Miina Ohman sent in this great event that is happening on April 4th and 5th: 37th Annual Ann Arbor Powwow: Dance for Mother Earth
From the website: Powwows are gatherings that Native American people use as a place to meet, dance, sing and otherwise renew and strengthen our rich culture. These gatherings are held year–round and many Native people travel great distances to attend them. The Ann Arbor Powwow is one of the largest student–run powwows in the country, with more than 1,000 of North America’s greatest singers, dancers, artists and craftspeople.
http://www.umich.edu/~powwow/index.html
If you've never been to a powwow, it's breathtaking. The dancers and their regalia (not costumes!) are beautiful and intricate and made with incredible skill, the tradition of Native American dance is amazing and the feeling of community is palpable. More information on the dancing, drumming and outfits are at http://www.umich.edu/~powwow/visitors/regalia.html.
Hope to see you there. Thanks, Miina, for the idea!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Robot Invasion, Luckiness and Moon Wolf(s) and More!
UPDATE: Sorry it's been so long since we've had a parent's blog post. It's long (sorry) but we have *lots* of catching up to do!
ROBOT INVASION: I just saw this on the 826Michigan site through friend Myra Klarman...anyone interested in going to the robot creating party together? (in italics from the 826Michigan site)
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ROBOT INVASION: I just saw this on the 826Michigan site through friend Myra Klarman...anyone interested in going to the robot creating party together? (in italics from the 826Michigan site)
Robot-Costume-Building Workshop & FestiFools invasion!
Sunday, April 5, 2009, 1pm.
First off, if you are unfamiliar with FestiFools, please check out their website here.
FestiFools is, basically, one of our favorite Ann Arbor events. Imagine ten-foot-tall papier mache puppets taking over Main Street in their very own parade. Imagine drummers, and dancers, and a huge crowd gathered to watch the festivities. Now you’ve got the general IDEA, but honestly, it is one of those “have to see it to believe it” kind of events.
This year, we’re staging a (parade-sanctioned) Robot Invasion of the FestiFools parade.
Join us at 826michigan on Sunday, April 5, at 1pm. Robot builder/collector/artist Elaine Reed will guide you (and your family and friends!) as you make your very own, one-of-a-kind robot costume(s). Then, shortly before the parade starts at 4pm, we’ll walk up the block and join the fun as honorary Festifoolians.
This family friendly event is open to the public and completely free! Please email amy@826michigan.org to reserve your spot(s) in the workshop.
FestiFools is not to be missed either. It's FANTASTIC! http://festifools.org/ A must-see. A carnival of coolness right in your own town.
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LUCKINESS: I'd be a fool if I didn't plug S-K's 50/50 raffle. The deal is that S-K is selling (legally, mind you!) 200 raffle tickets at $200 each. "WHOA!", you say, "that seems like a lot of dough!" Hmmm...$200 for a chance to win $20,000. $20,000 is a good chunk of someone's salary for the year, it's an amazing vacation, it's a nice nest egg. And, people can go in on the ticket price together. Four people contribute $50 and have the chance to split the winnings.
But this is the cool thing about the raffle. First, the chance is to win 50% of the incoming cash. So that's $20,000 in someone's pocket if we sell all 200 tickets. Second...that's $20,000 in S-K's coffers to offset costs for next year that aren't made up by tuition (think scholarships, think salaries, think electricity and think field trips...). As we all know, the tuition doesn't cover all of our expenses, no matter how lean we are. So, if you know 5 people who you can ask to buy a ticket (and, you'd be surprised at how many people are interested...one family is has sold 12 and counting), get them engaged while the getting is good. If we don't sell all 200, we still split the proceeds 50/50 with the winner either way.
Forms will be coming out in your mail box to order tickets, but you can also have interested folks send checks to Summers-Knoll and Kim will send out the tickets for you. Thanks!
But this is the cool thing about the raffle. First, the chance is to win 50% of the incoming cash. So that's $20,000 in someone's pocket if we sell all 200 tickets. Second...that's $20,000 in S-K's coffers to offset costs for next year that aren't made up by tuition (think scholarships, think salaries, think electricity and think field trips...). As we all know, the tuition doesn't cover all of our expenses, no matter how lean we are. So, if you know 5 people who you can ask to buy a ticket (and, you'd be surprised at how many people are interested...one family is has sold 12 and counting), get them engaged while the getting is good. If we don't sell all 200, we still split the proceeds 50/50 with the winner either way.
Forms will be coming out in your mail box to order tickets, but you can also have interested folks send checks to Summers-Knoll and Kim will send out the tickets for you. Thanks!
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MOON WOLF(S): Have you had a chance to see the chicken-skin-raising gorgeousness of the Moon Wolf book that Summers-Knoll is publishing? Moon Wolf was a brilliant collaboration between our incredibly talented Joanna Hastings and children from across the school. Joanna's written about the experience of creating the work with the children and Ruth and James Marks (and Melissa Bruzzano and our own Kim Guizel) but you really must see it to believe it. In addition, we are going to be selling framed prints of the artwork and celebrating the book's launch at our Eudaimonia event on May 9th at the Ann Arbor Art Center (oh yeah, it's going to be soooo cool). But, the current run of the book is limited, so please get in your forms to make sure you get all the copies you need for doting grandparents, impressed aunties, creative nieces/nephews and more. An order form went home with you last week and orders will be filled first come, first served.
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RECRUITMENT: Finally, hats off to Joanna and the staff for welcoming so many interested families to S-K this Spring. The school's goal is to fill all 48 slots with wonderful candidates this year and you, as S-K families, are the *best* ambassadors the school has. So please, keep the recruitment going! It is definitely the lifeblood of the school and the way we will continue to grow this fantastic place for young minds. We really need to make this happen.
Being a small school, we are not as well known in the community as other private schools, so the more you can talk up the school to friends, colleagues and anyone who will listen, the more we will become known. Word of mouth recommending goes farther than any other form of marketing.
One of the best ways to get people to know S-K is to invite them to our summer camps. As our summer camps are open to the general public, they offer the community a chance to get to know the school without having to enroll. And, summer camp provides S-K with critical revenues that help supplement our ongoing fundraising needs. So helping to recruit for summer camp is like helping to fund the school year 'round. We want to fill every slot in the camp this year, so spread the word far and wide.
Being a small school, we are not as well known in the community as other private schools, so the more you can talk up the school to friends, colleagues and anyone who will listen, the more we will become known. Word of mouth recommending goes farther than any other form of marketing.
One of the best ways to get people to know S-K is to invite them to our summer camps. As our summer camps are open to the general public, they offer the community a chance to get to know the school without having to enroll. And, summer camp provides S-K with critical revenues that help supplement our ongoing fundraising needs. So helping to recruit for summer camp is like helping to fund the school year 'round. We want to fill every slot in the camp this year, so spread the word far and wide.
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If you have any ideas to share on the parent blog, or want to get involved in any parent-related activities, please don't hesitate to email Fran Loosen at fran (at) loosen-giardino.com. Thanks, as always, for your great support of S-K. What a wonderful community we have!
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