Need to Know for Friday, February 15

To celebrate Valentine's Day, check out this love poem, crowd sourced by children per n effort from poet Kwame Alexander.

• Although many in our community had expected a cozy morning snowed-in at home on Monday, this week's Gatherings have made up for it with some joyful zaniness. Thanks to Midwinter Madness, we've had Acapella Grams, a Saxophone Serenade, and Bunny and Gorilla Grams.  There was some choreographed fan dancing to celebrate Lunar New Year, and an acoustic singing/guitar performance from two 9th graders.  Midwinter Madness fun continues with the annual Senior v Employee Basketball game this afternoon. 
• We're going to State! The scrappy and exciting girls basketball squad fought their way into the playoffs for the first time in many, many years. Click here to see some John Holloran photos of the action from Tuesday's game against Horizon Christian. 
• AASK, the program in which OES students pair with those from Beaverton High to work with kids from Whitford Middle School, is now accepting applications for the spring trimester. Contact Maria McIvor with any questions. 
• Mt Hood Climb Service Day is looking for experienced and new student volunteers and leaders. Interested students should contact Austin Pritchard and Katie Seltzer for details.
• Wellness Wednesday sponsored this week's "Let's Talk About Mental Health" program, which featured a young woman talking about her own experience with and journey through depression. 
• Last Friday, the Playwriting class presented original scenes, a roster from which 4 were chosen for full production in the spring. Congrats to those students whose work was selected. 
• As Mr. Rogers said, "Play is serious learning not a relief from learning." And so today's Recess 2.0 will feature tech-free play: games in the Great Hall, a Four Square tournament, and a Dunk Tank, at which students can pay (with proceeds going to the Midwinter Madness fundraising efforts for Friends of the Children) to dunk their teachers and administrators. 
• Have a peep at Book Love to see what's new this week. If you're a Harry Potter fan you will definitely want to check out the illustrated editions of The Chamber of Secrets and The Prisoner of Azkaban that are currently being displayed on the New Books shelf. 
• Awesome job from our choirs and instrumental groups at this week's Winter Concerts. 
• Save your seat for the Winter Play production of Distracted. Tickets for all shows—February 27 - March 2 at 7 p.m are going fast. To learn more about this complicated play and its themes from the cast and crew, click here to watch a student-created video. 
• Next week, the annual Aardvark Science Fair opens to the public on Thursday in SPARC, with students presenting their research from over a semester's worth of exploration. On Friday, 12th graders not participating in the Science Expo will participate in learning practical tools in preparation for the upcoming post-graduation transition. Thanks to Grade Dean Coleen Davis, Counselor Erin Romano, and Director of Student Life, Kara Tambellini for designing this program and making it happen. 

JELLY REC: book recommendations from US Librarian, Erika Jelinek

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara

I am typically not a lover of true crime. It's too creepy and disturbing to immerse myself in another person's tragedy, but the buzz surrounding I'll Be Gone in the Dark was too much for me to resist. While the descriptions of the murders and assaults are horrific, this book is about so much more than that. It's about McNamara's obsession with uncovering the identity of a man responsible for 13+ murders, 50+ sexual assaults, and 120+ burglaries throughout the state of California over the course of about twelve years. It's about the countless hours spent following decades old threads while her family slept, and as a librarian I couldn't help but admire the seemingly endless amount of energy she put into her research. McNamara died before her master opus was complete, but her work helped detectives finally unmask the killer who left entire communities in California paralyzed with fear. I'll Be Gone in the Dark is chilling, disturbing, gripping, and, quite simply, incredible. Just don't read it alone in the dark. Trust me on this one.

We're in This Together: Resources for Parenting Teens

• Why Girls Beat Boys at School and Leave Them at The Office via The NY Times
• The Ups and Downs of Social Media via The Harvard Graduate School of Education
• The Perils of Pushing Kids Too Hard, and How Parents Can Learn to Back Off via Mind/Shift