Mosaic Day Brings Opportunities for Learning and Service

In the parlance of Tandem’s color-day schedule, Mosaic Days refer to special days when we make time for special opportunities. The first of those for this year was October 16 and all grades took part to one degree or another. 
  • Fifth and sixth graders held regular classes in the morning. The 5th learned about hexaflexagons in the afternoon and then enjoyed a fun movie; the 6th grade watched The Prince of Egypt as part of their Egyptian studies in geography (rain cancelled their outdoor plans). 
  • 7th grade spent the morning visiting the children at the Barrett Early Learning Center and learning about this Charlottesville landmark. They spent time reading and playing with preschoolers. One group read The Most Magnificent Thing, a story about an inventor and an assistant who work together to create something great. This is what the preschoolers did together, with their Tandem buddies assisting in making an imaginative contraption out of recycled bits and pieces. The other group read Pete the Cat and colored a picture of a white shoe inspired by the book. They spent the afternoon with 8th graders on a service project (see below).
  • The 8th grade spent the morning filming a musical video “Thank You” to send to the 8th grade students and faculty at Friends Select School, who hosted the 8s while they were in Philadelphia last month. The video included complicated choreography and some tricky lip syncing. After lunch, both 7th and 8th grades walked around the corner to Cale Elementary where the 8s reunited with young buddies they made last year and 7th graders met their second grade Cale buddies for the first time. On this visit, they spent time playing games and getting acquainted. Students will stay in touch through regular letter writing and periodic visits, and it’s great to see these relationships deepen over time.  
  • 9th graders spent the morning learning about the Navajo Code Talkers to continue their understanding of perspective and culture. Then they spent some time using the Question Formulation Technique to develop individual research questions for their Cost of Convenience project. In the afternoon, they visited UVA’s Fralin Art Museum to look at the photography of Maria Varela, which continues their work with perspective and finding voice for different groups of people.  
  • 10th and 11th graders spent the morning taking the required PSAT, then spent the afternoon in stress-free activity options that involved art, karaoke, games, walking and a study hall.
  • Seniors spent the morning with volunteers, including Pastor Isaac, who has visited before, who taught them about immigration issues in Charlottesville, along with some information on issues surrounding immigration at the US southern border. They also brainstormed about future service projects they might like to undertake. Their afternoon involved Meeting for Worship/Query along with some much-needed study and Senior Project time.
It was a colorful Mosaic Day for all.
 
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Tandem Friends School is a co-ed Quaker day school for grades 5-12 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
 
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