Category Archives: Uncategorized

Hamlin Performs at the Curran Theatre

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On January 17, Carole Shorenstein Hays and the Curran Theatre ushered in the 2018 season with a powerful performance by a few San Francisco Bay Area schools.

Audiences to the Curran’s press conferences were treated to a rendition of “You Will Be Found” from “Dear Evan Hansen,” performed by students from Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, the Hamlin School and Cathedral School for Boys — a fitting accompaniment to Shorenstein Hays’ announcement of the theater’s new student education program, the Curran Angels, which will underwrite children’s attendance at the theater. Lynne and Marc Benioff are lead sponsors (SFGATE).

Our Hamlin School chorus sang from the seated area to guests who were gathered on stage, creating a dramatic audio and visual experience for those in attendance.

One student shared:

I thought it was really cool that we got perform with high school students from SOTA (Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts). Being with them elevated our performance and was a great experience.

For more information on the performances coming to the Curran, please visit: https://sfcurran.com/

This video shows the final rehearsal for the event:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU5hKOW_ig8

 

 

Chef’s Table at Hamlin

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Created by our Food Manager, Tali Biale, middle school students from The Hamlin School are participating in Chef’s Table, where 15 girls meet in the afternoon, using fresh ingredients to prepare delicious dishes.

Today, students prepared Vietnamese spring rolls using mint, cilantro, basil, beets, avocados, onions, tofu, carrots, peppers, and a variety of other ingredients and sauces.

Ms. Biale states:

The vision is to have girls create their own food, be part of the process, and build community around collaborative cooking.

A Hamlin student shared:

Being a teen in San Francisco you usually rely on take out food or your parents cooking. Food tastes better because you know exactly what went into it and how it was made. It was a fun learning experience with friends.

Keep an eye out for the next Chef’s Table taking place in February in the East Dining Room.

 

Hamlin Harvest is Coming

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For many, many years, The Hamlin School has worked to support homeless families in San Francisco through a profound partnership with Hamilton Families. A child born into this world has no control over their situation; our partnership strives to address hunger, literacy, and provide awareness of homelessness faced by some of our city’s most vulnerable citizens.

Hamilton Families was established as an emergency overnight homeless shelter in 1985. At that time the shelter was located in the Haight-Ashbury district and was open nightly from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.

These days family homelessness in San Francisco has increased by more than 90% from 2007 to 2014. Over 2,000 children were homeless in 2014 and it took most families nearly nine months to access temporary shelter. Hamilton Families is working to address this crisis by helping families quickly find permanent housing. Progress in communities across the nation over the last few years has affirmed that an end to family homelessness is an achievable goal (Hamilton Families Website).

Hamlin’s connection to Hamilton dates back to the late 1990s when Hamlin’s Lend-A-Hand started partnering with the center. Lend-A-Hand is Hamlin’s dynamic Parents Association service learning program. It is open to all families and offers service opportunities with San Francisco organizations that focus on hunger, homelessness, and literacy.

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Emily Calandrelli: Author and Science TV Host

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On November 28, Emily Calandrelli visited Hamlin and spoke with students in grades 1-5.

Emily is an Emmy-nominated science TV host. She’s featured as a correspondent on Bill Nye Saves the World and a producer and the host of FOX’s Xploration Outer Space. Her first science children’s book series – the Ada Lace Adventures – is now available on Amazon and everywhere books are sold.

Emily’s educational background is in engineering and policy. At West Virginia University she received a bachelors in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. She received her Masters from MIT in Aeronautics and Astronautics as well as Technology and Policy.

Emily is wildly passionate about space exploration. Through her show, she wants to prove that the space industry is more exciting today than ever before in history. As the host, Emily works to explain science-related topics in an easily digestible, and entertaining way.

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Table To Farm Food Program

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On October 24, kindergarteners visited McClelland’s organic farm in Petaluma. The field trip was part of our new Table to Farm food program. Prior to visiting the farm, students were introduced to pumpkins and various types of squash by our food program manager, Tali Biale. In Ms. Biale’s lesson she had girls identify foods that contain pumpkins and squash, then coordinated with Acre Gourmet (our food provider) to have delicious dishes appear in the lunchroom derived from those autumnal favorites. As part of the field experience, students had the opportunity to: select a pumpkin to take home, pet baby cows, and witness the milking process.

After the lesson and field trip, one kindergartener said, I’m very interested in squash now.

Ms. Biale, a Bay Area native, has worked with food in a plethora of ways, including: in a kitchen, on a farm, at farmers’ markets, and in after school programs. She seeks to show students how food connects to all these places and more.

We learn about food in the classroom, then taste it in the lunchroom. Food is a thread that connects all of us; it is a way to talk about culture and identity, as well as nutrition and the environment.

-Tali Biale

As part of her thoughtful work, Ms. Biale asked middle school students to share ways that our food program relates to The Hamlin School creed. Below is one response.

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Hamlin Students Host 2nd Annual Girls Film Festival

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For the second year in a row, Hamlin students Ella, Maggie, Charlotte and Caitlin took the stage in Noe Valley to welcome films and filmmakers from all over the world. This year’s event had movies submitted by girls from Croatia, Germany, India, and Canada (among others). 240 people were in attendance to enjoy short films made by girls 14 years and under.

Indigo, a Grade 8 Hamlin student opened the show with her film Not on the Screen that confronts stereotypes and the lack of ethnic diversity in Hollywood. Another highlight was guest speaker and filmmaker Samantha Grant, who urged the audience to have courage, take risks, show your soul, and put your work out there. San Francisco Supervisor Jeff Sheehy presented the Noe Valley Girls Film Festival team with a certificate of honor signed by the entire Board of Supervisors, acknowledging their contribution to the community.

Establishing such a successful film festival is quite an endeavor. The girls raised over $4,000 from bake sales; cold called real estate businesses to gain sponsors, designed t-shirts, formatted films, and maintained ongoing communication with both filmmakers and judges.

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Acre Gourmet Brings Nourishing Food To Hamlin

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The school year is off and running, propelled by the new nutritious energy of Acre Gourmet, a socially responsible, environmentally conscious purveyor of all that is good to eat in and around the San Francisco Bay Area.

The move to Acre Gourmet was made after many months of thoughtful consideration. Below is an excerpt of a letter from Hamlin’s Head of School, Wanda M. Holland Greene.

By the time one Kindergarten girl finishes Grade 8 at Hamlin (in June 2026!), she will have eaten well over 1500 school lunches in our dining rooms! Wow. That’s 1500 not-to-be-missed opportunities to strengthen her body and mind with healthy and nutritious meals. That’s also 1500 important opportunities for her to experience new types and combinations of freshly prepared food. Perhaps most importantly, that’s 1500+ daily opportunities for a girl to strengthen her connection to her Hamlin sisters and deepen her appreciation of the incredible abundance of the natural world that we are so fortunate to live with here in the Bay Area.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the food we offer daily at Hamlin has a profound impact on the growth and development of our girls’ bodies and minds. That is why we have spent the last fourteen months taking a hard look at our food program, to understand how it can rise to the same level of excellence and positive impact that we expect from all areas of our educational program.

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Arianna Huffington Speaks at Hamlin Graduation

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On June 16, Hamlin’s class of 2017 graduated on a beautiful late spring San Francisco day. We were honored to have Arianna Huffington give the keynote address. Arianna Huffington is a Greek American author, syndicated columnist, and businesswoman. Huffington was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post.

Before Ms. Huffington’s speech, graduating students Maya P., Sarah H., and Ava L., spoke eloquently about fearlessness, common humanity, and the Hamlin creed. Ms. Huffington then shared several poignant remarks, many focused on how self-care and success go hand and hand.

She made the following points (among others):

-We need to take better care of ourselves than our smart phones.

-We need to change our language, no more “you snooze, you lose.”

-Get more sleep, sleep makes everything better, your social life and your grades.

-At night, turn off all your devices, gently escort them out of your bedroom.

-We are all addicted to our devices.

-The deepest wisdom and creativity comes from disconnecting from our devices.

-I have a quote by Rumi by my bedside, “Live life as though everything is rigged in your favor.”

-Life is shaped from the inside out, this is validated by modern science.

-Stay connected to the essence of who you are, your wisdom, where everything is possible.

Ms. Huffington concluded by stating, attend to your well-being, don’t let life’s mystery pass you by.

In Ms. Holland Greene’s closing words she said, how will you use your privilege to help others?      History has its eyes on you.

Click below to watch Ms. Huffington’s speech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB-0MLMB1f8

 

 

 

Wonderland Film: Starring Audrey Hui, ’16

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We had a chance to catch up with Audrey Hui, ’16 and learn about her passion for acting. Audrey is currently attending San Francisco University High School and recently played the role of Adeline in the short film, Wonderland.

Stranded in Sin City for Christmas, 12-year-old Adeline struggles to keep her mother’s gambling under control, all for the promise of a perfect family holiday once her father arrives.

Wonderland was filmed in Las Vegas, and was directed by Tiffanie Hsu. Audrey had the opportunity to act in the film with her mother Joan Chen. Ms. Chen has appeared in a number of movies and TV shows during her illustrious career.

During our conversation, Audrey shared the following:

I enjoy acting, it is a passion of mine, I love being different characters, the entire process, learning lines, blocking, I like all of it. 

My mom doesn’t have a “normal” job, I get to see a different her, her passion, her intensity. I get to witness her serious dedication, she helps me better understand how my character feels. My mom guides me, I can take constructive criticism from her well. It can also be weird, we will be happy off camera, then have a tense scene where I have to be mad at her.

Mainstream movies have barely any Chinese women in lead roles. I want to see Chinese women play roles beyond being a sidekick or best friend. So many movies use Asian stereotypes and portray characters the same way in every film, if they are even represented at all. 

Hamlin shaped me, a lot of who I am right now is thanks to Hamlin. 

To watch the trailer for Wonderland, please visit: https://vimeo.com/189999889

Below is brief video of Audrey speaking about Wonderland:

 

Coding & Robotics @ Hamlin

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The video below demonstrates some of the different tools that we use to teach coding, robotics, and computational thinking here at Hamlin:

To learn more about our work see our Scope & Sequence here.