Thursday, April 17Maximizing our Collective Impact

Literature

Blessings
4Feb By Ariana ThorntonNo Comments
Literature

Blessings

E. Ariana ThorntonPhilips Exeter Academy At my childhood home in Ashburn, surroundedby woods and hills, I watch my mom tendher many-hued garden frombehind the kitchen sliding-glass doors.Today, I join her:crouchingclose to the dirt in a floppy pink sun hat, pullingweeds or planting seeds (Chinese okra,parsley, strawberries),relishing the sensation of wet earth in my small palm,the dewy grass dampening my bare feet. SwiftlyI’m reminded of photographs fromNational Geographic Kids Magazine,of breathing soil and centuries-old trees,earthworms my hands arecupped around. I dash aroundour living yard,breathless, laughing,imagining the Earth’s ovenlike core rumblingbeneath my feet—upon my fingertips,the blessings of the atmosphere. Photo by Megan Chopra (Sidwell Friends School)
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Selected Poems – Sophia Stylianos
21Jan By Sophia StylianosNo Comments
Literature

Selected Poems – Sophia Stylianos

By Sophia Stylianos, Sidwell Friends School “Planets of Yesterday”The intertwined vibrant corals of yesterdayOranges and blues and reds all turning to white gray lifeless lumps at the bottom of the seaAn ocean that is becoming a sea of plasticWater that used to be blue will be gray black with oilAll of this was alive before humans started the destructionFrom the mammoth to the galapagos tortoise there is always somethingAnother species to destroy another land to discover more oil to drillBut soon there will be none leftThere is only one earthwhen are we going to start taking care of it “Tiger Clouds”I can ride a cloudWalk on waterRun to the tigersWith the tigersCatch the tigers raise the tigers become a tigerAll things are living breathing a soul is within themSo when all of us are ...
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Environmental Reading List & Watchlist
20Jun By Abby KelsoNo Comments
Literature

Environmental Reading List & Watchlist

By Abby Kelso, Sidwell Friends School In Alexis Madrigal’s book Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology, he illustrates the history of green technology in the United States, from electric cabs in New York in the 1890s to Idaho’s geothermal heating system of 1910. Though many view the focus on green technology as relatively recent, Madrigal reveals that the United States has utilized green technology sporadically for decades. By examining the past, Madrigal envisions a more hopeful future—a future in which environmentally friendly technology is the norm, rather than an exception.  An environmental reading list would not be complete without Rachel Carson’s historic book, The Silent Spring. Published in 1962, Carson’s book is largely credited with sparking t...
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20Jun Avatar photoBy Elson BankoffNo Comments
Literature

Poem: Ode to the Movement

By Elson Bankoff, Sidwell Friends School Praise the sweat upon their brow,Mostly as drops gather in the heat.Then too, like those very drops,They condense in miraculous numbers.Their atomic energy to the mammoth star.Praise the movement, hear their chants echo from afar. And for every sign held, and arm achingAtop a hill, in that driving heat,Generational cycles rewardEachother. Flowers to soldiers,Or bodies planted to diner leather seats.Now a new march continues,Because love persists longer and love persists stronger than corruption ever will. Praise their fire that runs rampant,Their hyperfixation not haltedBy those who, with the brightness,Have their eyes become dull.The romantics and believers,Bound to save what is small, by recalling something large.Praise the loyal movement...
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20Jun Avatar photoBy Elson BankoffNo Comments
Literature

Poem: Bison, Atmosphere, Ecology

By Elson Bankoff, Sidwell Friends School We run with our intuition and with our passionIn heards, we triumph across Great PlainsInto hearts, enriching minds,Generational continuity for the sakeOf generational continuity. Bison. The sky is abstract, it is visualBut the air adds distinct layers. Ones ofThick textures. Not rich, like a sweet breezeOver fertile land;But poisoned and suffocating.Atmosphere. The sky is connected to the groundSmall stalks of grass that are nibbledAnd rebirthed.The ground bound to stabilizing mantle,And resting upon that, is the breath of creation.The joy of being. The wholeness of symbiotic narratives and journeys.Ecology.
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20Jun By Anjali ANo Comments
Literature

Poetry: The Earth’s Afflictions

Poetry: The Earth's Afflictions By Anjali Amin, George School If the earth was a dogit’d be covered in fleas,eating away at its furlike we cut down the trees. If the earth was a shoeit’d be in need of a polish,because of scuffs we createdwith our mountains of rubbish. If the earth was a shirtit’d be ripped up and soiled,with holes made for minesand stains left by oil. If the earth was a personthey’d be down on their knees,begging for salvationas we ignore their pleas.
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