About OES
  September 30, 2011      Vol. 6, No. 4  
 



Learning Language,
Sharing Cultures
of Chinese Visitors

Twenty-three students from the Nanjing Foreign Language School have spent the week attending classes in the Middle School and Upper School at OES, seeing sights in Oregon, and living with OES families. It was an opportunity for the Chinese students to practice their English and for the American students to use Mandarin. Students in Eighth Grade and in the Upper School will have an opportunity to stay with Chinese families and attend school in Nanjing in the spring.		  
                       
 
4th-Graders Learn About Plants and First People Arts
                 
  Fourth-graders spent a beautiful day outside today learning about wetland plants and animals and some of the skills used by the First People in Oregon. Guest instructors taught about drumming, the many uses of cattails, and edible plants. Students also learned to throw atlatls, and they took cuttings of plants to see if they will sprout roots. Those that do will be planted later in the wetlands. See a 2-minute video of some of the activities.  
  Senior Brings Back Report
on InvenTeam Pump in Action

Ben U. '12 gave a presentation to the InvenTeam activity about his trip to Liberia over the summer during which he worked with Liberians to set up a human-powered pump that he and other students have developed. OES students designed the pump to use locally available materials and allow community members to improve their efficiency and thereby grow more food for local consumption. Actually installing the pump allowed Ben to identify ways in which the pump design needs to be refined, and this year's students will work on improving it.
MS Students Place at Cross-Country Meet

The individual results for Middle Schoolers are in from last week's cross-country meet hosted by OES, and four Aardvark girls placed in the top 15 while two boys placed in the top 15. Savannah B. '18, shown at right, took third place. Among her teammates, Marie F. '16 placed ninth, Alex B. '16 was 14th, and Kate K. '18 was 15th. For the boys, Cameron S. '16 and Jack C. '18 placed 14th and 15th, respectively. Overall, the girls team placed second and the boys placed third.		  
OES Teachers Published Their Work Over the Summer
                     
  Son of
Saul

US English teacher Art Ward has published a historical novel as an ebook. See the synopsis and read the first 50 pages for free.		     Roots &
Branches

US teacher Robin Schauffler's essay in the Oregon Quarterly was a finalist in the Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest. Read it online.		     Explore
OES

Kindergarten teacher Kirstin McAuley is the publisher, but the authors and illustrators were her students. Read it online.
Faculty, Administrators Achieve 100% Participation in OES Fund
         
  One hundred percent participation in annual giving was achieved by full-time faculty and admin team by making their annual commitments to the OES Fund. October is annual fund month, so an appeal for leadership and participation giving will be in your mailbox soon.
Correction

The incorrect class year was published last week for a group of girls who participated in the Race for the Cure. Sarayu Caulfield, Karina Hiroshige, Elizabeth Keeney,  Alexandra Ulmer, and Claire Huffman are members of the Class of 2015, not the Class of 2017. The editor regrets the error.