Special Graduation Issue
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Week of June 11, 2001
REMINDERS
* Tuesday, June 12:
Parent Council meeting, 6-8 p.m.
Topic: How the Parent Council will
frame parent involvement.
* Friday, June 15:
GRADUATION, 9:00 a.m., on the
playground behind the school. See
details below.
* Monday, June 18:
NO SCHOOL-Bunker Hill Day.
* Friday, June 22:
MHS "Olympic" field day in the
park, 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
* Monday, June 25:
End-of-year reports mailed.
* Tues.-Wed., June 26-27:
Final days of school (half-days).
First Graduation
Is This Friday
The first graduation ceremonies of the
Mission Hill School will be held this Friday, June 15, on the school playground starting at 9:00 a.m. Parents and families are
asked to come in the front door and wait in
the lobby to be ushered to seats. Please do
not go around to the back of the building on
your own. And please be on time. The ceremonies will be completed by 11:00 a.m.
In case of rain, call the school's main
office for further information.
Final Call for Yearbook Orders
There are still a few unreserved copies
of the Mission Hill School Class of 2001
yearbook available. Don't miss out! See
Marla in the main office to reserve yours
for just $15, or call 617-635-6384.
Vol. 4, No. 37
LETTER FROM MISSION HILL
A Proud and Sad Moment
Dear Families, Students, Staff, and Friends,
It's time to say goodbye to the first graduating class of the
Mission Hill School. This is a proud moment for all of us who have
taught, advised, befriended, or been touched in any way by these
twelve students.
We love and admire these children,
and believe they will be strong, articulate, thoughtful representatives of our
school. We are sending them on into the
next part of their lives with the belief
that they will make a mark on whatever
worlds they encounter.
It is not easy being the first class
of a new school. These students have
been the oldest for four years, hearing
constant admonitions about being models for the rest of the school. They have
been called many things by many
people; pioneers, leaders, and trailblazers are words they hear often. They also
sometimes feel like guinea pigs.
We think of them more as our firstborn, and like the firstborn child in the
family they have sometimes borne the
brunt of our inexperience. It's understandable that they have, at times,
longed for a more established, traditional school, where everything is and
has been neatly laid out for years before them. They have not had that. But
looking at the near-adult human beings
they have become, we think that what
has happened here has helped them
grow and mature. Their writing, which
fills this special issue of the Mission Hill
School News, bears that conclusion out.
These graduates are able to hold
their own in most situations. They speak
well to any audience, they can defend
their opinions with passion and reason,
and they can answer unexpected questions articulately. They are self-motivated, independent learners. They have
learned to adjust to flux, to maintain
their own equilibrium when the outside
world is wobbling a bit.
Most of these strengths come from
family. But we like to think that some
have come from the values of the
school, some from the experience of
presenting their graduation portfolios,
some from having been the oldest, and
You will be greatly missed.
You will be expected
to visit.:
some, perhaps, from having to adjust
to change.
So it is with pride, but also sadness,
that we say goodbye to you, our first
graduates. You will be greatly missed.
You will be expected to visit. You will
be amazing human beings. You willbe
in our hearts forever.
Know that we will be watching
with pride, joy, and sorrow as you walk
down the aisle with your diplomas. And
we wish for each one of you a wonderful, thoughtful, wise life, in your next
school, and in all of the future that
stretches before you.
-Emily Chang,Ayla Gavins,
Roberta Logan, and Heidi Lyne
The Mission H/i/ School is a pilot school of the Boston Public Schools
Deborah Meier, Principal
Thomas Payzant, Superintendent
67 Alleghany Street
Brian Straughter, Assistant Principal
Roxbury, MA 02120
Maria Gaines-Harris, Office Manager
Main Office: 617-635-6384
Mission
Hill School
News
June
11,
2001-Graduation
Paae 2
Issue
Stories from Beyond the Classroom
School to Community
In the Mission Hill School's School
to Community Initiative (SCI) we go
out to job sites and experience what it
is like to work there. My job was at the
American Red Cross. My partner and I
worked at health and safety, disaster
services, and the food pantry, and we
learned how to do CPR on resuscitation dummies. I enjoyed working there.
That was last spring. We had SCI
again in the fall. This time I worked at
the MSPCA animal shelter with Ariel.
We scrubbed the floors, washed the
animals' dishes, cleaned the dog cages,
fed the rabbits, cats, and gerbils, and
sometimes we got to walk the dogs.
Once in a while we would do the laundry and wash the blankets that the animals slept on.
The SCI program is a good experience for kids because they get to know
what it feels like to work at a job and to
know how people do that every day.
-- Chris Neely-Furtado
Peace in the Hood
Getting Something Done
There are many things I do beyond
I take care of my nephew every
the classroom. One is that I'm on the day. I bring him to school; I make him
yearbook committee. It can be very breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner.
stressful and fun at the same time. The I give him a bath, and sometimes I will
stressful part is having only two people play with him. I even help him with his
on the committee. The fun part is really homework.
getting something done.
Another thing I do is D.J. I D.J.'d
My internship at WILD radio was for my sister's birthday. I had everybody
very amusing. I worked with the news dancing and having fun. I make my own
anchorwoman and the promotion office. tapes and give them to my friends to
We did public service announcements. listen to.
I broke down long news articles to 30I have a rap and singing group
second stories. I'm learning much more called Hands Down. We make songs
about the news and media and what and go to the studio to record them.
goes on in a radio station.
Sometime around July our album
The biggest thing I did this year should be done. We sign a song called
was go to the Coalition of Essential "Peace in the Hood." We sang it for the
Schools Fall Forum. Two classmates Race Against Hate.
and I presented the steps we had to go
I was in an after-school group
through during our portfolio presenta- called Mission Safe that went to nurstions. Because we did so well our prin- ing homes to talk to the people there.
cipal wants us to run the next CES fo- One of the ladies said that since she
rum presentation by ourselves.
came there no one but us had come to
-Nefta Ramsey see her.
-Jeffrey Handy
Some of the Big Things IDid This Year
A big thing I did outside of school
this year was to visit and work at the
Farm School in Athol, Mass. At the
Farm School you have chores-working with animals (pretty messy), in the
garden, or with wood, or setting up for
dinner. In the morning the group that
sets up for dinner does animal tracking.
During the day we get time to go
anywhere on the farm and write in our
journals. When I write in my journal it
relaxes me. I like to reflect on my days.
Something else that was fun was
the media literacy play that we did after school. Our group brainstormed
ideas about teens and the problems they
We Are Fire
We are a beautiful sight to see.
What we do will make you flee.
I am fire-the only thing that can tame me is a candle.
The sweet smell makes you calm.
A teenager is nothing but fire.
We are out there in the streets or in the video arcade
trying to make a life but it's slipping away.
The only thing that can stop us is our parents-they are our candles
They are our candles, firm and sweet. They can tame us.
When we spread and burn up everything in our path, get our candles.
They always last.
-Vaper Brown
,
face. Then we put them into a story.
Then our teacher put a script for a
radio play together for us. It was called
"Teens on the Verge of Struggle." We
got to record it in a studio!
In extended day I have photography class, where we learn how a camera works and how to use,light to make
a picture better. It is a good skill to have.
Something I have done most of my
life is martial aits. I have taken Aikido,
Kung Fu, and Tae Kwon Do. Right now
I take Kung Fu at Forest Hills. The martial arts are hard to learn, but the advantages are that you learn to fight in
different ways and you get a lot stronger. Also, it helps you relax your mind
and concentrate.
I started playing the cello in 1999.
Since then I have had lessons at school.
Every week I take my cello home and
practice. I like the cello because it
sounds like it has a viola and a violin in
it. I hope to get my own cello and maybe
become a professional cello player.
-Ariel Davalos-O'Connor
i~5
Mission Hill School News
June 11, 2001-Graduation Issue
Page 3
LtWt.~Z&TBm
The Mission Hill School Class of 2001. Front row, left to right: Akwasi Agyemang, Rebeca Boria, Jeffrey Handy, Ariel
Davalos-O'Connor ChrisNeely-Furtado,Davide Poles, teacherEmily Chang.Back row: teacherHeidiLyne, Vaper Brown,
Ian Berkeley, Latalia Williams, Victor Pultinas,Janina Ordonez, Nefta Ramsey.
How the Mission Hill School Works
At Estabrook Elementary School in later came to know as Davide) said,
Lexington, I thought I had my future "Excuse me, Deborah," to the princiset out for me. I would go to a standard pal. Not "Excuse me, Mrs. Meier," or
middle school with lockers, books, and "Excuse me, ma'am." This first-name
classes. After that I would progress to a address was not a gesture of disrespect
high school with even more lockers, but one of friendship. This was the first
books, and classes. I never thought that school I'd seen where the staff actually
I would end up at the Mission Hill were friends with the students, and
didn't just say it.
School.
Another thing I noticed was how
I remember my first visit here. It
was the middle of the year. I wasn't that students treated other students. On my
interested in the school until I heard that first day everyone was talking about his
a student was actually making her own or her summer vacation. Then someone
turned to me and said, "What did you
newsletter on my favorite bookAnimorphs! That woke me up. The free- do over vacation?" I talked and talked,
dom of these students was mind-bog- and never stopped talking, not even to
this very day. But the important thing
gling compared to my school.
Another thing that amazed me was is that I felt like part of the class.
My old school was very large, with
the relationship between the students
and the teachers. My mother and I were hundreds of students. Even by the time
on a tour of the school when a boy about I left, I didn't know everyone's name,
my age walked past. This boy (whom I and I still couldn't find every class. In
this school it took me two weeks to
know every nook and cranny, and three
to know everyone's first name. This was
a change!
One of my first assignments at
Mission Hill was to answer the question "What are numbers?" I could add,
subtract, cross-multiply, and divide, but
I had never asked myself, "What are
numbers?" So I did some research. And
while trying to find the answer to this
elusive question, I learned a lot about
numbers in general.
That's how the Mission Hill School
works. They don't just give you a test;
they ask why they should give you a
test. The students aren't broken up into
groups; they act as a team. The teachers don't just act as authority figures,
but they're also your friends. Hopefully,
this will be an example for many
schools to come. -AkwasiAgyemang
Mission
Hill School
News
Mission Hill School News
Roberta
Roberta is my teacher for reading
and writing. She is nice, but a little sarcastic.
Roberta is a tough cookie. But inside that toughness she is a caring person. She wants to see people succeed.
Roberta is honest. She is like a lie
detector that knows when a person is
lying to her. She plays a hard baseball
game of three strikes and you're out.
Roberta is a deep thinker and is fun
to be with, but don't get her mad or pout
for she gets her nails out ready to fight.
Roberta, oh Roberta is a nice gal.
Roberta is like a rose that looks pleasant
to the eyes but there are those thorns that
sting if you are not careful.
Roberta is well organized. She
knows where all her things are placed.
Roberta gives advice, and it comes
out good. I can feel comfortable with her,
for where she has been I am going. We
can relate.
Roberta, oh Roberta doesn't take
any grief from anyone. That is what I
admire about my Roberta.
May Roberta stay just the way she
is and never break down her tough shell.
For that is how I like Miss Roberta.
-Rebeca Boria
Two Things That
I'll Never Forget
I'll never forget the time in Ayla's
class when we went to the Farm School.
Nefta, Isaiah, Akwasi, and I had to fill
up one of the troughs with water so the
cows would have something to drink. So
we had to stay there with the cows until
the trough was filled.
One of the mean cows, named Bell,
started to chase us around. Bell is one of
the biggest cows at the Farm School. So
you can imagine how scary that was. But
we got out safely.
Another thing I'll never forget is
when I was in Heidi and Emily's class.
We were at the meeting area and Akwasi
was talking about how the school has a
curse. Emily said she didn't believe in
curses. Just as she was saying that the
mirror that was on the wall behind her
fell on her head. I bet she believes in
-Janina Ordonez
curses now.
June
11,
2001-Graduation
Issue
June 11, 2001-Graduation Issue
Page 4
Page 4
Why We Should Have More Pilot Schools
Mission Hill is a good school because
kids have a lot of freedom and choice in
what goes on. The kids have the option of
being treated like adults. For example, if
the teachers think you can handle something and you want to do it, they will probably let you do it.
Recently Mr. Straughter, the assistant
principal, invited me to observe a teacher
who was applying to work here next year.
I watched this teacher teach a class and I
made comments about her teaching. I am
also invited to take part in interviewing
I Know What It's Like.
Did They?
I know what it's like to be free.
Did they?
I know what it's like to read.
Did they?
I know what it's like to work for money.
Did they?
I know what it's like for blacks and
whites to be together peacefully.
Did they?
No, they didn't.
They didn't know what it felt like to be
free.
They didn't know what it felt like to
read
Because nobody taught them.
They didn't know what it felt like to
work for money
Because they never did.
They didn't know what it felt like to be
together peacefully with whites
Because they never were.
All they knew was to obey their
masters.
-Latalia Williams
Published every Monday during the school
year for the parents, students, staff, and
friends of the Mission Hill School, 67
Alleghany St., Roxbury, Mass. 02120.
Principal: Deborah Meier
Coordinator: Helen Fouhey
Editor: Ed Miller
Copy Deadline: All submissions should
be typed or neatly printed, signed, and put
in Ed Miller's box in the main office by
12 noon Tuesday. Phone: 617-541-3899.
her, along with teachers and parents.
They are going to listen to my opinion of this teacher just as they are going to listen to the opinions of the adults
who were observing her. If this school
was not a pilot school I would not be part
of the group of people who decide who
will work here next year.
There are only twelve pilot schools
in Boston. I think we should have more
pilot schools, because if you go to a pilot school you learn to be self-motivated.
You need self-motivation because if you
don't have it you will not like whatever
you are doing. The most important thing
is that you like what you are doing.
-Victor Pultinas
A Letter to Deborah
Dear Deborah,
I want to thank you for letting me
come to this magnificent school, and to
experience what independent learning is
all about. It was great to come to your
school and have a great time, because
the school is not boring but fun. I like
that we have a lot of freedom and that
you were never cracking us with a whip
so that we would do our work. Rather
than that you had us work independently.
I liked that because it made us care about
our work. So I want to thank you for that.
-Davide Poles
My School Reflection
My good memories of the Mission
Hill School include going to the Farm
School. The Farm School is a farm with
animals where we go to do fii work.
Another good memory is of Vermont.
Our teachers Emily Chang and Heidi
Lyne took the eighth grade class to
Heidi's house in Vermont. It was fun. We
threw snowballs at each other. I will also
remember the games we played, like four
square.
My main memory is of the teachers
and students at Mission Hill School.
-lan Berkeley