail or in Box 
RSVP today for this year's Starry, Starry Night auction! The auction is April 12, and RSVP forms are due by March 31. Save a stamp and use one of the RSVP drop boxes located in all three of the school's divisional offices. Don't miss out on this star-studded evening!		  
 
 
  Matching Gifts
During this fiscal year OES has received over $70,000 in matching gifts from participating employer programs benefiting OES appeals such as the Annual Fund, the AASK program, the auction, the Loop Road and other campus capital improvement projects. Many employers sponsor matching gift programs and will match charitable contributions made by their current and retired employees. Some companies even match volunteer hours with cash contributions! To find out if your company has a matching gift policy, please follow this link to our new search engine, eMatch. If your company is eligible, please request an application from your employer, and send it completed and signed with your gift. We will do the rest. The impact of your gift to Oregon Episcopal School may be doubled or possibly tripled! 		 
 
 
  About This Newsletter
The Aardvark is a weekly online newsletter for the OES community. You may email editor to submit information. If you know of a grandparent who would like to receive this newsletter, please send an email address for the grandparent(s).