.Hello from the Executive Director.
A guide to turning your clocks back in November:
* Smartphone: Leave it alone to do its magic
* Sundial: Move one house to the left
* Oven: You'll need a Masters in Electronic Engineering, or a hammer
* Car radio: Not worth it, wait six months
~Author unknown
Happy November, CCCS Families!
May the month of Thanksgiving bring you many reasons for gratitude! Celebrations and connection help us to focus on the most important things in life. Hopefully you will find time to be with family and friends to celebrate all the beautiful things.
Our theme this year seems to be unfolding naturally as we find our way back to a sense of being a school family. We are re-exploring what it means to be a community and how to reestablish strong bonds of friendship and kinship. Our school name includes the concept of “community”, so it is fitting that we embrace this and continue to work on building a strong and safe learning environment. Thankfully, we have a dedicated staff and the most incredible students and families working on our team!
As we strive to become a more inclusive community, the staff is discussing ways in which we can respect the diversity of our community and families. This conversation is particularly relevant with the upcoming holiday season. Traditionally schools in the United States focused on Northern European customs and holidays in school events and celebrations. Many schools are opting out of most or all traditional celebrations to avoid exclusion of students and families with differing philosophies, cultures, or belief systems. Our staff would like to broaden our cultural awareness by celebrating traditions from a worldwide perspective. Teachers are asking families to share about their traditions, celebrations, and customs. The staff is researching ways for us to participate in celebrations and traditions with a world view instead of completely taking celebrations out of our instruction. If you have ideas that will broaden our awareness and improve a feeling of connectedness as humans with so much in common, please share!
I hope you stay cozy and enjoy a warm cup of tea during the next few days of rainy weather. Maybe there is a really good book waiting for you. Maybe you have great music that inspires you to dance. Maybe your kids have some really good jokes to share or stories to tell at the dinner table. Whatever you need to do to take care of yourself and find joy in the day, I hope you do that.
Warm regards,
Lisa
.Hello from the Dean of Student Services.
Sometimes I wonder if the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is helpful or risky.
The British author Geraldine McCaughrean is also not sure. In her book Peter Pan in Scarlet (the official sequel to Peter Pan and Wendy), a disguised Captain Hook uses that question to destroy Never Land. The children begin to age the second that they answer the question. They lose other unique abilities or interests. They forget who they actually are at core when they focus only on finding a job.
Some educators advocate being careful with the question for other reasons too - a single career is increasingly rare, and children may need different preparation for success besides just specific career preparation. A survey earlier this year found that 52% of working folks were currently seeking a career change. We can only imagine what the working landscape will look like when our children are adults.
I became interested in the helpfulness of this question after going to college. I’d been a child who wanted to please adults and I worked diligently to make a good life plan. By the time I was 7, I had settled on a specific job at a specific school (in Ivory Coast, Africa). I began writing letters to the head of school and to a penpal my age. At 13, I picked a college. Then, unexpected, at 20, the school closed permanently due to civil warring. I was thrown for a loop. What would I do now? I wished I’d focused more on other things, and not just the narrow question of finding the right job.
I sometimes ask children other kinds of questions. “What kind of person do you want to be when you grow up?” “How do you want to be when you grow up?”
I often get lovely answers. “I want to be helpful.” “I want to be the person that everyone trusts.” “I want to be someone who is always smiling.”
At a community school, we focus on whole-student education and we invite you to think in terms of whole-student growth too. Children need support to develop character, values, and community practices. You can use your questions to help your children dream about what kind of human they can become - and how they can get there.
Best,
Liz Bruno
.General School Announcements.
Calender
November 4 - Lions Vision Screening
November 11- No school for students, Veterans Day
November 12 - No school for students, staff prep day
November 17 - Picture retakes
November 22- 24 No school, Conferences
November 25-26 No school, Thanksgiving
November 26 No school, Thanksgiving Holiday
Library Cards
If you haven’t turned in your Eugene Library Application forms yet, please deliver them to the Eugene Library at this point instead of returning them to the school.
.Community Corner.
Thank you to our November sponsor, Coburg Crossing Café
Cooking fresh, hearty & homemade meals Since 1976, the Coburg Crossing Café has been family owned and operated for over 45 years. They strives to provide home style cooking and friendly service with breakfast, lunch and dinner options all day long. Food is prepared from scratch with the best in fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy. Located at 32910 Pearl Street in the city of Coburg, just off I5. Stop by Monday through Sunday from 6am-10pm including holidays!
Volunteer Opportunities
- We are looking for two volunteers to help with picture retake day on Wednesday, November 17 beginning at 8:30 am.
- We have a new volunteer opportunity starting asap! We're bringing back Playground Pals! The goal of playground pals is to help during recess and lunch with supervision, general support, helping our students work through problem solving, making sure they're making good choices, etc. Use THIS link to sign up!
Please email Katie at community@coburgcharter.org if you are available and to confirm that you have completed all of the necessary requirements to volunteer.
.PCS Corner.
HUGE THANKS to Jen Fitzgerald, Jaime McEvoy & everyone who helped decorate the Coburg Fire Station for the trick or treat drive thru event - it looked AMAZING!! Three other things to know or help out with ….
Read-A-Thon is this week! Please support your student in filling out their reading log and calling a few friends/family to sponsor their reading each day. Sponsors can pay through check, cash, or paypal (http://paypal.me/coburgpcs). Pledge forms due back next Monday. Thank you for helping make this a success - raising funds to continue our partnership with the Eugene Public Library and fill CCCS’ 20% funding gap!
November PCS Meeting Cancelled. Due to scheduling conflicts, we need to cancel the November 5th PCS Meeting. The next meeting will be on Friday, December 3rd @ 8:15 am in the cafeteria.
Food Drive in January. We heard from the Coburg Pantry that food donations after the holidays - to help get families through the long winter months - would be ideal this year, so the food drive is being moved to January. More details coming soon.
Questions or comments? E-mail PCS@coburgcharter.org. Thank you!
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