This past spring, graduate Anna Williamson decided to honor Bill Mullins during his tenure at Antioch School. She and Liz Griffin put together a wonderful video collage about the many wonderful and innovative things Bill Mullins did during his tenure as teacher at Antioch School.
Quite a few Antioch School children and graduates came to honor Bill, but many of the Older Group children were not at Bill’s celebration to see it. I thought they would love the history and to see the many things that have stayed the same at Antioch School over the span of 50 years, encompassing Bill’s career. They did indeed love it and had quite a few questions about some of the things we have done in the past, especially participating in parades.
“What? You mean they got to ride unicycles in parades?”
“Absolutely, often several parades a year.”
“Why don’t we do that now?”
“Well, because we stopped having enough children who wanted to participate. It seemed like soccer and other weekend activities interfered too much. It was sad when we stopped participating in parades.”
In the last few years I have seen several articles and interviews about the importance of grit in determining a child’s success later in life. Grit is in fashion at the moment as the missing ingredient for our country’s educational woes. If we only can find a way to bottle it and force feed it to every child, then America will be at the top of the world’s educational rankings and we can all rest easy.
The most recent interview I came across was on WBUR’s On Point radio show heard across the country on NPR radio stations as well as online at www.wbur.org/onpoint. The interview was with Angela Duckworth, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Grit: The Power and Passion of Perseverance.
One of the things I enjoyed about this interview was that grit, while important, wasn’t portrayed as a perfect quality and that it does have a down side. For example, when grit crosses over into stubbornness, success goes down. You still need qualities like creativity, open-mindedness, vision, social skills, intelligence, etc. to be successful. A very interesting interview that you can listen to here.
The Antioch School from Cline Cinematography on Vimeo.
Matt Cline, from Cline Cinematography, put together this wonderful movie about The Antioch School. The movie was first shown at the 2014 Silent Auction. A big thanks goes out to Matt for his hard work at creating this movie as well as many of the photographs used on this site.
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Auction Gala is being postponed. Michelle Wolf has graciously agreed to reschedule her performance. Date to be determined.
Comedian Michelle Wolf To Headline Antioch School Fundraiser
The Antioch School’s 2020 Auction Gala will feature a hilarious performance with Emmy nominated comedian Michelle Wolf on Saturday, March 14, 6pm, at the Foundry Theatre at Antioch College 920 Corry St., Yellow Springs.
MICHELLE WOLF has quickly become one of the most influential voices in the comedy landscape with the Village Voice calling her “the voice comedy needs right now.” She recently released her second hour-long standup special “Michelle Wolf: Joke Show” on Netflix. Previously, she made international headlines as the much buzzed-about headliner of the 2018 White House Correspondents Dinner.
In 2017, Wolf debuted her first hour-long standup special, “Michelle Wolf: Nice Lady”, on HBO. The well-reviewed special tackled a wide range of topics from her surprising thoughts on feminism, the environment and more of life’s everyday absurdities. She received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing For A Variety Special.
The gala will include both silent and live auctions, gourmet hors d’oeuvres from Current Cuisine, open wine bar, and dessert. Live auction items include a stay in Bali, Lake Tahoe and a private plane ride. The silent auction features over a hundred items, such as overnight getaways, fine dining at area restaurants, tickets to theatrical and cultural events, fine art and jewelry from local artisans, and health and wellness sessions.
Cash Donations Up to $10,000 of donations will be matched, thanks to a generous grant from the Morgan Family Foundation. Even if you are unable to attend, your gift will still be matched! We are relying on your generosity to meet the full financial need of all families.
The Antioch School is the oldest democratic school in the country and an essential Yellow Springs institution. The Gala is the school’s largest fundraiser, with proceeds supporting the scholarship fund. Tickets are $65 and can be purchased by calling the Antioch School at 937-767-7642.
For more information, contact Liz Griffin at (937) 767-7642.
Thank You to our Media Sponsor:
Purchase your tickets now as seating is limited.
Fostering a safe learning environment for students, families, faculty and staff.
The Antioch School is committed to balancing the safety of our students, families, faculty and staff with our collective desire to have in-person school in September, if community conditions are conducive to doing that safely. With that as our goal, we have been working on our schooling plan. We have crafted this plan based on many factors, including guidance from local, state and national health recommendations, family feedback to our survey, and the values that always inform the educational decisions at our school. The survey was especially informative, and there were many topics where there was a consensus from our community – the desire for in-person school, daily temperature checks, hand-washing with safe soap, limiting of adults in the building, and maximizing the time your children spend outdoors.
The Antioch School has many advantages when it comes to maintaining a safe learning environment during the pandemic. For starters, we are a small school with small class sizes. Typical student enrollment is less than 60 students spanning Nursery (3 1/2 year olds) through the Older Group (up to 6th grade equivalent). The fewer number of students means less individuals available for contact, which means a safer environment.
Antioch School students also spend a significant amount of time outside every day. We also have outdoor classrooms that are used year round - even in winter! Outdoor learning has been an intricate part of the school since its inception. We know how to do it and do it well. Outdoor learning isn't an add-on to the curriculum because of COVID-19, it is one of the core principles of the Antioch School.
The school building itself has some advantages. Each classroom has direct access to the outside, so students can arrive/leave without ever having to go through crowded hallways. The classrooms also have tall ceilings and lots of windows - that actually open. In warmer weather it is possible to get cross ventilation throughout the school through strategic opening of those windows.
Antioch School Safety Plan for 2020-2021
Assessing Symptoms
