Windsock

Poetic Puerto Rico

Our E-Term

Plantains

Utopia

El Morro de San Felipe, historic fort in Old San         Juan

Rumpelstiltskin, Touring Choir mascot

Tainos, aboriginal Puerto Ricans

Ocean

 

Senior Parent Weekend

 

This weekend served as yet another reminder to EMHS's class of 2011 that graduation is just around the corner. Senior Parent Weekend, a tradition created to celebrate the accomplishments of EMHS Seniors and to honor their parents who helped them along the way, will certainly be a special memory for all who were blessed to partake of its activities last weekend.

Exams Before Christmas, or After?

This school year, Eastern Mennonite School attempted a great experiment involving the way that the year's two semesters are scheduled. For the first time ever, first semester ended before Christmas break. This idea was first proposed two years ago by EMS faculty and was just now brought into reality. It was decided that this experiment will take place over the years 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 and then be reevaluated. After this first semester was completed, EMS faculty were busy gathering responses from students and faculty regarding their feelings of this new schedule.

A Different Kind of Spice

In a teenager’s world, drugs are a familiar topic; a friend gets caught up in the wrong crowd, there’s a seminar at school about the negative consequences of drug use, parents sit down to have the awkward substance talk, and the media portrays both sides of the drug situation.  Finding truth in the midst of it all is complicated.

Spiritual Renewal at Rockbridge

Three yellow school buses pulled into Duke’s Plaza on Friday October 29, and for once students couldn’t wait to get on board. But their destination wasn’t EMHS, HHS, SHS, BHS, or East Rock; they were headed to Rockbridge for Young Life Fall Weekend. Eastern Mennonite set their record high for Fall Weekend attendance with twenty three Flames. “We were so excited to have so many [people] from EMHS at Fall Weekend. It makes an awesome weekend even better with more friends,” said Eastern Mennonite Young Life leader Margaret Murphy.

Everything You Need to Know for Spirit Week and Homecoming!

Homecoming is both a time for alumni and the student body.  This upcoming week, as past students return to reminisce about their days at EMS, the student body will make new memories.  Homecoming is set for next weekend, October 15-17, and a wide array of events are planned for both the school week and the weekend.

This week began the start of Pennies for Patients, a school-wide fundraiser to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  The event will run through Homecoming week during which there will be daily donation opportunities.  Donation boxes for each class are currently located throughout the school.  The goal is to earn the largest number of points.  Each penny is worth one point; however, silver coins subtract points from the grand total of each class. Quarters are -4 points, dimes are -2 points, and nickels are -1 point.  The object is to put these coins in the donation boxes of other classes to reduce their points, while putting pennies in your own class box.  Don’t forget to bring extra money to support the cause and enjoy the prizes! 

Senior Play a Success

The EMHS class of 2010 is one full of talent, which the community had a chance to experience this weekend at the Senior Play, The Diary of Anne Frank. The play was performed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, with the largest audience on Saturday night, after the Senior Parent Banquet. Anne Frank is a familiar story of the Holocaust where the Frank family, the Van Daan family, and a single man all move into hiding in Mr. Frank’s office building. The story’s heavy connections with a terrible time in history were balanced with the humor of Anne, played by Jenny Sacra (pictured), Mrs. Van Daan, played by Liz Marin, and other main characters.

The beginning preparation for the play began right before the multiple snowfalls that kept EMS students home for quite a while. Looking back, Swartz believes that these days were beneficial for the play, giving the students extra time to memorize their lines. Aside from this, all of the students were extremely hard workers. Swartz said, “From start to finish it was a really good process.”

The Diary of Anne Frank is a story where the audience’s emotions do not decrease no matter how many times it is viewed. “We told the kids that we weren’t sure that they knew the power of this story and how it affects audiences,” said Swartz. “Hopefully they will continue to think about the power of love, the power of hope, and how we affect each other. And not make so many mistakes that were made in the past.”

- Melissa Jantzi

Voces8 Wows EMS

It isn’t every day that British accents are heard at Eastern Mennonite School, or names such as “Dingle” or “Barney” spoken. On Tuesday, March 2, EMS was graced with a concert performed by an internationally known a capella group from England, Voces8. The group consisting of six men and two women arrived in Harrisonburg late Sunday night on their tour of the United States.   

The members of Voces8 were greeted warmly in chapel on Monday morning. “One boy came up before the chapel began and wanted our autographs,” said Emily Dickens, one of the sopranos. Voces8 has won numerous awards at vocal competitions across Europe, and also performed at the American Choral Directors Association conference in the U.S., where they were “discovered” by EMS choir director Jay Hartzler. On Monday and Tuesday the group worked with EMS choirs. On Tuesday afternoon they held a special workshop in the auditorium for Touring and Chamber choirs as well as a group of choral students from Fort Defiance High School. 

EMS students thoroughly enjoyed the experience of working with a professional vocal group in addition to hearing them in concert. “I enjoyed having them around very much,” said junior Victoria Clymer. “Their focus and passion for music really inspired me along with their talent. I’m going to miss them!” Several students also attended the groups' “sound check” or practice a few hours before the evening performance.  Christophe Langouet, also a junior stated, “It was really interesting to see how they rehearsed...mostly the musicality – vowels, crescendos, decrescendos.” After attending the evening concert he thought it was neat “seeing them perform the piece, not just sing the notes.” 

Pieces in Tuesday's performance included works from the Italian Renaissance to themes from James Bond.  A crowd favorite was “Steal Away,” featuring bass soloist Dingle Yandell. According to the Voces8 ladies, Andrea and Emily, Dingle is also the heartthrob of many a school girl at their master classes and concerts.  Their performance was enjoyed by all ages. When asked if she liked the concert, a sixth grade student paused and emphatically stated, “I loved it!”

- Malinda Bender

Is the Snowpocalypse Over?

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow was the initial response of residents all over the Shenandoah Valley back in December when the first snow storm hit. Now, the response has changed. 53 inches of total snow accumulation this season has closed schools for countless days, limited transportation, and left people without electricity.

For students at Eastern Mennonite, the snow meant an unexpected mid-winter break from classes.  Students enjoyed sleeping in, playing in the snow, and a diversion from the norm. After being off school for over a week though, many students were eager to see friends and resume studies. Family and Consumer Science teacher LuAnn Bender stated that she didn't hear one person complain the first day back.

So far, the school has used six out of three built in snow days and also has had about 6-7 late starts.  According to vice principal Ernie Martin, “days four and five were covered by 'banked time.'”  This banked time comes from hours accumulated by school being longer than the minimum daily requirement.  The sixth canceled day will be made up this Friday, February 26.  If more snow comes, and school needs to close again, the seventh day EMS cancels will be made up on April 6th, shortening Easter Vacation.  In the case of an eighth cancellation, April 5th will also be used as a make-up day.  Making up two additional days will cause Easter Vacation to be Thursday and Friday, April 1 - the day off earned through Fund Drive participation - and 2.  However, if no more make-up days are needed, Easter Vacation will remain April 1-6, 2010. 

Other schools around the area have also had to close frequently this winter. As of February 3, shortly before the most recent storm, Rockingham County Schools had used four out of five scheduled snow days; currently, the count reaches eleven. Harrisonburg City Schools had used one out of three, and Shenandoah County had already used eight of fifteen. Though additional cancellations may mean extended school this year, it is a year to remember – it could be awhile before it happens again.

- Malinda Bender

Students Visit Holocaust Museum

“For the dead and the living we must bear witness.” – Elie Wiesel

The doors of the crowded, dull elevators opened and the group of sophomores was released into the museum. On the wall, directly opposite from the students, were the words “Americans discover the Holocaust” with a slideshow playing, showing pictures of the concentration camps and the American troops when they first arrived. The sentence was very fitting because that was what we came here to do. Discover the inescapable gut-wrenching truth of the Holocaust.

On Wednesday, February 17th, the students piled wearily into the bus at 7 a.m. ready to start the long bus trip to D.C. On the bus ride up, amid the general chatter and laughter, the movie Freedom Writers was played. The movie was an excellent intro for the day. It showed another group of students, very different from the EMHS student body, and how they discovered the Holocaust and how it changed their lives. Then the bus stopped by the museum and everybody piled out of the bus and into the museum. Soo, a sophomore who went on the trip, thought that it was a mind-altering trip. “It was so different from the book. When I read the book it was just like, ‘oh, that shouldn’t happen again’ but when we went to the museum it was really depressing and real for me,” she said. Which, of course, was the whole purpose of the trip. 

Reading the book Night and studying the eugenic movement is powerful, but it is still just a pile of papers inside of a safe and comfortable classroom. Going to the museum “makes the book come alive,” says Mrs. Johnson, the tenth grade English teacher. There in the museum you are face to face with the realities of the Holocaust. The ragged uniforms, the dark and tiny cattle cart, the rough wood of the bunks… much, much more than just a pile of papers. 

After we had finished touring the sobering Holocaust museum the sophomores relaxed by eating lunch at Union Station.  The students toured around the station looking for, and eating, hamburgers, sushi, fish, gelato, pizza and everything else.  After finishing their delicious dinners students were free to roam around the building.  The Union Station was an amazing ending for the day because the light and bustling building provided such a contrast from the sobering and dark museum.  To go with the light and happy Union Station on the way back to Harrisonburg we watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the perfect movie for relaxing our brains after a day that required much thought.       

- Kathleen Leigh