From the Headmaster Congratulations to the Class of 2009! I look forward to our commencement ceremony on May 23 at 10:30 a.m. in Coles Athletic Center. Nancy Calhoun will be our guest speaker and it will be a joy to welcome her back for this special occasion. I wish everyone a safe summer and look forward to preparing for an exciting 2009-10 school year.
DEVELOPMENT Calling all Walker business owners... If you would like to promote your business among our Walker community please contact Cathy LaClaire. We are currently signing up Walker owned businesses to take part in the Walker Community Card - a card that will help provide free exposure/advertising for businesses owned by members of the Walker family.
The Walker School Annual Fund
We are in the homestretch of many things at Walker, one of which is the Annual Fund. We are currently at 65% parent participation with only days remaining. We must reach 80% in order to stay in good standing with our foundation and corporate partners that have given millions of dollars in support of our programs and facilities in just the last few years alone. Through the Annual Fund we are able to ensure that every student has access to the educational resources and technology that make a Walker education exceptional. Please contact Cathy LaClaire to learn more, or click here to donate today.
IN THE COMMUNITY Shuler Hensley Awards At the Shuler Hensley Awards, Walker came away with the award for Scenic Design and Evan McLean was presented with a $1,000 merit-based scholarship. Walker was nominated for five awards for the Sweeney Todd production this past fall. Patty Mozley has served on the steering committee for the event for the past two years. Congratulations are in order for the entire cast and crew of Sweeney Todd, Evan McLean, Katie Arjona, Samantha Walker, Bill Schreiner and Patty Mozley. Audrey Worley and Evan McLean performed during the opening and closing performances. Be sure to look for coverage of the event on WSB-TV Channel 2 on May 22 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Laura Stewart exhibits works at Atlanta gallery Beginning May 29, Upper School Art Teacher Laura Stewart will be a part of a group show at Mason Murer Fine Art Gallery on Armour Drive in Atlanta. She will be exhibiting oil paintings along with several other emerging artists in a show entitled Fresh Blood. Please join us for the opening reception on Friday, May 29 or stop by at your convenience until August 1. Please visit www.masonmurer.com for more information.
AROUND CAMPUS WSA Auction The WSA organized and hosted the auction at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel on Saturday, May 2. Approximately 300 people attended the event, and everyone had a great time. The attendees were greeted with a DJ and a wonderful buffet. Lots of people enjoyed challenging Lady Luck at casino games while others could be found bidding on the traditional silent auction items. Later, the whole group retired to the live auction room to enjoy dessert, coffee and some friendly competitive bidding during the live auction. The winner of the tuition raffle was also drawn during the live auction and congratulations go out to the Koutouzis family for their big win of a free year of tuition! Once all of our expenses are processed, the WSA will donate the entire profit to the school to help fund this year's Wish List. None of this could have been possible without the dedication of the Auction Committee. Their hard work made the night flow seamlessly. MJ DePiero, WSA President, and Claudia Smith, Auction Chair, express their appreciation to the committee, the administration, faculty and the parents who participated in this year's event!
Clarification on the cost of the sculpture While there have been rumors about the new sculpture in front of the main building costing one million dollars, the administration feels that it is important for the community to know that the cost of the sculpture was $484. The sculpture was a collaborative effort between our visiting artist-in residence, Jeff Mathers, and our students at the Lower, Middle and Upper School divisions. It was installed to commemorate the school's 50th anniversary. In addition to supervising the project, Mathers spent a month on-site teaching classes on design and programming related to the medium of sculpture.
Book sale
Textbook Sale for Upper School and Middle School on May 27 from 2:30 to 5 p.m. in Muthiah Activity Center. (more information)
Summer Camps
Are you looking for a fun summer camp for your child or children? Check out all of the Walker camps here. (more information)
Young Lungs at Work: Reduced Idling Zones to take effect at The Walker School
Starting soon, when dropping off or picking up your children you will see "Please Reduce Idling" signs posted in the carpool lanes. The Reduced Idling Zones are part of our involvement with the Clean Air Schools program... (read more)
Interested in piano or handbell classes? Although she is retiring, Mrs. Gerace is considering offering classes in piano and handbells in the evenings for certain weeks during the summer, 2nd and 4th quarters of the 09-10 school year. A Little Night Music would include the experienced Varsity Ringers for those who can read music and/or already ring or Bell Boot Camp for beginners. Please contact her at geraced@thewalkerschool.org or mgturnip@comcast.net for more information.
Networking Coffees To all our working parents, parents who are looking for employment, or our entrepreneurs...we have organized our networking coffees in the following schedule for the 2009-2010 school year. Please be aware that everyone is welcome and we are very pleased to support this part of our Walker community. These gatherings will allow individuals the opportunity to share more about their business, learn more about other individuals' business endeavors and hopefully help everyone expand their networks. Please feel free to contact Lisa Weinert with any questions about this group at (404) 993-4546 or LisaSmiles161@comcast.net. Aug 28 -- Social/Business electronic tools (how to position and use tools such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc. properly) September 18 -- Website development October 23 -- Health and Wellness in the workplace November 20 -- Organizing your workplace ... especially if it's at home now December 11 -- Marketing January 22 -- Financial discussion: money management, retirement options February 19 -- Resumes March 19 -- Networking: what's it all about, how to use it in your business development April 23 -- Spring Fling!
If you have an interest in participating in the presentations, please contact Lisa Weinert.
PRESCHOOL Library summer hours The Preschool Library will be open this summer in June and July on Wednesday mornings from 9 a.m. until noon excluding the first Wednesdays of each month, June 3 and July 1. Summer reading lists are available here.
LOWER SCHOOL Caldecott Project for our second-graders The second grade enjoyed a month-long unit on Caldecott Award-winning books. The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of 19th century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. As part of the unit, each second grade student: read at least 30 Caldecott Award-winning books; wrote a book summary; and created a project on a Caldecott book. The projects completed ranged from videos, mobiles, and shadowboxes to story cubes, board games, and puppets. The second grade hallway was full of all of this creativity! Parents were invited in to the classroom to watch their child read the Caldecott book to the class and then present their project. The culminating activity of the unit was a Caldecott character parade on May 1. Each student dressed up as a favorite Caldecott character and then paraded around the Lower School classes sharing their characters.
Summer Reading in the Lower School
New Lower School 2009-2010 Summer Reading Lists and instructions are now located on the school website. The Winship Library will be open on Wednesdays from June 10th through July 29th (except the 1st Wednesday in June and July)
HOURS: 9:00 a.m. - Noon Required reading books for rising 5th graders "The Case of the Missing Cutthroats" for $6; "A Penny in My Pocket" for $12 will be available for purchase in the Winship Library during the summer.
MIDDLE SCHOOL Kitty Drew receives award On May 7, Middle School teacher Kitty Drew was honored at a banquet on the Kennesaw State University Campus for Teacher Leadership. The award is sponsored by a consortium of teachers grades Kindergarten through college who are fellows of the Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project (KMWP), a local chapter of the National Writing Project. The Teacher Leadership Award is presented to one teacher who is a leader and encourages leadership in colleagues. For seven years, Kitty has been encouraging other teachers at KMWP through carefully planned programs where teachers share their best practices -- and, because she's Kitty Drew, there's always good food, too. Her colleagues in the Middle School have also benefitted from Kitty's leadership, which always takes the form of support and encouragement. Congratulations!
Middle School takes NAML Cup For the second year in a row (and the third time in four years), the Walker Middle School Athletic Program has won the NAML Cup, the all-sports trophy for the North Atlanta Metro League. The Wolverines won championships in every season (A team volleyball in the fall; swimming and wrestling in the winter; boys soccer and tennis in the spring) and had several other teams qualify for the league playoffs. Coach Gary Blohm stated, "Congratulations to all of our Middle School student athletes and their coaches for continuing the high level of excellence that all of us have come to expect from the Walker Athletic Program. We would like to especially thank the parents of our student athletes for volunteering to serve as team parents, coaches, concession stand workers, and fans."
People to People
Four Middle School students participated in People to People in Washington D.C. They were Rachael Zimmerman, Halle Jackson, Joseph Zuckerman and Noel Battle. People to People International is a voluntary effort of private citizens promoting international understanding through direct people-to-people contacts.
UPPER SCHOOL Girls Soccer wins state -- again! For the second year in a row the Girls Soccer team won the state championship. The number one ranked Lady Wolverines played to a 2-0 victory over Lovett in the state championship game at Walker. For more athletic information, click here.
Boys and Girls Tennis Teams runners-up for state titles
The boys and girls tennis teams did an exceptional job and fought hard as they tried for the state championship titles in Jonesboro in early May. Winning a third straight title looked promising for the Lady Wolverine tennis team when they won their first two matches against Brookstone. Unfortunately, the next three matches didn't go in Walker's favor and the team ended with a 3-2 loss. The Walker boys suffered a 3-0 defeat to an excellent Athens Academy team. We are proud of our tennis teams and congratulate them on their success in the playoffs.
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