Opening Reception: The Magic of Russian Decorative Art

Blueberry pierogi, Russian tea cakes, and hot tea served from a Russian Samovar set the tone for the opening reception of “The Magic of Russian Decorative Art,” an exhibit featuring decorative trays from Zhostovo, Russia and lacquered miniature paintings on papier-mache from four villages: Palekh, Kholui, Mstera and Fedoskino. Ceramic work from Gzhel and hand-carved, painted wood pieces in the Khokhloma style are featured as well.

Meteorologists in Training

Students in the Waterville Valley Elementary School’s 3-5 grade class have just begun a unit on weather and spent the morning with the Rey Center creating their own weather measuring instruments. The students created rain gauges, anemometers, wind vanes, thermometers, and barometers. They will be collecting daily weather data over the next month. The Rey Center will meet with this class again in December to teach the students how to review weather data to develop a weather forecast. Stay tuned!

Walter Strauss in Concert

Photo by Marcia Morris

The evening with Walter Strauss was one not to be missed! Walter treated attendees to a fabulous evening filled with his eclectic mix of music including a few songs inspired by his work with Malian kora virtuoso and 2005 Grammy nominee Mamadou Diabate in which he plays guitar renditions of West African kora pieces. We certainly hope Walter will visit the Rey Center again on his next East Coast tour; be sure to be here if he does!

Teachers Learn About Climate Change

Educators from New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont gathered at the Rey Center on Saturday to learn about Climate Change and techniques and activities for teaching Climate Change to their students. The workshop was led by Nicole Scola of the New England Aquarium, a member of the New England Science Center Collaborative, and taught participants the activities contained in the Climate Change Backpack - a curriculum developed by Clean Air - Cool Planet. In the photos above, teachers are acting out the carbon cycle in “Please Pass the Carbon” and on the right, the group is contemplating the appropriate arrangement of events on a timeline of Earth. In this activity, students can investigate how climate naturally fluctuates over time, but also see the dramatic impacts humans have had on our climate in the relatively short time that we have been a part of our planet.

The group was also joined by one hearing assistance dog named Tango!

Check out these links to learn more about Clean Air-Cool Planet or about the Climate Change Backpack curriculum.