The Adams School
P.O. Box 29
27 School Street
Castine, Maine 04421
326-8608
www.adamsschool.com
SCHOOL STARTS ON SEPTEMBER 2, 2010!
The Class of 2010
June 7, 2010
Saying
It
Why write?
For a long time, I didn’t understand why it felt so important to write
down
words, I just did it. Having journalists as parents might be considered
a
powerful influence. My high school English teacher, Mr. Walker,
advocated
writing about one’s experience, like his hero Thoreau who would wander
the
woods or sit beside
The
typewriter itself is an
influence. When I was a kid, the sound of writing broke the silence of
the
house at bedtime. Stopping and starting, the typewriter carriage
sliding back
and forth like a trolley, the song of text being hammered on paper
proceeded
out of silence from the industrial-sized Royal type. Writing, dad was
explaining via his percussive typing, was something you worked at,
tried and
retried, and then polished. It was important to say things clearly,
simply,
directly. He was a print journalist. And he probably wasn’t aware of
what he
was modeling, just trying to meet deadline.
Later
mentors made it obvious that
by trying to say things you clarify your thoughts. Writing is thinking
in plain
sight. For instance, it charged my fourth grade storytelling with the
effort to
be correct, clear, and stylish. Mr. Pratt wouldn’t let me get away with
clichés
in 11th and 12th grade; he challenged every word
to earn
its place in a sentence. And I also wanted to type—as fast as dad.
Furthermore,
stories written on a typewriter had more authority because they looked
like real writing. If you justify the
margins, you justify the rhetoric. Not. I still got points off for
misspellings
and punctuation. Writing is never done. “A poem is never finished,”
says W.H.
Auden, “only abandoned.” My favorite poem, “Fern Hill,” went through
some 89
drafts before Dylan Thomas “abandoned” it. I wonder if he typed?
As dad
wrote newspaper stories or worked on his books after work, the
gooseneck lamp
arching over the keyboard, soft light seemed to pool around his
concentration.
I recall the poise of his hands above the home keys, as he awaited the
next
phrase or sentence and the next flurry of prose. The cadence of his
certain
thoughts punctuated summer twilight. It melded with the sprinklers and
cicadas
outside in suburban
There are many Phillip Booth poems that are among my favorites: “Eaton’s Boatyard,” “First Lesson.” They are rooted in a place that I love, an experience that I connect with, or a definition that seems right, precise, and essential to being a father, a husband, a writer, a resident of a certain locale. In “Strip,” Booth draws an existential lesson from Mobius, and the simple path of a piece of paper that has only one side. It talks about a man turning into himself, and I read it for the first time after my father passed away.
Another
Booth poem, “Saying it,”
has always defined something about the core of writing and feels like
essential
reading for us all. It’s the best poem I know for expressing how hard
and
important it is to notice and then choose and then use words. On
discovery, it
felt as if Booth’s words explained myself, to myself—finally. In
“Saying it,”
he talks about that elemental motive to find a word that is worth
listening to,
that justifies its place in the sentence, however tentative or halting.
Why
write? He says why.
The
poem begins:
Saying
it. Trying
to
say it. Not
to
answer to
logic,
but leaving
our
very lives open
to
how we have
to
hear ourselves
say
what we mean.
Of
course! It’s not just saying it,
but listening to ourselves as we say it. We are each our own audience, and the speaker. We are the meaning we
mean to share. Looking for the right words is looking for definition,
trying to
refine one’s expression in word and deeds of a way of looking, seeing,
and
acting. Saying it is feeling, then doing, and then sharing. Saying it
is loving
something outside of oneself. Saying it is measuring and defining
oneself.
Saying it is the song of oneself. Saying it, finally, is trying to be
certain
that your life is about something.
The
poem ends:
We
wake, at night, to
imagine,
and again wake
at
dawn to begin: to let
the
intervals speak
for
themselves, to
listen
to how they
feel,
to give pause
to
what we’re about:
to
relate ourselves,
over
and over; in
time
beyond time
to
speak some measure
of
how we hear the music:
today
if ever to
say
the joy of trying
to
say the joy.
There. I can’t say it
better than that, at least on this
draft. Thank Goodness for poets.
—Todd
Yearbook—Big
Thank
you: “Many thanks to everyone
who helped support the yearbook this year! Community and family
participation is what makes the book possible and is most appreciated!”
– Lisa
Burton
Graduation is Monday, June 7 at
Last Parent-Teacher Conferences. Would you like a final
conversation with teachers? We have set aside the afternoons of June
1,2,3 and
June 7, 8, 9 for half-hour conferences. Please call school to select a
time
slot.
The Blue Hill Public Library’s Summer Reading Program will begin June
21 and continue through August 14. All children from ages 3
thru
12, both non-readers and readers, are invited to sign-up at the
library.
The theme of the program is Make A Splash @ Your Library. All
programs
and story times throughout the summer will focus on all things related
to
water. Check the library’s events calendar at www.bhpl.net
for the complete schedule of exciting programs or call Pat at 374-5515
for more
information. —Pat Horton.
Music Theory
Workshop…I will offer three 1-hour lessons on music theory using
the piano
and the students primary instrument in the BHCS band room. Lesson
times
will be available on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from
PTC needs a new President: The PTC needs a new leader as Sue Goodson is stepping down after five years. Perhaps you would be interested in taking on this role?
Sue
has been amazing and will be
missed. There are all kinds of things that she does that no one knows
about and
she has served teachers, kids and parents well. Thank you Sue.
Farmers’ Market Returns: It’s that
time of year again! The Castine
Farmers’ Market is Thursdays from
School
Calendar
for Next year: The tentative first day of school is once again
before Labor
Day, on Thursday, September 2. This could change pending final school
board and
joint union board meetings.
Free
Admission to
Children's
*********************************************************************
Monday- Turkey & Gravy, Rice, Yeast Rolls, Carrots, Fruit, Milk
Tuesday- (K-4 bag lunch) Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich, Juice, Sun Chips, Apples, Cookie, Milk (5-7 lunch) Fish Sandwich, Tater Tots, Orange Slices, Cookie, Milk
Wednesday- Ham Italians, Sun Chips, Cucumber Slices, Ice Cream, Milk
Thursday-
Turkey & Cheese Roll Ups,
Sun Chips, Juice,
Still to
come:
June
7 8th Grade Graduation. Where:
Dismissal
follows end of
graduation.
8 End of Trimester Three for grades
K-7.
8 K-4
field trip to
Holbrook, 9-1:30.
9 Field
Day (8th graders
are invited).
10 Last student day: Beach Day at
Backshore,
after clean-up.
11 Teacher inservice
12 Barb Thomas Celebration: Emerson Hall.
July
August
September
2
First
Student day….tentative.
Welcome to the 2010 Go!
COST: There will be a $10.00 discount provided to
siblings. Each player will receive a tee
shirt. All campers require a $50.00
deposit with registration, a completed application and medical history
form,
along with a copy of current insurance.
If you wish to purchase an Adidas ball for $25.00 please
indicate on
registration. The remaining balance is
due prior to the start of camp. Checks can be made payable to Go!
Travers Evans: Coach
Evans is currently the Head Men’s and Women’s Soccer Coach at
Erin Caprara: Erin
Caprara enters her third season as the Assistant Soccer Coach at MMA.
Before
her arrival to MMA, Coach Caprara previously taught elementary physical
education and coached high school soccer and lacrosse in western
Prior to the beginning of her coaching career Caprara played
collegiately at
American School in London
Spring, 1972