5 Reasons to Attend the Omega Open House

5 Reasons to Attend the Omega Open House

 You can learn so much at the Omega Middle School Open House

Our Omega Middle School Open House is right around the corner. We hope you will take some time to be part of this event, no matter your child’s grade in elementary school or middle school. It gives you an opportunity to see a Rainbow / Omega education across the grades, culminating with the 7th and 8th grade years in which students engage in larger projects, presentations, and leadership opportunities.

What made me a supporter of Rainbow, was the kids’ strong sense of self. They knew who they were and were not. They knew their strengths and weaknesses. And even though high school and college brings its own set of social and educational challenges, the students I met were at peace with themselves, ready to take on the challenges of young adulthood with confidence and determination. —Bill Drew, parent of a current 5th grader

Here is this year’s schedule:

Morning Session
8:30 – 10 am

  • 8:30 – 8:45 coffee/tea/chocolate in the auditorium foyer
  • 8:45 – 9:00 short presentation about Omega Middle School
  • 9:00 – 9:30 tour classes in progress
  • 9:30 – 10 Q & A with current teachers & students back in the auditorium

Evening Session
6:30 – 8:00 pm

  • 6:30 – 6:45 – pizza and salad in the auditorium foyer
  • 6:45 – 7:00 – short presentation about Omega Middle School
  • 7:00 – 7:15 – tour classrooms
  • 7:15 – 8:00 – meet recent graduates and ask questions with our alumni panel

The five big reasons you should come to the Omega Open House:

1. Meet teachers

During the school year, it’s not always so easy to speak with a teacher who is not attending to other tasks – students, planning, teaching, training, in a meeting, etc. Having their undivided attention to answer all your questions about what they teach and how becomes such a gift! The open house provides you this opportunity. Meet all the teachers in our Omega Middle School: Susie (division head), Susan, Jason, Niki, Justin, Lisa, Jenny, and some of our specialists.

open house


2. Meet students

We love opening up our campus so that you can meet students and see how incredible they all are. The programs and curriculum in the Omega program allows them to explore their interests more in-depth through our regular academic program and through our electives classes. We have extensive electives courses and our students can tell you about them.

open house

3. Meet recent graduates

You also have an opportunity to hear from recent graduates who can give you candid answers about how prepared they felt for high school. They can share about their Rainbow experiences, the transition to high school, and tell you much more about their academic and extracurricular careers as a result of their Rainbow / Omega experience.

You can get a great feel for how this works with our past alumni panels who have spoken at other Open Houses:

 

4. Visit classes

On the morning of the Open House, you can see classes in progress. On any given day, students engage in different experiential activities involving collaboration, problem solving, math, language arts and social studies.

omega open house

5. Get all your questions answered

We cannot stress enough the value in being part of an event like this. You get to see the “whole Rainbow story” and how proud we are of our young students and who they grow to be.

Last year, one parent attended and felt so moved by the event, he wrote a long letter of how this event alone helped him decide on a middle school for his child. Take a look! at Bill Drew’s Testimonial Letter.

We hope you will join us for an evening of connection, information, and fun! We’ll have door prizes and other giveaways, too!

Words Have Power Summer Camp at Rainbow publishes book!

Words Have Power Summer Camp at Rainbow publishes book!

Words Have Power Summer Camp

In summer 2019, Rainbow Community School had the Words Have Power summer camp. April Fox taught this camp with such incredible results! This camp was for ages 10-13, with a total of 10 students attending for the week. The students who participated published an anthology of their work. April, their teacher, compiled all their writings and it’s now available on Amazon.

summer camp

Anthology cover. We have a copy in the Main Office!

We interviewed April who told us the whole idea of the camp was to allow kids to explore writing “without all the rules.” She showed her students that there’s “school writing” and there’s also “fun writing.” April wanted her students to know that there is a world of writing outside of grammar, spelling and following conventional rules.

This was a camp that gave students a chance to explore writing in a creative way – possibly in ways they had never done before. They used words for nothing but the “pure expression of what was in their heads,” which allowed them to truly connect with the idea of writing on a different level.

summer camp

Each morning, April would put up quotes from different writers or inspirational figures that had something to do with writing or succeeding. Students would pick their favorite quote and write in their journals, reflecting about how they felt, or scribbled other musings related to the quote they chose. These quotes came from different artists and writers, such as Maya Angelou, Tupac, Elvis Costello and many others.

How the anthology came about

Students studied different types of writing throughout the week. One activity they did was to use pictures to inspire their writing. If they saw a photo of a butterfly that inspired them, for example, they could write a poem in response, and perhaps “shape it” in the form of butterfly wings.

They did a lot of free writing, haikus and had the freedom to explore whatever type of writing style that interested them, from short stories to graphic novel layouts. They even explored writing a screenplay and all that went with it: writing, directing, rehearsing and performing their written words. Students were allowed to edit their work or not, depending on how they felt about it.

summer camp

At the end of each day students could elect to turn their work in to be part of an anthology that April would put together later in the summer. After the camp ended, she spent time compiling and typing out each of the writings her students submitted. She remarked that some poems were funny, some were more serious, some explored serious issues and other poems touched on lighter subjects, such as smelly socks. In effect, these poems were a snapshot of this particular age group, and allowed their individual selves to come out. They had no filters. Their work reflects what was in their heads at that moment.

Student success

April considers the most successful part of the week to be when she witnessed an increase in student confidence with regard to their writing. They produced some insightful, heartfelt, and well-written work. They learned that even though they might struggle with specific aspects of writing academically, they can still be incredible storytellers, and write pretty remarkable content.

summer camp

All photos courtesy of April Fox. We have a copy of the anthology in the Main Office!

Collaboration and Renewal Before the First Days of School

Collaboration and Renewal Before the First Days of School

Collaboration and Renewal

Collaboration and Renewal: two key words that describe what it is for faculty to come back together for ten days of training before the start of school.

Faculty and staff began their August workdays with something that is so integral to Rainbow: Centering and an Opening Ceremony. The next few days were filled with division meetings, team collaboration time, and safety training. They delved into the their goals and intentions for the year, working with Dyad partners, themes in equity, and more. Reneé led an incredible training around this year’s theme: Wholeness.

The Path of Authentic Learning

Reneé’s training about wholeness is part of a year-long training series that she is offering the staff entitled, “The Path of Authentic Learning,” which is based on her doctoral research. All RCS staff learned about strands in “an educator’s model for spiritual development” and “teaching as a spiritual practice.” They explored “the field of connection” and the idea of vulnerability – both with the student and the teacher, tied in with authentic learning. They had a chance to do some journal reflections throughout their training days.

collaboration and renewal

Reflection journals

Continuing collaboration and renewal in Hot Springs, NC

It was with that theme, and with this new knowledge, that all RCS staff embarked on an overnight retreat in Hot Springs, NC. They had a chance to engage in additional trainings that would benefit the classroom. They engaged in nature games that involved all the senses, positive discipline, and a module about “aliveness.” Staff investigated topics like awakening the senses, infinite learning, imagination, and even Oneness.

collaboration and renewal

Positive Discipline training, led by Eddy and Josie

To be sure, all community members had a chance to go to the hot tubs, camp in a tent, or stay in a rustic cabin. They enjoyed fellowship and visiting with each other after summer break. In fact, every moment of these training days was intended to create a sense of wholeness and groundedness. That helped prepare everyone for a new school year.

collaboration and renewal

Time in nature and participating in Restorative Circles was another component of the retreat. So many mentioned how sights of the forest, the running river, listening to the cicadas, and taking in the earthy scents of surrounding trees were incredibly uplifting and healing. They paired that with communicative circle activities in which folks shared about their “authentic self.” This was a path to forging vibrant, lifelong friendships built on a solid foundation.

collaboration and renewal

Restorative Circles

Getting ready

The overnight retreat ended with Closing Circle, in full practice of the year’s “wholeness” theme. Everyone stood together, at times holding hands, sharing in song and in moments of vulnerability. This concluded with a final sounding of the singing bowl. Now, they were almost ready. With this session of renewal came the energy to return to campus. Teachers finalized their first-week lesson plans. They put the final touches on decorating their student-centered classrooms. Still, they arranged desks and furniture just so, printed out any necessary materials AND….

collaboration and renewal

The singing bowl at Closing Circle

The first day of school began. It promised to be the best year ever!

Photo credits: Cynthia Calhoun

Student Flipbooks Illustrate Newton’s Laws of Motion

Student Flipbooks Illustrate Newton’s Laws of Motion

Newton’s Laws of Motion

We stepped into sixth grade recently to find them learning about Newton’s Laws of Motion.

But it wasn’t just any science class. The Kitsune created flipbooks to illustrate their understanding of these universal laws.

The first law of motion is that an object in motion stays in motion. An object at rest stays at rest, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

Kitsune teacher, Jenny, created these incredible posters that illustrated Newton’s laws.

 

Newton’s Second Law of Motion

The second law of motion is that Force (f) = mass (m) x acceleration (a).

 

Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion

The third law of motion is that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Science and Rollercoasters

A day earlier, students created a marble roller coaster. They were applying the principles of what they had learned about energy and the laws of motion, specifically, Newton’s 2nd law. Their challenge was to build a roller coaster that would allow the speed of a marble to speed up or slow down using inclines, different materials or textures, and the like.

Persistence of Vision

Before diving into flipbooks, the Kitsune recently spent part of their morning talking about the “persistence of vision” in which students brainstormed some concepts about what this was. Persistence of vision, as it relates to animation and film, includes three main ideas:

  1. optical illusion
  2. the human eye can process 10-12 images per second
  3. the faster the images go, the more they seem to be in motion

That is, the human eye effectively “retains” an image up to a fifteenth of a second. If you “speed up” looking at different images, they will appear to move due to this phenomenon.

To illustrate this, Jenny, had students create and imagine a few drawings of what “running” would look like.

 

They had a chance to see different examples of flipbooks.

 

After they got all inspired, Jenny showed them what a story board looked like.

Their objective: create a 30-page flip book that illustrates the principles of Newton’s Laws of Motion.

Students would also need to write a paragraph explaining the action that happens their flip book, as well as how the action illustrated Newton’s laws of motion.

We’ll update here when we see the final flipbook creations students have created.

All in a day’s work

All in a day’s work

So many things…all in a day’s work

Sacred geometry, science experiments, and literacy – all in a day’s work. Maybe not even a day’s work, but in the span of an hour and a half, students experienced some incredible learning.

Language Arts

It was mid-morning, and students were well-immersed in their classes.

Teachers create units that complement each other. Today’s activity included vocabulary words that would come up in  science class later in the morning. Students were likely not familiar with them.

all in a day's work

Susan, their teacher, had them study the list of words for two minutes. We love that some kiddos wanted to know why they needed to study and memorize them. Susan had them “sit tight” because they would find out in a few minutes.

At the end of the two minutes, students turned their papers over and had one minute to write down the words they remembered. Afterward, some folks remembered 2, 3, or 5 words, and one student had 15!

Learning strategies

Some students had words from an “A” list, or from a “B” list. The words on each list had different characteristics. Some words were bold, some were in alphabetical order, and more.

Students discussed their strategies for memorization. One student said he memorized words in groups. Another said she put a description with each word. Others mentioned eliminating words that were too long, repeating different words over and over, and some tried writing them down.

all in a day's work

Learning objective

The idea here was that It’s important to try different learning strategies. By doing so, students can figure out what works best for them, and what doesn’t. By sharing ideas, everyone could learn a strategy that maybe they hadn’t tried previously.

Learning games

Next came cutouts of the vocabulary words. Students split into groups of 3 (with 8 vocabulary words each) or 4 (with 6 vocabulary words each) to collaborate and separate their vocabulary into categories. They were allowed to discuss and work together to do so. Susan instructed them not to worry about words they didn’t know, but to work together to see if someone else knew the meaning. If not, they could use deductive reasoning to separate them out.

What a way to learn vocabulary. Students had some fun and challenging approaches to learning new words. They will then relate them back to their science learning, as well as tie their different classes together to touch on the different domains. The lessons on this day emphasized the mental and creative domains.

Art History

Across the hall, another Omega class studied art history and math. It wasn’t just another garden-variety middle school class, however. Their teacher, Mark, was incorporating elements of sacred geometry.

Sacred geometry is an area of intense interest for Mark. In fact, he’s publishing a book on the subject soon.

While in his class, students studied Renaissance paintings and works by Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Verocchio, and others.

all in a day's work

Da Vinci and math

While listening to Mark’s lecture, students were quite riveted with the presentation. Mark mentioned how Da Vinci was a great artist, AND used mathematics heavily in his work.

Incredibly, perspective and sacred geometry came into play. The proportions of the human body, for example, represent universal sacred geometry parameters. Da Vinci’s paintings include so much symbolism as well as “hidden” geometry, especially in his human subjects.

For example, one might be able to find evidence of the sacred spiral or even phi ratios in different Da Vinci paintings.

all in a day's work

 

Students had a chance to try their hand at creating their own works of sacred geometry. They used a compass and ruler and made their own golden rectangles, along with sacred spirals.

They also saw examples of how those patterns show in up nature on the most minute scale (such as with tiny seashells) all the way up to a universal scale, such as with spiral galaxies.

 

all in a day's work

The “Eggs-periment”

Back in the science classroom, the Omega group that had become vocabulary masters began delving into their new science unit.all in a day's work

They began an investigation involving the standard egg. They chose to either do an “egg-speriment” or “what about other eggs” for their research.

The eggs-periment involved observing changes in an egg and recording those observations. The latter assignment gave students the opportunity to study an egg-laying creature to investigate.

Both projects required entries into student science journals, presentations, making models, and writing effective science reports.

all in a day's work

Omegans have a rich curriculum

All these interesting subjects, all by the noontime hour! We can only imagine what happened after lunch. All in a day’s work.