Annual Giving Donor Recognition Plaque

This year to give well deserved recognition we will be posting a permanent plaque with all donors above the $500 level! There will be Bronze ($500+), Silver ($1000+), Gold ($5000+) and Platnum ($10000+) levels of recognition. Plaques will be displayed permanently for the years to come. So if you are teetering on how much to give, take a look at these levels and reach for the level you'd like to be recognized for.In order to show that we value volunteerism as well. We will also be developing a yearly recognition plaque for volunteer hours donated throughout the year to CH. The hours have yet to be determined for each level.

This is just another way we want to show our appreciation for our helping families and friends.

The Count Down Has Begun!

Here it is! The count down begins! It looks like a tall order but we can all do it together! We have 100% of the board and staff donating! Now it is your turn! By now you should have all received the newsletter with the donation card in the mail. Write down you pledge, write your check, put your students' names on the pledge card, drop it off at the front office and you are done! No more guilt, no more questions, just a sense of satisfaction that your family has done its best to help our great school!

Don't forget; $500 or more will get your families' name on a permanent "Wolverine" Giving plaque in the lobby!

ANNUAL GIVING 2010

It is time. This is the time we ask the Channing Hall parents and community for money. Over the next 6 weeks until St. Patricks day we will unabashedly be asking you all to help support our children at Channing Hall. We will be raising funds to help support the 'extra' things that make Channing Hall so great now and to allow us to make it even better! Please look at this as an opportunity to make YOUR child's education better. Together we can help provide each child in our school that extra advantage to succeed in his or her future. Where else can you donate your money and know it will so directly impact your children? And by the way, Channing Hall is a full federal 501(c3) nonprofit, so your donation is tax deductible.

BONUS: If we reach over 75% of our families donating to the Annual Giving drive we will receive an extra $10,000 as a matching donation! To help us reach that 75% participation we are having a school competition offering prizes and incentives for each class that reaches 100% of its parents participating. Keep checking this blog in the weeks to come for updates on how we are doing and more information on the Annual Giving events.

ANNUAL GIVING SNEAK PEAK

This week will be the kickoff for our Annual Giving drive. We have all kinds of great news, exciting events, and competitions in store for the next six weeks. And right here you can get the first glimpse of what we have in store! Below is a tape of Alaina Gull, Channing Hall Board president and Heather Shepherd, our head of school discussing the importance of Annual Giving at our Charter school.

Brain Gym at Channing Hall

We had another great teacher presentation at the last Board meeting. This time Rosanne Delaney explained how Brain Gym activities are applied in the classrooms to stimulate learning. She brought up many great examples of how this cutting edge learning tool is being used by the teachers. Rosanne has been very active nationally and within the state to teach and promote Brain Gym concepts. We are fortunate to have such an enthusiastic teacher stimulating our children at Channing Hall.

While the Kids are at Play.....

I hope you are all enjoying the long weekend with kids! But this is to show you that not everyone is playing on these days off. The administration and teachers were busy learning and getting inspired to give the best and latest in teaching to our children. This Thursday and Friday all the teachers were involved in an intensive seminar on Differentiated Learning titled, "Hope For All Students: Differentiating the Classroom With Research-Based Strategies". Dr Michael Shackleford, Professional Development Specialist provided training to our teachers about how to bring out the best in our students no matter what level they are at. He introduced the program with this statement; We must always first ask, What is in the best interest of the children?"

According to Ms. Heather the teachers were very engaged and the enthusiasm for the program was palpable. She noted that, "Professional Development really makes a difference, especially when it is someone that is a great speaker and has tons of useful information that can be directly applied to the students." She went on to explain, "To me it's revitalizing and reaches the core of why I am in education. I think many of the faculty feel this way too. Everyone I asked this afternoon told me this was meeting needs and provoking thinking and learning from within."

ANNUAL GIVING PLUG: This type of invaluable professional development costs money, but as Ms. Heather so eloquently explained, "According to studies the biggest indicator of higher student achievement is teacher professional development." In other words, motivating and giving our teachers the tools to do their best is one of the most cost effective ways of giving OUR students the best education. Let's keep this in mind when the ANNUAL GIVING drive begins in a couple of weeks!

Have a great weekend everybody!

p.s. Check out Channing Hall in the news again! Monster truck comes to CH! http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=9277496

TIME Management - New Years Resolution?

HAPPY (belated) NEW YEAR! We are into the a new year and I figured this would be a good 'time' to publish a short Channing Hall "Time Management" video. Middle School history teacher, Mr. Marsden, gives some great pointers on time management for our students at Channing Hall. BUT, all of us can benefit from what he points out in his presentation, "Be KIND To Your Future".



I am excited about the prospects at Channing Hall for 2010! We have a lot of exciting events and developments coming up for this year. Stay tuned!