The AC Blog

Upper School Presents Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass

Allendale Columbia’s Upper School students present Lewis Carroll’s play Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, adapted by Rosemary Nursey-Bray, on Friday and Saturday, April 20th and 21st, at 7:00 p.m. at AC’s Curtis Performance Center. Tickets are now available at acs.booktix.com for $8.00 (higher at the door).

Knowledge for College Moved to April 25th

Learn how to approach life after high school with the Knowledge for College Program, rescheduled for Wednesday, April 25th, at 7 p.m. in Allendale Columbia School’s Curtis Performance Center (CPC).

This event is an excellent opportunity for students and parents to learn about the College Advising Program at AC and to become educated about the current college admission landscape.  The program includes a panel of college admission counselors who will offer advice to families during these pre-college years and answer questions about the college search and application process.  For handout and cookie purposes, please click here to RSVP (please submit a new RSVP for the rescheduled date).

AC families are welcome to bring friends from other school communities to this program.

Kristin Cocquyt Unlike most of our peer schools, we have a dedicated full-time college advisor. Kristin Cocquyt's primary focus is to support, guide, and advise AC students on their college search and application process. She has been in the field of education for 13 years and has visited over 160 colleges, giving her a solid basis for recommending colleges that are great matches for our students. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Policy from Hamilton College and is a member of both the New York State Association for College Admission Counseling and the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

Save a Life at Blood Drive April 25th

You can be a life saver! Please consider supporting the Allendale Columbia School Community Service Club’s upcoming Blood Drive on Wednesday, April 25th, from 12:00 noon – 5:00 p.m. in the AC Alumni Gym, 519 Allens Creek Road in Rochester.

CLICK HERE to schedule an appointment using the sponsor keyword allendalecolumbia, or call the Red Cross at 1-800-Red-Cross. In only about an hour, donors can give a pint of whole blood or “Power Red”. A Power Red donation collects the red cells but returns most of the plasma and platelets to the donor. These donors must meet specific eligibility requirements and have type A Neg, B Neg, or O blood.

Those who donate will receive a free Red Cross t-shirt (while supplies last). Middle School students will also support the Red Cross with a bake sale at 10:30 a.m. in the Dining Commons.

Honors and Portfolio Seminar Art Exhibit Opens April 14th

by Lori Wun, Art Teacher

Allendale Columbia’s 18-member Honors and Portfolio Seminar Art classes will hold their spring show and thesis exhibitions in the Anderson Alley Artist Studios. The opening reception is from 12:00 – 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 14th, at 250 N. Goodman Street, in photographer Richard Margolis’ studio and gallery on the fourth floor, #4-8.

The opening reception will be part of the April Second Saturday event in Rochester. Second Saturday is a monthly open studio event for galleries and museums throughout Rochester’s Neighborhood of the Arts. We are excited that our students will not only be welcoming the AC community, but also the Rochester public to their show.

If you go, there are two entrances into the building that say “Anderson Alley Artists” over them. There is street parking on Anderson, Goodman and College Streets, and you can also park in the Anderson Alley and Village Gate parking lots.

 

Lori Wun Lori has 18 years of experience as an educator and has been an art teacher at AC for 14 of those years. She has taught grades 9-12, elementary and middle school students, as well as university undergraduates. Lori is a practicing artist with bachelor's degrees in fine arts and art history from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the College of William and Mary, where she focused on drawing, painting, and modern art history. She earned a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art where she concentrated on photography and video.

Students Develop Entrepreneurship Skills in Senegal Collaboration

by Ariane Baer-Harper, Director of the AC Center for Global Engagement

During Spring Break in 2018, 12 Allendale Columbia students went to Dakar, Senegal, to participate in an entrepreneurship program entitled, Developing Entrepreneurship Skills through Intercultural Collaboration. This eight-day program was created by the AC Center for Global Engagement, the AC Center for Entrepreneurship, and Baobab Consulting, a company based in New York City and Dakar which specializes in facilitating collaboration between cultures through innovation. Throughout the program, AC students were paired with Senegalese high school students and were tasked to come up with an innovative social entrepreneurship idea.

WROC News 8 interviewed two students and Director of the AC Center for Global Engagement, Ariane Baer-Harper.

(Photos by Garrett Wilson ’21, Anna Mihalyov ’19, and John Palomaki)

All students, with trip leaders Ariane Baer-Harper (Director of Global Engagement) and Gabe Costanzo (Music and Band instructor), stayed at the Tostan Training Facility in Thiès, about 40 km outside of Dakar. Tostan is an international NGO focusing on human rights issues in Senegal, particularly women’s rights. The group also had the opportunity to spend some time in Dakar, the capital, and St. Louis, a city north of the country which was once the colonial capital of Senegal.

(more…)

Club Honors Local Women of Distinction in US Assembly

by Alison Zell ’18 and Indy Maring ’18

Guests Trelawney McCoy, Safi Osman, Sarah Rutherford, and KaeLyn Rich with members of the Social Inclusivity Club.

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Social Inclusivity Club at Allendale Columbia School organized an Upper School assembly to highlight and honor the contribution of local women in the Rochester community. The club’s co-chairs were moved by a project called Her Voice Carries that they discovered through an exhibit at the Memorial Art Gallery.

Her Voice Carries, by local mural artist Sarah Rutherford, features five local, empowered women and the inspiring work that they do to support their local communities and to “lift up the voices of others.” Sarah collaborated with the women to design and paint five murals of them in different communities throughout Rochester. From there, the club chairs decided that the AC community would get a lot out of Sarah and her work and knew they needed to share her story and project with everyone.

The AC community was extremely fortunate to have three of the women, Trelawney McCoy, Safi Osman, and KaeLyn Rich, join Sarah to talk about the important work they’re doing.

• Trelawney McCoy, active in Rochester’s Northeast Quadrant, is the foster and biological mother to nine children. She works full time as a project counselor at the University of Rochester helping young mothers gain their independence. Trelawney believes that every child deserves love, and she has dedicated her life to that mission.
• Safi Osman is active in the Southwest Quadrant of Rochester. She is originally from Somalia, has lived in the United States for 2-3 years, and is an emergency translator. Safi also provides transport to refugees in need through Refugees Helping Refugees, an organization that she helped found.
• KaeLyn Rich is active in the Southeast Quadrant. She is a queer feminist who is an active writer and direct action organizer. She is the Assistant Advocacy Director with the New York Civil Liberties Union, a staff writer for Autostraddle, and also maintains a blog that focuses on parenting and family-making. KaeLyn’s new book, Girls Resist!: A Guide to Activism, Leadership, and Starting a Revolution, is up for preorder, to be released in August.

The women shared more about their passions and efforts in the Rochester community, then the panel opened for questions.

The assembly resonated with many at Allendale Columbia who felt that the stories of these women were inspirational to them, as they often feel as though they have little control over their world. This assembly showed these students that their voices matter and that they have the power to make a difference in world, which, at times such as these, is critical.

If you would like to learn more about Sarah Rutherford’s Her Voice Carries, visit https://hervoicecarries.blog/ where you can find more information about the artist, the project, and the different mural locations.

The Social Inclusivity Club works to promote awareness and acceptance to the problems of  marginalized people in our community. Learn more about the club on their blog, https://sicblogac.wordpress.com .

Alison Zell Alison Zell, Co-chair of the Social Inclusivity Club, is a senior at Allendale Columbia School. This is her 3rd year as Co-Chair of the club. Alison enjoys running track, baking, playing the trombone, and spending time with her family, including her bunny, Bunzo Dunzo, and her dog, Kali Zell. Alison is going to study nursing next year.

Indiia Maring Indy Maring, Co-chair of the Social Inclusivity Club, is a senior at AC. Indy has been a member of SIC for 3 years, and this is their first year as chair. They enjoy throwing discus, learning about cults, and playing with their cousin Riley. Next year, Indy plans on studying Political Science at the University of Rochester.