Kaleidoscope Newsletter – September, 2013
For those of you who are new to Rainbow, I write a little newsletter once a month called Kaleidoscope. It’s your opportunity to look through my eyes at all the colorful things going on at Rainbow. News about the acquisition of new property is at the end!
First, the most important topic of all – the children. The beginning of the year is always a milestone for children. Their personas chance a bit over the summer and it’s always fun to see how they transition into a new classroom or a new school. New students have the opportunity to completely create who they want to be at Rainbow! This year has been particularly joyous, partly because of the marvelous weather we have had, and also because of the new fantastical playground Max Mraz and his crew built. The Sept 6 pot luck was (WOW!) SO MUCH FUN!
Working with the faculty has also been magical. Of course, the administration works all summer long, and most of the teachers are in and out all summer too, preparing their classrooms, training, leading class pot lucks, and such. August 19 was the first official day of work for the faculty – more than 30 of us this year! We began with a ceremony to open the 7 directions – welcoming in sacred space for the new year and asking for blessings for the children, for the staff, for the families, and for Rainbow.
I led a visualization exercise, where we imagined the Future of Rainbow, the Future for our Children, and the Future of Education. The results of that exercise were recorded by graphic illustration (and parent) Caryn Hanna. It is beautiful, and you can find it here: https://rainbowcommunityschool.org/2013/09/13/the-future-of-rainbow-and-education/.
The pedagogical work we did (pedagogy is a word I really love – it essentially means the science of teaching) were in the areas of training for Singapore Math, teaching critical thinking through the Harvard Graduate School publication “Making Thinking Visible,” teaching through games and quests, teaching systems-thinking to children, and how to make units of thought relevant.
The week of teacher orientation ended with a ceremony with each of us asking for blessings of Right Action, Right Heart, and Right Mind needed to do the work we have before us – -the most important work –helping your children grow and learn, and encouraging them to always live whole-heartedly.
Please harken back to the welcome letter I wrote in August, and you will recall that there are many new systems in place, or…..er, almost in place. Please bear with us as we complete full migration to the following: new database, new VOIP phone system, new name and brand, new website (coming soon), new email addresses, and more. Yes, the administration, especially hard working Sandra McCassim, Mary Sigler, Margaret Gerleve, Russ Gerleve, and Sheila Mraz, deserve humongous love and support for the extra time they put in to get these systems up and running. Admittedly, we bit off a little more than we could chew, but it was for the good of the school, so we were greatly inspired.
Kindergarten, anyone? Do you know a kindergartener who would love to attend Rainbow? FYI: We still have ample space in kindergarten for some lucky children, and there may still be some financial aid too. The new kindergarten space in Orchard house is dreamy.
Collaboration – a buzz word in the 21st Century – keeps us stimulated. This year, we are happy to announce that the staff chose to again partner with Children First/Communities in Schools. That means a portion of the fall Harvest Hoe Down will be donated to them, and each class will do a service learning project for/with Children First this year. In addition, a few classes will be doing service work withRiverlink – another hardworking non-profit in WNC. Both of these are great opportunities for children and parents to learn about the important work these organizations do and to lend a hand.
Church of the Garden. As fate would have it, another potential partnership has recently sprung up. Did anybody read the great article about Michelle Smith in the September 15 Citizen’s Times? If not, go here: http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20130915/LIVING/309150041/Michelle-Smith-cultivates-social-profit. Michelle is a dynamic woman of Asheville whose life work is dedicated to non-profits. She also happens to be an inter-faith minister, and this summer a new congregation that she is shepherding sprung up, called The Church of the Garden. They truly are inter-faith in that they don’t have one particular doctrine they follow. The only standard they adhere to is that they hold their services outside as much as possible. They are looking for a campus to call home, and when they found out about our potential purchase of an extra 2.64 acres, they asked if Rainbow would consider hosting them. Makes sense to me! So we are going to give it a trial run. Beginning in October, the Church of the Garden is going to hold their services on Rainbow’s property for about two months. If it goes well for them and for us, we may have a natural partnership. Let’s see how the garden grows! If you are interested in attending their child-friendly services, they are at 11am every Sunday…at Rainbow Community School beginning October 6.
General Circle. What is it? What do they do? Rainbow Community School is organized according to the systems-design principles of Dynamic Governance. DG is one of the reasons things run so smoothly around here. It really works! According to DG, Rainbow is organized into various circles – the Board circle, faculty circle, student circle, etc. The General Circle has a leader and another representative from each major circle at its meetings. The GC meets 4 to 5 times a year. Their main tasks are to evaluate how we are doing in the various areas of our organization (programming, curriculum fundraising, family support, etc) and to act as a think tank for improvement and innovative ideas in those areas. The GC’s first meeting of the year was Monday and the topics were community support, fundraising, and volunteerism.
Now for an update on our dramatic campus expansion news
Yes, we really are under contract to purchase the West Asheville Church of God! IF we can raise a substantial sum of money – at least $200,000– by December 3, we will own an extra 2.64 acres and the buildings we need to completely fulfill our facility needs. This is all happening extremely fast, as we have to catch this opportunity while it is here. It will take somewhat of miracle to pull this off, but I see miracles happen almost every day at Rainbow. Some miracles are just bigger than others.
It is time for all of us to begin thinking, praying, talking to our family members about what sort of sacrifice we can make – both in time and money — to bring this dream alive.
We are quickly assembling a capital campaign that we are aptly calling “RAINBOW RISING! New Opportunity for a New Era!” This campaign is being coached by consultant, Wilson Sims, founder of Sims and Steele Consulting; and Micah Pulleyn (parent of Coletrane in preschool) is campaign manager. Our core capital campaign committee is meeting every Tuesday to get our fundraising machine working. We need more committee members. Can you commit to working consistently hard for this campaign for the next two months? If so, then please attend meetings every Tuesday 9:30 am. It promises to be one of the most satisfying ventures you ever engaged in.
Here are some important tidbits about the capital campaign:
This Thursday, 3:15 “All Hands on Deck” All parent meeting: If you are not in a position to commit to being on the core committee, but you want to help in whatever way you can – there is a fun meeting this Thursday, at 3:15 pm that will be held at the CHURCH – so it is also an opportunity to get sneak peak at the interior of the buildings. The same meeting will run next Thursday, October 3 at 5:15. So, if you cannot come at 3:15 because of work, please attend the 5:15 next week.
Monday, September 30 from 7 to 9pm: Fundraising is Fun! Especially when it is at MG Road. Parents and owners of the award-winning bar, MG Road (and Chai Pani), are hosting an evening at MG Road this coming Monday, September 30, from 7pm to 9pm. Are you interested in contributing to the campaign? No matter what capacity you have to give, this is an evening to learn about the campaign and how to make a donation…and to enjoy one of the best establishments in town. This is informative only, and you do not need to be prepared to make a donation to attend. Address is: 19 Wall Street in downtown. Parking is easily found in the Batter Park Garage.
There is far more information about this campaign that I can write about in Kaleidoscope, so please attend the All Hands of Deck volunteer meeting and/or the MG Road event. There will also be a packet of information published as soon as possible.
During this campaign, the Church of God is being very gracious. We are so short on space at Rainbow, that we don’t even have place for committees to meet during the day, so the church is allowing us to hold meetings at the church! They are also allowing us to use the triangle of land they own that juts into our playground area. Take a look, and you will notice that the fence has been moved. Ahh! Space! Now, let’s work to open it up even more!
…and don’t forget about the Annual Campaign. Please don’t let this capital campaign be confused with the annual campaign. The annual campaign occurs every year, and helps Rainbow meet its annual operating expenses. The annual campaign primary helps teachers – so they don’t have to use their own money to purchase materials. We need every family to try to maintain their typical level of support for the annual campaign and to make an additional pledge to the capital campaign the next three years. It’s two different campaigns going on at one time!
November 8 Rainbow Rising! Festivity: It’s time to get everyone together – current families and 35 years worth of Rainbow alumni families. Although it is still in the works, we are quickly trying to organize a full Rainbow Rising! Festival for Friday, November 8. This will be our biggest fundraising event ever, and it will be at the Church of God in the performance hall. That’s right – we will get a taste of how wonderful it will be to have our own performance hall! The entertainment will be all Rainbow relations: students, alumni, parents, past-parents, past teachers, teacher artists, etc. Here are some of the Rainbow folks we want to invite to perform: Toubab Krewe, David Wilcox, Graham Sharp of the Steep Canyon Rangers, Hobey Ford (Kennedy Artist and puppeteer extraordinaire), Adame Dembele, Alijah Motika (performed at the Democratic National Convention), Liam Kelly (still in high school and performing spoken word nationally), Summit Jaffe, Greg Cartwright, FYF, Kontained, and more. So much talent! We may have to make this a two day festival if they all show up!
Do you know who we all depend on to show up more than anyone? YOU!! Clear your calendar for the evening of November 8. There may be some child care available, but I would recommend looking for a sitter now.
Wow! There is a lot of really big stuff happening! And I have some strange news for you. About a year ago, I committed to taking the trip of a lifetime to Africa. From October 5 – October 24 I will be making a trip to Tanzania to give out used eye-glasses to people in need. Besides the service work, I will have a few amazing days on a safari, and a few days to visit my oldest daughter, Mesa, who is living in Grenada, Spain. Typically, October is one of the few times of year I feel I can leave Rainbow. Little did I know that it would be smack in the middle of the most important 90 days ever – during our capital campaign to raise the down payment for the church. Crazy! Please understand that before, during, and after the trip my communication will not be as prompt or thorough as normal, and at times, it will be completely absent. In fact, I will not have internet access for much of the time I am gone. For the next two months I will be concentrating on only the most important matters at hand, so please be understanding and resourceful. If you need help, please seek out Sandra McCassim, who will be acting as Executive Director while I am gone. She is at extension 121 and her email is Sandra.mccassim@rainbowlearing.org. Micah Pulleyn, Rainbow Rising! Campaign manager can be reached at micahpulleyn@gmail.com.
Thanks for your understanding. And thanks for all the love!
Grandparents are Important People! That is why we would like to begin sending them Kaleidoscope, classroom newsletters, and Heart of the Matter publications. Our new database finally makes it possible to include grandparents on email lists. All we need is their email address. Please email your parents’ (your child’s grandparents’) email addresses to: Sandra.mccassim@rainbowlearning.org to get them on the list. You may surprised at how much they enjoy getting the news. If they don’t care for it, they can opt out.
