Dear Parents,
Thanks for your patience as we rethink our process for beautifying the alleyway entry. In an effort to try and make this a project not only about the end result (a new beautiful entry to Then New School -West), we’re also thinking there is a wonderful opportunity to share this project with our community and make it something even bigger.
As you all know from our last newsletter on this project, we had asked for each child to bring in three of their treasured objects that we could place into the concrete pavers. After really thinking about this, we asked ourselves, “Can we dig a little deeper?”.
What does it really mean for children to discover and collect materials that are treasures to them? Do these treasures have a story? Perhaps they were found on a special hike or over a family vacation. Maybe they were found walking down their neighborhood street. We are curious about these stories and are encouraging you to help your children navigate the selection and ask them provocative questions as to why they are selecting these objects and why they think we should incorporate them into the concrete pavers.
In an effort to deepen the meaning of this project, we are also asking each sibling in your family as well as parents to bring in a special treasure. Again these items need to be able to fit in a 3”x3”x2”D box. You’ll find baggies for your treasures in your child’s file box. Don’t forget to put a little story in there about why these treasures are special. Be sure to include first and last names on each baggie.
These bags can be placed in the bowl on the front table as you enter the middle courtyard. We’d like to have the treasures all here by Monday, March 22.
And for those of you who already responded so quickly…thank you!!! We would still like you to include descriptions of why the objects were selected and place them in the baggies with your child’s full name.
Examples of Types of Materials:
Plastic
Glass
Wire
Metal
Wood
Sea Shells
Rubber
The materials should hold up over time, so nothing like leaves, paper, fabric, twigs.
Again, the idea of this project is to create a rich environment where the children can explore objects and their stories, share them with their peers and teachers, have parents share with the children and teachers and finally rediscover these precious objects as you walk into The New School-West.
We are really excited about this project and what it will mean for not only our community but also what it will mean for new friends who walk through our door. Have fun with this…we can’t wait to see what you have to share!!! If you have any questions, contact Caroline Smukler at carolineabrahamson@yahoo.com
Warm Regards,
The Beautification Committee