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February - March 2014 News
A joint production of Day School staff and the Parents Committee
Dear Parents:
At St. Aidan’s we often say that play is the work of
children. What exactly does that mean? This poem
might help explain it:
Just Playing
When I am building in the block room,
Please donʼt say Iʼm “Just Playing.”
For, you see, Iʼm learning as I play, about balance and shapes.
Who knows, I may be an architect someday.
When I am getting all dressed up, setting the table, caring for the
babies,
Donʼt get the idea Iʼm “Just Playing.”
For, you see, Iʼm learning as I play. Iʼm expressing myself and being creative.
I may be an artist or an inventor someday.
When you see me sitting in a chair “Reading” to an imaginary audience,
Please donʼt laugh and think Iʼm “Just Playing.”
For, you see, Iʼm learning as I play. I may be a teacher someday.
When you see me combing the bushes for bugs, or packing my pockets with choice things I find,
Donʼt pass it off as “Just Play.”
For, you see, Iʼm learning as I play. I may be a scientist someday.
When you see me engrossed in a puzzle or some “plaything” at my school,
Please donʼt feel that time is wasted in “Play.”
For, you see, Iʼm learning as I play. Iʼm learning to solve problems and concentrate.
I may be in business some day.
When you see me cooking or tasting foods,
Please donʼt think that because I enjoy it, it is “Just Play.”
For, you see, Iʼm learning as I play. Iʼm learning to follow directions and see differences.
I may be a cook someday.
When you see me learning to skip, hop, run, and move my body,
Please donʼt say Iʼm “Just Playing.”
For, you see, Iʼm learning as I play. Iʼm learning how my body works.
I may be a doctor, nurse, or athlete someday.
When you ask me what Iʼve done at school today, and I say, I “Just played.”
Please donʼt misunderstand me.
For, you see, Iʼm learning as I play. Iʼm learning to enjoy and be successful at my work.
Iʼm preparing for tomorrow.
Today, I am a child and my work is play.
Enjoy your child’s play time; from Suzanne Odom and the faculty at St. Aidan’s.
Mark your calendars:
February
Friday 7th
Wed 12th
Mon 17th
Tues 18th
Friday 21st
Thurs 27th
Fri 28th
March
Mon 3rd
Wed 5th
Thurs 6th
Fri 7th
Tues 11th
Wed 12th
Thurs 13th
Fri 14th
Sun 16h
Mon 17th
Tues 18th
Thurs 20th
Wed 26th
Thurs 27th
Fri 28th
Family Fun Night @7pm
Reptiles Alive!
No Lunch Bunch - Staff meeting
Parents Committee @7:30pm
Presidents Day – School is open
Project Night Night begins
Dr. Seuss Read-a-Thon forms out
El Paso Restaurant Night
Mar/Apr Lunch Bunch forms out
Sweet Frog fundraiser
Mar/Apr Lunch Bunch forms due
Project Night Night ends
School Spirit Day – Wear Red
(Thurs for 2-day classes)
Sr. Seuss Read-a-Thon forms due
Shannon 3-day Touch Base
Forsythe/Whitaker Touch Base
Pajama Day school-wide
(Thursday Feb 6th for 2-day
classes)
Jurta Touch Base
Tiny Tots rescheduled for
Carmichael, Hesch, McGraw,
Carbone, Jurta
No Lunch Bunch - Staff meeting
Parents Committee @7:30pm
Carbone Touch Base
Tiny Tots rescheduled for
MacLeod, Shannon, and
Forsythe/Whitaker
Day School Sunday at St. Aidan’s
Happy St. Patrick’s Day
McGraw Touch Base
Hesch Touch Base
School-wide Eric Carle Day
Sweet Frog fundraiser
School Spirit Day – Wear Red
Message from the Parents’ Committee CoChairs
As we prepare for the next two months
of activities at St. Aidan’s we hope you will
notice a theme – a time of giving back. Every
year the Parents’ Committee selects a charity
to support through its Heart-to-Heart program.
This year, we will again support Project Night
Night, a charity that provides special
goodnight kits for homeless children. Please
be on the lookout for more information about
how you can help with this very worthwhile
charity. Also, every year, we have the
opportunity to thank our very loving and
dedicated teaching staff during our Teacher
Appreciation Week (February 10-14). We do
not follow the National Teacher Appreciation
week, but have created our own special week
that coincides with Valentine’s Day. We hope
you will find a special way to show your
teachers how much they are loved and
appreciated.
We also have several other events to
look forward to in the months to come. The
first event is Family Fun Night scheduled for
Friday, February 7th at 7:00 PM in White Hall.
We are pleased to have Reptiles Alive
providing the entertainment for the evening.
Additionally, we will launch our very first Dr.
Seuss Read-a-thon. We would like to thank
Marie Griffin, Lindsey Shourek, and Liz
Schroeder for their leadership in planning and
organizing this event.
Finally, it is time to begin planning for
the 2014-2015 school year. The Parents’
Committee has several open positions.
Volunteering is a wonderful opportunity to get
involved and contribute to further enhancing
our community. Please review the list of open
positions in this newsletter and contact us for
more information or to volunteer.
Beth Burke & Laura Fannon
Restaurant Night
Join us for a special monthly
fundraiser and fun at Sweet Frog Frozen
Yogurt. Come on in, all day: from 1:00 PM
– 9:00 PM for a frozen treat, on any of the
following Thursdays: January 23, February
27, March 27, April 24, and May 27. Just
mention St. Aidan’s and a portion of each
purchase will be donated to the school.
Sweet Frog is located at 7770 Richmond
Hwy. (next to Gold’s Gym), Alexandria,
VA 22306.
Heart to Heart Program
Each February St. Aidan’s Heart to Heart
Program brings our school community together
to support a charitable organization.
This year’s Heart to Heart Program will
again support Project Night-Night, an
organization that provides "good-night kits" for
homeless children. Each Night Night Package
contains a new security blanket, children's book,
and a stuffed animal -- all nestled inside of a
new canvas tote bag. We will be collecting
items and cash donations to fill as many tote
bags as we can for distribution to local area
homeless shelters. Last year St. Aidan’s
distributed 50 tote bags to local shelters!
Our collection will run from February
18th to 28th this year. More information to
come in your child's red tote soon! For
questions please contact Jaime Winkelfoos at
[email protected].
Family Fun Night
Bring the whole family and join us
Friday, February 7th at 7:00 PM in White
Hall for an evening of free entertainment
provided by Reptiles Alive. This is a
wonderful opportunity to see a large variety
of reptiles in an intimate and friendly
setting. Refreshments will be provided after
the show. If you have questions please
contact Lise Sackett at
[email protected].
Box Tops and Soup Labels for Education
These labels can be found on a variety
of products – anything from General Mills
cereal boxes, Pepperidge Farm products,
Campbell’s Soups, Progresso Soups, Kleenex
products, Ziploc bags and a variety of other
items. Every label helps the school to earn cash
and credit towards educational
equipment. Look for the labels above and
please clip them and place them in your child’s
red bag, leave them with their teacher or place
them in the designated tray in Suzanne’s
office. If you have any questions please contact
Lindsey Schourek - [email protected] TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK
FEB 10-14
Help celebrate our wonderful teachers this
week. Please take time to let them know how
special they are and feel free to bring a special
treat one morning or a homemade gift from
your child.
Our St. Aidan’s teachers are amazing, we
know!
Their talents and skills help each child
grow.
Stop by a classroom on any fine day
You'll see how they shine in every way.
Through days filled with movement, music
and mess,
They nurture young minds, bodies and
hearts, oh yes!
We've got school spirit, we shout it out loud.
We wear red and white because we're St.
Aidan’s proud!
Thank you for all you do for our children!
Questions: Contact Heather Condon at [email protected]. Dr. Seuss Read-AThon
Each year St.
Aidan's celebrates
Dr. Seuss's
birthday with a
pajama day and
special celebration.
This year, in the
weeks leading up
to that celebration,
we are going to
have a Read-aThon! For the last
two weeks in
February, we would like children to track how
many books they read or have read to them
each day. Additionally, children can collect
pledges of support from family, neighbors,
and/or friends (either per book or a single
donation) for their reading efforts. On March
3rd, we will collect each child's book tracker
and pledges so that we can count how many
books were collectively read by St. Aidan's
students! Please keep your eyes out for a
reading tracker and more information, which
will come home with your children in
February. We look forward to celebrating the
fun of reading with your children while
raising money for our great school!
Questions? Please contact Marie Griffin
([email protected]), Lindsey Schourek
([email protected]) or Liz Schroeder
([email protected])
GIVE AND TAKE
We would like to give away a play kitchen from
one of our classrooms.
We would like to take any baby food jars or
bubble wrap that you do not need.
See Mrs. Odom for more info.
Laura Carbone teaches 5-day fours with two
assistant teachers, Meredith Mulhern and Jessica
Kidwell, who “job share.” A proud “Duck”, Laura
Carbone studied advertising and journalism at the
University of Oregon where she earned her Bachelor of
Science degree. She worked in Public Affairs for the
USDA Forest Service, moving from one end of the
country to the other and eventually settling in
Alexandria with her husband Joe. Their two
daughters, Katie now a freshman at JMU and Emily a
sophomore at West Potomac HS, are both St. Aidan’s Day School alumni. It was during Emily’s
years at St. Aidan’s that Laura joined the staff. Early childhood education and the power of
learning through play has become a passion of Laura’s. In September 2013 Laura and her friend
Peggie Bobo, a former St. Aidan’s teacher, launched their website “Small Kids Big Ideas”. Small
Kids Big Ideas has quickly expanded to Facebook and Twitter where activities, insights, and
preschool humor are shared with parents and educators around the
world. http://www.smallkidsbigideas.com/
Meredith Mulhern graduated from Sweet Briar as an English Major/History Minor. After
college she worked for non-profits in DC and Old Town. She and her husband Tom have Evelyn 10,
5th grade at Waynewood, and Thomas 9, 2nd grade at St. Louis. She came to St. Aidan’s as a
parent in 2006, and started teaching in 2009. Meredith is a wonderful baker, and the teachers
love it when she brings us bread, homemade jams, and other treats.
Jessica Kidwell has a Master's in Health Administration and previously worked for the
Under Secretary for Health for the Department of Veterans Affairs. She came to St. Aidan's five
years ago when her daughter Grace began in the 2-day 3's class. Grace (7) is now in first grade at
Stratford Landing and her son Charlie (4) is in the 5-day fours class. After being an active parent
and Board member at St. Aidan's she decided teaching would be a an exciting path to begin
pursuing. This is her first year as an assistant in the 5 day fours class and is loving every second of
it with hopes of many more years to come.
Bev Jurta teaches 5-day fours with her
assistant teacher Denise Serba. Bev earned an
Elementary Education degree from Plymouth State
University in New Hampshire. She has taught pre-K
through grade 3 in a variety of school settings for
13
years before having her family. She and her
husband Dan have Danny, (10), Charlotte, (8), and
Rachel, (5). Rachel is currently a student in our
kindergarten class. Bev says, “I came to St. Aidan's
three years ago looking for a school for Rachel and
found a place for me as well! I loved the small
community feel of the school as well as the philosophy of a play-based preschool that offered lots of
opportunity for interactive, experiential learning!”
Denise Serba was a liberal arts major and worked for the Defense Department for 10 years, mostly
in computer operations and a hybrid simulation facility. She also worked for a Navy contractor in Virginia
Beach. She and her husband Ed have two daughters – Kristen (24) and Meredith (21). Denise began working
with another preschool but moved to St. Aidan’s in 2002. In her spare time you will find her at the beach or
on the Potomac in her kayak. She also likes to garden and visit flea markets, art shows, and concerts. She
says “I have always loved children and find that educating young minds is awesome to watch!” Being at St.
Aidan’s gives her a chance to “play a lot, and work with an outstanding bunch of women.”
Jennifer Forsythe and Eleanor Whitaker share the lead teacher
role in our third 5-day fours class. Jennifer has a BA in management from
Pine Manor College in Boston, MA. Before starting a family, she worked as
a bank manager in Boston. She began working here when her son,
Matthew, who attended St. Adian’s, began Kindergarten at Fort Hunt
Elementary in 2008. She spent two years working with Suzanne Odom in
the young fives room and then moved to the 5 day fours in 2010. Jennifer
lives in Stratford Landing with husband, John, two children, and two
dogs. Emma (13), is in 8th grade at Carl Sandburg Middle School.
Matthew (11), is in 5th grade at Stratford Landing Elementary. The dogs
are Tess (yellow lab) and Pru (mix), both named for a connection to
Boston. When not at work, or running around with her family, Jennifer
likes to swim, read and spend time with friends. Jennifer found St.
Aidan's when she moved to this area and needed a preschool for Matthew.
“Everyone I met said St. Aidan's was the best, and thankfully we were able to get in. Matthew spent 3 years
here, and after he left, I stayed. This is my 6th year at St. Aidan's. It's always amazing to see our students
grow and mature while at St. Aidan's and I feel very lucky to be able to spend this special time with them.”
Eleanor grew up in Chattanooga, and has a degree in English from Centre College, and a masters
degree in nursing from the University of Tennessee. She and husband Matthew have two children. Rhys is in
7th grade at Carl Sandburg Middle School, and Kes is a 3rd grader at Stratford Landing Elementary. She started
working at St. Aidan's in 2009 when daughter Kes was in her third year here. She says “we had moved down
the parkway from Del Ray a couple of years before, and I knew that the Episcopal Church and preschool on
the other side of our back gate were both special places. In my life before children, I worked as a nurse
practitioner, and I loved the work and fully intended to go back. I love teaching preschool too.” When not at
St. Aidan’s, Eleanor likes to be outdoors, searching for cool rocks with Rhys, or writing and illustrating stories
with Kes. She also loves music, gardening, and planning her family’s annual summer swimming hole trip.
Lisa Shannon earned a BS in Therapeutic Recreation at
Clemson University. She worked for Special Olympics in Santa Clara
County Calif. as the Training Coordinator for the Athletes, and at a
Recreation Therapist Stroke Center. in Santa Cruz. She and husband
Jim have three children: Patrick (27) Naval Officer in San Diego,
Casey (24) a Graphic Designer in Washington DC, and Caroline (21)
student at Falls Church High School. While working at Stratford
Landing as a long-term sub in PE, St. Aidan’s staff suggested that
her developmental background would be a good fit for our school.
It was! She came on staff Sept. 2001 and loved it!! In her spare
time Lisa enjoys reading and learning about child development and
the brain. She has a lot of experience with sensory integration,
brain gym and Bal-A-Vis-X (body brain integration exercises)
because her daughter has special needs and she has been involved
in these programs with her. She enjoys practicing yoga every day
and brings it into the Movement classes to help the children develop self-control. She loves quiltingcolors, textures and fabric. She leads the Prayers and Squares Quilt Ministry at Good Shepherd Catholic
Church, making prayer quilts to provide comfort to those in need.
With both a father and husband in the Navy she has moved a lot and lived all over the US!
Kristen Culver graduated from Radford University with a focus in Special Education and Psychology.
She worked in a preschool right after college mostly in the 4 year-old program. She then taught in Special
Education in MD and in CA for about 6 years. She is fluent in American Sign Language (ASL) and was an
interpreter for the deaf for 2 years. She and husband Corey have two children. Jackson (12) is in the 6th
grade, and Savanna (10) is in the 5th grade. Both attend Ft. Hunt Elementary in the Spanish Immersion
program. Kristen started working here after being recommended to us by another St. Aidan’s teacher.
She has taught the 2 -day 3's and the 3-day 4's.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR 2014-­2015 PARENTS’ COMMITTEE Below you will find a list of open positions for the Parents’ Committee next year. If you have an interest in getting more involved at St. Aidan’s Day School please contact Beth Burke, [email protected] or Laura Fannon, [email protected] for more information or to volunteer. 2014-2015 St. Aidan's Parents' Committee
Co-Chairs
Laura Fannon + Lauren McCarthy
Treasurer
Tracey Kohler
Secretary
Holly Ferry
Scholastic Book Fair
Innisbrook / Flower Power
Oktoberfest
Silent Auction
Holiday Marketplace
Giving Tree
Marie Griffin + Lindsey Schourek
Allison Fitzgibbon + Liz Weyrauch +
1 Open Positions
Kathleen Purtill + Eva Sanborn
Sara Gorman + 1 Open Position
Kim Fazio + 1 Open Position
Santa's Workshop
Jen Knapp + 2 Open Positions
Family Fun Night
Danette Berry + Lise Sackett
Olympics
Original Works
Ice Cream Social
Teacher Appreciation/Room Parent Coordinator
Restaurant Night Fundraisers
Mini-Grant Committee
Heart-to-Heart
Box Tops/Labels for Education
eScrip/Bonus Bucks
Children's Garden
Beth Burke, Heather Clark + Emily Dibella
Spirit Wear
2 Open Position
Amanda Espinola + 1 Open Position
Allison Dabbieri + Lise Sackett
2 Open Positions
Brian + Caroline Alexander
Lauri Bearce, Kelly Garr + Suzanne Odom
Jaime Winkelfoos + 1 Open Position
Lindsey Shourek
Lauri Bearce
Beth Burke, Lisa Shannon, 1 Open Position
Danette Berry