Our Favorite Places: An Expression of Appreciation from the

Staff of Carolina Friends School

TThhaannkk YYoouu,, FFrriieennddss!! Summer is when we carve out time to relax, travel, and embark on adventures with family and friends. At Carolina Friends School, it is also the time of year when we celebrate your generous support and say a big, heart-felt “thank you”! Thanks to you and 513 other families, 2011–12 was another record-breaking year for the Friends of Friends School campaign. We raised just over $377,000 (approximately 4% of the School’s budget), exceeding our goal and expectations! Your ongoing support ensures that our School and its students continue to thrive, and provides everything from classroom supplies and new technology to professional development opportunities, athletic department needs, and tuition aid. You are used to seeing us throughout the year on campus and in the classroom, and CFS is definitely one of our favorite places. But have you ever wondered how we spend our summer break? On the pages that follow we share a bit of ourselves and our summer with you by revealing our favorite places, vacation spots, and getaways. Happy reading and thank you again for all the ways you enrich our school community with your financial support, time, and many talents. Gratefully yours, The Carolina Friends School Staff

Photo above by Laura Shmania. Cover photo by Henry Walker.

NANCY MCGILVARY Center Staff With CFS since 2001

My extended family has been vacationing at Topsail Island for Fourth

of July week for about 25 years now! My parents generously started this tradition to gather their seven kids,

fifteen grandchildren, (now) six great-grandchildren, plus assorted spouses

and family friends each year for a week of fun and family bonding. With my siblings spread around the country,

they were looking for a way to ensure that members of all generations were

able to spend time strengthening family ties. We pile into a huge house, sleep

wherever we can, share all chores equally, and spend hours playing

games, laughing, swimming, cooking– you name it! Not every family member

can make it every year, and we sorely miss those that aren't there, but make

the most out of the time we spend with each other. My parents are gone now,

but my brothers, sisters, and I are determined to keep this tradition going

for as long as we can.

This picture shows our family as it was in 1994 celebrating my parents' 50th wedding anniversary,

and, yes, my mother made us wear those matching shirts for the picture!

WILLY ROTELLA Upper School With CFS since 1970

My favorite place for several decades has also been the beach with my family. Like Nancy McGilvary, my parents started the annual beach week at Emerald Isle about 25 years ago. My parents, my brother and his family, and my family have really enjoyed getting together at the beach. Both my parents have now passed

and our families are hoping to keep this tradition alive with the addition of grandchildren.

Below is a photo of my daughters, Danielle and Jennifer, and my grandson Finley at Emerald Isle in 2010.

CARMEN RAYNOR Durham Early School With CFS since 1996

During the summer of 2011, I was able to take my dream trip to India and Nepal thanks to the amazing CFS-sponsored PACE Grant for staff

professional development. I spent a month in Dharamsala, India, walking the streets of what is known as Little Tibet. While there I spent time meditating along the Kora, a special pilgrimage

walk around the Dalai Lama’s temple, as well as attending a 10-day silent retreat at Tushita Meditation Center to learn about Buddhism. The highlight of this part of my trip was hearing the Dalai Lama give a teaching at his temple. This talk was a late addition to his schedule and a sheer bit of good fortune for me.

The next month of my journey involved a whirlwind tour with a group of 13 educators, from various parts of the United States. We traveled all the way from Delhi to Kathmandu, Nepal. While the first part of my trip was spent in peaceful meditation and reflection the second part was an exuberant adventure that left me both elated and, at times, exhausted. I visited many ancient palaces and sacred Buddhist sites including Sarnath and Lumpini. I walked in the footsteps Gandhi took the day he was assassinated, as well as visited his memorial and museum. I had my breath taken away by the majesty of the Taj Mahal, was charmed by a snake charmer to sit by him while he played for his snake, and received a blessing by the Ghats of the River Ganges in Varanasi. All this while navigating busy, crowded streets with cows, water buffalo, camels, goats, elephants, stray dogs, monkeys, ferrets, and every imaginable method of transportation.

While in Nepal, I got to ride an elephant on safari and scare a rhinoceros into the jungle. Later that day I also got to ride an elephant bareback into the river to give it a bath while he picked up water in his trunk and gave me a bath! There were so many incredible moments on this part of the journey, but none as magnificent as seeing Mt. Everest (as well as the Himalayas) from the window of a chartered plane. This trip was my dream and it was fulfilled because I work at a school that values dreams!

ELLIOTT TURNBULL Durham Early School With CFS since 2009

my most memorable, favorite, or dream vacation spot: the body.

i recommend

for recreation

we go absolutely no-where/now-here, thus relatively everywhere, now.

vacating postures and breathing habits that are responses/reactions to others’ expectations

and emptying of our own built up projections of who we think we are

for a few breaths if not a week if not a lifetime

my favorite spot is . . .

eye brows widening soft, un-furrowing,

jaw and finger tendons slackening,

toes reaching, spreading

hips rotating, tail bone dropping

head lifting

shoulders riding the waves of the

lungs softly pushing ribs out like an umbrella

. . . it travels well

i can take it anywhere

underwater, smushed out over grass, curled in a chair

it can take stuff in and leave other stuff behind

it tastes and smells and sees and touches and hears

everywhere.

LAURA SHMANIA Center Staff With CFS since 2004

For many years as our girls were growing up, we made an annual camping trip to Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia. The campsites are nestled comfortably in the woods, the trails maneuver through striking changes in scenery—from meadows to forestland and rocky peaks to waterfalls. There are wild ponies, a camp store,

jam sessions by local folk musicians, and a portion of the Appalachian Trail runs through the park. I have so many wonderful memories of our time there!

KATHY SCHENLEY Lower School With CFS since 1977

The NC Zoo is always a favorite place—especially when we can take along Claudia's mom, who loves giraffes.

Louisville, Kentucky, is one of my favorite cities— eclectic, multi-cultural, and lively. A trip there is never complete without a fish dinner on the banks of the Ohio River, watching the boats go by.

Thanks to daughter Jessica (CFS 2000) we have discovered the delights of Claremont, California—a small, walkable college town full of interesting shops and cafés.

Best of all, I think, is just being home, watching the light glint off the pond next door, listening to the birds, and savoring unstructured time.

HENRY WALKER Middle School With CFS since 1971

Everyone should know a spot that's left alone, that's wild,

And sit among the growing and listen as a child, To the wonder of the patterns, to the fullness of the world,

To the centering of a vision with a calm from nature whirled,

Everyone should know a spot and learn to see and dwell Upon the purpose of the striving of the beauty wrought so well,

And ask the heart the question, if this is by loose chance, Then what need we of gods since fate itself can dance?

Henry Walker, circa 1970

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JAMIE HYSJULIEN Upper School With CFS since 1998

There is no place better in the world during the summer than a cabin in Northern Minnesota!

I have been going there my whole life. My dad (who was a math teacher) built the cabin by hand in 1962 when I was in second grade. There is a part of me that always lives up there.

What do I do when I am there? What does one do? Up there being is doing. Paris has the Louvre; we have a

dock looking out on the water. Of course, we do all the cabin-y things like boat and swim, etc. I especially like sitting in the evening singing songs with my sisters.

MIG LITTLE HAYES Middle and Upper School With CFS since 1985

We bought this place about 7 years ago. The boathouse was built in 1985 and was originally used as a space to refurbish and build sailboats. It is a wonderfully simple and comfortable structure: 800 sq. ft of interior quarters are nestled inside the 2400 sq. ft. barn that is an outside living and working space. Absolute tranquility. It is a haven for migratory birds, dolphins, starry skies, peace, and simplicity. At the boathouse, life slows down and the days are long. It is our refuge from busy, demanding schedules, city noise, and the daily grind. We love it here.

MARY HARWOOD Lower School With CFS since 1987

By far, my most memorable trip was to a tiny little French village in the Alps Maritime. St. Leger is, quite literally, at the end of the road.

A winding switchback of mountain terrain, where sheep and their keepers wander, this village is called, “The True France” by her humble inhabitants, all 40 of them!

CARLY CHAPMAN HALLIE CHERRY Campus Early School Chapel Hill Early School With CFS since 2000 With CFS since 2006 Once upon a time Carly and Mike Chapman lived in a quaint neighborhood outside of Chapel Hill with their two young children. Watching the for sale sign in front of the house next door, they looked forward to the possibility of another young family moving in.

Some might call it fate, some call it serendipity, but when Hallie Cherry was hired at CFS in 2006, she and her husband Dave along with their two children, just so happened to be the very neighbors that the Chapman’s were hoping for! Upon meeting one another for the first time, they soon realized that their lives were destined to link in more ways than one . . .

Growing up as best friends—often resembling siblings—our children have come to enjoy the simple goodness of down-home “staycations.” Jonah (11), Julia (7), Sawyer (9), and Eliza (6) wander the paths between and around our houses, finding interesting nature discoveries, making canyons and volcanoes in the dirt, and playing on the swing set, trampoline, and zip line. Though each of the children has their own unique gifts and interests, they often find ways to come together sharing ideas and plans. Keeping a focus on simple summer pleasures, we revel in the opportunity to create “Summer Lists.” The children contribute ideas and make suggestions for simple local experiences such as visits to public

parks and gardens, swimming at the community pool, camping in the back yard, and visiting museums. We emphasize the importance of finding things to do locally and affordably, as well as focusing on the value of spending time together. Our families truly enjoy time together, and we make an effort to create opportunities for the grown-ups to have some summer fun too! We enjoy grilling out, sitting by the fire pit, collaborating on home improvement ideas, and painting our toenails on the back porch. We support one another with childcare for respective date nights and opportunities for running errands kid-free—or running around the block! Though it’s not a tropical getaway or on any top 10 list for vacation destinations; we consider this to be our own little slice of summer solace. And for us, the benefits of this vacation package are priceless.