FALL 2006To provide a fertile learning environment, rich with the nutrients that help us cultivate the intellectual growth, creativity, scholarship and social conscience of each student, within a community of values rooted in the Quaker tradition that advocates mutual respect and nurtures the spirit as well as the mind.
—Friends School Mullica Hill Mission
On Tuesday, June 6, thirty eighth-grade students graduated from Friends School. The events leading up to graduation were filled with excitement and opportunities to reflect. Each student prepared a speech about the impacts that Friends School has had upon them. As I reported last year, I heard three dominant themes in the students' graduation speeches: gratitude to their family and Friends School community; the joy of learning and academics; a developing social conscience and respect for others.
As part of the graduation festivities, Teacher Peter Manzelmann coordinated a canoeing and camping event in the Pinelands where students had a chance for final bonding. Members of Greenwich MM, Lori and Keith Talbot, joined the students to lead the evening campfire and sing-along. Other events included the student's traditional final Middle School dance; the Sunday night meeting for worship at Mullica Hill Meetinghouse; graduation; and of course a party a few nights after graduation, to which all the students and their parents were invited. All this may seem over the top for middle school graduation. However, as a participant this year (as my daughter was a graduate), I found the final weeks to be important and appropriate ways for the graduating class and their families to connect after many years of friendship and support. There were a number of students who had spent as many as 10 years together in the small and intimate Friends School community.
Among the graduates, there are three Friends, Will Talbot (Greenwich MM), Sean Reitman (Woodstown MM), and Sydney Burns (Woodstown MM), as well as two attenders: Kevin Bond (Mickelton MM) and Sarah Harley (Woodstown MM). Graduates are attending a number of independent and public schools in the region, with several students going to Quaker institutions including George School, Westtown School, Moorestown Friends, and Friends Select.
Best Wishes to the Class of 2006!
Patti Burns
Salem Quarter liaison to Friends SchoolRETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS
Last modified:
Sunday, August 20, 2006 at 12:19 AM
