'Moon Wolf' update

I want to share a little bit of news with you about the book our children created last year. Today Susan Carpenter sent me a response from a preschool teacher friend in Boston, to whom Susan had sent 'Moon Wolf' some time ago. She says:

I wanted to let you know that we are introducing our moon curriculum next week and we are using Moon Wolf to do that. We are learning about pumpkins this coming week and then turning to the moon. Rosh Chodesh is a jewish holiday that comes once a month and celebrates the new moon. Thanks for sending the book to me.

Our SK children have created curriculum for children in Massachusetts! One small step in our quest to take over the world. ;)

Preparations for the Summers-Knoll Eco-Fair

The end of October is approaching fast, and I want to alert you to a great SK tradition: Eco-Fair! This is the Summers-Knoll version of Halloween, and it happens like this.

Between now and October 30th (a Friday) the children need to spend time with you at home, making costumes to wear for our festivities on the 30th. We hugely encourage costumes to be made out of re-used and recycled materials - a big part of this is helping the children understand the fun and satisfaction that can come from earth-friendly practices. It also encourages creative thinking, problem-solving, out-of-the-box (or sometimes inside the box, in the case of Maria's tree costume above) strategizing, as well as a host of practical skills. As you can see from the photos above, pretty much anything can play a role in creating a fun costume - they don't have to be extensive or sophisticated; it's the children's input that makes them special. (I wore a white sheet and was Mount Everest...)

On October 30th, we hold our Eco-Fair. Details will come later through the classroom teachers, but as an overview I can reveal that there will be different stations throughout the school where the children can participate in a range of ecological activities - hands-on making, experimenting, discovering, creating - that encourage the students to think about the value of the natural world and things we can do to help sustain it.

There will be healthy and earth-friendly snacks. If your child has allergies, please send a special treat for him or her on this day.

More information later!

Back to School Picnic

I don't have space here to do everyone justice, but here are a few snapshots of the day. Happy children...

Happy adults...

Great cookies...

Amazing smiles...

Cool conversations...

New worlds conquered...

New worlds created...


Thanks for a great day!

What a Week!

I want to thank the Summers-Knoll students all for the joy, the wonder, the enthusiasm, the delight, the friendliness, the thoughtfulness, the wit, the creativity and the love that they lit up the school with this week. I want to thank their parents for joining this amazing community. I want to thank the teachers for the atmosphere of warm, eager, loving exploration that has permeated every homeroom classroom and every specials class. I am so proud that I am part of this school, it's hard to find ways to say it adequately.

Alumni Surprise Visit

Welcome to the new school year, everyone! It's that time again - goldfinches are at the sunflowers, and the September sunshine feels good. It seems odd that the school year, full as it is with new promise and the certainty of new explorations and adventures, begins as the days start to cool towards winter. But there it is!

The new year was heralded for me by a wonderful, unexpected visit from a bunch (gaggle? horde? What is the correct collective noun?) of Summers-Knoll alumni, who had gathered for an informal party celebrating the rare in-town-ness of our own Jacob Fauman, whose family left SK and Ann Arbor some years ago. They stopped by the school in a drove, amazingly tall and adult-looking, and caused me immense pleasure as they swarmed over the play structures as if nothing had changed except the size. (They would have me believe that it's the school that has shrunk, not they who have grown. They were highly amused by the size of the little chairs they used to sit in all those years ago.) I was so happy to see them all - if you are reading this, people, please come by again. We miss you all, and talk about you often. You are ALWAYS welcome.

And now the little ones are about to arrive, and they will sit on the little chairs, and play on the structures, and everything will seem big to them. Some day I hope they will return as teenagers and laugh together over memories - exciting, hilarious, adventurous - from this year that is about to start.

Eudaimonia - a truly joyful event

I want to give an enormous shout-out of thanks to all who helped with or attended our wonderful book launch party and fundraising event. It was a genuinely warm, fun, beautiful party, with great food and wine, lovely company, and gorgeous art. Thank you for celebrating with us. This is a small, unique, and very special little school, and I truly appreciate your supportive energy.

Our celebration was also a fundraiser, and it was hugely successful! We raised over $12,000 for school programs and scholarship funds. I'll let you know the exact figure when we have finished processing receipts etc. Thank you for your generosity: I hope you all enjoy the artwork, vacations, spa experiences, children's activities, wonderful food, and other fabulous offerings from the silent auction. I hope you also enjoy sharing our book with your children.

Special thanks for organizational help and amazing hard work go to David Alber, Micky Arvoy, Jan Biliti, Kristen Boudia, Marco Bruzzano, Melissa Bruzzano, Susan Carpenter, Steve Chapel, Sunny Chapel, Julie Cohen, Shan Cook, Kathleen Dergis, Johanna Eriksson, Mark Fancher, Nick Giardino, Imogen Giles, Kim Guziel, Ingrid Kock, Fran Loosen, James Marks, Ruth Marks, Robert Meyer, Christine Moellering, Elaine Neelands, Anthony Nitsos, Miina Ohman, Lisa Ortiz, Will Purves, Paul Resnick, Jeff Rhodes, and Heidi Robb.

Huge thanks and appreciation to the Ann Arbor Art Center, who donated the space for the event.

I also want to thank our wonderful sponsors for their gifts and support. Please support them in return! They are all great businesses, and do fabulous work. Visit their web sites by clicking on the list below:

Ten Thousand Villages
The Affordable Vet (Dr. William MacArthur)
Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase
Ann Arbor Hands On Museum
The Ark
Cafe Luwak
Crazy Wisdom Bookstore (who is also hosting a Moon Wolf Reading and Book Signing on May 31)
DaVinci's Salon and Gallery
Divers Inc
Findings
Georgetown Country Club
Gym America
Paul Hickman
Huron Valley Tennis Club
Integrative Pediatrics
John J. Boudia, J.D.
Keith Hafner's Karate
Kerrytown Concert House
Rebecca Kurtz
Liberty Spa
Logan
Maplewood Lanes
Marnee Thai Restaurant
Ruth Marks
Morgan & York
Motawi Tileworks
Olga's
Palio's Restaurant
The Peaceable Kingdom
PRP Wine International
Roosroast Coffee
Seva Restaurant
Leslie Sobel
Teahaus
VGKids
Wild Swan Theater
Woman Safe Health Self Care Room

And a final thanks for special donations to our auction to:

Nancy McClain
Police Chief Barnett Jones
Fire Chief Samuel Hopkins
Micky Arvoy
Cesar Bayoneto

Ann Arbor Book Festival

This coming Saturday, May 16th, is the annual Ann Arbor Book Festival. Summers-Knoll will have a booth, of course - we always do. It's a fun and active way to reach out to the community and show people a little bit of what we do. This year we will have the Moon Wolf book to share, as well as the school information and summer camp brochures that we typically have on hand. It's perfect timing for our little hot-off-the-press publication. We will also have a make-your-own-book activity for children to enjoy. Come by and say hello! Or better yet, volunteer to man the booth for a little while - the more the merrier! We will be outside the Michigan League on N. University, booth # 51 & 52.

Another good reason to come to the book festival is the headliner speaker. The Festival is hosting Dr. Perri Klass as the headliner at 6:30 pm in the Chemistry Auditorium #1800 on N. University. Admission is $5. Information from the book festival director is below.

Perri Klass, M.D., F.A.A.P. is the Reach Out and Read National Center Medical Director. She is a professor of journalism and pediatrics at New York University, where she works in the clinic at Bellevue Hospital. Klass participated in the Early Childhood Cognitive Summits and the Global Literacy Summit at the invitation of First Lady Laura Bush and is currently a member of the National Advisory Child Health and Human Development Council at the National Institutes of Health, and a member of the Health Literacy Project Advisory Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Klass received her M.D. from Harvard University and completed her training in pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital, and in pediatric infectious diseases at Boston City Hospital. She writes the "18 and Under" column for the New York Times.

She is the author of Quirky Kids, Treatment Kind and Fair, and novels and short stories.

Here is a link to the Book Festival website with all of the details:

http://aabookfestival.org/HTML/event_2009_perri_klass.htm

Thanks very much,

Kathy Robenalt

Exec. Director, AABF