Archive for October 2010
Halloween On The Hill
Including the Annual Faculty Halloween Skit! See the slide show HERE.
9th Grade Field Trip to UVA for our “Learn to Research Day”
Mr. Neumeister and Ms. Simpkins took the ninth grade class to the University of Virginia on Friday, October 22. They began the day with a scavenger hunt on the lawn. Students hunted for various historical landmarks from the Rotunda to Cabell Hall. Then they had a historical tour of UVA and looked at a wide variety of architecture, Edgar Allan Poe’s dorm room, and the inside of the Rotunda. After the tour they had a research seminar in Clemons Library where they learned how to research for books in the extensive libraries and how to research on the computer using electronic databases. They even went to Special Collections and looked at one of the first drafts of The Declaration of Independence. After a wonderful lunch on the beautiful fall day they went to Riverview Park for a nature walk. The slide show is HERE.
Drama Performance A Hit
Slide show HERE.
On October 23rd and 25th, the Singing Kings and Drama Queens performed for appreciative audiences. An adaption of The Butterfly Lovers conceived of by Kate Zhao, adapted by Ms. Burke and performed with shadow puppets created by Yoonji Kim. The mesmerizing shadow play was acted out by Taylor Baker, Grace Dawson and Samantha Orem and narrated by Damian Cutchin.
Accompanied by Ms. Hizer on piano, Haokai Xu thrilled those listening with his rendition of the song Maria.
Andrew Lee and Samantha Orem accompanied by Ms. Hizer performed A Whole New World dressed as Aladdin and Jasmine.
Ballad for Sarah-Jane was sung by the duo of Samantha Orem and Grace Dawson and the pair then joined Haokai Xu for a passionate performance of Let The Sunshine In.
Rounding up the very enjoyable time on the Chapel stage were Taylor Baker, Grace Dawson and Samantha Orem belting out a rousing rendition of Mama, I’m A Big Girl Now.
The production was directed by Mr. Hunter and Ms. Hizer was the music director. Taylor Baker choreographed Mama, I’m A Big Girl Now. Harry Shaffren and Kate Zhao worked hard as production assistants and Patricia Leavitt costumed the actors beautifully.
All who were lucky enough to be an audience member enjoyed themselves very much.
First En Plein Air Day a Huge Success
Local artists, students, faculty and friends enjoyed a picture-perfect day of painting “en plein air” on Miller’s beautiful 1600-acre campus! For a slide show of the event go HERE.
HEADMASTER’S CORNER – SELF ESTEEM AND CONFIDENCE
Go to your bosom; Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know.
~Isabella, in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure
Self-esteem is feeling good about yourself and having confidence because you have done something to merit it. It is important to feel good about yourself.
Just consider those nights when you have worked really hard to prepare for a test and, then you do well. Or, when you have worked really hard in practice and, then, you do well in the game. Or, when a friend comes to you feeling a bit down and, then, you are able to cheer them up. Or, when you have just acted like you do every day and, then, someone thanks you for being nice.
All of these moments make you feel good, and they should do so. Think about it, though; you do not really do all these things just because they make you feel good. Instead, this kind of success feels best when we can share the moment with someone else. Your teacher because you did well, your coach because you had a good day, your friend because they appreciate you, that person who just noticed how nice you are.
We often develop a healthy level of self-esteem when we know that our effort has been good, and that effort pays off. Believe that you can do it…because you can.
CROSS COUNTRY TEAM WINS COVENANT INVITATIONAL!
The Mavericks had their strongest showing of the season to date at the Covenant Invitational. As a team the guys narrowly pulled off the win over Covenant by the smallest of margins–1 point. This victory marks the first in the team’s history at this particular meet. The Mavericks were led by the 1-2 punch of Elias Hubbard and Michael Kidby who finished 17:55 and 18:20. Elias’s time was a huge PR for him from the Woodberry Forest Invitational. Kidby ran an incredibly smart race and closed hard in the last mile to move from 4th to 2nd. Third across the line for Miller was Casey Matthews with a huge PR of 19:06 to earn him 8th overall. Also ducking under the 20-minute mark for the first time was freshman Chris Wenger with a PR of 19:56 to get 20th overall. Kyle Ottaway rounded out the scoring with an impressive 20:18. These guys proved that they will be a force to be reckoned with in the post season and thus the whole team deserves the Race of the Day award.
Just outside the top 5, Peter Syverud finished in a solid time of 20:42 after battling nagging injuries for a couple weeks. Will Chambers and Rawls Fortenberry were the next two Miller runners to finish in 22:21 and 22:44 respectively, both of which were PRs by about 2 minutes. Teammate Aryeh Enoch was not far behind with a PR of his own in 22:50. Orion Bloom, who has been fighting injuries for a few weeks, gave a big effort and finished his first 5k in 24:54.
The girls kept up their same strategy as past races and ran together practically the whole way finishing 15th and 16th with Schuyler just edging out Ursula Nelson to earn big PRs of 24:09 and 24:11. These freshmen showed that they can be competitive in varsity races. Both are improving drastically each week; it will be interesting to see how fast they will be in November.
View the slide show HERE.
WE ARE SADDENED TO REPORT
The Miller School of Albemarle family extends sincere condolences to Mr. Steve Neumeister (History teacher) and his family on the tragic loss of his son, Daniel, on October 4, 2010.
Dan was a local vintner who created award winning wines for two Charlottesville area wineries.
Our thoughts are with Mr. Neumeister at this tragic time.
For an article at Hook about Daniel Neumeister go HERE.
FORMER STUDENT BACK FROM TOUR OF DUTY VISITS
2004 graduate Kean Ivey, seen here with Mr. France on October 4th, visited Miller after a tour of duty in Iraq and a second tour in Afghanistan. He is now home and leaving the service and plans to enter Virginia Tech to complete his college degree. Welcome home Kean and thank you for visiting us on the hill!
Miller School of Albemarle 