Middle School teacher, Duncan Wallace, sits with his class under one of the old oak trees o0n Lower Campus. Every Monday the Outdoor Education team immerses the students in an exciting learning adventure as they discuss important issues, techniques, and skills needed for their upcoming backpacking trips.
Feb. 11, 2015 – The John Lennon Tour Bus made a stop at OVS Lower Campus this morning as part of its national tour. The Lennon Bus found OVS with the help of the maverick primary teacher and veteran OVS staffer, Dana DeYoung. When she’s not on campus leading a line of OVS’ youngest students like a mother hen, she out in the world indulging her own creativity and looking for new and exciting educational experiences for her students and the entire OVS community.
DeYoung has been on a mission to bring STEM curriculum to the PK-1 classrooms. Once she succeeded she moved on to her next challenge- how to incorporate the arts into STEM curriculum. With a little music, performance and the visual arts she’s turned yesterday’s STEM into tomorrow’s STEAM curriculum. This initiative is still a work in progress, but the odds are in her favor and she’s rapidly moving towards another success.
The Lennon Bus happened by chance. DeYoung and the Lennon Bus both happened to be in attendance of the 2015 NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA. One short waiting line later Dana was determined to see the Lennon Bus pull up in the OVS student drop-off turn around. Little did she know it was going to happen sooner than expected. There was an open date in the tour schedule bringing them to OVS in nearly two weeks time. But she pulled it off. And she pulled off a giant human peace sign in the Hermes Quad of Lower Campus this morning at 7:45a.m.
The Lennon Bus is a gift wade possible by the generosity of Yoko Ono Lennon and numerous donors with the goal of spreading inspiration, opportunities and possibilities to the youth of the world. One bus tours the United States as another bus tours Europe, meanwhile the rest of the world can tune into lennonbus.org for information, live streaming video, a virtual tour of the bus and more.
The Bus didn’t come to OVS just to plug into the electricity and grab a heart meal in the cafeteria, they set up shop for the day to work with the Lower Campus garage band. In one day the Lennon Bus staff are going to show the up-and-coming musicians how a song is written, recorded and turned into a music video. The whole Lower Campus is excited to see and experience the next trick DeYoung pulls out of her hat. Thank you Dana DeYoung for making music history happen at OVS!
We’re only one month into 2015 and the OVS Upper and Lower calendars are packed with exciting extra curricular activities, excursions and sporting events.
Both campuses are preparing for the end of the Winter sports season and are looking forward to the warmer weather of the Spring sports lineup. IF you haven’t been to an OVS sporting event this season, you still have time to show your support to the JV and Varsity teams. Please click on the link below to see the calendar for the remaining Winter sports schedule.
The Ojai Youth Sinfonia, Orchestra and Strings continue to rehearse in the Greenberg Activity Center on Mondays in preparation of their Spring concert series. In other performing arts news, Lower Campus students will be attending a performance of Stomp on Wednesday Feb. 11, in Thousand Oaks. And the Upper Campus will perform Into The Woods on Feb. 19 & 20, at 7:00 p.m., with a Fri. matinee at 2:00 p.m. for the Lower Campus.
For more information and events please click on this link to see the OVS calendars.
Next week, OVS will host the much-anticipated annual Science Fair for elementary and middle school students in grades 3-8.
Each year, approximately 20 students are chosen to represent OVS at the Ventura County Science Fair and in recent years students have gone on to compete at the state level, notably with projects that reflect our STEAM curriculum and students’ interest in environmental science and related fields. OVS has a long history of top recognition at these events, but the purpose of the Science Fair is truly to celebrate and demonstrate the many ways in which experiential learning is taught, valued, encouraged an embraced by students across the grade levels. Please join us at Lower Campus on February 4, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
January 31 – Ojai Valley School equestrians in grades 5-8 passed their examinations for higher ratings within the U.S. Pony Club on Saturday, demonstrating their skills at stadium and cross country jumping while enjoying a beautiful day riding together in the hills north of Ventura.
Supported by friends, family members and their OVS instructors, six riders rode Saturday at the Canada Larga Ranch stables for their D-2 Pony Club certifications. They first demonstrated proficiency in horsemanship and the care of their horses, then ride on the flat and over fences in the arena before venturing out to the cross country course developed by stables owner and OVS past parent Steve Gaggero.
The girls showed poise, courage, teamwork, and perseverance while also having fun riding in a new setting that presented challenges for the horses and their riders. OVS high school equestrians will have the opportunity to train at Canada Large and take their certifications in March. Thank you to the Gaggero family for hosting OVS at these events.
To view photos from this equestrian event, please visit the Images of OVS page. Click the enclosed link to see a calendar of Upcoming Equestrian Events.
Click here to see recent pictures of the Founder’s Shop construction.
The new year opened with eye-popping improvements at the Lower Campus as construction crews made rapid progress on our new arts center and renovated Founder’s Shop.
We’ve installed a new fire sprinkler line, roof shingles, skylights, and gutters. The painters are done inside and out of the building, and the well-worn fir floorboards of the historic shop have been stripped, sanded and refinished.
Meanwhile, tidy box hedges, rosemary, rose bushes and other drought-tolerant species are being planted outside the arts center and neighboring buildings. Elegant high-efficiency LED (and Dark Sky compliant) new light posts are being installed, and new rock curbs and decomposed granite sidewalks have been completed in front of Frost Hall and the west entrance of campus near the stables.
In construction, there are opportunities to make pivotal infrastructure improvements that no one sees because they often happen underground. An example of this is the addition of a new storm drain, installed before the holiday break, which will carry storm runoff from El Paseo Road to the south side of campus. We are hoping this will help alleviate a hundred-year old problem where the campus floods during any major rainstorms.
Another example is a major electrical upgrade that occurred over the break. Crews removed a power pole near the Admission Office and tunneled a network of power lines beneath the east portion of campus, thus establishing a vastly improved electrical system that will support new technology and future building projects.
The fine arts have been a cornerstone of Ojai Valley School’s experience for more than a century, and we are excited to see the progress being made on this new art center and rehabilitated Founder’s Shop.
Originally designed by founder Edward Yeomans, the shop has been the hub and heart of the visual arts program at the Lower Campus for generations. When it began to show its age (after nearly 98 years of use), the school made a firm commitment to preserve and protect its historic features. The shop is now being carefully restored while also being upgraded to serve the needs of future students. In addition to major energy efficiency and structural upgrades, The original floor, windows, battens, and much of the redwood siding from the original building have been preserved and polished to a new luster, bridging the old and the new.
With the support of our families and alumni, we hope to open the arts center and restored woodshop in March 2015.
Ojai Valley School is planning a Spring Break trips to provide students the opportunity to expand their knowledge of history, language and culture in Central America.
Karen Morse and Spanish teacher Ken Nishiya will lead the trip to Costa Rica, which will feature a service-based itinerary as well as river rafting and other outdoor adventures. Click on the video link above to see highlights of the Costa Rica itinerary from the educational travel company, and email Mr. Nishiya at knishiya@ovs-archive.ihwy.com for details.
This Month At OVS:
November – December 2014 – This month, students transition from fall to winter sports. Resident boys move into new dorm rooms at Upper Campus following a nine-week renovation. High school leaders attend a lecture by former U.S. President Bill Clinton who speaks about challenges and changes to our global community. Elementary and primary students expand their understanding of California history by visiting the Chumash Museum. Residents in grades 5-12 come together for a Thanksgiving Dress Dinner before all students leave campus for the holiday break, November 21-30. There are a few surf trips, as pictured above, in the mix as well! We love the start of winter in Southern California.
By Cole Zellner, Class of 2016
November 7 – After a long season of practice and persistence, the OVS girls’ cross country team outpaced all runners Wednesday to earn the Condor League championship in the League Final at Dunn School. Senior Momoe Takamatsu also won the individual title, running the fastest three-mile race in her life by finishing in a blistering 21:11. Her nearest competitor was nearly 40 seconds behind.
“I was relieved for sure,” said Momoe, who was very emotional after the race. “I didn’t believe at first that I had won, but I worked so hard for this.”
It is the second time in four years that an OVS runner has won the Condor League individual cross country title. In 2011, Reika Kijima won the title. She is now running cross country and track for the University of Southern California. This is the first time in recent history that OVS girls have captured the team title.
In addition to Momoe’s fast finish, two other OVS runners, sophomore Gilim Bae and senior Vivian Yan, earned medals for their top ten finishes. Gilim finished in third place with a time of 22:43, and Vivian came in sixth with a time of 23:27. The OVS girls’ came within seconds of winning the Condor League title outright. For OVS cross country coach Fred Alvarez, the win wasn’t as important as the watching the girls learn to work as a team and do their best when it came time to their final race.
“I could not be more proud of the way these girls came together this year,” Mr. Alvarez said. “They ran in 100-plus degree heat, and they ran when they were sore, and they ran in the early morning darkness. They committed themselves to improving each and every day. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
The OVS boys’ team ended the season strong as well. Senior Andy Cheng (L11) ran his personal best in an astounding 19:06. Less than a minute behind, junior Victor Gong (L12) also ran his personal best with a time of exactly 20:00.
