TMS Students Give Back Through Photography

TMS Photo Philanthropy students learn more than just the art of photography. They're also learning the value of community service. Each year the students, led by Marianne Owens, turn their best photos into greeting cards and sell them throughout the local community. Proceeds from the sale of cards are donated to DrawBridge, an arts program for homeless and under-served youth in Marin and the San Francisco Bay Area.

This year's donation of over $200 will go towards the purchase of art supplies for the kids in the program. DrawBridge's philosophy is "the belief that the experience of being understood and valued gives children the freedom to grow. Through art, children can release the build-up of potentially destructive emotions." DrawBridge is the only program of its kind in the Bay Area, and with help from volunteers like our TMS students, its making a difference in Marin's homeless and at-risk children's lives every day. For more information on the DrawBridge program visit http://www.drawbridge.org/.

Greeting cards are still available for purchase. For more information on purchasing cards or information on TMS' Photo Philanthropy program, contact Marianne at mowens@themarinschool.org.

TMS Jazz Band Plays Duke Ellington

The Marin School Jazz Band plays Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean a Thing" at the Annual Spring Concert held on May 26, 2011.

Interview with Mojo Nixon

Students in Matt O'Donnell's History of Rock 'n Roll class along with several members of the faculty participated in an interview with musician/actor/DJ Mojo Nixon via Skype today. You can watch the very funny and entertaining interview below.

MOJO NIXON Interview from The Marin School on Vimeo.

Video Conference with filmmaker Robert Greenwald

Students in The Marin School's Politics & Media class spoke with filmmaker Robert Greenwald via Skype on Thursday. Greenwald is the founder and president of Brave New Films, and is the director/producer of several documentaries including "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers" (2006), "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" (2005), and "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" (2004).

You can view a short video clip of the video conference or listen to the entire conversation below:

Robert Greenwald Clip from The Marin School on Vimeo.

Video Conference with Robert Greenwald from The Marin School on Vimeo.

Video Conference with Filmmaker Taki Oldham

TMS students in Matt O'Donnell's Politics and Media class participated in a video conference with Australian filmmaker Taki Oldham via Skype today. The students watched Taki Oldham's new film Astro-Turf Wars: How Corporate America is Faking a Grassroots Revolution in class last week. You can watch the trailer for Astro-Turf Wars and the video conference below.

Video Conference with Taki Oldham from The Marin School on Vimeo.

Students Visit Mother Jones Magazine

Students in Matt O'Donnell's Politics and Media Class were treated to an inside look at Mother Jones Magazine in San Francisco today. Mother Jones President and CEO Madeleine Buckingham welcomed the class and gave them an overview of the magazine and answered questions. The group then heard from research editor Celia Perry and discussed the development of a story that appears in the current issue of the magazine. After a tour of the offices, the students had a Q & A with publisher Steve Katz on how Mother Jones approaches social media. The trip gave TMS students a unique behind-the-scenes view of how the print media operates.

The Marin School students observe raptors and count sand crabs

Hawk Hill Raptor Observation - though the road to Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands is closed for construction, the TMS SF Bay Area Ecology class went up to the closest overlook to do their class raptor presentations and look for raptors. The class ran into Alan Fish, the director of the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, who was thrilled that the students were doing the project he had proposed a few years ago, where each student researched a different raptor presenting their findings to the class. Additional photos can be viewed here.

Sand Crab Monitoring - The TMS biology students worked diligently at Muir Beach to collect and count sand crabs as part of the LiMPETS program administered by the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association. Classes from TMS have been monitoring the sand crab population at Muir Beach for years and have witnessed a drastic decline in their population ever since the beach was closed due to the Cosco Busan oil spill. In fact the students did not find any crabs there this year (and for the past few years). Even though they did not find a single crab, that data is still significant. Additional photos can be viewed here.

London-based literary magazine, Granta and leading Pakistani novelist, Uzma Aslam Khan will appear at TMS Oct. 11th

The world-renowned, London-based literary magazine, Granta, will make The Marin School the site of the Marin County launch for its brand new, timely issue focusing on Pakistan, next Monday, October 11 at 7pm. Leading Pakistani novelist, Uzma Aslam Khan, will be here in person, reading from her work and discussing the Granta anthology's overall take on the relationship between Pakistan and the West, which is so prominent in today's news headlines. Many of Pakistan's leading novelists, poets and journalists are contributors to the new Granta, so this will be a fantastic opportunity for the TMS community to be part of a vital dialog about today's world.

The event will run from 7-8pm, with Uzma reading from her work and an audience Q&A. Doors open at 6:30pm and the event is free of charge. Our friends and partners from Book Passage will bring books for sale and signing.

To reserve seats for the event, please send an email to kridge@themarinschool.org.

For a preview of the new Granta, please check the links below:

Granta Magazine

NYT review

Wall Street Journal review

Advanced TMS Drama Students meet with actors from Marin Theatre Company

The advanced drama students attended a special, sold-out matinee performance of Tarell Alvin McCraney's In the Red and Brown Water last Tuesday, Sept. 28th at Marin Theatre Company. The play is the first in a cycle of plays entitled The Brother/Sister Plays. Though set in a fictional Louisiana town, In the Red and Brown Water intriguingly combines a number of disparate elements including West African regligious deities, Greek-like choral recitation and spoken stage directions to remarkable effect. The students prepared for the play by work shopping several scenes from it in advance of the show. Comparing MTC's version with the students' own production ideas proved to be a highlight, as did the Q and A session with the plays actors that immediately followed MTC's production. The day's events were such a great success that the students plan to attend the second and third plays in McCraney's Louisana cycle, which are to be shown in an unique partnership this season later at The Magic and ACT.

Photo: Advanced drama students with actors from Marin Theatre Company's production of Tarell Alvin McCraney's In the Red and Brown Water.

TMS Senior Matthew Mills receives commendation in the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program

Head of school, Peter Esty of The Marin School announced today that Matthew Mills has been named a Commended Student in the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Corporation which conducts the program.

Commended Students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2011 competition by taking the 2009 preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

"Recognition of high-achieving students is essential to advancing educational excellence in our nation," commented a spokesperson for NMSC. "As demonstrated by their outstanding performance in our highly competitive program, the young men and women named Commended Students represent some of the most academically talented students in our country."

TMS Participates in Peace One Day

September 21 was declared International Day of Peace by the United Nations in 2001. This year the Sausalito Woman's Club partnered with the international organization, Peace One Day, inviting the community to get involved by joining community members and local schools for an interactive experience using the film and educational materials of Peace One Day founder, Jeremy Gilley.

The TMS photography students, led by Marianne Owens, submitted art posters of what peace meant to them. TMS students displayed their art at the evening reception attended by community leaders. More photos here

TMS Board of Trustees announce extension of Peter Esty's tenure as Head of School

The Marin School Board of Trustees announced yesterday that Peter Esty has agreed to extend his tenure as Head of School through the 2011-2012 academic year.

Earlier in the week, the Board unanimously endorsed the recommendation of the Search Committee to defer the search for a Head of School, and to extend Peter's tenure effective immediately.

In making the announcement, Merrill Boyce, chair of the Search Committee and Ted West, chair of the Board of Trustees, said that the Board believes strongly that Peter's leadership experience and optimistic approach to our mission will lead TMS to realize the goals we have set in our strategic plan.

More information can be found at:

Letter from the Board of Trustees
Peter Esty's profile
TMS Strategic Plan

Update from France

Dear Families:

On top of their regular morning classes, the students added an optional class to their load, on Tuesdays and Fridays. We can't be surprised that they selected slang over literature.

Every day, we discover a new beach and a new small town. So far, the students' favorite town is Cassis and their favorite beach is on the island of Porquerolles; a wonderful way to celebrate 4th of July.

The students are developing new friendships with the students from the school who, for the most part right now, are from the German speaking part of Switzerland. Yesterday afternoon, Carmen, Mme Valle's new student, arrived by the Geneva-Toulon TGV (bullet train). The students were very excited to have a new roommate.

We will say good-bye to our friends on Friday because on Saturday, we will take the road to Nice. Sunday we will visit the Principality of Monaco.

Monday in a week, the California girls will be ready for "Home, Sweet Home."

Marie France

TMS Presents Guest in the News This Week

Ginger Cassady of the Rainforest Action Network was in the news today as she and others in the "Change Chevron Campaign " staged a protest at the U.S. House of Representatives Oil Hearings in Washington.

"Ginger Cassady of the Change Chevron Campaign was escorted out of the House Oil Hearings in DC while confronting Chevron CEO John Watson about his company's toxic legacy of oil dumping in the Ecuadorean Rainforest"

Ginger Cassady attempted to deliver a bottle of oil-contaminated water from Ecuador to Chevron’s CEO John Watson. While being escorted out Cassady said: “Chevron is responsible for dumping 18 billion gallons of toxic oil waste in Ecuador, Chevron is no better than BP."

Cassady spoke at The Marin School after a screening of the film Crude last month.

TMS 'Authors Series' 2010 guest, Yiyun Li, named one of nation's top young fiction writers.

Yiyun Li, who visited The Marin School on March 24, 2010, has been named one of the nation's best young ficiton wrtiers by editors of The New Yorker. She was among 20 writers under age 40 whom The New Yorker's editors selected as the best and most promising of their generation. The New Yorker interview can be found at http://bit.ly/9BI2rF

TMS Presents Guests in the News this Week

TMS Presents guest Vicki Abeles was featured on Oprah.com for her film "Race to Nowhere." Vicki has visited TMS several times in the past year and participated in a Q & A with the student body and staff after a screening of her film.

"People are tired of being alone on these issues," she says. "They want community. They want to be together." Parents are forming online groups, meeting in person and committing to work toward change for the health of their students after coming together to screen the documentary. The film has empowered school districts to initiate change in areas like reducing or eliminating homework for elementary kids, setting later start times for tired high schoolers and limiting the number of AP courses a student can take in one semester. "Systemic change will happen when parents trust their instincts. And educators trust their instincts. It's too difficult to do by yourself," Vicki says.

USA Today included a glowing review for TMS Presents guests Debra Granik, director of Winter's Bone, and actress Jennifer Lawrence, in their paper today. Granik and Lawrence visited The Marin School last April.

Every so often a film gets under our skin with its haunting authenticity, reinforcing our faith in the wonderfully transporting power of cinematic storytelling.

Winter's Bone is unquestionably that film.

John Avildsen, Director of Rocky and The Karate Kid, comes to The Marin School

Film students spent their Saturday (June 5) on campus. As part of the TMS Filmbridge Festival 2010, they filmed scenes from the original Karate Kid aptly titled "The Karate Kid in Marin" with direction provided by John Avildsen, Oscar winning director.

John Avildsen is best known for directing the orignal "Rocky", "Save the Tiger" and "The Karate Kid" and its first two sequels.

(John is pictured third from left in the back row)

Students Interview Rep. Lynn Woolsey

Students Shannon Ryan and Ashley Vidal along with teacher Matt O'Donnell interviewed Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey yesterday at her office in San Rafael. The interview focused on U.S. immigration policy and was a follow up to the "Outside the Walls Week" immigration documentary project.

TMS Event Honoring Director John Avildsen

The Marin School Presents

A Tribute to John Avildsen: Oscar-winning Film Director


(Rocky, The Karate Kid,The Power of One, Save the Tiger)

John Avildsen in person
reviewing key scenes from his classic films, with audience Q & A

JUNE 5th 7PM (Reception 6.15PM)
at Kerner Optical Film Studio
3210 Kerner Boulevard, San Rafael

Suggested Donation $20
In support of TMS Filmbridge Outreach:
Bringing Human Rights Film Events to Bay Area High School Students

To reserve seats RSVP to kridge@themarinschool.org
Supported by TMS Board of Trustees, Kerner Optical & the Sausalito Film Festival

Director Debra Granik and actress Jennifer Lawrence visit The Marin School

Juniors and seniors at The Marin School watched the film Winter's Bone in the school theater this morning before the film was released to theaters nationwide. Students and teachers also participated in a Q&A with the film's director Debra Granik and leading actress Jennifer Lawrence. Winter's Bone won the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival.