Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Harvest Festival Report

Board Broadcast: Channing Hall Harvest Festival 2012




Harvest Festival   by Heather Fehrenbach


A llama ate my daughter in Ms. Nuttall’s classroom.  Her cute little two-year-old ponytails proved too appetizing at the Harvest Festival Petting Zoo and Mr. Llama could not resist. She didn’t cry, and didn’t really seem to mind, but a ring of horrified parents and students watched a sweet, curly, ribbon-adorned wad of baby hair be chewed and semi-swallowed.  Fortunately, the hair was still attached; the llama just needed a quick chiding followed by a gagging cough to release my little darling.  My daughter regarded Mr. Llama with a stern glance and then chose to pet Mr. Giant Bunny at the other side of the ring.  Mr. Llama was not a quitter.  By the end of our three minute petting zoo encounter everyone in the ring, students and parents, were making sure Mr. Llama did not succeed.

After our Llama encounter we tried a few games. My four-year-old was having a hard time so the middle school girl running the booth let him step forward.  Finally, the ball went in.  He was so proud.  Later, in the gymnasium as I was helping my kids juggle their plates full of pizza, hot dogs and chips, a dad, who I have yet to meet, jumped out of his chair and swooped in to catch a hot dog just as it made its descent from my 6-year-old’s plate. A parent from my son’s class stopped by to remind me to sign him up for a basketball team they would be coaching.  After dinner we checked out the silent auction, specifically the 5th grade magnets my son had made.  I searched for his bag of magnets but they had already been purchased. 

Channing Hall’s fifth guiding principle states that “an involved community promotes optimal student learning.”  Furthermore, this Guiding Principle defines community to include “students, parents/guardians, teachers, administration, the board of directors, staff and volunteers/”

Henning Hansmann was both a school principal as well as an author on Special Education, he wrote this about community and education, “Interest and enthusiasm are the wellspring of continually evolving community life: they create bonds which unite us whether we are young or old, nearby or far from each other; they allow human warmth and love to be the formative forces in personal and community life and striving.”   Note; that both interest (curiosity) and enthusiasm are IB attitudes. 
Another activist for progressive education; Alfie Kohn, writes, “People will typically be more enthusiastic where they feel a sense of belonging and see themselves as part of a community than they will in a workplace in which each person is left to his own devices.”

The harvest festival was an awesome ending to a week of giving, but what will stay with my children is this sense of community, a sense of belonging, a sense that people support and care for them. The animal pen full of  ponytail protectors, the Middle School student running the ball toss who showed empathy to my son, the anonymous hot dog hero, the family volunteering to coach my son’s basketball team, the parent or staff member who bought the bag of magnets that my son had been so proud of.  This is what they will keep with them forever.


The Harvest Festival was successful beyond all expectation!

Annual Giving donations were the highest ever!

THANK YOU, Heather Shepherd, Annual Giving Committee, Staff, donors and so many volunteers who worked so tirelessly to put on such a GREAT show!

THANK YOU, Our wonderful Channing Hall community

for your participation
for your support
     and
for your DONATIONS!

Friday, October 26, 2012

What Our Teachers Say About Volunteers....



 VOLUNTEER MATTERS:

"I love having parent volunteers because they are there to help during my small groups. Having extra classroom management helps to have a more structured classroom." - Jessica Short (1st Grade)

"MANY hands make LIGHT work, especially in the classroom."
- Aimee Christensen (5th Grade teacher)

"I appreciate parent volunteers so much! When we divide into groups for centers or are doing hands on activities it is so nice to have as much help as possible." - Rebecca Bowen (4th Grade)

"I absolutely love having parent volunteers! My favorite times to have volunteers are during Math, Literacy, and Writers Workshop!  In math I am able to differentiate more and do more hands-on activities when I have more help. In literacy students are able to meet with parents. Lastly, in writers workshop it is helpful when there are more people than myself to edit student's papers. All in all, more good things can happen when I have more hands to help me and I love it!" - Sarah Jones (4th Grade)

"Volunteers enable me to do my job BETTER! Teaching children."
- Kim Elliot (1st Grade)

 Parent Volunteer, Heather Evans, helps give a little extra special attention to a small group of students.

Liz Nelson parent volunteer.
This may just look like a picture of some kids using math cubes to do math, and indeed it is that... but its so much more than that. By these parents volunteering their time to help, the teacher now has more time with fewer students and these students have some great differentiation time to ask questions and focus more on the particular subject. Smaller groups equal BIGGER reults! Its remarkable to see what achievements are made when parents like this come and lend a helping hand.

Parent volunteers offer a huge resource and support base for the school community while showing their kids the importance of participating in the larger community.  Not only will the school reap the benefits of your involvement — you will, too. By interacting with teachers, administrators, and other parents on a regular basis, you'll gain a firsthand understanding of your child's daily activities. You'll also tap into trends and fads of school life that can help you communicate with your kids as they grow and change (all without intruding on their privacy or personal space). Even if you haven't been involved in the past, it's never too late to start.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Extra! Extra!





SURVEY SAYS…. Did you know that 97% of our survey respondents said they thought the Weekly Howl was a great source of information?  Now the Channing Hall board Public Relations Committee will make this an even better source. Here’s our plan:

Since its short inception, Channing Hall, through its board, staff and students, has accomplished some wonderful things.  But many times these accomplishments stay in the school and parents don’t really hear about them. The Channing Hall board of directors has formed a new public relations committee to help highlight the many great things that are happening at Channing Hall. We want to provide the parents and the outside community with a window into the school to showcase what we are so proud of.

Throughout the year, the board will publish short notices in the Weekly Howl, with a link to a more expanded report on the topic, here, in the Channing Hall Blog. www.channinghallblog.blogspot.com
We will have highlights in these areas:

 “IB in Action”- We have a great IB school and we are always doing IB projects, many of which are, frankly, inspiring. We know about them. But do you? We want to let all of our community have a chance to see how the IB attitude is manifesting itself in our children.

“Survey Says” - Do you remember taking the end of school year survey last spring? The information you provided is helping to guide our improvements for the year. We want to keep you informed on the improvements as well as highlight some of the positive feedback you provided.

 “Volunteer Matters”- One of Channing Hall’s (and our kids’) greatest assets are involved parent volunteers. CHAPS is our school’s organization for organizing those indispensible volunteers. We want to showcase some of our most dedicated volunteers as well as bring you the highlights of the wonderful events CHAPS  puts on.

“The Board Report”- Did you know that Channing Hall is its own district with its own board of trustees? Well, it’s true. The Channing Hall school board only has ONE school to focus on. We, parent volunteers, give all of our energy and focus to making Channing Hall better and better. Here we will attempt to explain what we do and why we do it, as well as how YOU can help.

Ultimately, we hope this information will help our community inside and outside gain a better view of all the positive activities happening at Channing Hall.