Thank You From The Inn Between
This past holiday season, we supported The Inn Between: Hospice for the Homeless. Please see below for the beautiful thank you card to each of you.
Tag: PSA Montessori Community School
AED: Donation Success!
We are absolutely gushing with gratitude! An MCS parent, who wishes to remain anonymous, contributed a generous donation today to our AED fund that helped us reach our goal!
Now we will be able to purchase an AED (or Automated External Defibrillator) machine for our community, and have the ability to truly save lives.
For those who aren’t familiar with what an AED does, here are 7 reasons why it’s important to have one on site:
1. Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in the U.S. From schools to homes to public places, 7,000 to 16,000 children die from sudden cardiac arrest each year, often from undiscovered heart defects. For adults, 10,000 sudden cardiac arrests occur in the workplace every year.
2. CPR is not enough. While CPR is important, and all of our staff at MCS are CPR certified, only an electric shock can restore a normal heart rhythm when a person experiences ventricular fibrillation – the leading cause of sudden cardiac arrest.
3. Paramedics are fast, but not fast enough. The average EMS response time in a typical community is nine minutes. In a sudden cardiac emergency, that’s too late.
4. Certain populations are at higher risk. Sudden cardiac arrest cases go up for men over age 45 and women over age 55. In addition, the probability a sudden cardiac arrest is higher for people who have cardiac risk factors, including high blood pressure, obesity, or smoking.
5. There is a cost to doing nothing. The American Red Cross estimates that a sudden cardiac arrest fatality in the workplace can cost up to $1.3 million in direct and indirect costs.
6. Early treatment dramatically improves survival rates. When people properly use an AED and CPS on a victim within the first three to five minutes of a heart stopping, survival rates are as high as 60%.
7. Preparation for the unexpected matters. 34% of workplaces that have implemented an AED program have used their AED at least once in order to help save a life.
Thank you so much to each and every one of our community who helped us reach this incredible goal!
PSA Raises Funds for an AED for MCS!
Montessori Community School has recently been approved for a grant that will pay the majority of the cost for MCS to receive an AED. Our PSA have since been diligently working to raise the remainder of the funds necessary for the school to acquire the AED. To date, we have raised just over $300and hope to raise the remaining $700 as soon as possible.
If you would like to support our fundraising efforts we invite you to donate directly in to the jar in the office. We are happy to accept any amount and encourage you to involve your child in the process. You might choose to have your child help gather change from all the family members on a regular basis and place it in the jar weekly.
We also encourage you to speak with your children about the function and importance of an AED and maybe keep a special container at home or in the car for them to add, hunt for, or gather change to contribute to the jar in the office.
We thank you and our PSA for this effort and support.
MCS’ 11th Annual Fun Run: Thursday, September 28th
“If salvation and help are to come, it is from the child, for the child is the constructor of man and so of society. The child is endowed with an inner power which can guide us to a more enlightened future.”
– Maria Montessori
Each year our students have the opportunity to raise pledges for our two Service Learning Projects:
The Children of Ethiopia Education Fund (COEEF)
Specifically, the COEEF program will give vital financial support so that the six girls our MCS students sponsor can attend school in Ethiopia. The Children of Ethiopia Education Fund exists to empower young girls from Ethiopia who are living in impoverished circumstances to have a quality, private education through generous sponsors and donors. Without this assistance many of these girls would not have the opportunity to attend any school. We feel that supporting girls in this way will have such a far reaching effect: “To educate a girl is to educate a village (nation).”
For more than 20 years our school has been involved in the Adopt a Native Elder program. The Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program exists to create a Bridge of Hope between Native Americans and other cultures. It allows us to reach out to one another, share our gifts, and mend the broken circle of our relationship with the Land and the Native Americans who hold it in sacred trust.
We originally adopted three grandmothers – Grandmother Roseline Jackson who died two years ago. Grandmother Emma Bahe who died this year and Grandmother Elivira Horseherder to whom we are still committed. Recently we chose to adopt another grandmother whose name is Grandmother Anita Jackson, a relative of Grandmother Roseline. We are delighted to have this opportunity to become part of the life of Grandmother Anita. We anticipate having regular communication with her as we do with Grandmother Elvira.
The money raised by our students will be used to provide our adopted Navajo grandmothers with much-needed items, such as food, firewood, clothing, and gardening tools as well as yarn to weave the beautiful rugs they sell to earn a living and also to our support our girls in Ethiopia.
Service Learning is an important component of our Montessori program, and teaches students about the joy and value of contributing to their community, society, and world. We encourage you to join with us in supporting your child in service learning. You can do this by:
- Helping your child to set a goal to raise a certain amount or get pledges by how many laps they are able to complete on the obstacle course.
- Helping your child tell family and friends about the Fun Run. You would be surprised how many friends, neighbors and grandparents are eager to support such a worthwhile event.
- Helping your child actively participate. (For example, earning money by doing extra chores at home. Then, in turn making a payment on Youcaring.com and seeing how your donation helps us meet our goals.)
- Attending the event (see the upcoming schedule for when your child’s class will be running) and join with them as they run or cheer them on from the sidelines.
- Volunteering to help at the event. Please email psa@mcsslc.com for details.
Please make your pledge via Youcaring.com and share with family and friends.
Our goal this year is to raise at least $7,000 total,
with 80% family participation.
We look forward to this exciting Service Learning experience and hope all of our families will participate with enthusiasm.
Sincerely,
MCS Parent School Alliance
Holiday Giving Gratitude
Dear Montessori Community School,
I want to say thank you on behalf of all of us here at Neighborhood House for your help with Giving Tree. You & everyone at Montessori PSA did so much to help make the holiday season bright for the children & families we serve. Attached is a thank you video & a few photos that you are welcome to share with your colleagues, friends, or family members who may have helped with Giving Tree gifts for kids in our programs. We look forward to partnering with you in the new year & so appreciate all you do to help make Neighborhood House & our community great!
We hope you & everyone at Montessori PSA have a very happy New Year!
All the best,
Becca
PSA Green Committee
Our Green Committee is a great way to support Green Initiatives around the school. If you are interested in being part of our Green Committee, please contact our PSA.
Enjoy these great pictures of Uinta students who rode their bikes to school today! Three cheers for alternative transportation!
When the weather is fine and the construction is clear…we ride!
A Special Invitation to our MCS Community
MCS Families,
Our Aspens Community Builders have arranged the event below for their first Community Building event. They have extended the invitation school-wide!
The Voice Area of the School of Music invites you to a unique outdoor experience on Presidents Circle on September 22nd at 4:10. Twenty-two of our School’s talented singers, as well as internationally acclaimed pianist Jed Moss, will present A Musical Menagerie, Animals in Song. The hour-long voice recital will include works performed in English and will feature songs about farm animals, dogs, cockroaches, frogs, snakes, worms, microbes, crows, and even warthogs. Second Chance for Homeless Pets will join us, and best of all, our outdoor space is family and animal friendly! Please join us on the lawn for a beautiful afternoon in late September celebrating and surrounded by the animals we love.
Battery Recycling Now Available at MCS
The Green Committee is excited to announce that battery recycling is now available at MCS! Most household batteries, specifically dry cell batteries (sealed, non-rechargeable, carbon zinc, or alkaline), lithium or lithium-ion batteries, and even small handheld electronics may be brought in for recycling. A container for the batteries is located in the office. Simply follow these easy steps to recycle your batteries:
Step 1-Check to see if your battery type may be recycled
Step 2-Tabe the ends of each battery terminal with clear tape
Step 3-Place taped batteries in the designated container
Battery recycling will prevent toxic substance from being released into the environment and conserve raw materials. We hope that all of our MCS community will take advantage of this easy recycling program!
MCS’ 2015 – 2016 PSA Team
Left to right: Jeannette Shaffer: Lower Elementary, Gretchen Strear: Early Childhood, Greg Feucht: Toddlers, Annie Guerrero: Upper Elementary, Soo Schmidt: Early Childhood
This year, the Parent School Alliance (PSA) has been restructured to include one (1) representative for the Toddler, Lower Elementary & Upper Elementary age groups, and two (2) representatives for the Early Childhood age group. We hope that the presence of a PSA Team will continue to help facilitate conversations between parents and the school, and to create events throughout the year that give us an opportunity to get to know each other, and have some FUN!
The PSA includes parents, faculty, and administrative staff of MCS and allows us to work together with a mission to offer support to our school, which allows our children to get the most out of their education.
There are a number of ways for you to get involved such as various Social Events, Fundraisers and MCS Community Committees. We would love your enthusiasm and assistance in getting involved with Community Building for your child’s class, the Halloween Carnival, the Spring Music & Dance Performances, the Art Showcase and the End of Year Carnival. By participating you will work toward completing your parent participation hours, have some fun and it will also give you a chance to help improve our school.
Parents are always encouraged to participate as volunteers in the classroom, help with events, and attend our PSA activities throughout the year. Volunteer opportunities are fun, diverse, and vary in time commitment. We encourage you to be as involved as your schedule will permit.
We look forward to working with you over the next year. Please feel free to contact us at any time. Also, we will have a PSA Suggestion Box in the office at all times, and we will be available to answer any of your questions via this box or you can email us direct psa@mcsslc.com.
Thank you again for your support.