by Admin | May 9, 2017 | Blogs
Rainbowโs Omega Middle School sixth grade class studies Social Entrepreneurshi p every year. In the spring the students come up with business ideas that reflect their passions, skills and support making the world a better place, whether at home or on the other side of the globe. By May they have a prototype ready to sell to family and friends on campus and based on feedback, will refine it and present at the West Asheville Farmerโs Market on May 30th.
Every Friday our Fundraising Manager and Nonprofit Development Consultant, Sara Stender, works with the sixth graders. She shares about the past week:
It has been so rewarding working with theย 6th grade social entrepreneurshipย class this spring. This weekย we learned more aboutย consciousness in business. We reflected onย valuesย –ย how toย build businesses that represent what we believe inย – and how to communicate them to our customers. Many of you saw how this is reflected in the student’s businesses that were set up on the deck last Friday.ย Thank you for supporting their work and for offering feedback during the final stages of research and development.ย The class will be selling at the West Asheville Tailgate Market on Tuesday, May 30th, from 3pm-5pmย so please stop by and say hi! Some characteristicsย of a conscious company as defined by our sixth graders this week include:
- Awake
- Paying Attention
- Offering Value
- Trustworthy
- Connected to the People
- Certifications (Organic, Fair Trade)
 We had a compelling conversation withย Chipper Bro, who has been with Patagonia since they started in 1973! He explained the importance of transparent business practices and encouraged us to get involved with theย company’sย Traceable Down project.ย Chipper also helped us to remember thatย even big companies like Patagonia often start with one person and their passion. 43 years later the company isย influencing other large global corporations to implement environmental and social practices that help shape a brighter future for all of us.
On Tuesday we took a field trip toย The Hop ice cream factoryย whereย owner Greg and  managerย Gretchen really honed in on what it means to beย community-driven, and how to know if a company is walking the talk. Greg shared that building relationships with their suppliers and customers is the most important thing – more than just a sale – andย sourcing clean and localย ingredients (even the unicorn poop!) to support the environment and the local economy. Thank you social entrepreneurs of all agesย for being a beacon of hope!
A special thanks toย Asheville Touristsย owners and Rainbow parents,ย Brian and &ย Kali DeWine. Their gift of game tickets helped raise funds for the 6th graders to start building aย Conscious Commerce Cartย that will showcaseย social entrepreneurshipย for years to come!
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by Admin | Apr 26, 2017 | Blogs
Come celebrate the return of the faeries with us this May Day from 10:30am to 12:00pm in the Outdoor Classroom on Haywood Road!
We will celebrate the magic of spring by dancing together, wrapping the May Pole, eating berries-n-cream, blowing bubblles, bursting with song, and reveling in our bright costumes. We invite you to come dressed up in fairy, magical, and animal inspired outfits. We can’t wait to see you sparkle! If you feel inspired to, we also welcome you to bring small gifts to place in the nooks of nature for the faeries and their houses.
Beltane, or May Day, lies directly opposite Halloween in the solar calendar. Both mark the point between the preceeding equinox and the following solstice. The holidays mirror each other as opportunities both to interact with magic beings, wether ghostly ancestors or trickster faeries, as well as to mark a major shift in our relationshiop to the sun, wether we’re moving towards the shadows or turning towards the warmth of light.
Thank you for coming to celebrate this bright, flowering, new beginning of springtime with us! This is one of our favorite holidays we celebrate and we cant wait to share it with you. Check out our pictures from years previous to get a sense of the festive magic involved โฅ.
by Admin | Apr 25, 2017 | Blogs
Quan Yin is a Buddhist deity of compassion. Her spiritual archetype, however, exists across many different religions and cultures. Mother Mary within Christianity and Sophia within Gnosticism, for example, represent similiar all-loving and all-merficul qualities.ย Many beautiful art pieces, theater skits, short stories and community projects were born out of Domain Day. This one, however, stands out as a unique integration of the creative and spiritual domains beautifying and uplifting our campus.
The Spiritual Domain Group designed and built this shrine with Quan Yin as its center piece. She had long stood by the water-feature in the outdoor classroom, before Rainbow teachers and Spiritual Domain Group leaders, Mark Hanf and Justin Pilla, spotted her and felt her to be the perfect point of inspiration from which to build a shrine. After having smudged the area with sage, the dozen students began by placing their own personal artifacts within the center of an imaginary circle. Students then took turns placing the large rocks in a measured and intentional formation to mark the boundary of the shrine. Max had been gathering these large obelisk- and sphere-shaped stones over the course of several visits to the same enchanted forrest creek. The mindfulness with which every piece of this altar was put together cast a spell of wonder over the young spiritualists. In between building the shrine, they picked up instruments from a blanket lined with shakers and hand drums to accompany the ceremony with music.
In itsย second year as anย โannual Rainbow celebrationโ Domain Day has received extremely positive feedback from students and teachers alike. Within a small multi-age group, students get to spend a whole day focusing on a domain they feel passionate about. They can choose between the physical, natural, social, emotional, creative, mental, and spiritual domains. This intentional time spent with teachers who have also been called to that particular domain gives students the opportunity to embodyย that domain more fully. Andย because each domain is connected, and linked to the greater whole, a studentโs comfort in one domain inherently empowers their understanding of the others. In this domain group’s case, each student was able to embody the spiritual domainโs cornerstones of ritual, world religions, contemplation, and communion with the natural world, while simultaneously working through the challenges and gifts of the creative, social, and natural domains.
Thank you, Spiritual Domain Group, for leaving behind this radiant evidence of your connection to spirit. You have altered our space and given us a sanctuary at which to breath and center. We invite all who stop by our campus to visit Quan Yin, and if inspired, to leave her a token of gratitude.
by Admin | Apr 18, 2017 | Blogs
Rainbow Community School has teamed up with The Vanishing Wheelchairย to bring magic to Asheville on April 28 and 29!
Magic is all around us. At Rainbow magic is kept alive everyday through daily centerings, ceremonies, story-telling, and the spectacular wonder of learning. Rainbow teachers use many names for magic. Sometimes magic is the love shared between classmates, sometimes magic is watching the transformation of your citizen-science tree on campus, and sometimes magic is the patterns made by prime numbers on your math sheet.
The weekend after next we have the opportunity to learn from the people who have honed the craft of stage and street magic. The magic of illusion is one of the oldest performing arts in human history. We have been gathering around magicians, entranced by the hint of the supernatural, for hundreds of years. We invite you step back into the world of make-believe, while supporting Rainbow and The Vanishing Wheelchairย in the process. Buy your tickets today for this weekend extravaganza of not only magic shows, but magic workshops too!
โMagical Moments of Ashevilleโ is a two day magic festival beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday with The Vanishing Wheelchairโs โMagic, Mirth & Meaningโ show and continuing all day Saturday with workshops on magic and juggling, a talk from Appalachian Fairy Folk School, a Kids Magic Show at 3 p.m., and a closing show at 8 p.m. highlighting a variety of Asheville performers.
Show tickets ($10 for adults, $5 for kids) can be purchased in the RCS office, at Magic Central magic shop at 175 Weaverville Highway, or online at http://www.vanishingwheelchair.org/the-rainbow-community-school-is-raising-money-by-magic/.
All events will be held at the Rainbow Community Center, 60 State Street. This event is a fundraiser for RCS and The Vanishing Wheelchair. Rainbow is a preschool through 8th grade alternative school located in the heart of West Asheville determined to share the Rainbow Seven Domains holistic education approach with teachers and students around the world. The Vanishing Wheelchair, Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit public charity dedicated to helping people with disabilities find their passion and meaning through the arts.
***FESTIVAL SCHEDULE***
Friday, April 28, 2017:
7 โ 8:30 p.m. โMagic, Mirth and Meaningโ:
$10 Adult, $5 Child
A family-friendly show with a meaning presented by members of The Vanishing Wheelchair, Inc., featuring magic, juggling, story telling, and singing. www.VanishingWheelchair.org
Saturday, April 29, 2017:
10 โ 10: 45 a.m. Principles of Magic Workshop:
$10 Adult, $5 Child
Wendal Wandell helps you become a magician by learning tricks from the seven basic principles of magic (limit: 20 people). www.MagicWandell.com
11 โ 11: 45 a.m. Juggling Gestures Workshop:
$10 Adult, $5 Child
Wendal Wandell demonstrates juggling techniques for the beginner with fun interactive practice (limit: 30 people). www.MagicWandell.com
1 โ 1: 45 p.m. Appalachian Faeire Folk School:
$10 Adult, $5 Child
Storyteller Vixi Jil weaves together original and ancient faerie tales, enchanted walkabouts and personal accounts to help guide folks into explorations of discovery in the etheric realms (limit: 30 people).
www.VixiJil.com
3 โ 4:00 p.m. WNC Magic Club Kidโs Show:
$10 Adult, $5 Child
A magic show presented by members of the Western North Carolina Magic Club for kids of all ages! www.WNCMagic.com
5 โ 5: 45 a.m. Balloon Twisting Workshop:
$20 General, $5 Share
Marcie the Balloon Fairy teaches the basics of balloon twisting creations. Workshop includes professional kit Qualatex balloons, pump, and instructional DVD. Families wishing to share a kit just pay $20 for the kit and $5 each additional person for the workshop (limit: 30 people). www.Facebook.com/MarcieTheBalloonFairy
8 โ 9:30 p.m. Magical Moments of Asheville Show:
$10 Adult, $5 Child
The Grand Finale, family-friendly show, featuring local talents of the Carolinas including comedian and magic shop owner Ricky D. Boone, magician and theatrical entertainer Wendal Wandell, cardician and magician Bobbini, the amazing magic of Wayne Anderson, story teller Vixi Jil, Forty Fingers and a Missing Tooth with jugglers Keith Campbell and Walter Beals, and famed WLOSโs Tales from the Red Rocker, Storylady Gwenda LedBetter.
www.VanishingWheelchair.org
by Admin | Jan 24, 2017 | Events, News
Winter time is a perfect time to come together in community! The whole family is invited to this free funky fun dance party at the Rainbow Community Center in the auditorium at 60 State Street, from 3pm to 5pm on Saturday, February 4th. Preschoolers through Middleschoolers are encouraged to get up on the stage and boogie to their favorite tunes.ย Rainbow students don’t often get the chance to romp and sway, groove and bounce on the auditorium stage. This is the perfect opportunity to let your kids move their bodies in whatever authentic ways they are inspired to while we gather and mingle in community!
