Phoenix Press February 2017

Phoenix Press

WeBring News From FCS Lower School

Eating Dr. King'sDinner

By Quin Stovall and Madison Williams

This year?s Martin Luther King Jr. assembly on Friday, January 13th, started with the Upper School Chorus singing We Shall Overcome, MLK, and WayfaringStranger. Songs like these were often sung as people marched for equal rights in the ?60?s to lift their spirits and help them carry on.

Afterwards, Mr. Chuck Fager, a Quaker and Civil Rights activist from North Carolina who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, talked to us about his experience. In February 1965 they were marching for voting rights for African Americans in Selma. Their previous marches had been on the sidewalk. But on this day, they marched right in the middle of the street, drawing lots of attention, especially from the police. The police chief told them to go home, or wait in the parking lot to be arrested. Most of the activists went straight to the parking lot.

Mr. Fager was put in a jail cell with Martin Luther King, Jr. and two other civil rights leaders. After a few hours, he started to get very hungry. Finally a man rolling a cart with a plate piled high with collard greens walked in saying, ?I have dinner for Dr. King.? Dr. King politely refused the collard greens. He explained that Mahatma Gandhi, a man who stood up for equal rights in India, had a policy of fasting for the first two days in jail. Dr. King thought it was a great way to show defiance so he decided to also fast in jail.

The man offered the plate of food to every protester in the cell. Each person refused. Mr. Fager, thought he should refuse as well. But his stomach was aching and he really wanted that food.

TheUpper School Chorus sangtwice: oncefor grades 3-5 inthegymand then at theNursery- 2nd gradeMLKassembly intheMeetingRoom.

Dr. King kindly told him that it was okay for him to eat since he wasn?t told about the fast before the march. Mr. Fager thanked him profusely and gobbled up that food super fast. He was happy to find a big piece of ham under those collards! Mr. Fager says he will never ever forget that day as long as he lives. They were let out of jail the next morning, all except Dr. King, who was kept there for a few more nights without protest.

Mr. Fager grew up in a military family, and the military was one of the more desegregated places, so his parents were okay with him marching for equal rights. Today Mr. Fager is an accomplished author, editor, publisher and activist. One of his books is called Eating Dr. King?s Dinner

The Fabulous5th grade Book Club

By Hannah Lowry,GraceSchlegel and DaphneVolpp

During the fall semester our Lower School Librarian, Mrs. Ziffer and lots of 5th grade students started a book club in the library during lunch period. Mrs. Ziffer split the students into two groups based on what book we wanted to read. We worked together and chose books. The Monday group chose Flora and Ulysses, by Kate Di Camillo. The Tuesday group chose the first book in the PercyJackson series, TheLightningThief, by Rick Riordan. Both clubs really enjoyed their books. Each meeting, people would share their favorite parts. Sometimes people would even act them out! We would have specific chapters that we would read and discuss each week.

Future 5th graders, if you like to read, check out the book club when you get to 5th grade. Present 5th graders, join now. We?re sure you will love it. Be a part of this opportunity!

Our next book will be TheWild Onesby C. Alexander London, who is coming for FCS2017 book fair.

MLKDay: ADay of Service

By Jacques Pierreand Clara Behling

On Martin Luther King Day, January 16th, FCS Lower School had a day of service in his honor. Students from Nursery to 5th grade participated in the event to help a homeless shelter called Families Forward. The shelter keeps families together while trying to help them out. It's located at 111 N 49th St, Philadelphia, PA 19139.

The day of service started in the meeting room, with a big table of food and refreshments. Once everyone sat down, 7th grader Spencer Thorne shared his iMovie presentation about Families Forward. Then everyone got situated.

First grade, Kindergarten, PK, and Nursery painted peace rocks in the light lab. The rocks were painted with beautiful colors, and were all different in their special way. The peace rocks will be used for a pathway from the homeless shelter to a free library box nearby. The eighth graders made the little mini library box in shop class. Families also donated books to put in it.

Fourth and fifth graders made ?no sew? blankets in the cafeteria for the toddlers and babies at Families Forward. The blankets were colorful and very soft. We were sure that the toddlers and babies would love them.

Second and third graders organized the donations of cleaning products in buckets in the gym. The FCScommunity was asked to donate cleaning supplies to Families Forward so families could clean their rooms. ?We soon realized that so many supplies had been donated, we couldn?t fit them all in the buckets,?said Kelly Pierre, principal of the Lower School. The FCScommunity also donated portable cribs, strollers, baby books, and much, much more. When everyone was finished, we headed back down to the meeting room. Staff from Families Forward talked about how the homeless shelter worked. They answered many questions that the FCS community had which made everything more clear about the shelter.

Once the staff finished talking, Mr Barry, an FCS teacher and parent, sang many songs with us. The younger kids loved to sing ThisLittleLight of Mineat the end of all the songs. The experience was very fun and many children and adults loved it.

The4th and 5th graders made"no sew" blankets for thebabies and toddlers at Families Forward,a homeless shelter for families in Philadelphia.

New Year'sResolutions

By Noah Porter and Jey Brown

3ATakesFlight

By Quin Stovall and Clara Behling

Imagine walking into a room - right into 2116! Crazy, right? That's what we did when we went into 3A for an experience that you're guaranteed to remember.

The play started out with two students and a robot, 100 years in the future. They wanted to know more about how the Spirit of St. Louiswas built, so they traveled back in time to 1927 to a plane factory called the Ryan Flying Company in San Diego.

The Spirit of St. Louis, the first plane to fly from New York to Paris, was first flown by Charles Lindbergh, an astonishing pilot who was able to pull this task off with no radio, no co-pilot, and no windows! In 1927, planes were much smaller than they are today. Mr. Lindbergh gave up everything to make space for extra gas!

3A hand-made a replica of the Spirit of St. Louisout of cardboard, tape, wood, glue, and paint! This play was amazing and educational!

B-Ball in the Gym

By Emilio Ovalle

An intense basketball game took place in the Lower School gym on January 10th. It was a game between Friends?Central Upper School wearing dark blue with a white stripe, and Abington Friends in white with a dark blue stripe.

The game was close in the first half with some quick turnovers. Many FCSplayers contributed to the scoring effort. It was nice to have the Upper School players at the Lower School especially since they won the game with the final Score: FCS40; Abington 32. Go Phoenix!