7th & 8th Gr. Ensemble Concert, Dec. 8

SEBASTOPOLCHARTERNOTES

Upcoming Events Dec 14: Enrollment TourDec 15: Fundraiser Book Sale with Theresa Melia, 12:45p Main St. Dec 16: Early Dismissal, All Grades Released at 12:45pDec 16: Winter Warmth, 5:30pmDec 19-30: Winter BreakJan 2: School ResumesJan 9-13: Parent/Teacher Confer-ences, Early Dismissal 12:45pJan 9: Board Meeting, 6pmJan 16: Martin Luther King Jr. Day, School Closed

December Issue Highlights

Winter Warmth Pg. 1

Pledge Program Update Pg. 2

Thanksgiving Poem Pg. 3

Scoochie Mouse Pg. 4

Notes from the Office Pg. 4

Geometric Drawings Pg. 5

Warmth Pg. 6

December 2016Monthly Edition

2 CharterNotes December 2016

Thanks to all who came out to buy sweet Waldorf treasures at Circle of Hands for Shop Night! A special thanks to Leslie Young for her generosity of offering

her store to host the cozy and festive evening to raise money for our dear school.

November Pledge UpdateHappy Holidays! Can you believe there are only three weeks left in 2016? For many, this brings up anxiety as the festivities and the New Year ap-proach. For others, it is your favorite time of year. For the Charter Foundation, we look forward to wrapping up [no pun intended] all of your gifts of pledge before December 31st! If you haven’t already, please make it your conscious priority to return your pledge with your gift of a donation. For those of you who haven’t submitted a pledge yet, please click on: Pledge form for an easy download.

Please remember that your gifts go toward edu-cating our wonderful children, supporting our dear teachers and school and bringing us closer to build-ing our unified campus.

At present, 69% of all student-body is represented by a pledge. Thank you to all classes for your con-tinuing effort to reach school-wide 100% participa-tion.

Please give generously. And as always, endless heartfelt thanks for your support!

Cheers, ~Anna and the Charter Foundation

Class Pledged RK 73% SK 70% 1st 81% 2nd 63% 3rd 60% 4th 81% 5th 70% 6th 70% 7th 66% 8th 59% School 69%

Notes from

the Directorby Chris Topham, Executive Director

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving because of the delicious food, the gathering of people, and the extra opportunity to reflect on gratitude. Al-though, I have learned that it is not a good idea to talk about current politics. In December, there are

many upcoming holidays that I look forward to. I’ve already started to reflect on 2017.

Last night, when I watched the 7th and 8th grade students perform their music concert with singing and strings ensem-ble, I was so thankful for the school’s music program. I also felt gratitude to the students for practicing their instruments, to the parents for supporting their children practicing, and to the teachers for creating such strong music programs. Both as a parent and as an educator, I am so glad to be part of a school with such strong music programs. Please know that there are string instruments to borrow from the school – just ask Tim Zieminski, tzieminski@sebastopolcharter.org.

I am also grateful for all the volunteering that parents do for the school. Our students would not be able to experience field trips if parents did not volunteer to drive and chaper-one. I know how much parents give their time in many other ways, between the handwork helpers and pitching in for classroom projects, this is truly a parent-connected school. In the next Charter Notes, there will be a open invitation and instructions for applying to be a school board member. This is an opportunity to be a volunteer by looking after the whole school with a huge amount of responsibility. The school board has chosen to expand to become a seven-member board. It currently has six members.

Lastly, I am grateful for all the donations that parents give to the school’s programs and towards the future campus. The music program is an example of what is made possible from your pledge donations. The field trip donation goes exclusive-ly towards field trips. We currently have received field trip donations from 55% of the families asked and we have about half the amount donated compared to last year. We are working on revising our field trip program to make it lower in cost and simpler. As you know, the Charter Foundation is also collecting donations for the new campus through the Breaking Ground campaign. Any donations you give before December 31 will be tax deductible for 2016.

I wish you a wonderful winter break.

December 2016 CharterNotes 3

The Night Before Thanksgiving BreakBy Laura Gilbert, SCS Parent

‘Twas the night before Thanksgiving Break, when all through the school,Not a teacher was still teaching, not even Mrs. Tuchel.There were crockpots lined up in the assembly room with care,After a rare happy hour, the parents would soon be there.

The 3rd graders excitedly ran all aboutHow strange to be in school, when school was already out!The parents arrived, and the children took their hands,And escorted them all to the feast they had planned.

Over months the students had labored, crafted, and cooked,To ensure that no detail would be overlooked.The tables were decorated with handmade delights,Woven placemats, name cards, and origami tea lights.

Handwritten menus were placed at each seat,Sharing with us the wonderful treats we would soon eat.The crockpots were filled to the brim with Minestrone,The ingredients all of those that the children had and grown.

Potatoes, broccoli, and carrots galore,One bowl would not suffice, we all wanted more!Bowls of salad overflowed with fresh picked romaine,With seeds, veggies and flowers, they were anything but plain.

There were baskets of corn muffins so we could all have our fill,Made by the students with wheat ground at Bales Grist Mill.And as if all of our bellies weren’t already all aflutter,Next to the muffins, were three bowls of honey butter!

“Now you may eat” the children sang, and the secret came out,That we’d be dining alone, without the kids running about.They’d be back to check on us, and replenish our tea,And then the children left, and the parents said “yippee!”

We filled our plates and bowls, and we talked while we ate,And we basked in our children’s ability to create,a beautiful evening, with so much time and preparation,And to not cook a meal our selves, why, it felt like a vacation!

The children returned and sang the harvest song,Accompanied by flutes, and with their voices proud and strong.A raucous applause followed, with smiles all around,The culmination of much hard work, a frown could not be found.

So with bellies full and warm, and gratitude in our hearts,We cleaned up the room, and were soon ready to depart.Such a wonderful night at a wonderful school,And an evening the children would likely describe as “pretty cool”

Thank you Ms. Carpenter, and the 3rd grade class,

The parents hope that this evening will not be the last!

The Q’ewar Waldorf dolls have arrived! by Marcela Ronan, SCS Parent

This year prettier than before! The ladies who make these dolls show amazing creativity, and care about the quality of their work! What is Q’ewar? It is a cooperative of indigenous women in Andahuaylillas, Perú that has been created out of the anthroposophy’s principles of social and educational transformation. The Ronan-Mejía fami-ly have supported this non-profit since our youngest, Miranda, was in gesta-tion, 14 years ago. This year we have

received hats, socks, mittens, gloves with open fingers, traditional gloves, little gnomes, and dolls’ clothing made of alpaca, and baby alpaca wool. All the profits go back to the project. Besides providing clean, pretty, well-lit and ventilated workshops for the ladies, dental cleaning, self-esteem work-shops, health services from volunteers around the world, the Q’ewar Project has built a Waldorf nursery, preschool, kindergarten and first grade. They want their workshops and the school’s growth to continue, but have not been able to expand this year due to lack of economic resources. This year in partic-

ular has been difficult in many aspects as they had their main doll contract cancelled. Lucía, our oldest daughter, volunteered there three months this summer. She was in shock to witness the extreme poverty and the govern-ment abandonment in this region of the world. Please consider the Q’ewar Project offerings when making your gifts lists. Every purchase counts, every dolls is a unique, and a work of art.

Please contact Marcela at 707-544- 2874 or spanisharts@sbcglobal.net

For more information about the Q’ewar Project, please visit www.qewar.com.

4 CharterNotes December 2016

Dear families of the Sebastopol Charter School,

For those who don’t know me, my name is Theresa Roach Melia. I was the founding teacher of our school, and a Kindergarten Teacher at Sebastopol Charter for 19 years. As my daughter and I walked to school each morning, I started telling her a story. That story became a tale that I told to my Kindergarten classes, if they were quiet enough at rest time so I could imagine the next part of the story. When I stopped teaching I thought I better write this story down since I wanted to remem-ber it. Michaela Miller, the current first grade assistant, typed it for me and Marcia Nilsson, a Charter School grandmother, is the illustrator of my book. It has now been published and is called, THE ADVENTURES OF SCOOCHIE MOUSE. Some of you will remember Scooch-ie, I hope, fondly. I want to make Scoochie available to our school community, so on Thursday, Dec. 15th I will be at the downtown campus selling and signing books starting at 12:45p. The Scoochie book will be available at a discounted price of $10 per book. This sale is a fundraiser for the Charter School with a portion of the proceeds going straight to the school. If you would like to buy a book, I will be happy to sign it for you. Best wishes for holy and happy holidays, with love,Theresa

Notes From

the Office by Barbara Philipp & Carrie Heim

Happy Holidays! From everyone in the office, we thank you for your sweet holiday gifts and goodies and we hope you have a special and memorable win-ter celebration.

We hope you join us this coming Friday evening for the annual Winter Warmth. It will be a cozy way to spend some time together in the Assembly Room before depart-ing for two weeks on our winter adventures.

While you have some time to slow down and rest into winter, please check your calendars to see if you’re available to volunteer for our upcoming vision and hearing testing! Vision testing will be on Jan 17 for 3rd grade and Jan 24 for 6th grade starting at 9am. Hearing tests are on Jan 11 for 5th grade, Feb 8 for 8th grade, and Mar 1 for 2nd grade all starting at 9am. Please call the office to sign-up, we will need 3 volunteers per grade for vision and 1 volunteer per grade for hearing.

We know that when you move or change phone numbers there is usually a lot on your plate, but please let the office know as soon as you can so we can have the most

updated information. We send out mail or call all the time for various reasons, so please help us by getting this information to us. Thank you!

Just a reminder about pizza forms. We know this hot lunch program is important to you, so if you have any questions about it contact the 7th grade teacher, Eric Brosio, directly about your order. His email is ebro-sio@sebastopolcharter.org. Thanks for supporting this important school fundraiser!

If you are going to be gone after the winter break, we need your Inde-pendent Study request in today! This applies to absences starting January 2. It is too late to request any Inde-pendent Study for this week (Dec 12-Dec 16).

Congratulations to the 4th Grade for winning the Golden Sneaker award for this month! This is part of our Walk & Roll to School program. The class who walks, bikes or car-pools the most on Wednesdays gets the coveted prize of Golden Sneak-er. Also, make sure you turn in your tally cards for some neat prizes!

Do you have an itch to write for the monthly charter notes? We are always looking for new stories, articles and even creative art that would appeal to our audience. Email charternotes@sebastopolcharter.org your ideas!

New York Theatre Teacher and Director comes to Townby Carol Rusoff, SCS Grandparent

I am a Sebastopol Charter grandma coming to town this winter to warm my bones and do what I love to do best – make theatre with kids! I have arranged with Sebastopol Arts Center to offer a six week after-school Creative Theatre Workshop to 4th, 5th and 6th graders February 6 thru March 22 on Mondays. The Center has given us a lovely roomy and airy space in which to work.

I am particularly inspired by the Charter kids, as their imagina-tions are so excellently intact and they seem to be very com-fortable in their world and in their own skins, ready to explore!

During my (50 years!) of work as a theatre teacher, artist-in-res-idence, arts chair, director/producer, and local and state arts grant recipient, I have taught classes, developed programs and created dynamic projects which were based on inventiveness

and mutual trust. Especially where young people are con-cerned, I believe that theatre-making can enable participants to experience unencumbered involvement and creative explo-ration in a safe and non-competitive atmosphere. I always try to create that environment. I enjoy nurturing the growth of skills, curiosity and collaboration. My work has been praised over the years as energetic and resourceful.

Your children may ask “What will the story be?” and “Will there be costumes?” Well the answers are “We don’t know until we make it up” and “No.” Our last session will be a culminating demonstration rather than play production. You’ll see!

Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions at papri-kash@earthlink.net. You may also sign up for the workshop thru the Arts center, https://squareup.com/store/sebastopol-cen-ter-for-the-arts/

I am excited with this promising project and looking forward to meeting your kids!

December 2016 CharterNotes 5

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The sixth grade has been busy using precise compasses, rulers and T squares to construct geometric designs out of the circle. From the first day of first grade, when the straight and curved line is introduced, to form drawing, to freehand geometry, it seems it has all lead up to this point. Quite capable of using tools, the sixth graders have not only enjoyed constructing but also coloring in their work. Each “mandala” is an expression of the individual’s inner life. May the beauty of their work carry into the service they are doing for their knighting projects. Happy Holidays, Mrs. Hartsook

Boys Basketball Updateby Asst. Coach Mary Schwall

The boys are 7-3 so far and had their final league game last week at Presen-tation, Sonoma. The tournament begins this week. The coach is Nic Moffet, a local volunteer who has dedicated his time the past two years. Thanks to parent Hitomi Kimura who took these team photos.

6 CharterNotes December 2016

WarmthEditorial by Debra “Trixie” Gambrell, SCS Parent

This past Saturday, the kinder-gartens, first and second grades enjoyed their Winter Spiral ceremony. One could breathe in the warmth of the room, thanks to the parents and teachers who spent the morning creating the atmosphere using fresh pine and bay leaves. The lanterns were lit and the room was filled with beautiful music from the harp, played by (one of two harp-play-ing) parents. Quietly, the rest of the parents filed into their seats;

upstairs, the teachers skillfully brought the children from the busy outer, doing and thinking world into a reverent, joy-filled, feeling world.

Just like the warmth of the earth goes into the ground in winter, we must be able to bring the warmth of the spirit into our body this time of year. We know physiologically that we get “cooler”; our cortisol and vitamin D levels reach a low point around the winter solstice. We are more prone to catch a cold or to experience the winter “blues” during this time. By coming together as communi-ty, we increase our collective warmth and provide opportunity for our children to access their inherent health and to express the magic that is their nature. In Working with the Angels: The Young Child and the Spiritual World, Dr. Helmet von Kugelgen said, “When the adult is striving to find spiritual contact, this forms a bridge for children.”

We know warmth is vital to the child’s ability to come into his body. Anything that increases the warmth of a child’s environment, in a way that reso-nates with nature, helps every aspect of child de-velopment, from reading, to movement, to how they emotionally and physically connect with others. We see this warmth in the natural toys of the kinder-garten and the feeling-filled hugs the children get at the start and end of each day. We see this in the way the first grade teacher greets the child with a handshake, an open heart, and a smile, and how the second grade teacher magically gets the children to come in without any obvious outwards signs.

The added benefit of warmth is the physical health of the child. Children that are warm out to their toes have better immunity. The immune system is much

smarter when the body is fully warm rather than when the feet are cold. Think about it, if you were a virus and wanted to live longer, you would head for the less warm areas in the body. Here in the cooler areas, the blood moves more slowly, they immune cells aren’t as active, and the virus can have a place to set up shop. In addition, keeping the feet warm provides the greatest distance of vertical polarity of blood flow; the blood is enlivened by the full move-ment throughout the body, just as we are if we are allowed to move out to our limits. Slowing the blood flow down at the periphery devitalizes the blood, and can lead to illness.

We know that regular meals with family, with a few simple ingredients, and “eating happy” are warm-ing gestures. Sometimes we intentionally intervene to let the body warm up. We give immune-boosting echinacea and elderberry, we back off sugars, we turn the lights out and spend the evening under candlelight. We allow “sensory breaks”, which is that unscheduled activity starting with a half hour of “I’m bored.” That warmth can also be given with a blanket thrown in the dryer for five minutes before bed, or the cup of dilute hot chamomile tea in their lunch instead of cold water.

The Winter Spiral ceremony was beautiful and full of warm magic. With each candle lit, the awe on each child’s face along with the light of the candle added to the amazing light-filled room at the conclusion of the ceremony. One of more palpable rhythms of the year, the winter solstice is when we can go deep into our feeling life, where the light shines brightly, in order to be able to bring that light out to warm ourselves, our family, and our community.

*** For a stressed child, a chamomile tea abdominal compress can be a lovely way to warm the child’s nervous system so they can relax into their body. It’s also a lovely opportunity for mom (or dad!) to add their own personal warmth to their child. For instructions, see www.sophia-mich-aelremedies.com. You can find organic bath-grade tea leaves at Rosemary’s Garden or a biodynamic option is available through Weleda.