Vo l u m e 4 , I s s u e 5
December 2010/January 2011
Christmas in America:
Then and Now
Inside ICS
On Tuesday, December 14, Mrs. Toll and the students, with
a few adult helpers, led their parents through a history of
how Christmas has been celebrated through song in America. They began with the beginnings of America—the first
settlers—and then moved on to the establishment of the
United States of America and its growth. Through those
years people from many different cultures and countries
brought their traditions and carols with them, and today we
can enjoy all of those blessings.
Thank you to Mrs. Toll, all her helpers and the students for a wonderful evening of celebration and worship.
Clockwise from top right:
K-2 Pilgrims and Indians (back row) sing the first
American carol written to teach the Huron Indians
the Christmas story in their own language.
It’s the Grand Finale and all the students, led by the 4th and 5th grades, sing “We Shall Behold Him.”
Dressed as Pioneers, 3rd graders whizzed us through the myriad of cultural changes in celebrations amidst two major wars. They
played their boomwhackers with gusto!
Following a French carol by the Middle School, 5th graders sang and gently strummed ukuleles to Irish, Austrian, and German carols
depicting the many countries that were blended together to form America.
Clockwise from top:
Mrs. Powell’s class knows how to ‘walk like an Egyptian.’
The children create maps of ancient Egypt to go with their
projects and feast.
Miss DeRuiter’s class looks very regal in their costumes.
Samuel Burnette makes a very impressive Pharoah—face
paint and all.
Miss Bell’s class shows their sense of fun and creativity.
Tradition! Ancient Egypt Day
by Mary DeRuiter
In one of our annual traditions at ICS, the fourth grade students, parents, and teachers celebrated learning about the
ancient Egyptians on Ancient Egypt Day. Prior to the special day, each student searched for information to answer
questions about a topic of his or her choice. Some learned about mummies, others about pyramids, daily life, Egyptian royalty, or the many gods of the Egyptians. When the research was done, each student shared his/her information
in two ways—a written report and an oral presentation. Each student also made a visual object to further explain their
topic and to show during the presentation.
Ancient Egypt Day took place on December 9. The students, dressed in ancient Egyptian style, gave their oral presentations to their classmates, parents, and other relatives who came to hear about ancient Egypt. An Egyptian feast, prepared by the parents, followed the presentations. Lentil soup, cucumbers, pomegranates, hummus, and dates were
part of the menu. All who took part in this day were amazed and proud of the skills and knowledge that were gained
through this study of ancient Egypt.
Christmas Chapel
by Susie Fikse
Our December chapel speaker stood at the front of the sanctuary and did
something unusual: she took a picture! That’s because almost every ICS
student sitting in the sanctuary held a book to donate to her organization. Karen Rose from the Good Samaritan Health Center spoke during
chapel about the ministry of the center to Atlanta’s working poor and
homeless who receive health care that they could not otherwise afford.
Some 8th grade students experienced this firsthand when they served at
Good Samaritan during this fall’s service project day.
Miss Reser’s class brings their books to donate.
The center
operates on
the principle
that because
Christ first
loved us, we
are also to
love others.
The clinic
shows
Ms. Stegall helpsNathan Hutchison and Phoebe Li
Christ’s love stack books.
by providing
health care, but also by giving books and Bibles to children who visit the clinic. Because of the generosity of ICS
students and families, Karen said each one of the hundreds of children who will visit the clinic in 2011 will receive a book or Bible, and a tangible reminder of God’s
love.
Byzantine Empire
by Laura Scott and Sherri Williams
Every year the 5th graders learn about the division of the Roman Empire
and how the Eastern or Byzantine Empire thrived for 1000 years while
the Eestern Empire struggled and “fell” in 476 AD. Each student researches a different aspect of life during this time and writes a research
paper. The students then come together to create displays and activities
that can teach the entire school what they have learned. The “Byzantine
Museum” is the product of this study. Our Zach Washburn and Audrey Arthur show their knowledge
of Byzantine govenment.
young curators put a
lot of hard work and
creativity into their
displays. One of the
Keegan Fikse and Nick Callaway can mix weapons
challenges that the stuwith candy. Wonder how they did that?
dents faced was creating a display that would be applicable to the younger students as
well as the older students at ICS. They did a wonderful job creating
different levels of questions and activities geared towards the different ages. There were a variety of displays including: dress up in the
attire of the time, sit on a throne and write your own set of laws like
Justinian wrote his Code, create your own mosaic using colored
tiles, build a church of blocks in the style of the times and much
more. Thanks to all who attended our museum and learned.
Eagle Bridge
If you have a chance to visit Hawthorne Elementary
School, be sure to cross over Eagle Bridge on their Nature
Trail (a great place for dog walks). Eagle Bridge is the culmination of a lot of time, planning and sweat put in by
Logan Leonard and many others on his Eagle Scout
project.
The bridge took over a year from conception to reality,
and many people helped, including current and former
ICS students Alex Carroll, Thomas Cowan, Lanier Dasher,
Jack Leonard, Taylor Pierce, Nathan Rogers, Will Secor,
Daniel Wade and Jim Walker. If you have a chance to read
Logan’s paper written on the project, you will be amazed
at all of the work that went into this. Congratulations to
Logan on achieving the rank of Eagle Scout!
Clockwise from
top:
Logan Leonard,
Jim Walker,
Thomas Cowan,
Taylor Pierce and
Jack Leonard
Will Secor, Jack
Leonard and Logan
Leonard
The finished
product!
“Inside ICS” is a publication of Intown Community School, 2059 Lavista Road, NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; Executive
Editor: Pam Stegall; Editor: Kelly Pierce; Contributors to this Issue: Mary DeRuiter, Susie Fikse, Laura Scott, Sherri
Williams
INTOWN COMMUNIT Y SCHOOL
2059 LAVISTA ROAD
ATLANTA, GA 30329