Good fences make good neighbors?

Apologies to Robert Frost, but I had to say something about fences in the title. The subject is the lovely new fence around the soccerand lacrossefield and track, just in time to anticipate the spring season. The light wasn't right for a look at the fence from the field, but here is the approach from the road:

Let the light shine through!

We returned from Christmas Break to find the new windows installed in the chapel, a multitude of saints through whom the morning light shines. You can read something about the oldest window in the chapel in Gabe Dunsmith's article in the December 2007 edition of The Galax Leaf. Now we welcome the new additions. Watch for further info about these magnificent windows.

Covey for Teens

By Dewey! Another pick from the 100s:

This book was a great idea! While teens can read Stephen Covey's original "7 Habits," his son Sean has adapted it for teenagers today. The book is immediately gripping, with real life stories of successful teens, cartoons and quotations. The seven habits are the same: Be proactive, Begin with the end in mind, Put first things first, Think win-win, Seek first to understand and then to be understood, Synergize, and Sharpen the Saw. They're applicable to all of us, and this book for teens presents them in such a lively and interesting way that anyone could enjoy and prodit from this book.

Can't Wait for Iorek!

St. Dunstan can't wait till he sees the movie -- opening Friday! If you can't wait either, then here are links to the top two fansites and another great page of resources:

BridgeToTheStars.net

HisDarkMaterials.org

Horn Book HDM Page, with links, interviews, and more

Waiting for "The Golden Compass": The Date is Set!

The much-awaited film version of The Golden Compass, the first volume of His Dark Materials, is opening in less than a week, and the very next week we're going to see it! That is, the eight graders, Mrs. Morrison, Mr. Uhler, and Mrs. Hyde are all going to see the movie in Asheville. Why? Because we're all reading The Golden Compass for the 2008 North Carolina Battle of the Books. Our first team, some years back, starred Ms. Tillett's son Aaron (now a graduate of Brown), won its local championship. Since then the trophy has been in other hands, but we always read and we always take part in the Battle!

This year's 8th graders are an especially perspicacious group, and we have high hopes for them in the spring.

What better way to kick off the battle training season and the holidays than by seeing this sure-to-be-fine movie?

St. Dunstan suggests that each of you get a copy of this book -- a terrific adventure set in an alternate Oxford,England, and involving gypsies, polar bears, children, sinister adults, witches, zeppelins and one Texan balloonist, all involved in a fantastic and breathtaking adventure. Believe me, this story will entrance all ages. But don't believe me -- go see the movie, and read the book!

By Dewey! New in the 100s

155.9

G

Grollman, Earl A. Straight Talk About Death For Teenagers: How to Cope With Losing Someone You Love, Boston: Beacon Press, 1993

Earl Grollman has written many books on coping with death and has traveled all over the country, speaking with groups of young people on the topic. he also writes about parenting for USA Today. This book for teens is also recommended for parents, teachers, counselors, ministers and youth leaders.

Some young people have yet to face the death of a loved one, but many of them have experienced the sudden, tragic death of a friend in an accident or from illness. Many teenagers lose grandparents, and some have to cope with the loss of a parent. This book offers practical and supportive words that speak directly to teens without condescension. Grollman talks about losing a friend to suicide, losing a sibling, death by violence or by accident, and death after an illness.

He discusses all the possible reactions to death and ways of coping. One of the main points of the book is to let the teenager know that he is not alone in feeling the way he does. He talks about the experience of attending a funeral and about what to face when returning to school and getting on with one's life.

Highly recommended for all who must face death -- and that means all of us, at some time.

By Dewey! First in a Series Featuring New Books at SDL

Melvil Dewey was a cranky old guy who believed in spelling reform, among other things, and his Dewey Decimal System is not loved as much as formerly, but school and public libraries still find it useful for our materials. I'd like to feature some of our new books by Dewey categories.. For today, we'll look at the first category, 000-099, called "Generalities." This is where books about computers go, since Dewey presumably had never dreamed of such things.

Our new book in this section in Tim Berners-Lee's Weaving the Web: the Original Design and Ultimate Destiny of the World Wide Web By its Inventor. (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999) Besides being the inventor of the Web, Berners-Lee is a professor at MIT and a MacArthur Fellow and was named one of the100 greatest minds of the 20th century by TIME Magazine.

For a little perspective on the Web: our current students have never been aware of a world without it. On the other hand, when I was in library school at UNC in the early 1990s, the Web was so new that PhD candidates in Information Science were giving lectures on it to us Masters' candidates. Now we all take it for granted and use it without thinking about it.

This promises to be a fascinating account of a force that pervades our personal, work and academic lives. Especially now that we are at a point where commercial forces and government entities rattle their spears over possible control both content and access, while true Web believers are adamant in their desire to see it remain free and open, it's good idea for those of us who care about open access to information to understand what's behind it all.

Highly recommended for anyone concerned about the future of information.