Week of April 4, 2011
Week of April 4, 2011
Week of April 4, 2011
The Williams School works with each child to build and enduring
foundation for academic, moral and social success. A Williams School
student embodies integrity, confidence and a love of learning.
I had the opportunity to go to the James Taylor concert earlier this week. It was, as you can imagine,
a wonderful event. He played with his son and they shared their own songs equally and did beautiful
duets. Both genuinely seemed to be enjoying the moment and each other's company. Certainly the
genetic pool worked it's magic with Ben Simon-Taylor. Ben is truly his mother's and father's son in
terms of his talent and self-written songs (some deeply meaningful and some just fun.)
I was struck by something Ben said during the concert as he was introducing one of his compositions.
"I have twin brothers who are starting to care about their looks, how they act, and how others think of
them." His twin brothers are in sixth grade--middle schoolers. Ben then said that he gave them one
piece of advice to try and deal with all the mixed emotions of the age period, "Cool is just an accident.
Make sure you love yourself and who you are before anything; even before you consider stumbling
into being cool."
Whether he knew it or not, those were profound words that I hope we share with our children and
students every day. I am not talking about promoting a shallow false sense of ego. That neither
really works nor really lasts for long. I think I've mentioned Carol Dweck's book Mindset in another
article for the Broadcast, but it is worth repeating. One of her main tenets is that we praise our
charges for hard work and selfless determination rather than for the outcome. Our hope that our kids
are both accepted for who they are and have an internal sense of "cool" that is dependent on realistic
expectations of who they are right now and who we wish them to be in the future; all with special
adults providing loving and thoughtful boundaries along the way.
My professional and parental take on how to effectively get to adulthood in one piece has no magic
formula. As a science teacher for thirteen years, I understand that there are always too many
variables. I pretty consistently come up short sometimes as a professional and sometimes as a
parent. Again, it's pretty much about being human, dusting yourself off and continuing to try and do
the right thing both for yourself and others.
The one life constant that I go back to is from our pets--in the Mahoney household--our dogs.
Although I love our cats, they tend to have a different attitude about love, but Denver and Willie
consistently demonstrate unconditional love for us no matter who we are or trying to be. We can
continue to learn much from that.
I hope you and your children are being "cool" and it's just an accidental offshoot of loving who you are
and appreciating others for who they are.
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Monday, April 4
TWS Soccer vs. Baylake Pines @ Bluebird Park 4:00pm
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Tuesday, April 5
Tennis Practice 3:30pm-5:00pm Fergus Reed Reminder Financial Aid Applications are
TWS Lacrosse @ Norfolk Academy 4:00pm due
GOTR 3:15pm-4:30pm https://www.ismfast.com/V3/FastPage.p
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Wednesday, April 6 hp?id=31d92ec799f8f91fd94e9134c11ce
Weekly School Assembly 2:25pm MPR 7dd
Lacrosse Practice 3:30pm-5:00pm Bluebird Field
Girls Soccer Practice 3:30pm-5:00pm Bluebird Field
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Thursday, April 7
GOTR 3:15pm-4:30pm
School Musical Chrysler Museum Kaufman Theatre 6:30pm
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Friday, April 8
Chinese Language & Culture Club 3:15pm-3:45pm
Forensics Club 3:15pm-3:55pm
PLAN AHEAD
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Monday, April 11
Class Picture Day
TWS Tennis vs. Cape Henry @ Fergus Reed 4:00pm
Lacrosse Practice 3:30pm-5:00pm Bluebird Field
TWS Soccer @ Norfolk Academy 4:30pm
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Tuesday, April 12
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4 Grade to Jamestown 9:00am-3:00pm
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6 Grade Roman Feast 12:35pm-1:05pm
GOTR 3:15pm-4:30pm
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Wednesday, April 13
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6 Grade to Camp Triple C
Weekly School Assembly 2:25pm MPR
TWS Lacrosse vs. Cape Henry @ Bluebird Field 4:00pm
Girls Soccer Practice 3:30pm-5:00pm
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Thursday, April 14
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6 Grade to Camp Triple C
GOTR 3:15pm-4:30pm
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Friday, April 15
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6 Grade to Camp Triple C
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7 /8 Grade to Holocaust Museum Richmond 7:30am-3:00pm
TWS Tennis vs. Norfolk Academy 4:00pm
Chinese Language & Culture Club 3:15pm-3:45pm
Forensics Club 3:15pm-3:55pm
Kids Night Out – MPR 6:00pm-10:00pm
Dress Down Day!
$40.00 per day, Please make all checks payable to Joyce Soria
We will have early drop off from 7:30-8:30am for $5.00, extra. Reservations
required!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Led By Joyce Soria and Ann Daly
8:30am-5:30pm*
No School – Good Friday
Leaving school at 9:15am and returning to school by 1:00pm.
Visit to Norfolk Botanical Garden with a guided tour through the gardens.
Educational program – Creepers and Croakers, on the magic of metamorphosis.
Lunch at TWS…Make your own Taco Salad
Afternoon crafts and games at TWS
Please initial the payment option you elect for the balance:
_____ 1. Payment in full by September 1, 2011.
_____ 2. Payment on a semester basis with one half of the balance due on September 1,
and the remainder on November 1.
_____ 3. Monthly payments of 1/10 due on the first of each month from September 1
through June 1.
Parents will be responsible for transporting their children to or from the designated pick up/drop off points. All routes are subject to
change and dependent on sufficient ridership.
Address:___________________________________________________________________________________
I hereby make application for my child (ren) ___________________________________________________ to use the transportation
services of The Williams School for the 2011-2012 school year.
________________________________________________________________________ _____________________
Signature of person financially responsible Date
Alivia’s Journey
Alivia Faye Thompson, daughter of TWS alumna
Marsha Thomas Thompson, and niece of TWS
alumna Robin Thomas Cogswell, was born on
March 10, 2008 with a congenital short femur in
her left leg. Alivia’s first femoral lengthening is
scheduled for June 7, 2011 at Sanai Hospital in
Baltimore, Maryland. Her expected stay in
Baltimore will be three months.
All proceeds
from the
Spaghetti
Dinner will go directly to help with Alivia’s expenses. If you are unable to
participate but wish to be included, donations may be made payable to the Alivia
Faye Thompson Medical Fund. Donations may be made at any Towne Bank location
or given to Robin Cogswell at The Williams School or her home. Robin may be
reached at 757-483-4914.
We ask with great thanks in our hearts that you please join friends and family in
support of Alivia.
COME JOIN THE WILLIAMS SCHOOL TEAM and SUPPORT the Up Center Stair Climb on Sunday,
April 3, 2011
10-2pm at The Dominion Tower, Norfolk, VA.
Our TWS Family has created a team and would LOVE for you all to come participate. Our team will
climb together in the Non-Competitive 25 Stories section.
To sign up and climb with us, go to www.TheUpCenter.org. Hit Register Now and this will take you to
where you will select Team Members – Register for Your Team.
We are The Williams School team. Cost is $25 for adults and $15 for children. Children ages 8 and up
are allowed to participate.
Please email me if you have any questions, JCasey@thewilliamsschool.org.