Wooster Chapel on W.I.N.K.

Happy Friday Generals! It has been a long time since I have been able to connect with you all. I hope you are adjusting well to our new (momentary) reality and being gentle with yourselves.

Even though we are unable to be together in person, chapel will continue on. Thanks to W.I.N.K., we look forward to providing you with some of the same chapel experiences as when we were together in the chapel. Through this virtual chapel we hope you will be able to take a moment and connect deeply with yourself and the Wooster community.

So, as you prepare for the weekend, we encourage you to enjoy our virtual chapel.

Mindfulness Moment

It is important that we take time to breathe and be present in the moment. To begin our virtual chapel, take 5-minutes for an exercise in mindful breathing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmFUDkj1Aq0

Song Of The Week

Today's song of the week is "Heal the World" by Micheal Jackson. This song is really fitting for the trying times that we are currently living in, and I suggest watching the lyric video to really get the message of the song. We all need to do our part to contain this virus and keep our frontline workers safe by staying home--so in that sense you are healing the world! Here's the link to the lyric video of "Heal the World."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWf-eARnf6U

Thought of the Day

Mr. Rogers reminded us that in the midst of a crisis, to look for the helpers. It is important that we face the reality of the situation we find ourselves in, but it is also important that we find the rays of light in the world. In this video, we will watch a segment of John Krasinky's new YouTube series, "Some Good News." In this segment he recognizes some of the world's important "helpers" with a big surprise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8_6NEnS41A

Appreciations

Yes! You read that right! We are going to continue our appreciation tradition we have here at Wooster. We reached out to Wooster's faculty and staff about who they want to appreciate this week and got some awesome responses. Going forward, if you would like to offer an appreciation, please send them to Rev. Tickner at stephen.tickner@woosterschool.org with the subject "Appreciation".

Here are the appreciations for today:

• Mrs.Gartner has three appreciations:
  • "I appreciate all the 6th and 7th grade students and the students in my 8th grade class for their serious attitude, attention in class and hard work on completing what has been asked of them!
  • I also want to appreciate Kelsey Lingenheld and Jen Lally for all their help and support for me and their students.
  • And a shout out to Liz Higgins, Parvin Taraz and Diane Martin for their guidance and support through this process"

• Dr. Jeck and Ms.Park wanted to give a shout out to all of the sophomores for "diligently forging ahead with their end-of-year argumentative research papers despite the 'distance learning' circumstances. We are so impressed by, and thankful for, their patience, adaptability, and willingness to advocate for themselves. Bravo, sophomores!!"

• Mr.Hutchins is getting in on the appreciations as well! "I'd like to send an appreciation to all the students I have seen at practices in Google Hangouts. It's nice to connect with familiar faces, it certainly brightens my day each time I drop in on a practice."

• Mr.Kendis has three appreciations as well.

• "I'd like to appreciate my advisory for being positive, for supporting each other, for being patient with me and for opening themselves up to each other in our conversations. I love getting to see you each morning and afternoon."
• "I'd like to appreciate the Bridge team - Ms. Bazemore, Ms. Coleman, Mr. Swallen and Ms. Marino - for being so supportive of both their students and their colleagues. I'm so impressed with their emotional intelligence, empathy and range of skills."
• "I'd like to appreciate the Upper School Deans - Ms. Lucic and Mr. Rexford. They work incredibly hard to make sure that everyone, students and teachers, are supported and cared for."

• Mr.Henderson would like to appreciate the "students who have been brave enough to reach out to me and let me know when they see a problem."

• Lastly, Ms.Magni wants to appreciate Mr. Priedemann & Ms. Taraz for "being supportive and simultaneously teaching and helping teachers to navigate online teaching. Thank you!"

It was so great to read the appreciations that the faculty had for one another and we invite you all to take a moment to reflect on who you would like to appreciate in the following days.

Keep up the positivety everyone!

Rev. Tickner & Mel Vazquez