Always Learning Newsletter - November 2021
Table of Contents
Greetings From Epiphany!
Dear Friends,
In response to Black Friday, the world has given us #GivingTuesday, a broad-based public campaign to encourage “radical generosity.” Personally, I suspect most readers of Always Learning are already radically generous people who have rolled up their sleeves to make a difference. Again and again, the people of Epiphany—adults as well as children—give us reason for optimism with their inspiring example. If #GivingTuesday inspires you to make a gift to Epiphany, that is terrific, but please know that we really appreciate all each of you do to support our students. Thank YOU!
Your Grateful Fan,
The Rev. John H. Finley IV
Partner Spotlight
The Nord Family Foundation
The Nord Family Foundation has been one of our most loyal and generous supporters, and we are proud to highlight them in this month’s Partner Spotlight. They set an inspiring example strengthening communities through support of projects like Epiphany that “bring opportunity to the under-resourced, strengthen the bond of families, and improve the quality of people's lives.” From supporting the renovation of our Teaching Fellows housing to participating in our annual Career Day, our friends at Nord have gone above and beyond to help our students succeed. They really are exceptional partners. Please join us in saying, “Thank you, Nord!”
Epiphany Stars: Graduate Profile
Unique Berry ‘18
This month’s graduate is one of a kind and truly exemplifies her name, and we are honored to feature her. Please give it up for...Unique Berry!
Unique may seem shy when you first meet her, but that's just a façade. Though she may have started off quietly enough when she first arrived at Epiphany, over time she blossomed. At each school event, it was Unique who owned the stage, leading the drama class plays, singing beautiful pieces, and even being part of the Gala. In addition to all that, Unique was also a leader in the Cooking & Gardening Club and managed to keep her grades up despite being so involved in so many extracurricular activities.
After Epiphany, Unique auditioned for and was admitted to Boston Arts Academy, where she has participated in many plays, sometimes designing and building sets and other times as the star of the show.
Unique is now currently applying for college and is excited for her next chapter, and we are too!
Unique ‘18 in 8th grade
Learning is Cool: Epiphany Curriculum Highlights
Latin Heritage Month Speaker
During last month’s Hispanic Heritage celebration, we were excited to host Edgardo Miranda-Rodriquez, Marvel writer and illustrator who created La Borinqueña, a Puerto Rican superhero. The entire 7th and 8th grade class received free copies of Edgardo’s graphic novel before joining a webinar with him, during which he talked about his creative process, the historical and cultural significance of La Borinqueña and why creating a character that represented Edgardo and his community was so important to him. Our students were so excited and had so many questions. Our Teaching Fellows in the Donovan Scholars program at Boston College used the webinar as one of the Special Issue Topics for reflection with their classmates, and one of them, Cirse Mendoza, wrote a powerful piece on the presentation. Through opportunities like this, we empower our students by introducing positive and relatable role models who encourage them to be ambitious, proud, and hardworking.
Let’s take science outside!
Our teachers are always finding creative ways to bring to life what students are learning in the classroom, and recently Mr. Penney's 7th grade science class left the classroom and went off into our gardens and into the greenhouse to learn more about microbial life. Students examined our new composting system, studied the microscopic organisms that break down the compost, and looked at the different fungi growing on our campus, both wild and in logs, which other students had deliberately “inoculated” to grow delicious mushrooms. After collecting samples, students then used microscopes to study and compare the structure of plant cells and animal cells practicing plant cell diagraming and labelling. Hands-on, interactive projects get our students excited about the curriculum and help them better understand the material they study in class, and we are proud to have opportunities like this on campus.
Early Learning Center Corner
Let’s Explore Outside!
There are tremendous benefits to playing outdoors and exploring nature, and at the Early Learning Center we are taking full advantage of our terrific outdoor classroom space and our amazing greenhouse to make sure our children have frequent opportunities to learn and explore. Here is how Natacha Shillingford, the Director of the Early Learning Center, describes her work:
"At Epiphany, we use a nature-based curriculum created by The Mass Audubon Society that builds on our little ones natural curiosity. As they explore nature and ask questions, we help them discover the answers on their own and with each other. Sometimes the answers bring up even more questions which in turn lead to even more discoveries. The whole process is exciting both for our students and for their teachers and develops natural curiosity. It is such an amazing process to observe as we collaborate with our young learners on this journey."
Exploring the water feature in the greenhouse.
Epiphany News
MIT & Epiphany
We have been excited to collaborate with the MIT List Center Galleryon a new show from the artist Sreshta Rit Premnath, whose primarily sculptural art tackles broad social issues and challenges narratives around race, nationality, and world powers. In the new show, Grave/Grove, Premnath explores how natural, political, and human time are interconnected. Our students got the chance to take part in this artistic process by carefully collecting weeds in the Food Project’s greenhouse, which were grown by the artist to use in his pieces for the gallery. You can learn more about the exhibition and see pictures of our students’ contributions here. The exhibit is open until February 13th. If you’re in the neighborhood, check it out.
The artist working on his exhibition.
Halloween Parade
Epiphany has a happy tradition in which the toddlers from our Early Learning Center parade in their costumes though the 5th and 6th grade classrooms where the students hand out special treats. We took a break last year because of COVID and were excited to revive the event. It was spooky fun all around!
Mayor Janey at Epiphany!
On Friday, October 22, we hosted Mayor Janey! She had known about the Middle School for years but this was an opportunity to tour the Early Learning Center. She learned a lot about what Epiphany is doing and was a real “baby magnet.” We had to pry the little ones off of her. Mayor Janey has been a passionate advocate for early education, and we are honored to have her here. Thank you, Mayor Janey!
Fall Family Fun Volunteering Day!
Epiphany’s Leadership Council gathered on Saturday, November 6 for a day filled with outdoor cleanup activities. They prepared the Early Learning Center’s (ELC) outdoor play space for the winter, and the gardens and grounds needed a ton of weeding, mulching, and raking. With help from a couple of graduates and a few teachers, they did it all. (Thank goodness the weather cooperated and gave us a beautiful day.) Thank you, Leadership Council!
Sista Sista Café
After a break due to Covid restrictions, the Sista Sista’s Café is finally back! As our readers may remember, the Sista Sista club provides support and fun programming for our young women while also teaching entrepreneurship and life skills. A couple of years ago, the students in Sista Sista wanted a creative and interactive way to raise money for the club’s activities and came up with the idea to host a café for faculty and staff. Students researched other local coffee shops, developed menu items and prices, and successfully launched their eponymous Sista Sista Café. Each month the girls set up the café, make all the food items, take orders, prepare the drinks, and handle the clean-up. One student has shown a particular interest in leading and managing the café and is getting the opportunity to build on her skills by training the younger girls in the group. We are thrilled to see the young women in Sista Sista take great pride and ownership over the café while learning valuable life skills.
Upcoming News
Save the Date!
Our Annual Spring Gala is Epiphany's Spring Gala will be on Friday, May 6, 2022 at 6pm. More details to follow.