Hiking around the top of Landour

Jeff and Cole joined a middle-school hike to the top of Woodstock's hill, Lal Tibba. The figure-eight roadway around the top is well-maintained because the Indian military has a large training center here, with buildings spread across the top. The boys are standing near the current public lookout post with the ambitious sign "Highest point in Mussoorie".
And here's a photo of the tree rhododendrons that grow throughout Mussoorie, with gorgeous blooms in March and April. They don't last long, though, because the monkeys find them very tasty!

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Further east on the road, along the north side of the hill, is the cemetery where most of the British residents ended up. It is still active, with only a few burials each year.

Father and sons

Attached is a nice photo of the guys, all dressed up for school chapel, just before leaving the house.

Joseph comes to Woodstock

Drama Weekend has been difficult thing to plan this year, what with the current lack of a drama teacher at Woodstock. But two new music teachers Mrs. Hugg and Miss Sheehy, have stepped forward to organize a production of Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, by the middle school. Tryouts were held, and Coleman won the part of Joseph!
Here are some photos of the first practices, with Coleman trying on a preliminary "coat of many colors". And also, the stage crew at their design session.

Social Studies, in the old days.

Students are preparing for the schools' Model U.N. assembly, to be held soon. All 8th graders are required to participate, as part of their social studies class. High schoolers volunteer because they are interested, and it is fun... and the better ones get to go to Delhi in the fall, for an all-India Model U.N. assembly, possibly another one overseas as well.

JT: A very nice ninth-grader approached me and asked "Is Cuba a communist country?"
I was taken aback, and asked him to repeat the question (I hope I didn't look too incredulous). I answered "Yes, for about 40 years. It is the only communist country in the western hemisphere."
He responded, "So, the U.S. is not friendly to it?"
I said "oh no."
I was ready to launch into a lengthy disquisition on the 1959 revolution and the 1961 Bay of Pigs, and the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Fidel Castro regime, and the recent seesaw of U.S. foreign policy, and the role of rich (and voting) Cuban refugees in the formation of that policy... but no, he only had a couple of questions.

Barb's Third Grade Class at Woodstock School

When you have students from India, U.S., South Africa, and Nepal in one Third Grade class, you constantly try to find things that we all have in common. Our social studies unit on the History of Toys and Games was something that everyone wanted to learn and share about. We started the unit by bringing in our favorite toys and discovered that stuffed animals and plastic action figures are universal. Next we researched toys and found out that many of our favorites originated in some form in ancient civilizations - the Beyblades that are all the rage today were introduced as clay tops about 1200 BC in Egypt! We then had some Woodstock long-term volunteers, Jack and Shirley Dyer, share with the class about their favorite toys and games when they were in the Third Grade, back in the 1930's. The most memorable were a cast iron cannon that really exploded, and a backyard rope swing. Next the students learned how to write clear directions for their favorite games, which they shared before Game Day - a full day of Sorry!, Mindscape, Checkers, UNO, MasterMind, Mancala, Star Warsand even Mario the video game. We'll end our study by playing games from our home countries in Physical Education class, and making a timeline of our research findings about toys and games. Hey, why wasn't Social Studies this fun when WE were in school?