Winter vacation began Friday at 10:40 AM. Today's page is from the final hours of school. We start in the chapel at Thursday evening's ecumenical songfest.
More a solstice observance than a religious service, the program included In the Bleak Midwinter, Chanukah music, the traditional Lo, How a Rose 'Ere Blooming and readings.
Following the short, lovely program, students in attendance joined members of the chorus around the new Kawai grand piano for a sing-along of popular carols.
On Friday morning, before buses rolled to airports and train stations, a biology class extracted DNA from plump, ripe strawberries. After mashing a berry in a ziplock bag, you add a solution containing salts and dish washing soap.
Next, a small amount of ice cold, 91% concentrated isopropyl rubbing alcohol is added (for reasons understood by biology students.)
The stuff is strained through paper into a test tube. It turns out the nuclei of strawberry cells are loaded with DNA, and the results are worth the effort.
Deoxyribonucleic acid looks like something you might blow into a Kleenex tissue. Stephanie got plenty.
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