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What's HOT the week of September 27, 2021

Those Winter Sundays

by Robert Hayden

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were warm, he’d call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love’s austere and lonely offices?

New in this Week's Dragon's Fire

• Editor's Note: The Science of Gratitude
• Join ASB!
• CSCA General Meeting this Thu
• Notes from the Sep 23 CSCA Board Meeting
• 2021/22 CSCA Meeting Schedule
• Reflections Art Competition
• Career Center Updates
• Teens Deal with Stress in their Own Ways
• New Opportunities on the Bulletin Board

Editor's Note: The Science of Gratitude

There's no doubt these are stressful times for us and for our students. There is much to rejoice in as our kids are back in school learning and socializing as they should be, but also so much that is still in flux. It's natural to have a bias toward the negative because an awareness of danger is what keeps us alive. Yet in the midst of worrying, it can be helpful to take a step back and think about gratitude. What are we thankful for and who do we want to thank? There is sound scientific evidence for the psychological and physical benefits of gratitude, including reducing stress, increasing long term happiness, improving mindfulness, and boosting the immune system. And if gratitude is good for us, imagine what it does for the people we take a moment to thank.

Read more about the benefits of gratitude here and here. Listen to A.J. Jacobs talk about his gratitude journey and his book Thanks a Thousand: A Gratitude Journey.

In a spirit of gratitude, I'd like to launch a call for thanks in this newsletter. If you'd like to thank someone in the TCS community, please let me know at dfsubmitarticle1@gmail.com and I'll print it here. I'll start with a few thanks of my own:

• Thank you Dr Casey for taking my call on the second day of school when everything was crazy and up in the air. You couldn't immediately solve the issue, but you listened and reassured me that it would get done. And it did. (Really, I swear this woman drinks polyjuice potion.)
• Thank you Ms Tracy for trying to help my kid resolve her scheduling issue when that is not your job and you have more than enough to do. You dealt with her with patience and care and you complimented her shoes, which made her day.
• Thank you Mr Chipps for making math tear free for all of high school. There are no words to express my gratitude for that.
• Thank you Mr Scilletta for listening to all of my kid's weird crime and punishment science questions and making the science relevant to her interests.
• Thank you Ms Beverly for creating a safe space where students feel heard, while still pushing them to work hard.
• Thank you Ms Neel for always having and giving the right information.
• Thank you Ms Hayes for listening with compassion and helping us find the right path through high school, even when it involves finding a way to study a language not offered anywhere in the district.
• Thank you Ms Wynn for always stepping up with open ear and heart every time my kid (and sometimes her parents) pushed back.

Join ASB!

ASB is an amazing student-run club where you can plan events, learn about budgeting, and work with the staff and Center community to make changes you want to see in our school! You also earn service hours towards graduation and get to add a great extracurricular to your college applications! This year we will make posters and a video of speeches for your grade level classmates to watch before voting. Come to ASB in Ms. Neel's room (room 369) at MASH on Mondays to learn more about ASB and how to run. There are a variety of positions you can run for and we especially need freshman and sophomore officers. If you have any questions you can ask our chief officers Maddie T. and Nid L.

General Meeting this Thu

Please join the CSCA for our first general parents and guardians meeting this Thu, Sep 30, 6:30–8:30 via Zoom. The meeting link will be sent out 48 hours in advance. All are invited to hear from Dr Casey and meet this year's CSCA board and committee chairs. We will also be voting on our annual budget as well as discussing ways to build a supportive community.

Notes from the Sep 23 Board Meeting

It's hard to believe, but we are going into our fifth week of school. As was to be expected, our start to our first in-person year of school in 18 months was not without its challenges (some of them ongoing). Our school is currently over-enrolled, which is fantastic in the sense that people are choosing to be here, but it does mean that some of our classes are too large. Dr Casey is working to address that, and we will be getting a small FTE bump in October. In the meantime, we ask that everyone take a deep breath and bring some perspective and patience to a challenging situation. Our TCS team is working under extraordinary circumstances to bring quality education to our students while supporting their emotional needs. Please know that your students remain the focus of this community even as our staff continues to be impacted by this pandemic in ways both institutional and deeply personal. As much as we want things to be normal, they are not, and we serve each other best when we remember to be compassionate and flexible.

Challenges aside, TCS is doing well. Our students are following safety guidelines. They are masking up, and Dr Casey reports that staff have received no pushback from students about the need to mask at school. Our smart, community-minded students, plus an 80% student vaccination rate mean that our school remains a safe place to learn. We have had no cases of COVID-19 (one student was tested with a negative result). And we have our first service dog at the school

CSCA has begun to set its priorities for the year, and we are looking at lots of ways to support our teachers, staff, and students. We have two fabulous ASB reps who will be bringing the student voice to our meetings this year. Mr Rho of the Career Center will be working with us to help our students shape their post-high school lives. We will have a calendar of events but that kind of planning will have to stay flexible with changes in the pandemic.

A huge thanks to those of you who have joined the CSCA. If you haven't yet joined, it's not too late. You can join online now! Your membership dues help us support our two parent organizations (Seattle Council PTSA and WA PTSA) who negotiate on behalf with Seattle Schools and OSPI. We encourage everyone (member or not) to come to our board and general meetings. There's no better way to understand how it takes a community to make a school like TSC work.

2021/22 CSCA Meeting Schedule

Everyone in the community is welcome to join both our board meetings and our community meetings. Meetings are a great way to meet other parents and stay up to speed on what is happening at our school and within the district. Your voice is always appreciated! Meetings are held monthly via Zoom. We will send out meeting links 48 hours prior to each meeting.

• Sep 23 6:30-8:30 pm Board Meeting
• Sep 30 6:30-8:30 pm General Meeting
• Oct 21 6:30-8:30 pm Board Meeting
• Nov 16 6:30-8:30 pm General Meeting
• Nov 18 6:30-8:30 pm Board Meeting
• Dec 16 6:30-8:30 pm Board Meeting
• Jan 20 6:30-8:30 pm Board Meeting
• Feb 17 6:30-8:30 pm Board Meeting
• Mar 17 6:30-8:30 pm Board Meeting
• Mar 22 6:30-8:30 pm General Meeting
• Apr 21 6:30-8:30 pm Board Meeting
• May 19 6:30-8:30 pm Board Meeting
• Jun 9 6:30-8:30 pm Board Meeting

National PTA has a long-standing commitment to arts education. The Reflections program provides opportunities for recognition and access to the arts which boost student confidence and success in the arts and in life. Each year, over 300,000 students in pre-K through grade 12 create original works of art in response to a student-selected theme. The 2021–2022 Reflections theme is I Will Change the World By…

Students can submit their completed works in any of the following categories: Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, and Visual Arts. Students can enter in multiple categories. City-level winners have the opportunity to advance to state and national competition. Two years ago a TCS student was a state finalist.

The deadline to submit will be in early Nov. Watch the Dragon's Fire for more details next week.

Career Center Newsletter

Check out the latest Career Center newsletter for lots of information on college and career building opportunities. In this week's newsletter:

• Financial Aid Virtual Info Session
• College Visits
• ACE Mentoring Program
• Inspirit AI
• National Youth Filmmaker Summit
• Hiring Bubble Tea Barista
• Seattle Rep’s Professional Arts Training Program
• Seattle Art Museum Teen Arts Group
• Bikeworks BIPOC Leadership Internship
• Police Explorer
• College Application Workshop
• PSAT/School Day SAT

Teens Deal with Stress in Their Own Ways

Parents cannot shield teenagers from ordinary stress, nor should we try to. Yet we can still lend support. According to Dr. Compas, “if parents can guide kids to slow down and simply size up the nature of the stress, that, in and of itself, would help an enormous amount.”

Read more about helping your teen cope with two kinds of problems: those they can change and those they must learn to accept.

The Bulletin Board section publishes information about art, photography, film, theater, writing, and other programs and competitions outside of TCS that might be of benefit and interest to our students. If you know of an opportunity that our students might want to hear about, contact the Dragon's Fire at dfsubmitarticle1@gmail.com.

Bonfire Collective: Youth Voices and New Works Festival, with the Seattle Rep

Who: Artists ages 14 – 19 can register for parts 1, 2, and/or 3

Retreat for Actors, Directors, Designers, Writers, Producers, and Instigators

Writers can come with works-in-progress and collaborate with actors, directors, and dramaturgs to develop their ideas. Actors can come with ideas of roles they wish someone would write for them. Directors can come with ideas for plays. But everyone is welcome to come as a blank slate. By the end of the weekend we anticipate we’ll be overflowing with ideas! The weekend concludes with a “show and tell” sharing of work and performance of works-in-progress. When: Sat, Oct 2, 11 am–2 pm and Sun, Oct 3, 2–5 pm. Where: UHeights Center (5031 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105).

Cohort for Playwrights and Writers

We’ll be partnering with the Rep’s youth writers to continue developing new works! Writers will have seven weeks to develop their scripts in this youth-led cohort. For two hours each week, you’ll have concentrated writing time, plus feedback sessions led by the Rep’s Alex Reed and Penguin’s Shana Bestock and Annika Prichard. When: Sundays, Oct 10–Nov 28, 7–9 pm. Where: Seattle Repertory Theatre (155 Mercer St, Seattle, WA 98109)

New Play Festival for everyone mentioned above, ending with a performance for the whole community! Actors, directors, and designers return to bring the new scripts to life. Directors may also direct a Climate Change Theater Action Play. The weekend culminates in a performance for the community. When: Sat, Dec 11, noon–6 pm, and Sun,Dec 12, 2 to 6 pm. Where: Seattle Repertory Theatre (155 Mercer St, Seattle, WA 98109).

Read more.

Register.

Submissions for our newest project, a zine curated for and by teen artists of color, are now open. The theme of our debut issue will be “You”. Feel free to interpret that in any way that you’d like. The creator of the best submission, as judged by our team, will win a prize of $100. Applications are open to teens from the greater Seattle area. Submissions can be of any medium: ​poetry, playwriting, photography, illustrations, etc.

Visual artists: Please submit a one- or two-page spread that is 8.5 by 5.5 inches. Writers: Please format your writing on pages that are 8.5 by 5.5 inches in size. All submissions can be either landscape or portrait orientation. You can find examples of submissions here. You can submit as many times as you would like, and there is an option to submit anonymously as well. All work must be original.​ We are accepting rolling submissions. Contributors will receive a free copy of the zine. Submit here.

Metamorphosis (performance opportunity)

Who: Students ages 14–19

When: Rehearsal Mondays and Wednesdays 6–8:30 pm, from Oct 11 to Nov 22. Tech on Mon, Nov 29, Wed, Dec 1, and Fri, Dec 3, 6–9 pm. Performances on Sat, Dec 5 at 4 pm and Sun, Dec 5 at 6 pm.

Where: Live and in person! Rehearsals at UCUCC (4515 16th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105). Performance at UHeights (5031 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105).

Prepare to be transformed. Tony Award-winning Mary Zimmerman’s smash hit Metamorphoses is a play of such grace and beauty that the memory of it lingers long after the lights have gone down. All theatrical elements are at work to conjure the force of Ovid’s myths into gorgeous imagery, provocative moments and breathtaking storytelling. Experience magic and enchantment, bawdy humor and deep sincerity, told in a provocative mix of both contemporary and classic styles.

Suggested Donation: 275 (for families in need) / 375 (market rate) / 475 (for families that can. There is no obligation to pay for our programs.

Register.

TeenTix, in partnership with The Colorization Collective (a teen-run organization that promotes diversity in the arts) is excited to announce that applications for the 2022 Winter Cohort of our Mentorship for Teen Artists of Color (M-TAC) program are open! This program will specifically allow teen artists of color to hone their artwork under the guidance of professional mentors of color. This is a great way for teens to better their craft, build connections in the arts community, and present their art!

This mentorship is for teens interested in music and writing. Teens will be put into either a music or writing cohort, and each group will be paired with a professional artist/mentor of color to create or workshop a piece specifically for the program showcase.

Read more to see the schedule.

Applicants must be ages 13-19 and a current TeenTix member to participate. Not a TeenTix member yet? Don't worry! Sign up for free here! Applications are open now and close at midnight PST on Oct 24.

If you need assistance filling out the application, please contact Anya Shukla at colorizationcollective@gmail.com.

Apply here!

Listings in the Bulletin Board section for any specific commercial or organizational product, process, or service, or the use of any trade, firm, or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the public and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by The Center School or the CSCA.

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If you have comments, corrections, or additions to Dragon's Fire, please contact the editor at dfsubmitarticle1@gmail.com. We welcome your feedback!

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