Greenwood Friends School

Primary students gathered for a "good-bye to the school year" around the peace meditation circle and shadblow tree. They have spent many happy recess times sitting on the stones.

Next step is to dedicate the tree to our friends William D. Ravdin and Mary Ravdin. Mary died in 2005. Bill continues to help the school with fund-raising and marketing projects.

The Back Porch Recital at Greenwood Friends School on May 29 featured solos, duets, and trios sung and performed on piano, flute, clarinet, violin and guitar.

The talented performers were kindergarten-to-eighth-grade students who take private music lessons at Greenwood. Their eclectic musical program ranged from "Eensie Weensie Spider" and J. S. Bach to Green Day and Semisonic.

GFS middle schoolers presented the findings of their Susquehanna watershed study at PPL Montour Preserve's education center near Washingtonville on May 24. The Middle School hosted a symposium at the center, followed by hands-on activities for adults and children.

The students divided into four groups to undertake their study, which covered water quality, local resources, land and wildlife, and lifestyles of the people living in the watershed.

In the photo below, teacher Craig Muller shows younger students a three-dimensional relief map of the watershed. 

Friends and acquaintances paid tribute to Dr. Mary Linley Hopkins during a memorial service at the Millville Friends Meetinghouse on May 13, 2007. Dr. Hopkins, longtime friend of Greenwood Friends School and member of the board of trustees since 1983, died in Bloomsburg Hospital May 2, 2007, at the age of 94.

Dr. Hopkins was a retired professor of nursing who had also served 13 years on the school nursing staff of Southern Columbia school district. She had been a resident of Bloomsburg's Balanced Care nursing home for several years, since being incapacitated by a stroke. Yet she managed to be present at many GFS functions and was a regular attender of board meetings. In 2004, she was honored at the dedication of the school's Mary Linley Hopkins Library. She was a member of the Millville Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends.

The 2007 GFS spring musical on April 20 was tied to the year's thematic study, "The Power of Our Stories." It drew a large crowd to the Central High School auditorium, where the students performed with verve and enthusiasm, with an occasional sidelong glance or yawn. For pictures, click here.

You can also see pictures of the 2006 GFS spring musical, by clicking here.

Greenwood Friends School's students read pieces of original work at Young Authors' Night on April 11. Some students read poetry, others short stories, and some shared a line or two to share about a picture. An appreciative audience heard the readings in the school library.

Primary Team students saw the largest collection of African mammals and bird eggs in Pennsylvania. They also learned various ways early Native Americans used indigenous plants.

Those were among students' experiences during a field trip to the Oakes Museum at Messiah College in Grantham.

The museum features "Smithsonian quality" exhibits of mammals, birds, eggs, fish, seashells, minerals, insects, and fossils from around the world.

GFS students have more to do at lunchtime than just eat. Chess and book clubs have been organized at the request of students.

Teacher Craig Muller is in charge of the weekly chess clubs. Middle schoolers meet on Mondays and Primaries and Intermediates get together on Tuesdays.

Parents Rejena Girton and Cindy Schultz lead monthly book clubs. The club for middle schoolers meets at 12 noon and the one for Intermediates at 12:30.