Above: K-6 students enjoy their Thanksgiving feast outside with their partner families. | |
Hello, Friends!
It was a beautiful, crisp fall day here with bright blue skies and a sprinkling of color in the trees. As I walked through the building this morning, I couldn’t help but smile watching classrooms turn into kitchens as teachers and students worked together to prepare some of our favorite Thanksgiving dishes for the annual feast. Those that weren’t cooking were busy making cards for community members and writing messages of gratitude to be shared at Group Discussion before the feast.
Today especially, I am filled with gratitude. I am grateful for the wonderful smells that filled the building and for the sunshine and warmish temp that allowed us to enjoy our meal together outside. I am grateful for the teachers who inspire and motivate their students, and me, every single day. My cup is filled by coworkers who are always ready to pitch in, to support, and to cheer me on. I am blessed to call them colleagues and friends. I hope you too are able to enjoy a little extra time this week with the people that fill your cup.
I want to express my sincere thanks to the wider Willowwind community, parents, friends, alumni, our Board, and donors who support our school through volunteering for events, serving on committees, providing snacks for teachers, and countless other ways. Thank you for supporting Willowwind’s mission to create a joyful learning community in which students are empowered to discover and develop their unique potential.
Willowwind is grateful for each and every one of you. This week, I ask you to think about why you are grateful for Willowwind and consider making a gift in honor of that gratitude. Our school and community are strengthened by your involvement and support. Your thoughtfulness and generosity over the years, your gifts of time, and your donations lighten our load and make everything we do here possible. Thank you.
In friendship and gratitude,
-Dana Smith (she/her/hers)
Director of Advancement
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Grateful for 50 Years of Community & Learning | |
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I want to invite everyone who has ever been a part of Willowwind’s community, whether as a student, teacher, family, or friend, to reconnect! Join us on social media, sign up for our Branching Out mailing list, and attend some of the great events we are working hard to put together for our community to enjoy in the coming year.
We are also collecting stories and photos to be shared with other Willowwinders through our website and social media. Please consider sending some of your favorite WW memories our way. We’ll be adding new stories, photos, and events to our website as they are curated.
Know a former Willowwind student or staff member? Send them to willowwind.org/50th!
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Easy Ways to Give this Holiday Season | |
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GivingTuesday
November 30th, 2021
Giving Tuesday is one of the most celebrated days of charitable giving.Willowwind is aiming to raise $5,000 on this day alone, that's 10% of this year's overall fundraising goal. Be ready to make an impact with your gift on Tuesday, November 30th.
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Amazon Smile
Doing holiday shopping on Amazon this year? Shop at Smile.Amazon.com and Willowwind will receive a portion of your purchase price as a donation directly from Amazon when you select Willowwind School as your charitable organization.
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Hills Bank Classroom Cash
Classroom Cash empowers you to earn money for the school of your choice in our community each time you make a purchase with your Hills Bank debit card or business debit card. With every purchase, the bank will make a donation back to the school! Learn more!
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Direct Donation
Willowwind’s longevity and success is due in large part to you, our current families, former families, Board members, staff, and friends who saw Willowwind’s potential and invested in it! It’s been quite an adventure and we are grateful for the many ways you have shown your support. Our sights are set on ensuring Willowwind’s well-being for another 50 years.
To our continual amazement and wonder, Willowwind teachers ignite a passion for learning in their classrooms everyday. Annual gifts support the staff in this work, the students in their pursuits, and the building itself as the place where the magic happens. To achieve these goals, Willowwind aims to raise $50,000 this school year and we’ll need your help to get there.
Whether you can give $5 or $5,000, your gift will impact Willowwind immediately. Together, we can support and inspire staff, create and expand opportunities for students to discover and reach their potential, and ignite a lifelong passion for learning.
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Integrated Arts
Hey, friends. It's Mr. Ryan here, I am Willowwind's Teaching Artist and Integrated Arts Coordinator.
The Owls & Foxes have been working hard for weeks on their big Iowa City Mural Scavenger Hunt, a collaborative community art project with the Iowa City Downtown District. Rachel Berger, Willowwind's S.E.L. teacher, asked me if there was any interest in painting a mural corresponding with her new, student selected classroom name, The Peaceful Prairie. There sure was, and it turns out we're painting every wall.
For the past month, the Owls & Foxes have been learning about the process of painting a mural in their Integrated Arts class. Students were asked to design their own idea for a mural with a sketch and written proposal explaining what their design was and how it related to the Peaceful Prairie theme. Initially, I thought there would be a voting process to choose a favored mural design for each wall, and then students would help paint those chosen designs. However, after seeing so many inspiring and recurring ideas, we'll create a comprehensive scene highlighting some thing from many proposals.
The Owls and Foxes will be painting for weeks to come, and Rachel and I are brainstorming ways that every K-6 student can get involved in the mural's creation. We look forward to sharing our progress on this project and can't wait to do all sorts of social-emotional learning in the Peaceful Prairie.
Best,
Ryan Bentziner (he/him/his)
Teaching Artist and Integrated Arts Coordinator
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Students working on the background layer of a wall. | |
Student prepping a wall with a layer of blue. | |
Student concept featuring a large tree and butterflies. | |
Music & Performing Arts
Friends,
The first three months teaching music & performing arts to Pre-K through 6th grade has proven to me again and again just how much I need to be engaged in this type of work. The students have reminded me not only of the importance of creativity and personal expression, but also of the importance of faithfulness, sensitivity, commitment, and respect.
We have begun learning about the percussion and string families; watched diverse performers; examined the body as an instrument; interlinked music and with other art disciplines like dance; and- above all- have been challenged to try new things! I look forward to helping students identify their personal identities and artistry in science, math, writing, theater, visual art, technology, and world cultures. I am expectant for the progress the students will continue to make as we learn the value of commitment to our work and safety for others. I'm grateful for the joy, individuality, creative ideas, perseverance, and brilliance they've put forth in honoring themselves, others, and the environment, and in learning fine arts!
- Kalina Bland (she/her/hers)
Music & Performing Arts
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Happy Thanksgiving!
For many years, Willowwind staff, students, and parents have worked together to prepare and serve a community feast ahead of the Thanksgiving break. This tradition gives students in each class an opportunity to plan, prep, and cook a dish to be shared potluck style with the rest of the community.
Today the building was all a buzz with feast day preparations! This morning, classes are preparing some of their favorite dishes to share at our traditional potluck style lunch this afternoon. We enjoyed applesauce, stuffing, turkey, cornbread muffins, mac & cheese, glazed carrots, and much more!
We embrace this opportunity to work cooperatively towards a common goal, especially when that goal results in a delicious meal, full bellies, and happy hearts.
A VERY BIG THANK YOU to teachers, parents, and students for making this special day possible!
At right top: Students read thankful notes written by other students ahead of our shared meal. At right bottom:Parent volunteers serving students.
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