Mountain Myths

The Story Of Mt. Rainier's Eruption and Creation
By Sasha



At the beginning of the earth in the times of the first people, there lived a family of Goddesses, who dwelt in a palace in the sky. These were the Sisters, the most powerful beings ever to walk the earth. One day, the leader of the family, a goddess named Raina was sitting on her throne and looking out her window at the earth that she had created: Its crystal clear lakes, rivers, and oceans and its trees, pointing into the sky like toothpicks. Raina decided that the world that she had created was beautiful. It was lacking in just one thing: there was nothing that could come close to meeting the supreme power of the goddesses, and even though she was great friends with her sisters, she enjoyed diversity in her companions.
The next time that the moon completed its cycle, Raina brought up the idea to her sisters. "Sisters, we should by all means create these tall giants that I have a picture of formed so clearly in my head. "We could call them mountains, in memory of one of our late companions, whose name was Mountaina." Unfortunately, as hard to believe as it may seem, they resisted Raina's piercing words, her seemingly bottomless brown eyes and her eloquence, which twisted and morphed her sentences so that they seemed to be dripping out of her mouth in the form of gold, and instead said that they disliked the idea of something being tall and strong enough to reach their domain.
For the first time in millenia there was dissension and argument amongst the sisters. But Raina, always the most stubborn of all the goddesses had it in her power to create mountains, so create mountains she did. As was her want she created the tallest, most majestic mountains that had ever touched the earth and even though they were almost tall enough to reach her domain, they were always forced to bow down in the end.
With great power comes great responsibility, and this Raina did not posses. She teased her sisters about her power, provoking them and often taunting them with jokes about how even their strength could not surpass hers. Finally this became too much for the proud sisters to bear. They called a counsel meeting and gave Raina fair warning. Helena was second in command, and the most beautiful one by far. She had thick black hair and a perfect oval face. She was the leader of this gathering. After along period of suspenseful silence, she began.
"Sister Raina, we used to be a fellowship, bound together forever. "Now, however, you have humiliated us with words suggesting that your power is far more than ours..."
At this point, Helena was cut off by Raina. "Helena, I was not taunting, I was simply saying what is true.
Helena and the others had been watching Raina calmly. Then another of the fellowship spoke, this time it was Shasta, the most fiery and temperamental with brilliantly red hair, and piercing green eyes.
"But that is where you are wrong, dear sister. You are stronger than any one of us, but all together our powers surpass yours twenty fold." At that point, all of the fifteen sisters linked arms, and murmuring some ancient words, they turned their former leader into a mountain, not just any mountain but the ugliest mountain on earth. This may not have been such a sorrowful event for Raina, because mountains were her pride and joy. But she was not a beautiful mountain, like her former creations, and she was set right on the boundary of two great people the people of the Evergreen, and the people of the Beaver, (right between where Oregon and Washington are today, but today Washington-the tribe of the Evergreen- has gained a little more land, so Mt. Rainier is more in Washington). People from both tribes would walk up her sides, seeking food and shelter for their people, and since these were both very proud and powerful tribes, when they met, the the bloodshed would be great. This hurt Raina, for as unpleasant as she may have seemed she still had a tender heart.
When she saw this, she would cry, and her tears would flow in the form of rain, which is why today the mountain is called Rani-er, today. The sisters looked down on Raina, but had no pity for her, because she had wronged them. This angered Raina still more, and one day, she quite literally blew her top, sending pillars of smoke and lava into the sky, where they reached even the sky kingdom, catching her sisters and enveloping them in them in the insides of mountains, which succeeded in turning them into mountains as well. Together, these fifteen sisters made up all of the mountains of the Cascade Range.
Now Raina had to live with her fate, but her sisters had to as well and over time Mt. Rainier grew into a beautiful mountain, that is visited much today.
This is the story of Mt.Rainer's eruption and creation.

Packing Lunches

I think the basic needs for a human are food, water and shelter. If I had to choose one of those basic needs and eliminated it from my life I would choose shelter. I would choose shelter because my family and I have so many close friends and family members we would be able to stay with them. If a friend or family member were to lose their house we would do the same. I know a lot of people don’t have family members or friends to live with. I am very glad that my family does. I would never want to lose any basic needs because they are all so important.
Everyone in the community can help. People can donate things. They can donate food, clothes, blankets, toys and many other things. People can also work at places like the Food Bank or a soup kitchen. Anything will help. I have worked at the Oregon Food Bank many times and even had my birthday party there. My friend had so much fun that she had hers there, too.
Having a good strong community is really important. It is important because if people don’t help those in need very few other people will. That’s why I think SES is so great. We do a lot for the community and we pack lunches every week to give to a church. That’s one way SES is so special. People don’t realize that even something little like a stuffed animal could help. A little kid could get it and be so happy! I think it is really important to tell other people about how to help and do fund raisers and food drives.
Each Wednesday my class (Frank’s class) packed lunches for the people getting their meal at the church. After they have a meal they could get a bag and it would have a meal in it for the next day. It would also contain a happy little note to cheer them up and hopefully would make their day brighter. After lunch we would divide into groups. One group would make cards and the other group would make and pack lunches. The people making cards would find Jan’s car and carry the food we had that day. They would bring it into the cafeteria while the people making the lunches would be washing their hands twice. The people who were making cards would start making them while the people packing lunches would put on gloves and get organized. The people making sandwiches would count how much bread they had so they could tell the others. The people not making the sandwiches would have others snacks and fruit we would put in. Some things like chips and cookies had to be put in bags. The people who were doing fruit would see if any of the fruit was rotten. Once everyone knew how many sandwiches were being made they would decide how many bars, fruit, cookies or chips would go in each bag. Then the assembly line would begin. The people at the beginning of the line would be the ones making sandwiches. They made the sandwich and put it into a small bag. They would pass it to someone who would put it in a big bag and pass it. The next people either had chips, cookies or energy bars. They would pass it on. The last people to get it were the people doing fruit. They put something in (usually a pear) and they would put it on a table. When we were done people would go around putting cards into the bags. We would all clean up and carry the lunches to the church. We walked over and waited until someone opened the door. Then we would all go in and put the lunches on the counter where people could grab a lunch after their meal.
We all got to make lunches at least once and make cards at least once. One problem I had was that people didn’t take making cards seriously. Most of the time people were goofing off. It makes me mad that they didn’t try to make the cards nice. People who are getting their meal usually have bad or rough days. Making lunches are fun. Sometimes it goes really fast and it is really hard. Other times it seems it is taking forever for them.
It feels good knowing someone will be getting an extra meal. For some people it probably is their only meal. I think these lunches help a lot. It is really cool to see all those plastic bags lined up on the counter at the church. We use so many plastic bags making lunches because cookies and chips usually go into plastic bags and if you think about all the lunches there are there is a lot of plastic being used. I think it is alright that we use them because it is for a good cause.
I really liked doing this. It is always a really good feeling knowing you are giving someone a meal. It is really fun making sandwiches or being part of the assembly line. It is really fun when everything goes really fast because then you have to go fast. Making cards are fun, especially when you take your time. I think making lunches for the church is really fun and it really helps others!

Annie

Myth Writing

Myth-making

To explain natural phenomena, various cultures have created myths in which natural phenomena and features in the environment are assigned human-like personalities and qualities.

Over the past few months we have studied local Pacific Northwest Geology through the lens of western-based science. Long before the science of volcanoes was understood, local Pacific Northwest tribes had explanations for these mountains. This page offers a few examples of these myths.

Assignment:

1. Create an origin or eruption myth for your volcano. Make sure that you include events that explain certain features or habits of your mountain.
2. Illustrate one scene from your myth.

Working Draft Due in Class: Friday, December 5

Draft 1 Due in Class: Monday, December 8

Final: Due in class and then on presentation at the Pangaea festival on Friday night, December 12

Northwest Native American Myths

Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest watched eruptions of Mount St. Helens long before the explorers and settlers came. Early accounts of eruptions were handed down and explained by their legends, contributing to a rich tradition of oral history and myth.

From the Puyallup Tribes

According to the lore of these tribes, long ago a huge landslide of rocks roared into the Columbia River near Cascade Locks and eventually formed a natural stone bridge that spanned the river. The bridge came to be called Tamanawas Bridge, or Bridge of the Gods. In the center of the arch burned the only fire in the world, so of course the site was sacred to Native Americans. They came from north, south, west, and east to get embers for their own fires from the sacred fire.

A wrinkled old woman, Loowitlatkla ("Lady of Fire,") lived in the center of the arch, tending the fire. Loowit, as she was called, was so faithful in her task, and so kind to the Indians who came for fire, that she was noticed by the great chief Tyee Sahale. He had a gift he had given to very few others -- among them his sons Klickitat and Wyeast -- and he decided to offer this gift to Loowit as well. The gift he bestowed on Loowit was eternal life. But Loowit wept, because she did not want to live forever as an old woman.

Sahale could not take back the gift, but he told Loowit he could grant her one wish. Her wish, to be young and beautiful, was granted, and the fame of her wondrous beauty spread far and wide.

One day Wyeast came from the land of the Multnomahs in the south to see Loowit. Just as he arrived at Tamanawas Bridge, his brother Klickitat came thundering down from the north. Both brothers fell in love with Loowit, but she could not choose between them. Klickitat and Wyeast had a tremendous fight. They burned villages. Whole forests disappeared in flames.

Sahale watched all of this fury and became very angry. He frowned. He smote Tamanawas Bridge, and it fell in the river where it still boils in angry protest. He smote the three lovers, too; but, even as he punished them, he loved them. So, where each lover fell, he raised up a mighty mountain. Because Loowit was beautiful her mountain (St. Helens) was a symmetrical cone, dazzling white. Wyeast's mountain (Mount Hood) still lifts his head in pride. Klickitat , for all his rough ways, had a tender heart. As Mount Adams, he bends his head in sorrow, weeping to see the beautiful maiden Loowit wrapped in snow.

From the Yakima Tribes

Si Yett, meaning woman, is the Yakima Indian name for Mount St. Helens. According to legend, Si Yett was a beautiful white maiden placed on earth by the Great Spirit to protect the Bridge of the Gods on the Columbia River from the battling brothers, Mount Adams and Mount Hood.

From the Klickitat Tribes

Klickitat Indians tell of two braves, Pahto, (Mount Adams) and Wyeast (Mount Hood), who fought to win the affections of an ugly old hag, who had been turned into a beautiful maiden by the Great Spirit.

From the Cowlitz Tribes

Cowlitz Indian legends tell of a time when Mount Rainier had an argument with his two wives, Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams. Mount St. Helens became jealous, blew her top, and knocked the head off Mount Rainier.

(Cowlitz Indians called Mount St. Helens "Lavelatla," which means "smoking mountain.")

The Battle of Two Chiefs: Mount Mazama and Mount Shasta

The Klamath Indians of the Pacific Northwest tell a legend about a fight between two chiefs. Llao was the chief of the Below World and was at Mount Mazama in Oregon. Skell was the chief of the Above World and stood at the summit of Mount Shasta in northern California. The two mountains are only a hundred miles apart. As darkness covered the land the two chiefs threw rocks and flames at each other. Llao, injured, fell back inside of Mount Mazama and was never seen again. A huge hole was left where he fell into the Below World. Over time, the hole filled with water to make Crater Lake. Volcanologists now know that Crater Lake is a caldera that formed by large explosions and collapse about 6,800 years ago.

The Origin of Mount Shasta

The Modoc Indians of northern California have lived in the area a long time and have seen the volcano erupt. Their oral tradition explains how the volcano formed. The Chief of the Sky Spirits was cold in the Above World. One day he used a rotating stone to drill a hole in the sky. Once the hole was finished he pushed in snow and ice. The snow and ice piled up and almost reached the sky. Then, the Chief of the Sky Spirits stepped down to the Earth. He created the trees, rivers, animals, fish, and birds. He even brought his family down and they all lived in the mountains. The sparks and smoke from their fires blew out of the hole in the top of their lodge. When Chief of the Sky Spirits tossed a BIG log on the fire sparks flew up even higher and the Earth trembled. The Chief eventually put out the fire and returned to the Above World.

Errol Heigts

We all arrived at school at 8:45 and got ready to go. Then we all lined up outside on" the yellow brick road," as Frank calls it. Then we started to head down to the bus stop on Belmont. We boarded bus 75 then we got off at 45th and Harney St. , from there we walked to Erral Heights Park.When we arrived we played a really fun game. We had 2 deer and the rest of us were cougars. The 2 deer stood down at the other side of the park and had there backs to us. We would walk without making a sound and every once in a while they would turn around. If they saw anyone move they wold have to go back to the beginning. It was a really fun game!

After the game we were put into groups and we had a half-hour to explore in those groups. We had a really fun time going through the swamps. We made maps designed on white boards then we copied them into our Field Study Books.We meet back and started to head back to school the same way we got there.

Once we got to Belmont we walked back to school more like ran. Daniel said"that if we got back to school at 12:37 he would get a mohawk." We ran all the way back to school it was so funny I was laughing so hard my sides hurt. It turned out that we did beat Daniel's time and with 5 seconds to spare. He actually has a mohawk! HA HA! The trip was a lot of fun really enjoyed it.
Madeleine

Read and Write Around

You and your friends decide to spend the day at the park and, when you get there...

it starts raining. You and your friends run for the nearest tree and take shelter. Your friends wonder how this sunny day turned out to be a rainy day. It stops raining and the sun comes out and makes a rainbow, you and your friend lay out a blanket so you wouldn't get all wet. You brought your camera and took a few photos when all of a sudden you notice a strange little path you hadn't seen before. You start walking and when your friends see you they run to catch up. " What are you doing they ask?" " I noticed this strange little path and thought I'd see where it leads." " You'd better not get lost!" they said. "Besides," they said "you have our lives in your hands." " Hey you guys, hate to break the news, but I think that we really are lost!" The girls had been so into their conversation they didn't realize they had wondered off the trail.

Madeleine

Oregon Food Bank

The whole class sat down and faced Jeff, the person who was instructing us. He asked what we knew about the Oregon food bank, then we got washed up, put on hairnets, put on gloves, and got to work! We lined up at a few tables and filled up bags with oats and boxed and taped it all up. Frank and the parent helpers stacked the boxes on wooden crates. Olga and Daniel put together new boxes.

The boxes piled higher and higher. It felt good to know that we were doing some good by helping feeding people who don't get enough food. The class looked happy; we were walking fast across the room to get drinks of water. Our hands moved fast as we worked hard. The room was filled with laughter and the high pitched sound of tape being ripped.

Jeff turned out the lights to get our attention. We had a tour around the building, we went to the freezer where everyone was screaming at how cold it was, and then we went to the fridge where everyone was yelling about the stink of the bananas and other rotten fruit.

We went out to the garden and looked at the chickens and then ate lunch and went back to school…

posted by Maddy

Marquam park field study

On our trip to Marquam park was accompanied by Dave and Michael.

We took the Trimet bus to downtown, there we made a transfer for another bus. We all fit perfectly into this bus, unlike the first bus we were stuffed inside there. People sitting down would have some one's backpack in their face. Anyway, the second bus drove us to the Marquam park water tower. We set down our bags, and went on a search for rocks with holes in them, ones without or any other rock we thought was interesting. We shared our rocks, then walked up to Marquam park. Frank told us to make something creative with the things we found in nature like leaves, sticks, rocks, etc. The leaves were all the colors of the rainbow, (except blues and purples) and everything was wet from the rain. We all took the time to go around and look at every one's creations.
When everyone was done, we split into our walking groups(each group had ether three or four people.) for a hike. Group one went first, they would have note cards and write down each native plant they saw. Here's a list of what was out there.

Douglas fir
English ivy
Big leaf maple
Vanilla leaf
Oregon grape
Holly
Maiden hair fern
Sword fern
Duck foot

*A helpful fact is the difference between Holly and Oregon grape (since a lot of people get them mixed up) is the Oregon grape leaves are flatter and have smaller spikes. The holly spikes stick up and down and are bigger.*
It was really amazing to be on the trail. It was quiet, and a very lush green. Only about twice did we come across a little creek. The trail was along the edge of a slope. You could barely see down the slope, there were too many plants and trees. We didn't see any wildlife except slugs, tons of slugs. The end of the trail lead back to where we ate, we sadly had to leave. We took all our bags and trash and walked down to the bus stop. We waited at least five minutes for the bus. Back downtown we got off the bus early because there was someone in a wheelchair, and there wasn't enough room for everyone. We walked to another bus stop not too far away. We got on the bus, after that we didn't have any more detours. We arrived at school shortly.

Post by,
Isabel :)

Wreath and Poinsettia Sale

This sale has been completed. Thanks to those who participated.

Hello 4-8 grade Students, Parents and Teachers!

The Wreath and Poinsettia Sale has begun! Flyers were send home last week and this is a wonderful opportunity for students to earn money to "BANK" toward their end of year - overnight trips.

REMEMBER!!
* Students can bank up to the full amount of their trip.

* Middle School: Any revenue beyond what is needed for their trip can be banked for the following year.

Bankable Amount Per Item:
Small Poinsettia (any color) = You Earn $4
Med Poinsettia (any color) = You Earn $8
Large Poinsettia (any color) = You Earn $10

Mixed Wreath = You Earn $8
Deluxe Wreath = You Earn $10
Garland = You Earn $11
Albert Spruce Tree= You Earn $9

*Gift Shippers: Mixed and Deluxe Wreaths = You Earn $7

As you can see, this is a wonderful opportunity for your child to raise money this year. Flyers are available in the office, and on the bulletin board in the SES hallway. Payment via PayPal will be available on the Sunnyside Website, www.sesptsa.com, for your convenience (COMING SOON). Encourage friends, family members, business owners, and co-workers to participate.

I am also requesting volunteer support for the sale/pick-up day on December 2.

Please email me with any questions you may have, or if you are able to volunteer.

Thank you!

Petria Black
Fundraising Coordinator
petria.b@live.com

*Don't forget to recycle your tree or wreath at the Tree recycling event at SES on January 3, 2009!

International Opportunity

The Consulate-General of Japan in Portland is pleased to announce its 20th Annual Origami Workshop and hopes that this will be a good opportunity for the public to become more familiar with Origami, the Japanese art of paper folding. Volunteers from the local community will teach participants Origami, including how to fold cranes.

The Origami Workshop will be held on Sunday, December 7, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the Mezzanine Level of Two World Trade Center in Portland. ADMISSION is FREE and NO RESERVATIONS are necessary. All origami materials will be provided. Everyone is welcome to participate in the workshop.

Please see a flyer at: http://www.portland.us.emb-japan.go.jp/tips/2008_Origami_Workshop.pdf

For any further information, please contact the Consulate-General of Japan in Portland at (503) 221-1811 ext. 15 or send e-mail to nalipio@cgjpdx.org.

Volcano Write-Up

Mt St Helens was a successful trip. We were fortunate to have fabulous weather so that we could see the north face of the mountain and the destruction that took place during the 1980 eruption. Since then, we have discussed geologic features, created murals and are in the process of creating the Cascade Range. Wow, lots of scientific understanding is being displayed in the classroom. Let’s stop and write to Benson what we know.

To do:

1. Describe the trip to Benson. We want him to know what you got out of the trip to Mt St Helens. The summary of the trip in your field study book is a great place to get this information.

2. Reinforce your ideas of why it important to go outside to learn. Use specific examples from how you learned on the trip.

3. Let Benson know what you learned:

a. Describe how Ape Caves was formed (illustration with captions or written)

b. Describe how the tree molds in the Trail of Two Forests were formed (illustration with captions)

c. Describe the events that led up to the 1980 Mt St Helens eruption.

d. Describe volcanic hazards (lahar, pyroclastic flow, ash cloud, lava flow)

4. Inform Benson about the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Draw him a diagram that shows the Juan de Fuca plate, the North American Plate, converging plates (the subduction zone), the Oregon/Washington coast line, Portland and the Mt St Helens and Mt Hood. Include arrows that shows where the plate movement.

5. Write a 4-5 sentence description of the process taking place at the Cascadia Subduction Zone and how it is related to the volcanoes in the Cascades.

Important: Please include color in your illustrations/diagrams.

Current Events

Woohoo! Current Events are back in Frank's class. Each week, seven students will present a current event from a different part of the world. The hope is to generate discussion about happenings around us, look at a map from a geographical point-of-view (where is Bangladesh?) and work on public speaking skills.

There is a BBC news feed at the bottom of this blog that can be a source to find Current Events.

Service Learning

Today I went over the yearly service learning requirements with students. Each student was given a folder containing details and I spent time with each grade level discussing requirements and projects. Please let me know at any time if you or your student has any questions.

If you have not yet visited the SES web page, please do so as it contains a lot of useful information. The entire service learning portfolio can be found on the "Documents" page:

http://www.sesptsa.com/documents/documents.php

Scroll down to Service Learning.

Columbia River Gorge (9/30/08)

Our first stop was the Lewis & Clark State Park, there we collected rocks and sorted them into group. Once our groups had finished sorting rocks we got to tell everyone how we sorted them.After that we got to talk about how we tought the rocks got there. One of my favorite rocks was green, smooth, and had spots.

Our next stop was the Women's Forum on the Columbia River Highway, there we drew a picture of what we saw. Then Dave the scientist talked with us about how there were big cracks in the earth in eastern Oregon and Idaho, and lava was just flowing out and that is were all of the basalt in the Columbia River Gorge came from. Then we drove up near the Vista house.

Then we went to LatourellFalls, there we took a hike and got to see the falls. Then we walked a bit further and took a rest and ate lunch. It was amazing to see how long the waterfall was,and how slippery the rocks were. I also was amazed to see how hard the water hit the bottom.

Then our last stop was Rocky Butte and looked around for landmarks, then we got to lay down in the grass and look up at the sky. Then after that we went back to school and talked about what a great time we had!


I feel that this trip was very inspiring, I collect rocks and it was very exciting to see some different rocks. As we were walking back to the bus from the Sandy River I found a real arrow head! How exciting!

Madeleine

Native Plant Assignment & Lists

Today, we began looking at our year-long plant study. We began with a look at corporate logos - the Nike swoosh was instantly identified - and moved to plants. The hope is to identify plants as easily as corporate logos.

On each due date (listed below), two plants are due. Criteria:

• Name of the plant (Common & Scientific)
• A neatly & colored drawing of the plant that has key characteristics identified.
• Plant Habitat
  
• Range (i.e. is it found only on the west side of the Cascades?)
• Uses for the plant (medicinal, etc.)
• 2-3 interesting facts
• Places that the student has seen the plant
• Source (where information was obtained)

The pages should be neatly done. At the end of the year, students will put them together with the hope that a useful book has been completed.

Due dates (2 plants / date): Oct 9, Nov 21, Jan 23, Feb 27, Apr 9, May 8


6th Grade List

Common Name Scientific name

Red twigged dogwood Cornus sericea

Douglas fir Pseudotsuga menziesii

Western redcedar Thuja plicata

Big leaf maple Acer macrophyllum

Big leaf maple Acer macrophyllum

Oregon grape Mahonia aquifolium

Thimbleberry Rubus parviflorus

Snowberry Symphoricarpos albus

Nootka rose Rosa nutkana

Stinging nettle Urtica dioica

Wild strawberry Fragaria virginiana

Sword fern Polystichum munitum

7th Grade List

Vine maple Polystichum munitum

Red alder Alnus rubra

Willow Salix sp.

Indian Plum Oemleria cerasiformis

Elderberry Sambucus canadensis

Oxalis Oxalis oregana

Waterleaf Hydrophyllum sp.

Bedstraw (cleavers) Galium aparine

Duckfoot Vancouveria planipetala

Woods buttercup Ranunculus uncinatus

Fringecup Tellima grandiflora

Maidenhair fern Adiantum pedatum

8th Grade List

Red huckleberry Vaccinium parvifolium

Red flowering currant Ribes sanguineum

Salmonberry Rubus spectabilis

Vanilla leaf Achlys triphylla

Wild ginger Asarum caudatum

False solomon’s seal Maianthemum racemosum

Dock Rumex sp.

Bleeding heart Dicentra formosa

Trillium Trillium ovatum

Piggyback plant Tolmiea menziesii

Licorice Fern Polypodium glycyrrhiza

Bracken fern Pteridium aquilinum

Community Meal - reflection

Harvested on 9/16/2008
Prepared on 9/25/2008
Served and enjoyed on 9/26/2008
Reflection due on 10/3/2008

Thanks again to all of the people who made this meal possible and a special thanks to Jim for inviting us to his farm to pick pears and berries.

Reflection:

Our community can be defined many different ways. In general, it is the supporting network of where we live, play, go to school and meet/interact with other people. It is important to continue to build ties within our community and food plays a central role in many communities. It strengthens bonds and brings people together to share their lives and enjoy the company of each other.

This year, you traveled to Jim’s farm to pick pears that you then prepared into a dish for your peers. By doing this, you were able to see the process of bringing in food from the harvest, to preparing food, to inviting others to participate in your meal, to serving food to others. Wow! What a great time! Thanks for all of your hard work in making this a wonderful experience.

Whenever you invest your time and energy into a project, it is a healthy act to think back over what you did and what it means to you. As a reflection, please do the following two parts in a way that is thoughtful, beautiful and captures the meaning of harvesting, preparing and serving food to our SES community.

Written Reflection

Please write a one-page reflection that addresses the following points (it does not have to be in this order but should flow from one idea to another):

1. What does community mean to you?
2. What role does food play in your community?
3. In a retelling of your story, describe everything that you did that went into the serving of this meal. Make sure that you include events that led up to the meal: harvesting pears, preparing the meal, creating invitations, writing thank you notes (why is this important?) serving the meal, etc.
4. What did you learn through this experience?
5. How do you think community can be strengthened when lots of people come together to share food?
6. What was fun about this experience?
7. Describe any other fun/interesting side story that took place during any of the stages of this experience.

Creative Piece

How can you capture this entire experience (harvesting, preparing, inviting, serving)? Using at least one page, make a creative piece using photos, drawings, a poem or any other idea that you may have. The goal is to make a beautiful and creative piece that invokes the memory of your Community Meal experience and a sense of celebration.

Recap of Mt. St. Helens Trip

We left the school at about 8:30 on Tuesday morning, we were all packed up and ready to go.
We arrived at Ape Caves and began the decent into the pitch black darkness. It is very cold inside the cave and it's dead silent except for the noise of our footsteps and voices. We looked at the walls of the cave and determined that the lava must have flown threw multiple times. The cave was created by lava flowing in the path of the river which may have been there at one point in time, many years ago. The cave was discovered by a lumberman in the 1950's. He did not want to enter the cave, so a boy scout troop that was in the area went in to check it out. The cave was named Ape Cave because the troop was looking for sasquatch at the time.
We hiked through the cave carefully stepping over rocks and looking around with our flashlights and lanterns.
We exited the cave, got back on the bus, and drove over to the Trail of Two Forests. We ate lunches and then and then took a short walk through the forest. We saw these perfect circles in the ground that were formed when lava came through the forest and made molds around the trunks of the trees, then the trees rotted away leaving circles in the hardened lava. We also crawled through a tiny
tunnel that was formed when lava surrounded a fallen tree. The trees have pretty much grown back now, but the moss and shrubs are just started to grow back.
We climbed back onto the bus and rode over to the Silver Lake Visitors Center. We walked around and viewed the exhibits and then we watched a movie about the Mt. St. Helen's eruption. I learned lots of facts about the mountain like it was named after Barron St. Helens.
We boarded the bus again and drove to the camp site. We set up our tents, ate dinner (burritos) had a campfire (with songs, skits, and a story from Ginny) and then we went to bed. The next morning we woke up at 7:30 and took down our tent. One of the girls in my tent had brought a giant three room tent, so I shared a room with only one other person.
We ate a breakfast of bagels and tea, and then we got on the bus.
Our first stop on the way home was the Johnson Ridge Observatory. The mountain was only about five miles away, so we had a great view! The wind was really blowing, so it was quite cold. We then went inside looked at the exhibits, and watched another movie about the eruption of the mountain.
The last place we went was Coldwater Creek. We stopped to eat lunch, and we took a small hike. It was really fun, and a very beautiful place.
We got back on the bus one last time, and began the long drive home. :)

posted by Sophia

Mt.Saint Helens

We first first packed up the bus and got on. The Ape Caves were really cold even with layers! It was pitch black. At one point there was a bolder that was stuck in between the walls. I got so cold I began to get hot. We had to climb over rocks and jump of small ledges. At points we stopped and talked about how it got there. We went to Trail of Two Forest. We had lunch and it started to rain a bit. We took a short walk and we got to see tree molds. It was really cool to see how they were make. There was one that went in one part and came out another. I didn't do it but it was fun to see people come out. At one point people took a wrong turn and had to turn around. After, we got on the bus and went to Silver Lake Visiting Center. I liked reading facts about the history there. We got to see a movie about Mount St. Helens. Then we went to the camp site we were staying at. We all set up our tents and went to dinner. Each tent site got a bag with a few props and we make a skit using volcano, pyroclastic flow, tree molds and lava tube. Our group was not very good. Then we went to bed. The next day we pack up the tents and put our luggage in the bus. Then we had breakfast. We got on the bus and went to Johnston Ridge Observatory. It had really nice views. It was so cold and the wind whipped our faces making our faces freeze. We went up a hill to a view point and drew a picture of Mount St. Helens. We went and looked around inside. We watched a movie that was cool but looked really fake. It made me dizzy with the motion. Last we went to Cold Water Lake. We had lunch and went on a walk. We saw a cool views. We got on the bus and headed to school. The bus driver got mad a lot and we had to pull over. It was annoying that the people in the back were standing up and sticking things out the window. We finally got back to school and everyone is tired. We got our stuff and left. I had a lot of fun even though it was so cold.

Annie

Camassia / Willamette Falls / Jim's Farm

Tuesday, September 16

Today we went first to Camassia nature area where we hiked to the top and thought about how it may have been formed and where the rocks came from. I learned that if you look at the flaws of your idea, you might come up with another one.

Next, we went to Willamette Falls to do a sketch. It looks like a man made falls being used to power paper mills. Intresting, but not the happiest picture. I learned if you see paper mills, you'll see why we need to use less paper.

Then we went to Jim's Farm to finish up the day. After we had eaten lunch, we headed to the fields to pick berries and pears. I learned picking berries in the sun really is hard work. After that we got to play for about 30 minutes. We could swing on the rope in the barn, or try to go through the berry picker outside. I did and it hurts! Then we drove back to Sunnyside to do reflection.
By Jeffrey

Mt Tabor Trip

tuesday september 9 2008

We went to mt tabor for a volcano rock observatory. We hiked up mt tabor to a little section with a whole bunch of rocks. We all picked a rock and drew it and wrote about it and wrote what we think its story was. After that we went up a little higher and drew the city from a view. Then we took a marker and drew a circle on our knuckle, we kept drawing circles around and around each circle, what that represented was Topography. After that we hiked all the way to the top of mount tabor and we made a poem out of a poem by Mary Oliver. We scrambled the words together and it made a whole different poem. Later frank read to us what the original was. each group had a different poem to do. After that we went on a trail leading us back down. we stopped at a little field type of thing and we chose another rock and drew that one to see the differences. some of the differences were the rock was heavy, no holes, and more solid. after we drew that and wrote about its story we played a game called eagle eye. After that we walked all the way back to sunnyside. It was a really fun field trip.
by Julia

Forms & Volunteers

In order to go on field studies, I need permission and medical forms for all students. Also, I need at least one adult on each trip. Today, an extra form is going home with students that I would like returned. It will indicate which trips this fall you will join the class with. This truly is a great time to spend with your child and other students in the class. (Extra note: for the Willamette Falls trip drivers are needed. Please indicate how many seat belts your vehicle has for students). Thanks!

Msg from Sarah: No Early Release

After much thought, I have decided to end the schoolday at 3:00 / 3:10 each day. This additional hour on Wedensdays will be used to provide instruction and support to our students in many important ways including remedial math for middle school and additional PE for first and second graders.

Early release played an important role in forming the school but now that we are at near capacity, I believe it is something I have a responsibility to end. I did not feel that it served the many students who did not have afterschool opportunities and remained at school unsupervised.
If you have already arranged for lessons or medical appointments at this time, you of course can keep them. If you have young children and feel that they need quiet time with your family, please talk to your child's teacher about arranging this.

I apologize for the timing but trust the good result will be of value to those who need it most.

Thanks for coming!

Thanks to all of the parents who showed up last night. I appreciated getting to meet you and am looking forward to the arrival of your students. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions that may have come up once you left the class. I am excited about the upcoming year with your students.

Today: Welcome new students!

Welcome Students & Parents!

Welcome to the 2008-2009 School Year! I would like to take a little of your time to introduce myself, let you know about some of the exciting things that will be happening this year, and to ask for your help in making this a wonderful year.

It is amazing for me to realize that I have spent five of the last six years deeply involved with the Sunnyside Environmental School (SES) community. This will be my fourth year as a Core teacher at SES. After doing my student teaching at SES, I taught here for two years and then, after the 2005-2006 Year of the Mountain, I joined the Peace Corps and moved to Guinea, West Africa. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I was placed by myself in a small village and taught mathematics at the local middle school. Some immediate differences were that I was teaching in French and my class sizes ranged from 85 to 100 students! Unfortunately, political unrest and forceful military response caused the evacuation of all Peace Corps Volunteers in Guinea and the eventual suspension of the program. At that point, I embarked on an extensive trip through West Africa experiencing different cultures and ecosystems. I returned to Portland and Sunnyside last school year.

The Year of the Mountain is filled with interesting projects and activities. The fall will primarily focus on geology. The Pacific Northwest has amazing geological features such as the Cascadia Subduction Zone, the Cascade Volcanoes and lots of faults. A highlight will be an overnight trip to Mt St Helens.

The many activities that take place at Sunnyside require a lot of help from you, the parents. Most Tuesdays, our class will take a trip in the greater Portland area. In order to make this possible, at least one additional adult must be available to travel with me or the class will be unable to go. Volunteering on field studies will be greatly appreciated by this class and is a great way to participate in your child’s education while meeting their friends. The last week of September will be a major volunteer need week. We will go to Mt St Helens and prepare community meal during this week so all help will be greatly appreciated.

In addition, there are many ways to showcase your skills and abilities while helping out in the classroom. Just let me know what you would like to do to help!

In addition to the curriculum taught during the year, I feel that it is extremely important to build a strong community within the classroom that fosters respect for all members and a curiosity in learning. Please let me know if there are any needs that your child requires as the year progresses.

I am very excited to be working with your children and am looking forward to a wonderful year.