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

 

Summing Up the Fund Drive

The 2010-2011 Christmas Fund Drive, an annual fundraising campaign in which students solicit donations from supporters of the school, concluded with an assembly and celebratory carnival on January 28. This year, the students, faculty, staff, and community successfully raised $215,028, over $30,000 more than the goal of $180,000.

Mary Golden-Hughes, Director of Advancement, led Christmas Fund Drive for the first time this year. Inspired by the popular children’s book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Mary Golden-Hughes and her student committee spent countless hours encouraging the student body with their theme “Give a Whole Heart Offering.” Mrs. Golden-Hughes is no stranger to managing large projects such as Fund Drive. Coordinating the Big Read program at Massanutten Regional Library, she successfully planned and executed 30 events in 30 days. “This didn’t seem that big,” said Mrs. Golden-Hughes. “I was left great records by Mrs. Leischner,” Mrs. Golden-Hughes added, praising her predecessor.

Sociology Class Strikes Again

Every day we hear them, and more likely than not, we spread them.  But how often do we really stop to analyze the information before passing it along?  Rumors are a common thread in all of our lives but tend to run rampant in high schools. 

It doesn’t take many years of attendance at EMS to realize that every year the Sociology class tries to trick the student body into believing a fictional story.  Yet, year after year, people fall for the class’ rumor.  As of 2000, the rumor became an annual event in Mr. Curt Stutzman’s Sociology class.  Mr. Stutzman said that he began using the rumor as a teaching tool because it’s a fairly simple way to bring information from the class to life.  “You can talk about stuff all the time, but when you see it actually happen, it makes [what you’re talking about] a lot clearer,” he said. 

EMS Welcomes Diana Berkshire!

The daughter of an alum, and an alum herself, and the mother of four graduates, Mrs. Diana Berkshire is no stranger to the EMS community.  After her instrumental role in the gym renovation project, Mrs. Berkshire joined the EMS staff the fall of the 2010 school year. 

Before coming to EMS, Mrs. Berkshire had owned a business and worked as a nurse for four years.  She took a year off from nursing and had begun to pray about finding a new job outside the medical field.  She wanted to find work some place where she would be useful.  Head of School Paul Leaman called the idea to hire Mrs. Berkshire to work at EMS a “divine inspiration,” when he initially talked to her about her current position.  The job offer was an answer to prayer. 

When Should Neighbor Groups Meet?

Tuesdays are exciting days in the life of the Eastern Mennonite School student body. Each Tuesday at EMS begins at 8:45 AM and consists of shorter classes, homeroom meetings, and, as of this school year, neighbor groups.

EMS Welcomes Crystal Jackson!

Every new school year brings with it additions to faculty and staff, and this year proved to be no exception.  When a position in the admissions department opened, Crystal Jackson, mother of four children who attend EMES, heard of the opportunity. Mrs. Jackson said she saw the job opening as a chance to get involved with the school, and she has since become the new Admissions Counselor. 

Having graduated from EMHS as a boarding student in 1994, Mrs. Jackson went on to complete undergraduate studies at EMU in Social Work.  She then completed her master’s degree in counseling at EMU, and has spent the past 10 years at home with her children.  “It’s fun having been here as a student and come back,” Mrs. Jackson said.

Dress Code Dilemma

The dress code at EMHS has always been a hot button issue. Students continue to push the limits, and the faculty continues to be on constant lookout for any suspicious article of clothing. There are many opinions that need to be voiced on both sides of the issue.

Last week the journalism class conducted an experiment to see if the faculty and staff would dress code some girls and not others. We wanted to know if girls dressing up for an athletic event, girls who have longer legs, or girls who have a past record would be dress coded either more or less often. Several students were asked to wear dresses or skirts that would be questioned as to whether or not they were dress code appropriate. Everyone who was asked willingly agreed, and throughout the first day eight girls carried out the experiment. 

EMS Welcomes Mary Golden-Hughes

When Mary Golden-Hughes and her husband first moved to the Valley in 1997, one question on both of their minds was where they would send their children to school. Both Mary and Chris had attended private Catholic schools growing up and wanted the same environment for their kids. Eventually, the couple were introduced to EMS and were "pleasantly surprised with it." Golden-Hughes found it to be a school with "high academic standards, but also a spiritual component was there, which is missing in other schools." Eleven years later, their oldest child Lilian began sixth grade at EMMS and her siblings Ceci and Liam were enrolled in EMES. Mary greatly appreciated EMS as a parent, but now as EMS's new Director of Advancement she has grown to love the school in a way she never imagined. "Now that I'm on the other side and get to really know the faculty and the staff I just feel more affirmed in our choice to send our kids here...I knew the faculty cared, but when I hear how much they care and how much they advocate for the students and make [them] the top priority it just blows me away."

Our Second New Teacher: Wendell Shank

Some students see foreign language classes as simply another requirement in their high school course load, but Wendell Shank, the new Spanish teacher at EMHS, is bringing a fresh perspective to his classes. After graduating from EMU as a double major in English Literature and Spanish, Shank found numerous jobs and miscellaneous opportunities to use his new language skills, even though his second major in Spanish was not part of his original college plan.

One of his first exposures included a cross cultural with EMU to Guatemala. After college he also spent a year living in Mexico. Future jobs included working with the Shenandoah Valley Migrant Education Program, which gave aid to children of migrant farm workers. Shank most recently worked with Harrisonburg City Schools as a Hispanic Community Liaison in a middle school. He left this job only after feeling a calling to teach, which led him to EMHS. As Shank said, “I heard that this job was available, so I decided to go ahead and take advantage of what God was showing me.”

EMS Welcomes Elena Stuckey!

When Mr. David Lehman moved from Harrisonburg to the Williamsburg area to take a position as a pastor, students and teachers alike wondered who would fill his shoes in the mathematics department. Elena Stuckey (“like 'cookie'”), a newly married graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School in Souderton, PA, and most recently a 2010 graduate of Goshen College, came to take his place.

Stuckey's mother, who works at CD, heard about the job opening at Eastern Mennonite and passed word along to her daughter. Mrs. Stuckey said she “applied on a whim,” and ended up getting the job. This meant a move and transition to the Valley.