This week, our Brain Bee students and seniors dove into the delicate art of dissection. Fortunately, Ms. Asha sent me pictures, so my queasy stomach didn’t have to witness this myself.
While Sohani and Fuji are handling a brain, Camille and Kyran are holding a pig’s heart. Which got me thinking: several years ago, I learned that the Chinese character “xin” refers to both the heart and the mind:
While it has no direct translation into English, it refers to the idea that both thoughts and emotions emanate from the same source, and that these ways of receiving and perceiving the world are all wrapped up in our overall consciousness. I like to think that as our students are dissecting hearts and brains, their own “heart-mind” is growing in that same holistic sense. They’re not just learning about the parts of the brain; they’re learning practices that actually change how their brain is wired. They’re not just learning about the parts of the heart; they’re challenged to grow into compassionate humans and navigate complex relationships.
The magic of a place like Maharishi School is that we ask our students to go beyond what we know; we challenge them to grapple with how we know, and then to bring that awareness into the world so that it can enhance the quality of their work and their relationships.
Yes, we dissect. But we dissect so that we can assemble, whether that means our thoughts and emotions, our friends and family, or the whole beautiful gestalt that is consciousness.
Lower School Gestalt
Grade 1 recently learned about the characteristics of flight by sending hand-made whirlies down the central stairway. Grade 2 took advantage of 70-degree weather yesterday to get in some tag during their afternoon break. Grade 3 has a burgeoning passion for chess, which will soon be nurtured by more classroom boards. And grades 5 and 6 took (another!) field trip, this time to the Stanley Art Museum and then ice-skating in Iowa City.
Middle and Upper School Gestalt
Our Middle School students benefited from two groups that visited our campus. Just yesterday, a financial literacy organization called “Fund Your Future” delivered a performance in which they offered tips and guidance to our students in Grades 5-8 on how to be responsible with their money. It was an entertaining, highly participatory event, so ask your child what they learned. Last week, the acclaimed Isadora Duncan Dance Company of New York was working with IDC and came to our campus on Friday to offer a tutorial to our students in Grades 6-8. And our robotics team finished their season last weekend with a 14th-place finish in the state. The team, which has no seniors on it, is looking forward to building on their experience next season.
Science Fair
You’re cordially invited to support the 36 Middle and Upper School students who are currently finishing up their Science Fair presentations with our first-ever on-campus Science Fair exhibit. On Wednesday, March 4, from 2:15 to 4:15, all students will display their experiments in the Auditorium for viewing by other students, faculty, and community members. There are some incredibly ambitious and complex experiments this year, so please come see the amazing work being done, even if your child is not participating.
National Merit Finalist!
A huge congratulations to Antariksha Sharma, who earned a perfect PSAT score and is now a National Merit Scholarship Finalist. Her performance on the PSAT, along with her extracurricular achievements, allows her to compete for scholarships all over the country that are only available to National Merit Scholarship Finalists. She is among the 1/3 of 1% of students who earned the distinction.