Solstice

Every year, MLC puts on a celebration of the winter solstice. Every grade participates in some way, whether it be reciting a poem, dancing, or singing a song. The kindergarten traditionally sings What a Wonderful World, signing along in ASL. This year, Avril's class and John's class (1st and 2nd grade mixes) performed This Little Light of Mine, and Ned's class (6th grade) recited King John's Christmas, a poem by A.A. Milne.

In this picture, the school's marimba band performs while students and parents are sitting down. 

The kindergarten kids end their song with a bang.

The staff have a part in the performance too: every year, they rewrite the lyrics of a song they all know and sing to us about how much they love working at MLC. Where else could that happen but here?

The staff hold up paper stars in the middle of their song and dance...may we draw your attention to Ned's face (far left) for just a moment? We found it entertaining. 

The last portion of the celebration is a dance pageant done by high school students, which ends in the dancers leading the audience out to a bonfire in the parking lot. The pageant is created and run almost entirely by students, with a few staff supervisors. The pageant's plot always includes a few key points: there is always a Sun and Moon, and something (kidnapping, impostors, overgrown weeds) that takes the Sun away from the Earth for a while. Over the course of the dances, the Sun finds his or her way back to the planet, signifying the lengthening of the days, and the dancers celebrate his/her return. Students design and create choreography, plot, costumes, lighting, and set, and it all comes together in the hours before the performance in Bianca's room. 

Bianca (our awesome high school language arts and art teacher, and the one who really makes solstice possible for us) paints gold makeup on the Sun (Violet Lane-Ruckman).

For the high schoolers, one of the best parts of the process is getting ready to go on stage the day of. They hang out in Bianca's room and proceed to don costumes, makeup, and what seems like tons of glitter, teasing each other's hair to ridiculous heights.

Here, two sisters pose for the camera in all their glittery glory. 

After an hour or so of preparation comes the waiting. Since they're already in costumes, they're not allowed to escape into the hallways. They stay cooped up in the basement in anticipation of the show, growing crazier and more excited by the minute. Inevitably, someone decides a group photo is in order.

Here they are...both of your authors are in this photo, but I bet you can't find us! 

Finally, the moment arrives where they are let out of Bianca's room and led upstairs to the halls outside the auditorium. There, more waiting and controlled pandemonium takes place, until at last, everyone's turn comes up to be on stage. In the end, every dancer returns to the stage, and leads the audience outside. Once there, the entire school dances around the bonfire for a while to the drumming of students, staff, and parents.

The Jupiter group dances around the stage.

Meanwhile, representatives from each class burn the scraps from this year's power animals. This tradition consists of ripping animal shapes out of construction paper and writing our hopes for the coming year inside. After we finish writing, we staple them onto a string. The animals are put on display in the commons, where everyone can enjoy them. On the scraps that are left over, we write what we want to put behind us from the past year.

Burning the scraps, drumming, and dancing! In other words, the awesomeness that is the solstice bonfire. Be not deceived by its small size.

A staff member drums while students and parents look on.

Solstice is also one of the most popular times for alumni to come visit...we usually see graduated students and retired teachers walking around and reconnecting. A good bit of tomfoolery goes down, and everyone enjoys themselves. Of course, the free cake doesn't hurt! It's a great opportunity for students to bond, and crazy pictures get taken (as evidenced by the pictures you see here). Overall, it's a great way to showcase students' creativity and imagination, while having quite a bit of fun in the process, and is one of the traditions dearest to the MLC community.

The Imposter Sun, Sun, and Imposter Moon pose for a photo. They look awesome! 

P.S. On a side note, Lewis Holland's ex-wife was the creator of Solstice at MLC. Lewis is the high school math teacher, and has been teaching at MLC for 40 years!