I Have a Dream, Too

Today the nation observes the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. His true birthdate is January 15, 1929. He is one of the most celebrated and influential people in our country's history. He played a major role in the Civil Rights movement in the United States from the late 1950s until his assassination on April 4, 1968. He died for the rights of African Americans, and he died to set us all free from the bondage of hate and inequality. One of his most notable speeches was given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. The day of August 28, 1963 at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Over 250,000 people attended the march.

In observance of Dr. King, each student in our class wrote their own version of the "I Have a Dream" speech. Below is a copy of one speech, written by Trusten Murrah, age 10.

I Have a Dream, Too

"I have a dream that one day this nation will treat other nations like friends.

I have a dream that one day the world will solve a problem without violence.

I have a dream that one day the world will be at peace.

I have a dream that we will look to other countries for help not war.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day we will use words instead of weapons.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day we will worry about the next generation instead of war.

This is my hope and faith. With this faith we will be able to live in this world without war.

This will be the day when love fills the world."

Spring Outdoor Program

The Outdoor Program took place last May in the George Washington National Forest, in Fort Valley, Virginia. Attendees included Hearthstone School teachers and students from grades three through eleven. The highlights of the program included fishing, rock climbing, hiking, orienteering, and camping.

The outdoor program was designed and led by Aron Weisgerber, a teacher at Hearthstone School. This is what he had to say about the experience this past spring: “The location was very diverse, giving us the opportunity to practice and hone multiple skills, including rock climbing, wild food preparation, and primitive camping skills, within a small national forest. The orienteering exercise was very beneficial for the students and overall I think that the location and exercises we completed were successful.”

Weaving Fibers: a Family Tradition and Way of Life in Oaxaca, Mexico

On October 13, fiber artist Wence Martinez, from Oaxaca, Mexico came to Hearthstone School and presented a slide show and lecture on weaving wool. Mr. Martinez taught us about sheering sheep for wool, spinning wool, growing cacti to farm the bug, cochineal, for red dye, other natural dyes, using looms, and weaving wool rugs and ponchos. Wence Martinez wasborn in 1959 in Teotitlan del Villa, Oaxaca, Mexico. He is a full Zapotec Indian. He began weaving under his grandfather and father’s instruction. In 1974 he entered the National Institute of Weaving in Mexico City with a scholarship. In the late 70’s he did weaving and paintings of Edmundo Aquino in his private studio. The year of 1988 he met an artist named Sandra; they would spend their lives together. From 1994 to the present Wence and Sandra have run the Martinez studio in Jacksonport, Wisconsin where they both have their works on display.

Winter Ski Lessons

Each January Hearthstone School attends a ski program, which lasts for six weeks at Massanutten Ski Resort in the Shenandoah Valley. The ski program includes skiing and snowboarding lessons, lift passes, and equipment rentals.

Massanutten has fourteen slopes. The shortest ski slope is called Nutten-To-It, which is 800 feet long and perfect for the beginner. The longest ski slope is called ParaDice, it is 4,100 feet long, and is categorized as a black diamond slope, which means it is one of the most difficult slopes to traverse.

Seed Saving Field Experience

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange is a local seed saver catalog that offers many varieties of heirloom, non-genetically modified, and/or organic seeds that grow well in the mid-Atlantic region as well as other latitudes that are comparable. The middle grades through high school went to their farm and office for a special tour and discussion with Paul Blundell, co-manager of SouthernExposure Seed Exchange.

Paul explained the different varieties of seeds they sell through their catalog. We had lunch, then we toured the property with River, who showed us the gardens that contained different varieties of tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, greens, and cabbage. There are around 23 people who live and work at SESE. It was an educational and fun field trip, we learned a lot about the importance of seed saving. We hope to use some of the skills and ideas learned at SESE at Hearthstone in our gardens in the future.

History Field Trip to Montpelier

Last April the Hearthstone middle and high school students travelled to Montpelier, the home of former President and Founding Father, James Madison and his wife Dolley. After touring the home our group was given the opportunity to observe an archaeological dig located on the property of Montpelier, conducted by the archaeology department of James Madison University. There were hands-on activities located across the property. The students conducted their own archaeological dig, then toured the archaeology laboratory. They were able to do handwork that was common in the early nineteenth century, such as sharpening hand tools, woodworking, and blacksmithing.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

In September the middle and high school students took a field trip to Washington, D.C. to visit the National Museum of Natural History. The purpose of the field trip was to view the ancient mummies from Egypt and the various ancient Greek artifacts on exhibit for a limited time. This field trip enriched the learning experiences of each student by giving them an opportunity to see actual mummies and actual ancient Greek artifacts. Seeing the rare mummies may have been a once in a lifetime experience for the students and teachers.

Fundraising Efforts at Hearthstone

Hearthstone School holds fundraising opportunities and events throughout the year including bulb sale, auction, holiday bazaar, organic chocolate, boxtops, grocery stores, cartridges for kids, annual appeal letter. Last year Hearthstone School began a fundraising challenge in which an anonymous donor offered to match up to $50,000 of raised funds for our school. We met that goal. Each year we have succeeded in our fundraising efforts. This school year we must raise $100,000 to keep our school thriving.

Hearthstone School Participates in the Pennies for Peace Campaign

Above is the book that inspired our class to join in Pennies for Peace Campaign

Above from left to right: Leif Kvarnes, Noah Waller, Trusten Murrah,
 Liam Bauchspies, Jasper Gros, and Liz Shaw

Hearthstone School, Sperryville, Virginia
Monday, September 13, 2010

The students at Hearthstone School have joined hands with tens of thousands of other school children around the world who share the vision and dedication to empower communities through education in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Hearthstone students are embarking on a Pennies for Peace campaign to broaden their cultural horizons and become members of a global family dedicated to peace.

How can a penny bring peace? It doesn’t buy much in Rappahannock County. But in the villages of Pakistan and Afghanistan, it can buy a pencil, start an education, and transform a life. In a region where terrorist organizations recruit uneducated, illiterate children, that pencil can empower a child to read, write, and learn. The Pennies for Peace program goal is to encourage children, who are ultimately our future leaders, to learn the value of philanthropy by collecting pennies for global peace.

Hearthstone students will have an opportunity to study the cultures of Afghanistan and Pakistan, learn to work and share together in their Pennies for Peace campaign, and come to understand their own capacity as philanthropists – one penny at a time.

Many schools, hospitals, homes, and crops have been affected by the massive rains and flooding in Pakistan. According to the U.S. Department of State 20 million people have been directly affected. 61,776 square miles have flooded. 1,248,704 homes have been damaged or destroyed. 13,900 square miles of cropland has been damaged or destroyed. According to the BBC 10,000 Pakistan schools have been destroyed by the floods and 9 million children have been affected. Hearthstone students hope that the pennies they collect will also help fund the rebuilding of schools in Pakistan.

After reading Three Cups of Tea (the Young Reader’s Edition) the students in Ms. Liz’s class decided that they wanted to be a part of Greg Mortenson’s efforts to build schools for girls and boys in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Luckily the Pennies for Peace project is exactly what the class needed to get started in their mission for world peace.

“World peace is attainable, but we are doing it all wrong. Fighting violence with violence is not getting us closer to a peaceful world, but education is; to attain world peace we must fight ignorance and hate with education,” says teacher Liz Shaw.

Hearthstone will place jars to collect pennies at the Corner Store in Sperryville, Oldway Art Center, the Rainbow Market in the Rappahannock Wellness Center (on Hearthstone’s campus), and in Hearthstone School’s main office. The school will be collecting pennies from September 13 through December 17.

The pennies that Hearthstone students collect can add up to make a real difference.


1 penny = a pencil
2-3 pennies = an eraser
15 pennies = one notebook
$20 = one child’s school supplies for one year
$50 = one treadle sewing machine and supplies
$100 = maternal healthcare supplies for one year
$300 = one advanced student’s annual scholarship
$600 = one teacher’s annual salary
$5,000 = support for existing school for one year
$50,000 = one school building and support for up to five years

Children in over 400 mountain villages in remote northern Pakistan and Afghanistan are on the waiting list, hoping to learn in a new school. Hearthstone students hope to help build a bridge of peace, one penny at a time, offering alternatives to the cycle of terrorism and war.

About Pennies for Peace

The Pennies for Peace campaign is a program of Central Asia Institute (CAI), founded by Greg Mortenson, author of the #1 New York Times best seller, Three Cups of Tea. CAI is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that promotes and provides community-based education and literacy programs, especially for girls, in remote mountain regions of Central Asia. Founded in 1996, CAI has built, to date, nearly 100 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which serve more than 28,000 students, 14,000 of whom are girls. Greg’s story and more information about CAI can be found on the web at http://www.ikat.org/.

Contact Information
Hearthstone School
11576 Lee Hwy.
P.O. Box 247
Sperryville, Virginia 22740
Office (540) 987 - 9212
Email info@hearthstoneschool.org

High School Culinary Arts Field Trip to Café Torino

On April 15 the high school culinary arts class took a field trip to Café Torino in Warrenton,Virginia with their instructor and talented cook, Marguerite Dunn. The students went to Café Torino to discover what goes on in a restaurant, behind the scenes. The students learned what goes on in a kitchen, from the morning preparation to what happens when the doors are open for business. The students were able to experience what it takes to prepare food, and get it out of the kitchen to the customers.

Chef Andre of Café Torino gave the high school culinary arts students an opportunity to try their hand at baking cookies, making tuna salad, and slicing mushrooms using new knife techniques they learned at the restaurant. After an hour of working in the kitchen the chef made the students an authentic Italian pasta dish for them to enjoy for lunch.

Currently the culinary class is learning how to take ingredients and be creative with them.

Marguerite will give the class a limited amount of ingredients and challenge the students to come up with a tasty dish using only the ingredients she has provided. Texture, complimentary flavors, and food crafting techniques are utilized throughout this challenge, giving the students a gratifying and enriching opportunity to cook and learn. Most recently Marguerite gave the class an onion, garlic, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, and bread. The students came up with a delicious herb and tomato crustini.

Living Sky Foundation Presents Project Pledge

On April 27 and 28 Hearthstone School hosted a gathering of artists, musicians, students, and teachers for the illustration of a new world pledge. The pledge known as " Earth Allegiance" was created to celebrate a global allegiance and draw attention to the unity of all living creatures on earth. The focus of the mural was to draw attention to all the endangered species on our planet and the urgent need of protection for our fragile habitats.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, as well as the 40th anniversary of Rappahanannock League for Environmental Protection (RLEP), students from Hearthstone School and Belle Meade School in Rappahannock County, Virginia united for a two day collaboration and creation to illustrate a mural for a new "Earth Allegiance" pledge. The students researched some of the over 500 locally endangered creatures from information gathered from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries "Wildlife Action Plan". The students also included some of the endangered plants native to our area that they had learned about in their botany class. The group then discussed, sketched, and painted the images from what they learned, ultimately creating a beautiful mural and canvas rug. The entire project was initiated and supported by Cherl Crews, Director of the Living Sky Foundation who commissioned the assistance of Tim and Constance Friesen of AVECARTS (Arts Vitally Enrich Communities). Connie and Tim are a professional artist team who traveled from their home in Wisconsin and who's direction, organization, and artistry made this mural possible. While painting and collaborating Frances Miller, Hearthstone music teacher, facilitated beautiful music for the group to enjoy. Students and others joined in drumming and singing throughout the day.

The ultimate vision for the pledge is for other schools and communities to come together for the common good of art, community, and preserving our planet. The mural created today could be used as a templet for other schools or groups to illustrate their own mural with species not only native but also endangered in their own backyards. For more information please visit livingsky.org

A special thanks goes out to: the talented artists and facilitators Tim and Constance Friesen from Arts Vitally Enrich Communities, Cherl Crews of the Living Sky Foundation, local artist Davette Leonard, the students and teachers of Hearthstone School, local artist Monica Newell, students from Belle Meade School, musician & Hearthstone teacher Frances Miller, and the Rappahannock League of Environmental Protection.

Project Pledge

I pledge allegiance to the earth

Of our beloved solar system

And to all of her creatures for here they dwell

One planet united in harmony

With universal love and compassion for all.

Botany Field Trip to Sacred Plant Traditions

Ms. Liz's class traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia on Monday April 26 to visit Kathleen Maier at Sacred Plant Traditions, an herbal medicine school. Kathleen is a former Rappahannock County resident, who has studied plant medicines for years. She has an herbal medicine school in Charlottesville, the school draws speakers, botanists, herbalists, and other talented people in the plant world to speak at special events and classes throughout the year. Kathleen and her staff teach classes on fermentation, gardening, medicine, women's interests, and herbalist programs.

We were lucky enough to borrow some of Kathleen's time to learn about her gardens, school, and apothecary. The students curiosity was ignited from the visit. The fact that the very ground we walk on holds medicines to cure us amazed them. Common plants such as the plantain and ground ivy are not so common any more. These plants are medicine. The more love and care we give to these plants the more we will receive, it is a universal law, and plants are not exempt.

Earth Day at Hearthstone

We had a busy Earth Day this year! We started off the day in the garden, at the vernal pond Ms. Tamara and the high schoolers spearheaded. The pond is located in our wetland area in the gardens. The hole was dug by a back-hoe and is now a permanent pond. It currently has hundreds of wood frog tadpoles residing in the pond. We hope that salamanders and other wetland creatures find the vernal pond as a home and a safe place to lay eggs, etc. The first few hours of Earth Day we planted black willows, alder trees, dogwoods, marsh hibiscus, cardinal flowers, black-eyed susan's, milkweed, boneset, and sedge around the vernal pond; all of which are native plants that will thrive in the wetland area we have helped develop.

Next we loaded up the van and headed out to Old Hollow Rd. A few miles from Hearthstone School. There we picked up trash along the roadside until lunch. The road was strewn with old beer cans and soda bottles, but after we left the sides of the road seemed much more green and happy!

After lunch and a bit of recess we all met in the community room for the presentation of the students' science fair projects. Each year for the past three years the students have been asked to conduct a science fair project based on sustainability, recycling, energy alternatives, endangered species, wildlife, plants, etc. The science fair is held on Earth Day every year. This year the projects ranged from "How to Make Bio-Diesel" to "The Gray Wolf".

Springtime Projects in Woodworking Class

Some of the various projects currently being completed in woodworking class include: a decorative snake, two benches, an "egg", a spoon, a table, and a karate bow. Below are some pictures of the students at work!

Jasper Found Jasper!

On our mushroom hunting trip to Little Devil's Stairs one of Ms. Liz's students, named Jasper, found a nice hunk of red jasper. According to Dave, Ms. Liz's husband and geologist, this is a very rare find for the area we were hiking! Great find Jasper!!!