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Symbolic Mural Graces South Campus

by Meg Hansen, Director of Marketing and Communications

A beautiful, symbolic mural now graces the east side of our elementary school building, receiving praise from our internal community and those who pass by on 55th Street each day. Not only is it a stunning piece of public art to be enjoyed by all, it’s filled with symbolism from the birth of our school in 1987 to now. This years-long project became a reality thanks to the founders of Friends School and many others. 

Under the guidance of Head of School Honor Taft and then Board Chair Jenny Donovan, the search began for a local mural artist who would not only create a beautiful visual for all to enjoy, but who would capture a design that reflects the values, vision and priorities of Friends School, including our commitment to protecting the environment and to diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice. After reviewing the work of several local and national artists, and with the help of Street Wise Arts, Friends selected artists Jaime Molina and Pedro Barrios from The Worst Crew to create this meaningful piece.

At the end of April 2022, parents, teachers and staff joined Streetwise Arts and artists Jaime and Pedro to explore our shared values and themes for this special mural. Subsequently, the artists spent time at the school meeting with all the elementary school students and teachers and surveyed all community members to capture multiple voices to use for their initial concept for the mural. And then they went to work. Several weeks later, they presented their design which was received with unanimous approval. 

On September 1, 2022 Jaime and Pedro arrived with scaffolding equipment and began drawing the mural in real size on the side of the building. Students, staff and families were intrigued and often visited the wall over the next couple weeks to check on the progress and celebrate in the excitement of what was to come. Every day it progressed, the excitement built. 

Work was completed on September 16, 2022 and unveiled to our community and all who pass by. 

Each mural element tells the story of Friends School, all of which was captured from the history of our school and from the thoughts and dreams of our community members. 

• Rain Cloud and Seeding– Represents the process of teaching and learning
• Head, Hand, Heart– Evolution from knowing to caring to loving to doing
• Cottonwood Branch– Story of the stars inside of the cottonwood branch. Reminder about the importance of wonder, respect for nature and the endless possibilities in creating your own world
• Bridge Shapes– Representative of the actual bridge in the preschool play area, and part of the beloved preschool silver and gold transition ceremony. Also a metaphor for compromise and using creativity to meet challenges and solve problems of all sorts
• Door– Represents the plethora of possibilities in learning when young people are encouraged to be active in their education and to open doors for themselves and for others in their community
• Puzzle Piece– Represents the process of students taking all of the experiences and knowledge that they have acquired and thinking critically to pull those pieces together
• Blank Page– Represents the eventual graduation of our students. Like all of our Friends School alumni, their futures and stories are unwritten and super exciting
• Flower heart – if regular love is symbolized by a heart with two humps, then this three humped version illustrates the extra love that you have that you wish to put out in the world. The symbol also represents the head, hand, heart that is central to the Friends School mission.
• Constellations – Illustrating the idea that the stars are out there for everyone to create their own constellations. You don’t have to accept the old fables that have been handed down. You can use your imagination and create your own.

Many thanks to everyone who was involved in this incredible project:

• Larry Gold and Hope Morrisett for their financial gift and initial vision for the project
• Jenny Donovan and Honor Taft, who spearheaded this project and pulled everything together from gathering proposals, to organizing our community, to managing the entire project. 
• Friends art teacher Anna Ura and the Friends School students, teachers, staff, and parents who gave their input and shared stories of the things they love about our school to make sure that this artwork reflects our values and who we are as a community.
• Jamie Molina and Pedro Barrios of The Worst Crew for their incredible design and installation of this very meaningful piece of art.
• Leah Brenner Clack at Street Wise Arts who graciously and patiently guided us through this process.

History and Hope

Friends librarian and K-5 technology teacher, deana harragarra waters, has spent her life advocating for the rights of Native Americans with several important milestones in 2021 alone.

The Shakespeare Experience

Are Shakespeare’s words really relatable in today’s world and can 4th graders actually learn something about themselves when studying his centuries-old prose? Farren Wyner answers these questions as she shares her renewed love of Shakespeare with her students.

Friends Together, Friends Apart

Friends Board Chair, Jenny Donovan shares excerpts from Honor and our three division directors about all the exceptional things that have been happening at Friends School since remote learning began.

Math and A New Resource from Stanford University

Math at Friends School and a cool new resource from Stanford University
By Erika Norman, Friends School math teacher

At Friends School, we help students become capable and efficient mathematicians with a growth mindset about math learning. Our students are curious about the patterns and intricacies of math, and yes, even see the beauty in the subject. At Friends, math is much more than just computation. As we learn more about the brain science behind how children and adults learn math, we as teachers and parents can better support our young mathematicians.

Last spring, I attended Dr. Jo Boaler’s Mathematical Mindset workshop at Stanford University and returned with a wealth of knowledge and practical applications for our classrooms. Dr. Boaler is one of the leading researchers in math education, an award-winning author and educator, professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford University, and the faculty director of youcubed. She was recently named by BBC as one of the eight educators who “are challenging the future of education”, and helping teachers, parents, and students relate to mathematics. Not only have we been fortunate enough to apply many of Dr. Boaler’s strategies to our existing math curriculum, many of our classrooms also utilize Stanford’s website www.youcubed.org which supplies numerous math resources for parents and teachers alike. Please check it out when you have a minute.

What does a growth mindset around math look like at Friends and how is Stanford’s youcubed influencing how we teach math? It means being open to the curiosity of math rather than seeing it just as computation. Through lessons on youcubed during the first few weeks of this school year, students in our upper grades have created charts that help them to remember that mistakes are important, see the benefit of using visual models, understand that speed is not their focus but deep thinking is, and constantly remind themselves that brains grow and change with effort and quality experiences.

Two TedTalks by Dr. Boaler outline the brain science which shows the many ways our brains process math, the importance of visual learning, and the importance of self-belief to our learning experiences. We hope you will view these presentations and join us in demystifying the myth that there are “math people” and “not math people”.

“Believe in Your Maths Potential”(for older students)

“How you can be good at math, and other surprising facts about learning” (for younger students)

If you are interested in learning more about Friends math program, we invite you to attend our math nights, reach out to your classroom teacher or to me or Michelle in our middle school, and . . . continue to create a growth mindset around math for yourself and your children.

Erika

We’re back!

Our teachers and staff have returned to school and spent the last two days in meetings, getting ready for the school year. We can’t wait for our students to arrive!

Friends welcomes Honor Taft as new Head of School

On behalf of Friends School’s Community Board, we are delighted to welcome Honor Taft as Friends School’s Head of School. Honor was hired in October 2017 and began her leadership at Friends on July 1, 2018. Please read the full announcement and Honor’s letter to the community here, and join us in welcoming Honor and her family to the Friends School community!