Change...

By Frieda Dahdah-Khayat /  Lower School Principal          

Years ago, at a professional development workshop, I was asked to use one word to describe the world. I responded, “Change.”

The world is dynamically changing and evolving by the second. Throughout the infamous year of COVID-19, society witnesses change that transforms the world at a pace beyond its control. The novel corona virus took everyone by surprise with surreal changes that we thought only belonged in science fiction stories.

So, what does change mean for Ramallah Friends School?

At Last, Back to School!

Since the unfortunate abrupt school closure last March, elementary schools were finally given the green light to welcome students back from kindergarten through fourth grade.  Mixed feelings filled the hearts of every member of the RFS community. This was what everyone had been wishing for! Parents, teachers, administrators and even the students missed those draining school days! There was excitement and hope at the thought of kids being back at school. Unfortunately, feelings of uncertainty and fear also lingered at the mere thought of a fresh outbreak of the virus in the community.

Since 1869, the RFS community has overcome endless challenges, and COVID-19 is simply going to be another victory added to its list. As the principal of the RFS Lower Campus, it is my responsibility to gingerly prepare and secure our school with tactical changes for this unprecedented challenge.

Teacher Schedules

Ramallah Friends School robustly is experimenting with three methods of instruction, in-person, online, and hybrid, seeking the best learning experience for the children. Teachers and staff schedules have been resourcefully changed to cater to the dynamic situation. Additional teachers are assigned for reduced-student classes to meet distance requirements for in-person lessons. An online schedule, in-person schedule, and a hybrid schedule were formulated, so teachers seamlessly transition into the called-for method of instruction.

 

School Entryways

Ramallah Friends School has opened five entrance gates to welcome its students. As one of the major changes, parents are no longer allowed to stroll through campus to supportively guide their children to their classrooms. Crowds and close contact of students of different grade levels have diminished with the designation of gates to specific grade levels, except for one gate designated for siblings only. On every promising morning, two to three teachers and staff members check student temperatures before permitting their entry. And at the end of the school day, teachers monitor school grounds to ensure required safe distance between all students awaiting pick-up.

New Essential Agreements

The first week of school at RFS was like no other in its past. Essential agreements were made for online classes and in-person classes. The entire school day was devoted to training students on face mask rules, hygiene procedures and safe distancing. Over and over, students practice in their classrooms and all around campus to master each and every rule.

Technology

When it comes to technology, Ramallah Friends School has surpassed all schools in Palestine. All classrooms are equipped with smart boards, desktops, and webcams for endless learning experiences. Risk-taking teachers broadcasted their in-person classes for students that were unable to attend school due to isolation or just fear of the virus. While other isolated teachers broadcasted a lesson to their entire class of students sitting in their very own classroom from home.

 

Change is an inevitable part of life that should be perceived as an opportunity to make us stronger to better weather the next challenge. Amidst change, RFS is vigilantly committed to delivering a valuable and transformative education while fostering a safe and nurturing environment for its entire community.

 

My Dear Middle School Students...

 

Dear Middle School Students,

As the 2020-2021 school year begins, I want to welcome all middle school students back to school. As we know now from our experiences with both on campus learning and online learning, school is the time and place in which students and teachers meet to join in the educational process. Whether you as middle school students are on campus or online, you are RFS middle school students and that is special. 

The RFS middle school faculty have worked over the summer to be ready for either online or on campus learning. It is your responsibility as RFS middle school students to be ready for either online or on campus learning. As you know the physical classroom and the virtual classroom are different, but they require from the teacher the same preparedness, creativity and expertise in teaching and from you, the students, the same focus, preparation, willingness to contribute and seriousness about learning. They are both classrooms. They are both learning environments. And they are both places where the rewards of learning are passed on from teachers to students.

Now, a special welcome to the sixth graders arriving this year to learning experiences in the middle school. Each year, the faculty and I are thrilled to have the opportunity to introduce our new sixth grade students to life in the middle school. Whether we are on campus or online, we will extend the same care and effort to making you welcome, comfortable and knowledgeable about being a sixth grader. The sixth grade team of teachers are experts at accomplishing just that for you.

With a new school year come many new opportunities whether you are new to middle school, new to grade 7 or new to grade 8.  My hope is that all of you will take advantage of all the new opportunities that being an RFS middle school student provides you. Let’s make the 2020-2021 school year the best possible learning experience whether we are on campus, online or on a blended schedule. I look forward to sharing this learning experience with you.

 

Sincerely,

Ms. Huda Shamieh Faramand

Middle School Deputy Principal

 

 

Ending an Unusual School Year...

Dear Friends,

I am honored to be asked to write a letter addressing the RFS community. This is my second year at RFS and there have been by far many, many more high points than low points. Normally, in a letter reflecting on a school year I would write about the high points and successes of the students and faculty because both of these groups deserve all the recognition that they can receive. But this is a year when the global community interjected itself profoundly into the RFS community and to not end the year with an awareness of this is to not recognize its import to the community and the community’s response.

The school year began as it has for 150 years with all the hope of educating classes of bright and thoughtful Palestinian students. The school year also began as it has for the last 71 years with Palestine under occupation, and RFS facing once again challenges in so many areas which annually are amazingly overcome resulting in another year of education for the students. But the 2019-2020 year--the end of a decade and the start of another decade--also began with the no longer just gradually growing awareness that human behavior was changing the earth and with apocalyptic signs that no longer could be ignored. Throughout the year, students and faculty engaged in many conversations stating their concerns and anxieties about how their world was changing and how their lives would not be the same as their parents and ancestors. 

However, perseverance and resilience drove the students and faculty throughout the year. The concerns and anxieties seemingly were translated into the teaching and learning that RFS is so respected for in the larger community. In the minds and in the words of the students there was always hope that in ways not yet known, that some of them would have a contribution to saving life on earth and reversing many of the global climate trends. Others spoke of tooling themselves to become leaders who would also work to reverse these trends establishing a new world order. 

However, creeping up on the RFS community was the corona-virus outbreak and its growing impact on the global well being and economy. Finally, Covid-19 struck and the RFS community was confronted with a new challenge resulting in the closing of the campuses and the temporary cessation of teaching and learning. The community's perseverance and resilience once again prevailed and the faculty and students created virtual learning places for the management of the distance learning process. 

The viral threat will subside, the school year will end, the class of 2020 will graduate and all of the grades will rise to the next level to start a new school year which will be the 2020-2021 school year. No doubt the commitment of the students to reverse some of the global trends either through leadership or scholarship will also come to bear on the world community. Perseverance and resilience in the RFS coterie add up to hope in my mind. But as my students will tell you, my pedagogical practice follows the Socratic method of raising questions to stimulate critical thinking, so I will leave you with a question: What do you think makes RFS so dynamic and resilient?

Sincerely,

Robert Mark Bauman, Ph.D.

Peace

I was asked to write about “Peace” for this month’s edition. And for two weeks I have been thinking about what to write. I’m a Notre Dame graduate from the Peace Education Department, so am I supposed to explain what “peace” is. I’m a person living in an occupied country where we are deprived of so many basic human rights and living in a conflict zone. So how can we live peacefully?

We only get water three days a week, the electricity is cut off, we cannot move freely from one area to another due to check points and road blocks. So many people, young and old, are detained by the Israelis on daily basis and others are killed. It’s all painful and tiring. When we hear fire crackers, we panic instead of celebrate as we think it’s a new attack or Israeli incursion. This ongoing feeling of insecurity and instability is dominant. Yet, we are people who love life and would love to live in peace. Therefore, despite all the stress we live in resulting from this situation, we are hopeful and always seek and find coping mechanisms for our survival.

And as educators at the Friends School, we try to create a safe haven for the young generations who suffer from what I call an ongoing traumatic stress. We develop their skills to live peacefully. We teach them problem solving skills, communication skills to practice as an alternative to violence. We try to create a new and different mindset and help these kids see the other side of the coin; there is something other than violence and humiliation in this world. So, they learn how to express their feelings and have some inner peace.

We instill hope to keep these people going.

By Frieda Dahdah
Lower School Principal

A Trouble Maker, am I?

Fall 1986, Friday afternoon, the doorbell rang. It was FGS teacher Anna Kennedy.

“Marhaba Walid, I am here to see your father”, she said.

My mind went “Oh God, is it something that I did at school?”

She sat in the balcony that overlooked the Israeli prison while I hesitantly walked to the room where my father was, with thoughts crossing my mind “it must be something that I did at school, trying to recall events and predict which one was it.”

Finally, a big relief, when Anna explained why she was there “Keifak Abu Khalid, I am here to redesign the school logo. Khalid Mahshi told me that you are the only one who can help. We want a logo with a Palestinian identity, something that unifies the two schools, we need this as soon as possible.”

Now it was my turn to speak out after being choked for a while, “yes this is a great idea and I will follow up with my father, do not worry” I intervened trying to get Anna out of the house before she says anything else, I was still unconfident that the logo was the only reason for her showing up suddenly.

Anna’s departure was delayed, as my mother walked in with the coffee, so it was another ten minutes of anxiety!

Finally, Anna left, and I insisted that my father started working on the new logo immediately. I gave him few ideas from a student’s perspective, “we want something revolutionary, something modern but says we are Palestinian”, I explained.

Over the weekend, my father worked on three designs; modern, semi modern and traditional.

The following Friday, Anna Kennedy showed up again, with two other colleagues this time, the couple Jennifer Bing and John Canar, both known as the Bing-Canar. My father presented the three designs, and they all pointed to the traditional Arabic calligraphy, that ever since became the logo of the Friends Schools.

The story of the logo did not end there. It was too long before we would use the new logo for the next academic year, and so the first branding was printing the new logo on T and Sweats. And as we were trying to find alternatives to spending so much money on buying suits and dresses for the graduation ceremony, we decided to design a unified uniform for all boys and a similar one to all girls, and we also thought this should be revolutionary and against all traditions, so the blue went for girls and the maroon for boys, and definitely the “Madares Al-Friends” logo was outstanding.

By: Walid Mohammad Batrawi

How can parents help celebrate our 150th anniversary!

I get a thrill every time I walk onto the Ramallah Friends campuses. It’s the joy of getting a glimpse into the world in which my three children spend their days – playing, learning, and making friends. It’s also the joy of being welcomed as a member of the RFS community. I have been a RFS parent for 10 years now, and – in that decade – I have happily spent many hours as a volunteer parent, working alongside teachers and the school administration, to help give our students the best experience possible. Now, after years of volunteering in the library, helping to organize school events, and being part of the PTA, I am part of a large group of parent volunteers helping the school celebrate the anniversary of its founding 150 years ago.

This year, let’s all celebrate being part of this historic and amazing school community. Since 1869, generations of Palestinians have played, studied, and made lifelong friends in its rambling campuses. In the words of my 7^th grade daughter, the Ramallah Friends School has become the wise old woman in the village, who teaches and cares for the children of the community. Now, it’s our children's turn to be nurtured by the school and inspired by its history, Quaker values, and amazing graduates to find their own way into the future.  

2019 gives us all an amazing chance to be part of the school and help prepare our children for their future, by volunteering in some way during the 150th anniversarycelebrations. Parents have started signing up to volunteer in the School's Field Day, April 19th, under different committees (this link leads you to a survey if you would like to sign up).

Another exciting project I am a part of is the 150th Tree Planting project, set to make both RFS campuses greener in a large community effort to plant hundreds of trees during the next two years (if interested please email us at communications@rfs.edu.ps).

 If you are interested in participating and helping out please do not hesitate to contact RFS Communications Department, lmurra@rfs.edu.ps or bjaawan@rfs.edu.ps *

By Elizabeth Price

On Meeting For Silent Reflection at the Upper School

Two years ago, I sat in one focus group after the other, where one reoccurring theme kept surfacing.  Parents, students and teachers all asked us repeatedly to please revive Quaker traditions, values and testimonies at RFS.  There was a general feeling that somewhere along our one hundred and fifty years, we may have lost touch with the origins of our school’s identity. As a result, a strategic goal to revitalize Quaker Education at RFS was put forth as part of the strategic plan.

            

At the heart of Quaker Education is silence and reflection.  So, this is where we started.  We started with silence, first for one minute during homeroom which within a week expanded to five minutes, then we attempted what seemed to be an impossible mission. We challenged the high school students to sit in silence for twenty minutes, and despite all the doubts, the students did it!  Sure, some may have looked around, but there were many who closed their eyes and for eighteen minutes listened to their hearts beating, their breathing gradually steady and managed to reflect inward. We believe that with more training and instruction students will get better at this.

To be clear, our objective is for students to reflect, but certainly not an attempt to convert them religiously.  Our hope as educators that if we teach them how to listen to themselves for twenty minutes twice a month, that we just might pass on a lifelong skill of reflection that will ultimately give them inner peace in a world that has become increasingly chaotic.  I will communicate more about our meeting for silent reflection and will address some of your questions in one of my upcoming monthly letters.

Dr. Riyam Kafri Abu Laban

Upper School Principal