Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake. – Henry David Thoreau
GIBRALTAR school news
FALL 2024
Friends of Gibraltar and Gibraltar Area Schools
Grade 6 Working Together
Door Community Auditorium Passport Programs Door Community Auditorium (DCA) Passport Programs are a series of unique cultural and educational experiences, bringing the world to Door County students. Friends of Gibraltar (FOG) and DCA work together to provide these experiences for Door County schools. This school year the Passport Program has already provided four experiences: the Alash Tuvan Ensemble (Tuvan throat singing), Supreme Love, celebrating John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme with Jumaane Taylor (tap dance), Joy Harjo, and Some Enchanted Evening (jazz). During the Alash Tuvan Ensemble concert, students from Gibraltar and Sturgeon Bay schools experienced the remarkable Tuvan culture through the technique for singing multiple pitches at the same time, along with traditional Tuvan instruments. Believing that traditional music must constantly evolve, the musicians subtly infuse their songs with Western elements, creating their own unique style that is fresh and new, yet always true to their Tuvan musical heritage. www. alashensemble.com Students from Gibraltar and Sturgeon Bay schools also attended a matinee performance entitled Supreme Love, celebrating John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme with live music and dance. Tap dancers Christina Carminucci, Ayan ImaiHall, and Keyana Latimer; choreographer Jumaane Taylor; and a live quartet reimagined Coltrane’s 1965 classic. Taylor, a Chicago native, has been tap dancing since the age of 7. He has received the Chicago Dancemakers Forum 2017 Lab Artist Award, 3Arts 2019 Award, and he has presented his work with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jazz Institute of Chicago, Columbia College Dance Center, and abroad. Since 2021, Taylor has also been the artistic director of the Chicago Human Rhythm Project. www.jumaanetaylor.com Gibraltar students in grade 5 had a dance workshop with Jumaane Taylor thanks to a collaboration between the Door Community Auditorium, Friends of Gibraltar, and the Door Kinetic Dance Festival. www.doorkinetic.com
Gibraltar students in grades 5-12 experienced Joy Harjo and her band. Harjo is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and the first Native American ever to hold the position of United States Poet Laureate. Harjo is the author of ten books of poetry, several plays and children’s books, and two memoirs. As a musician, Harjo has produced seven award-winning music albums including her newest, “I Pray for My Enemies.” Her album of traditional flute music, “Red Dreams, A Trail Beyond Tears and Winding Through the Milky Way,” won a Native American Music Award (NAMMY) for Best Female Artist of the Year in 2009. www.joyharjo.com/ Gibraltar students in grades 5-12 attended the Some Enchanted Evening performance led by Emmy-nominated crooner Benny Benack III and singer and social media sensation Stella Katherine Cole. Some Enchanted Evening led the audience on a jazz-inspired journey through Broadway’s greatest hits from the Golden Age of yesterday to the freshest hits of today. From Hammerstein to “Hamilton” and everything in between, this multi-disciplinary musical mashup also showcased Jabu Graybeal, a one-of-a-kind talent and tap-dancing star. Thank you, Door Community Auditorium, for making these experiences possible for Door County schools.
New Club at Gibraltar By Anna Knapp, Special Education Teacher, Club Advisor
Gibraltar Middle and High School students have an opportunity to join a new club this year. We are Many United Against Hate, formed this year with a club for students in grades 6-8 and grades 9-12. Mrs. Knapp is the advisor for the middle school club, and Mr. Schroeder is the advisor for the high school club. The goal of each club is to promote community at Gibraltar, reduce hate and increase tolerance for everyone. Middle schoolers have celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month in September and recognized anti-bullying month in October with a Kindness Campaign. High school students are connecting as a community with anti-stress activities. Middle school students meet on Tuesdays during their lunch period and high school students meet on Thursdays at lunch. Anyone is welcome to join at any time!
Gibraltar students in grade 6 have an autumn tradition of attending an overnight leadership and team-building retreat. Grade 6 is a transition year for students between having a homeroom teacher in elementary school and rotating classes in middle school. It is a year of increasing independence and responsibility. It is also a time of teamwork, with more sports and music offerings and more group class work. Although Gibraltar is a small school and students likely know all of their classmates, this retreat gives them the time and space to get to know each other in a new context: solving problems together. The unique setting and set of activities give students the opportunity to discover their leadership style, observe the style of their classmates, and explore ways to work together better. The trip has moved to several locations over the past ten years including Manitowish in Boulder Junction, WI, and Upham Woods in Wisconsin Dells. The trip this year stayed closer to home by utilizing the Door County Adventure Center and staying in the wonderful yurts at the Wagon Trail Campground in Ellison Bay. The time saved on bussing was used to offer more adventurous team building and leadership activities. Students had a variety of problem solving challenges to meet with their class. These team challenges were designed to require students to work together and consider everyone’s ideas to find a solution. They may have come across as fun and games, but the challenges were designed to evoke group listening skills, collaborative leadership, and perseverance through trial and error to find success. Students also had opportunities to practice leadership and team skills while stargazing, night hiking, kayaking, and ascending the high ropes course zip line at Rowleys Bay. The trip was two full days and one night with a follow-up field trip to the Door County Adventure Center in Valmy. Thank you to the Door County Adventure Center and the Wagon Trail staff for making the experience so positive!
DC TO DC 2024
By Mike Scoville Library Media Specialist and DC Trip Advisor By the time you read this, the entire Gibraltar 8th grade class (the Class of 2029) will have gone and returned from their trip to our nation’s Capitol. Gibraltar has been taking 8th graders to Washington DC for almost 30 years. What makes this trip a bit more special is that the group will be in Washington DC on November 5, 2024…Election Day! The trip has always been about experiencing the history of our nation from the early beginnings. This class will get to experience history first hand as they witness how Washington DC gets ready for a new president. Photos are from the 2023 trip. Check back for what happens on the trip in the next installment of DC TO DC 2024. For now, enjoy a few pictures from last year’s trip.