GREEN THUMBS AND MUSCLES NEEDED!

We are in the process of fixing up the new property! Our goal is to grade the land, put in sprinklers and seed it this early spring! We are looking for landscapers to offer help in planning and implementation but will also need a lot of parents that have time and muscle to donate for trenching, raking and building a retaining wall. Supplies such as sprinkler pipes and retaining blocks would be great! Email me at: kvizmeg@channinghall.net if you know of someone that can help.

Now that we own it let's work on making it look better and getting some use out of it for our kids!

CHANNING HALL GLUE

This is a personal reflection I want to share with our CH community and not a general board note. Since our last board meeting I've been reflecting upon why my family chose to be part of CH and why I feel so comfortable on the board.

To come to CH every family had to make an active chose to leave the default system of public education, get on a waiting list and having to drive their children to school. This was at least a little bit inconvenient. Yet all of us did it. Why? I am sure there are many reasons our families could list. But one commonality I believe for all of us is that we wanted something BETTER for our children. This I believe is our glue and bond. We CARED about our children's education enough to take an active role in changing the default option.

In our situation when considering CH as a place for our boys, we were looking for a place that had at least the potential for exploration of and tolerance for diverse perspectives. And I feel we've gotten that. There are many ideologies, beliefs and practices among our families that in many cases might be cause for a strained atmosphere or even rejection of certain members not following the norm. but yet I feel that there is an acceptance of this "diversity" at our school. The reason for this, I believe is that "glue" that we have in common- that we actively "care" about our children. We are able through this focus to accept each other for who we are and work together to achieve our goal- the best for our children.

And that is what is reflected on our board. Personally, as is glaringly evident by my appearance, I am obviously not a member of the norm in this community, So I was initially surprised and heartened that I would be asked to serve. But as I have learned about the members of the board, it has been evident that we are diverse. We have a rich mixture of varied beliefs, histories and experiences, some following the norm and others not. But yet we all have a common belief: And that is, that we want the best for our children at Channing Hall. Furthermore, our bond has been greatly cemented by the countless hours spent together on that single mission. And that, I believe is our hope for the CH community as a whole.

We hope that our family bonds can grow stronger through everyone's desire to help our children and our students. That is a large reason that there has been such a large emphasis on the level of participation- even over that of the amount of money raised- in our Annual Giving campaign. We hope that the CH community can demonstrate unity and support by participating in giving to our school. The amount of the giving is left up to the families, since that ability is as diverse as our beliefs. Give what you are able as a sign of our cohesion for our children.

ALMOST THERE!

Happy St Patty's Day! Happy End of Annual Giving Day! Yes, this is the "official" end of the Annual Giving drive and we are at 60% participation (as of yesterday-the 16th).
This is good and bad.

The Bad: We have not yet reached our 75% family participation level to receive the matching $10000.

The Good: At this time last year we were farther behind in our participation level.

The other Good: The donor has extended the time frame to achieve the donation level.

The other Bad: The board will be calling those families that we have not heard from to beg for their participation.

We cannot leave the $10000 on the table so we must do everything we can to have over 75% of our families contribute to the betterment of our children at Channing Hall. And we wont apologize for that.

What are the chances we will reach the 75% goal today on the last day of the drive? Pray....

I PAY TAXES FOR MY CHILD'S EDUCATION

It is a greater work to educate a child, in the true and larger sense of the word, than to rule a state. William Ellery Channing

Education is more than a luxury; it is a responsibility that society owes to itself. Robin Cook

Education is not the filling of a pail,but the lighting of a fire. Wiliam Butler Yeats

Yes. We pay taxes that go to education, but it is embarrassing that in Utah we would settle to invest the least of any state for our children. Let's not settle for the least at Channing Hall.

LAST WEEK TO GIVE.........!!!!!!

GRANDPARENTS DAY VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

As noted earlier the Grandparents and Special Friends Day annual giving assembly was great fun and very inspiring. Here's a short 10 minute video of some of the highlights. Pass it on to family and friends who couldn't make it. It's not too late for them to donate to Channing Hall.

Thank You ALL who have helped our children out!

We are only 1 1/2 weeks away from the end of the drive. Please, Please help us out if you haven't done so to this point. We are getting nervous that we may not get to the 75% participation level to get the matching $10,000!

ANNUAL GIVING GRANDPARENTS DAY-SUCCESS!

The first Annual Giving Grandparents and Special Friends Day at Channing Hall was tremendous and surpassed our expectations! Eunie Piper, the chair of our AG committee who lead a tremendous team had this to say about the event:

"Hi everyone!
I think I’m still on a high from today’s events. From the moment that the 1st graders sang their first words to “I’m Proud to be an American” to being awed by each of our wonderful and gracious speakers, to graciously receiving donations from our special grandparents--I was thoroughly taken aback of how wonderful our school was and so very thankful and grateful for each of you because you all made this inspiring event happen. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for all your work to make this day happen! I’m amongst giants and the most wonderful parents ever!

Much love and adoration to each of you!"

I couldn't have put it any more eloquently. Thanks Eunie.

VISIT CH THIS FRIDAY!

It's not too late to come to our "Grandparents" Day Annual Giving Assembly this Friday (March 5th at 2 pm). Come and see what Channing Hall is about. Everyone is welcome, not just grandparents.

There will be performances as well as short testimonials from our students and parents about why CH is so important to us. Board members and staff will be on hand to answer questions and you can take a tour of the school. And, YES, there will be the opportunity to show your support for the school through donations but nothing is required. And OH yeah, there will be some great refreshments.

Come and let us show you how much Channing Hall means to our children!

Hope to see you there AND BRING A FRIEND!