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Top 10 Benefits of Living in a Small Town

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Why we love a small town vibe

Maharishi School is located in Fairfield, Iowa. It’s a tiny town of 10,000 nestled among small benefits of small townfields of corn. But don’t let the size fool you. We have a vibrant startup community that includes 400 small businesses that provide jobs to 3,000 people. Many business owners and leaders are alumni from our school and they have raised a combined $200 million in venture capital. Let me tell you some of the benefits that living in a small town can offer you.

Top 10 benefits of living in a small town

  1. Less Crime: Statistically speaking there are less crimes in smaller towns.
  2. No Traffic: Because the population is so small, you can say goodbye to rush hour! Also you don’t have to drive everywhere because many places are within walking distance.
  3. Strong Community: In a small town, most people know each other either directly or indirectly, which gives a sense of belonging.
  4. Cost of Living is Less:  You can rent an entire house for the price of a tiny studio apartment in a big city! In addition the price of groceries, services, and gas is cheaper in a small town.
  5. Community Involvement: Fairfield has residents that are big believers in giving back to the community and Fairfield’s Jefferson County ranks fifth among all U.S. counties in per-capita charitable contributions.
  6. You Can See the Stars: A small town means no light pollution because there are no skyscrapers, large neon signs, or big stores to block out the light.
  7. Family Run Business: It is not unlikely in Fairfield that a friend of your friend owns a cafe, or is opening a new restaurant on the town square. Many of the businesses you go into are owned and run by local families.
  8. Locally sourced food-Our town has a deep commitment to sustainability. This has led to a boost in organic farming which allows us to offer fresh farm-to-table food at Maharishi School and has made Fairfield, Iowa the 5th largest market for organic foods in the country.
  9. Farmers Markets- Fairfield hosts weekly Farmers Market during May through October. Vendors offer locally grown produce, as well as baked goods and a large selection of handmade arts and crafts.
  10. Safety- Small towns, especially Fairfield, give the residents an overall feeling of safety. Fairfield is ranked #14 in Iowa’s Safest Cities.

Why should you move to our small town?

Buzzfeed calls Fairfield one of “11 Coolest Small Cities It’s Time To Road Trip To.” Named one of America’s best small towns to visit by Smithsonian Magazine, Fairfield is big on culture and thriving on creativity. Meditation is fuel for creativity and this has led to some truly amazing accomplishments.

One of those accomplishments includes the Fairfield Go-Green Sustainability Commission which started in 2009. It’s a community-wide plan to incorporate sustainable practices benefits of a small town solar powered energythroughout the city that has resulted in many all-green buildings, and huge impacts in the areas of energy, transportation, and infrastructure. Fairfield has one of America’s largest concentrations of solar homes. For example, our EcoVillage is a community of permaculture homes that run completely on solar and wind power.

Having the option to enroll your children in the Maharishi School is reason enough to move! In October 2011, Oprah Winfrey visited Maharishi School and Fairfield to film an episode for “Oprah’s Next Chapter.”

oprah benefits of meditationAfter this experience Oprah wrote in her OWN blog, “TM teachers have taught everyone in my company who wanted to learn how to meditate. The results have been awesome. Better sleep. Improved relationships with spouses, children, coworkers. Some people who once suffered migraines don’t anymore. Greater productivity and creativity all around.”

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/health/oprah-on-stillness-and-meditation-oprah-visits-fairfield-iowa#ixzz6Fqs0U43z

To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

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Why do Maharishi School students wear a uniform?

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Why are uniforms important to our school?

Having a common student uniform supports an equitable, orderly, coherent learning environment. The uniform policies at Maharishi School have proven successful in boarding students at Maharishi Schoolhelping to culture this environment in the classroom.  We want our students to define and distinguish themselves by their words and actions, not by the expense of their clothing. Here are some more specifics as highlighted in our parent handbook:

  • Uniforms are required to always be clean, properly fitting, and in good repair.
  • Students are expected to remove hats when indoors.
  • Only uniform sweaters can be worn during school hours.
  • Only ear and nose piercings are allowed.

How do the students at Maharishi School feel about their uniforms?

I asked three of our Seniors; Jada Sparks, Chase Winer and Yenet Tafesse about their uniforms. Chase says, “I love the uniform because there’s lots of options. The pants and polo shirts are soft and I feel comfortable when2020 senior girls Maharishi School I’m wearing them.” Jada enjoys the freedom she has with accessories, “I like to wear crazy socks and having any choice of shoes is fun for me” she says with her troll earrings dangling to her shoulders. Yenet clarified that any sweaters are OK, “but they have to match the colors that you find in the plaid skirts, then you can wear them with the uniform.”

 

Uniforms: Then vs Now  

Changes in the uniform were driven by the desire to be gender neutral. Self expression is important at Maharishi School, as you can see in boarding students internationalseveral of these images. Many of our students have fun with dying their hair and adding little flavors of their own personal style to the uniform. However, it wasn’t always this way.

In the 1998-1999 Maharishi Schoolearly 90’s  you can see a very different sense of the uniform at Maharishi School. Walking down the halls of Maharishi School in 1999 you would see yellow and green plaid jumpers for the girls, and khaki pants with a yellow knitted tie for the boys. Now, in 2020, the students have uniforms that vary from navy blue to forest green or grey.

  1994-1995 maharishi school 1994-1995 6th Grade Girls

4th grade boys 1998-19991998-1999 4th Grade Boys

2003-2004 Maharishi School 2003-2004 9th Grade Boys

 

What is the future of school uniforms?

The American Preparatory Schools Organizations talk about uniforms, “When wearing uniforms, students often feel more “important” since they belong to a group. Uniforms give a sense of belonging, and a code of conduct is imposed on the student.”

At Maharishi School, the uniform not only embodies order but it can also be a blank music class at maharishi schoolcanvas for the student to express themselves. Times are changing and, therefore, the needs of a student will always be different. Our school wants you to be your best most authentic self and our uniform will always be a reflection of that.

To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

To learn more about school events and student life, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

 

How Much Is Too Much for AP Class Workload?

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What are AP (Advanced Placement) Classes?

AP (Advanced Placement) is a program of classes developed by the College Board to give high school students an introduction to a college-level workload. Maharishi School offers Advanced Placement courses in Psychology, Statistics, Microeconomics, U.S. History, Calculus, English Literature, English Language, and Physics.

Why are AP classes important for our students?

Taking an AP class introduces students to the rigors of a college course which helps prepare them to transition to yenet using a microscopecollege. Highly selective colleges expect their students to complete these courses and to pass them with top marks. Many colleges grant students college credit if the student scores well (at least a 4, or 5 out of 5) on the AP exam. Being successful in class and on the test gives students a competitive edge. Apart from the exam results, students who successfully complete an AP course (with a grade C or better) improve their chances of admission to a selective college.

How can we reduce the stress load and still be college prep?

We recommend that most students take no more than five AP courses in total. This way the students don’t feel overly stretched and stressed. As researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill determined, taking more than five AP courses in high school gives no student working in schoolsignificant increase in college grade point average (GPA): More AP Classes May Not Be Better.

The UNC-Chapel Hill article describes their research: “They found that students who take more AP or IB courses do better in college—but only up to a certain point. If two students have similar SAT scores and high-school grades, and one takes zero AP courses and the other takes five, the student with five AP courses will probably have a higher first-year undergraduate GPA (3.26 versus 3.07). Above five courses, there’s no significant increase in GPA.”

So your child still wants to take 10 AP Courses regardless of the stress?

According to the American Psychological Association, 30% of teens feel overwhelmed and depressed as a result of stress overload. Growing up is tough. Teens today are under immense pressure. It can feel as if they are out in the ocean being tossed and turned by turbulent waves. Maharishi School addresses this issue by offering a tool for stress relief called Transcendental Meditation®. By accessing our own inherent intelligence via the TM® technique, we utilize our full potential and are able to move towards goals with less turmoil. Regular practice of TM erodes the effects of stress and creates skillful action allowing our students to take on more work if they choose to do so, with less energy expended. Work smarter not harder!

students meditating stress release

What to Expect from Boarding Schools

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Parents and students alike have a lot of questions surrounding boarding schools. In general, the questions sound a lot like “Why boarding school?” We get it! What is the difference between boarding school and day school programs? What are the benefits? Why would I choose this for my child? These are all really good questions. Sending your child to school is a decision that has a huge impact on his or her life. Let’s see if we can answer some of these questions!

There are many reasons to attend a boarding school from quality academics and extracurricular activities,  solid college preparation, close friendships, real-world learning, and a new inter-cultural experience. Boarding schools open up a whole world of possibility. They allow you to select the best school for your child, regardless of location. Yes, we want to be close to our kids so that is something to add to your boarding school considerations, but boarding schools allow you to send your child to the school that will serve them best. That’s awesome!

Teachers

First, let’s talk about teachers. Boarding school tend to have teachers who have real world experience in the field they are teaching. This includes degrees in their field and experience working in their field. This benefits students because it lets them see a subject through the eyes of an actual professional. The teachers choose their profession before the decided to teach about it. That means they already loved that field of study and now get to pass on that passion.

Discipline

Because there tends to be a lower rate of disciplinary action in boarding schools, teachers are able to focus on actually teaching the students rather than refereeing. This is wonderful! Teachers get to focus on academics and their students’ goals rather than making sure each student is behaving properly. Maybe this is because of the smaller class sizes.

Smaller Class Sizes

Boarding and private schools tend to limit the number of students they will accept each year in order to manage class sizes. Because of the smaller class sizes, students get more individualized, quality time with their teachers. Teachers and students are able to build relationships that encourage learning and understanding. When a student has a problem, teachers have more time to address the issue.

The Arts

At boarding schools, expect the arts to be high quality. Boarding and private schools tend to offer a wide range of art options, from performing arts, to pottery, to creative writing class. You will see the art of students proudly displayed in the halls or even in a private art gallery. Boarding and private schools tend to host numerous performing art events as well, which allows student many diverse experiences.

Maharishi School

Boarding and private schools have a lot to offer! While Maharishi School looks a lot like many boarding schools you will come across in your search for the perfect school, we also have some opportunities no one else offers. We offer Consciousness-Based Education, which is a scholarly way to say we care about your child’s stress levels. Unlike other boarding and private schools, we don’t believe that piling on an excessive amount of work will help your child succeed. Instead, we want to give your child the tools to self-manage, regulate stress, and self-motivate. We center our education around the things YOUR CHILD is passionate about in our Project-Based Learning curriculum, which is a time your child gets to decide what he or she wants to learn next (though we are happy to point them in a direction).

To read more about how Maharishi School prepared students for college and, eventually, the real world and to see where our alumni are now, visit our Alumni Profiles. boarding school

To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

To learn more about school events and student life, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Hannah Nichols
Marketing and PR
Maharishi School
hnichols@msae.edu
Fairfield, IA 52556

Poetry Unit: Poems by Our Second Graders

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Our Second Grade students, in Mrs. Walmsley’s class, have been working hard in their poetry unit. They have been practicing many different forms of poetry. I had the honor hearing them read their original works. Now, the students are ready to share their writing with the world!Second Grade Poetry

Blue by Kaleb

Blue like a diamond in the sky –

And the water down below

and the winter sky –

Like a cold cube of coldness

Floating around the world.

 

My Older Brother by Eva (who doesn’t have an older bother)

My older brother is madder than a very mad raccoon.

He is never as happy like a sunshine.

He is only mad and very, very stern.

Me, on the other hand, is happy.

Happy as can be.

I always do what my parents want me to when I am very happy.

 

The Moment by Aden

Have you ever had a moment?

Have you ever felt the silver strings of ideas it sends to your mind?

Fast as lightening,

They streak through your mind –

Down, down

To the black pit that grows with vines. poetry reading

 

A Blow by Shea

A blow ho no.

A cold wind today

No book today

Hot, hot chocolate on the stove!!!

Brown blanket around me.

It is cold like the north pole.

 

Rose by Wansu

Oh rose, you make me blossom.

Oh rose, you make my heart pump like a thousand butterflies.

Oh rose, you’re like a pretty, pink diamond,

Like a pink bird soaring through the sky,

Like a tree with pink cherry blossoms.

Oh rose, you make me blossom.

 

The Pencil by Oliver

A pencil can be a yellow stick.

A pencil can hurt you if you touch the tip.

A pencil can be a sword.

A pencil can write words that change your life. poetry reading

 

Yesterday I Saw a Bird by Angelica

Yesterday I saw a bird,

laying on a tree.

It was all red and the mouth was green.

Little, little bird

I wish I can put you in my pocket.

But I can’t!

It reminds me when I was at Maker Space

I saw a sweater.

It was red and green.

Just like you!!

 

Pizza by Evie

Pizza you are sleeping

But you wake up just like the sun in the morning.

When you’re sleeping,

You’re like the full moon.

Pizza, pizza

What do you see?

I see a pizza in my tummy.

 

 

To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

To learn more about school events and student life, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Hannah Nichols
Marketing and PR
Maharishi School
hnichols@msae.edu
Fairfield, IA 52556

Phishing Emails – Taught by Shristi

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Phishing Emails

Phishing Emails are becoming more and more popular as a way scammers can gain access to you. The goals of phishing scams vary widely and include hacking a system, stealing personal information, or convincing you to send money. Phishing emails are something to be aware of! To familiarize yourself with the concept, read how one student taught our staff about how easy it is for phishing scammers to reach us.

Maharishi School and Phishing Emails

One of our students, Shristi, taught our staff about how easy to is to mistake a phishing scam as a real email coming from a real person. Shristi demonstrated this by sending a series of phishing emails to our staff and other businesses within our community. Many of our staff fell into the trap. Shristi then explained the emails to our staff. Here is what she had to say:

Dear All,

Recently, you received two emails titled “Additional Benefits!” and “URGENT: Employee Contract Update” that seemed to be coming from Celeste Siemsen, but were, in fact, coming from me, Shristi. I am a 9th grader at Maharishi School and was sending these emails out to you as part of a science fair experiment. If you opened these emails, and clicked on the link, you saw an alert pop up that said that the emails you received were fake and were part of a phishing campaign for a science experiment. Had those emails been a part of a real attack, your information could have been used to compromise Maharishi School. I would like to thank you all for your cooperation and participation in this experiment and would also like to share some information with you to raise awareness about phishing.

What is Phishing?
Phishing is a type of social engineering attack which utilizes email as a way to obtain login credentials, gather information, or send malware to a user’s computer. These messages often entice targets to click a link to visit a malicious website or download a malicious file through a variety of ways including:
Appearing to come from a legitimate email address (These emails looked like they were coming from Celeste Siemsen)
Playing on emotions causing the target to act irrationally (showing sense of urgency, or luring you with a promise of benefits)
Legitimate looking websites and/or emails ( The website looked like a Google login page)
How many Maharishi School Employees Took the Bait?

71% of employees opened the additional benefits email and clicked on the link while 19% opened the contract update email and clicked the link.

Maharishi School is not alone. Every single day, 80,000 people take the bait! That is why 76% of the world’s companies and organizations reported falling victim to a phishing attack last year.

Why Should I Care?
Believe it or not, you are a target both at work and at home. You and your devices are critical entry points into any organization, and being able to identify and react to phishing emails appropriately will stop these attacks dead in the water. If you feel that you have received a phishing email, it is never a bad idea to confirm that the email came from the right source by contacting the person through another means of communication(calling, texting, etc). If you receive a phishing email on your school account contact Ms. Celeste or another administrator immediately and follow the appropriate policies and procedures.

Phishing Indicators
Check the email address. If the sender is from an unusual domain it’s probably a phish.
Be suspicious of emails with generic salutations. They could be an indicator that a seemingly personal email went to a lot of people.
Be suspicious of emails which ask for an immediate action to be taken. That means that an attacker is expecting you to take action without thinking.
Be careful with links. Hover over the link first and check that the destination matches the link.
Don’t open attachments unless you’re expecting one from that specific person or you’ve verified the attachment is safe via some other means besides email.
Be mindful of emails containing offers that are ‘too good to be true’. More often than not, they are.

Red Flags in the Emails you Received

Phishing Email Red Flags

Shristi got the following awards for her project “Phishing: Don’t Take the Bait, Protect Your Sensitive Information” in the Senior high-school category.

State Science and Technology Fair, 2018
1) Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Trip Award, Student Observer
2) 1st Place in the Computer Science category
3) Intel Excellence in Computer Science and $200 cash award

She also received the following award at Eastern Iowa Science and Engineering Fair

EISEF, 2018
1) EISEF: Honorable Mention, Senior
2) Inspiring Excellence: Alan B. Adams Meritorious Achievement

 

To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

To learn more about school events and student life, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Hannah Nichols
Marketing and PR
Maharishi School
hnichols@msae.edu
Fairfield, IA 52556

Ayurveda and Your Dosha

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Ayurveda and Maharishi School

At Maharishi School, we teach a system of wellness, Maharishi Ayurveda, that we believe will benefit our students for the rest of their lives. Ayurveda is an ancient, Eastern system of wellness that aims to keep the body in balance to prevent illness and disruptions to the quality of life. Ayurveda looks at a person holistically – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually – to find the source of any imbalance that may arise. Each individual is unique, but everyone tends to fit into a combination of the three doshas, or constitutions. These doshas define both the individual’s most balanced and natural state (prakriti) and their current imbalance (vikriti). Understanding these two areas of a person helps identify the ways to return a person back to their individual balanced state from their out of balance state.

The Doshas

According to Maharishi Ayurveda, there are three doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Vata governs movement. Vata constitutions tend to have a thin build, tend to not gain weight easily, tend to learn quickly then forget easily, tend to be enthusiastic, and vivacious, and to easily become cold. Pitta governs all heat, metabolism, digestion, and transformation in the mind and body. Pitta constitutions tend to have a medium build and balanced weight, a sharp intellect, to be goal-oriented, and to easily become hot. Kapha dosha governs the structure and fluid balance in the body. Kapha constitutions tend to have a larger build, have a tendency for weight gain, are slow to learn but slow to forget, tend to be sweet and even-tempered, and dislike cold and damp weather.

Each person is their own specific blend of all three doshas, but most people have more of two doshas. If you want to find your dosha or imbalance, visit Maharishi Ayurveda Products International’s website (MAPI.com). Take the Dosha Quiz and learn more about your constitution and Ayurveda.

Our Students

We provide our students with an in-depth understanding of their dosha and imbalance. In addition, we help give them tools to bring themselves back to balance. Ayurveda is a powerful modality in that it empowers an individual to assess their own imbalance and decide how to address that balance. We want to encourage our students to focus on their whole-body health all of their lives. We believe Ayurveda provides them with tools to do just that.

To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

To learn more about school events and student life, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Hannah Nichols
Marketing and PR
Maharishi School
hnichols@msae.edu
Fairfield, IA 52556

What is a Yagya?

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Yagya is a process of bringing the individual into harmony with the
stream of evolution, which enjoys the favor of all the forces of nature
engaged in the advancement of life, individual and cosmic.” —Maharishi

 

What is a Yagya?

Yagyas are performed through the recitation of sound to reach a certain result. Yagyas are based on the ancient knowledge of saints of the vedic tradition.  Yagyas are performed to creative a positive effect and to best support nature positively. Specifically trained pandits (pundits) perform the yagyas. The goal of yagyas is to promote harmony in order for a person or group of people to see the positive effects of life.

Maharishi School and Yagyas

Each year, Maharishi School uses yagyas to fund-raise to provide for the school’s needs and so that the school may benefit from the strength of yagyas. Participate by donating $100 or more to Maharishi School and contribute to the glorious benefits of Maharishi Yagya® performances. The five Maharishi Yagya performances are based on the incorporation date of Maharishi University of Management. All donations are tax-deductible. At least fifteen percent of your gift goes directly to the performances and the balance contributes to the Maharishi School Annual Fund.

Donate $108: $100 will apply to your share and $8 will go to those who would like to join but are unable to purchase a full share.

To donate, click here.

To learn more about Maharishi Yagyas, click here.

Thank you!

To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

To learn more about school events and student life, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Hannah Nichols
Marketing and PR
Maharishi School
hnichols@msae.edu
Fairfield, IA 52556

Why We Promote Creative Problem-Solving

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Why We Promote Creative Problem-Solving

At Maharishi School, we want to promote creative problem-solving in our students because it is a valuable lifelong skill. We accept that our students will come across many problems throughout life. These problems with need solving, as problems tend to need. We want to give students a taste of this reality by providing a safe and constructive space to try, fail, and succeed. One way we provide this space is through Destination ImagiNation.

Destination ImagiNation

Destination ImagiNation (DI) is the world’s largest creativity and problem-solving competition and inspires participants in its programs to think on their feet, work together and devise original solutions to solve the mind-bending challenges. The students must come up with solutions to the challenges on their own, without adult interference.

Below is one DI performance our students produced. It is incredibly insightful, nuanced, and intelligent.

To read more about DI at Maharishi School, click here.

To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

To learn more about school events and student life, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Hannah Nichols
Marketing and PR
Maharishi School
hnichols@msae.edu
Fairfield, IA 52556

Why We Manage Stress

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Why We Manage Stress

Life is full of stressful events. Just when we think we have conquered one, another stressful situation pops up. As adults, we know our stress transitions from deadlines on homework to deadlines at work, on taxes, on bills. However, we know that those stressors as kids and teenagers were real and pressing.

According to the American Psychological Association, 30% percent of teens feel overwhelmed and depressed as a result of stress overload. Growing up is tough. Teens today are under immense pressure and sometimes it can feel as if they are out in the ocean being tossed and turned by turbulent waves. But that turbulence is only on the surface of the water, as you go to deeper and deeper levels of the ocean, there is more and more calm. Transcendental Meditation® is the technique to effortlessly let go of that surface tension and sink into that depth of calm.

Utilizing Our Full Potential

With goal-setting, it’s important to have perseverance and push upwards, but what if we could make that process easier? By accessing our own inherent intelligence via the Transcendental Meditation® technique we utilize our full potential and are able to move towards goals with less turmoil. Regular practice of TM erodes the effects of stress and creates skillful action allowing us to do more, with less energy expended.

When stress begins to melt away, that’s when the real self begins to emerge. At Maharishi School, we believe change begins within and we give you the tools needed to beat stress. We teach you how to transcend turbulence and to access that rich reservoir that is at the deepest level within.

To read more about our stress management, click here.

To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

To learn more about school events and student life, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Hannah Nichols
Marketing and PR
Maharishi School
hnichols@msae.edu
Fairfield, IA 52556