Water: Advent’s School-wide Theme for 2009-10
As part of our on-going commitment to environmental sustainability, The Advent School will be making waves throughout the 2009-2010 academic-year with the school-wide theme of Water. The World Health Organization states: “Water scarcity affects one in three people on every continent of the globe. Water is an essential resource for good health and a good life. Globally, the problem is getting worse are cities and populations grow and the need for water increases in agriculture, industry, and households.”
Head of School, Nancy Harris Frohlich introduced the theme to Advent faculty and administrators at our annual back-to-school retreat held at the Joppa Flats Audubon Education Center in Newburyport. Ms. Harris Frohlich presented a wide variety of books and curriculum resources about water issues. Teachers then broke into small groups to explore ways in which they can introduce the theme into the daily curriculum.
A teachers' diagram of ways to explore Water with students.
credit: Tooey Rogers
Throughout the year, teacher and students will discover the critical issues affecting water worldwide and how, as a community, we can make a difference.
Already, students and teachers have begun to explore Water together. In our Early Childhood Center, teachers introduced the topic by asking, “What do you know about water?”
Here are some of their responses:
We drink water. Water turns to ice in the winter.
Sometimes we swim in water.
A boat can float in water. In my book, I learned that water is made of little molecules. Molecules are smells. There is air inside water that fish breathe.
Water is good for you.
Turtles live in water.
Dolphins swim in water.
Animals live in the water.
When you’re hot you can go swimming and your body gets wet.
Dinosaurs can swim. (This comment led to a discussion about how long water has been on our earth since dinosaurs lived long ago.)
Water helps keep you clean.
There is a lake and the sea. Sailboats float in water.
Flowers need water to grow.
Seals swim in water.
We also discussed the different forms of water such as ice, rain, and various bodies of water such as oceans, lakes, and the sea.
We invite you to follow our explorations on our website this year.
“What is absolutely unique [about the Advent School] is the judgment, creativity, and developmental attention with which its rich multi-cultural program has been constructed. If any school will underscore and illuminate the opportunity and challenge with which multi-cultural education can be considered, this fine, small, humane scholarly little school can do it for us all.”
— citation from the U.S. Department of Education
- Advent Art Sampler
