From the Director

Dear Madrone Family,

As parents, we tend to worry about a lot of things in life. We worry about finances, relationships, the future, our health, and yes, our children. Worry seems to be a very adult emotion, although at times our children experience worry and anxiety in their own unique way. I read somewhere that worry is an aspect of parenthood, but shouldn’t define it.

Last week my son, a freshman engineering student at Oregon State, drove home to surprise his girlfriend, a senior volleyball player at North Medford High School. He arrived around 2:00 pm, and after a nice visit we headed to the game, flowers in hand for her senior night festivities. The game was a hotly contested match, and went the full five sets. The game ended at 9:40 pm. After visiting with his girlfriend, my son headed back to school… the same night. Now is when the worry kicked in for me as a parent. Neither my wife nor I could sleep until we knew he was safely tucked away in his dorm. His text finally came at 3:25 am, leaving him just under five hours to sleep, eat breakfast, and make it to his Vector Calculus class. It is natural to worry as a parent. But do our children need us to worry?

Children of today are increasingly surrounded by the fears and anxiety of adults. These fears interfere with children’s play, their avenue for developing social skills and mastering their own fears and fear in the environment even affects the child’s proper physical development. The path to overcoming fear is joy.

Waldorf education encourages a balanced development toward physical, behavioral, emotional, cognitive, social, and spiritual maturation. Research on graduates of Waldorf schools has documented how the Waldorf school curricula already contain many of the attributes of a strong social-emotional curriculum. Still, we can do more. Schools must broaden the scope of the term “education” to give it its full meaning, and social-emotional education must be consciously taught.

Visiting a Waldorf school and observing the children play is a wonderful example of how childhood should be. Waldorf education values childhood and allows children to develop at their own pace, providing them with the experiences they need to become healthy, self-actualized individuals.

Perhaps there are even simpler ways to reduce the culture of anxiety within schools. What if schools focused on activities proven to enhance well-being? This is certainly an approach that Waldorf educators have pursued as their mission to focus on a child’s “heart” as well as “head” explicitly implies. Activities like exercise, mindfulness, good nutrition, and time outside are a part of the Waldorf curriculum for a reason. That reason is not to ease anxiety, but to establish a sense of well-being through connection with learning, self, peers, and the greater community.

Do we as teachers and parents carry fear into our work with children? There are so many fears that impinge on life in our time. They include fear of children’s injuries, fear of not enough money, fears of illness and death, fear of our own inadequacies. We must find ways to meet these fears with love. Fear and worry are cold and prevent connection, while proper human development requires the nourishing warmth of empathy and love. Children need to experience this warmth from adults so they can feel welcomed, reveal their gifts, and unveil their true nature.

So while it is natural to carry worry and anxiety, we must make an effort to create a balance for the sake of our children. Our children don’t need to know our financial concerns, or our worries about life in general. They need our love and support. They need to know that we see their individuality and their unique gifts. Celebrate these gifts with them, and watch them continue to grow into the amazing young people they will become!

Have a wonderful weekend,

~Kendall Roberts

Director

kendall.roberts@madronetrail.org

Stewardship Day-- TOMORROW

It's time for our first Stewardship Day of the school year! Our School needs YOUR help to refresh, organize and beautify our campus:

When: Saturday, Oct. 21st, 10am-1pm.

What: Our Middle School teachers and Site Committee members will be on campus to hold this day of stewardship for our school. Please see the project list below and click on the link to sign up for a project that calls to you. 

Please check-in at the Kinderyard between 10-10:30 am to be guided to your task/project. 

Bring: Tools/gloves for your specified task, and a water bottle. 

Child care: Provided by the 8th grade! Cash donations are gladly accepted and will go toward their 8th grade class trip fundraiser.  

Lunch: Pizza will be provided at noon! 

Projects:

• Weed whacking
• Costume closet organizing
• Decluttering/dump runs
• Gardening- planting, mulching
• Blackberry removal
• Picnic table repairs and refinishing

What project calls to you? Sign up by clicking the link below: If there are no more slots, come anyway! There will be plenty to do. Many hands make light work!

Jog-a-thon a Success!

We had another successful Jog-a-thon today! We had perfect weather and the students ran so many laps! Thank you to all the parents, guardians, grandparents, and family members who came out to volunteer to mark laps, fill water cups, and cheer on the students.

Our top runners this year were (no surprise the top 3 are on the cross-country team):

Theo Gerig, 7th grade: 35 laps (ties all-school record)

Maddy Bevers, 8th grade: 34 laps

Isaac Richardson, 8th grade, 34 laps

Bailey Briggs, 6th grade, 33 laps (ties 6th grade record)

We also had some amazing lap totals for 1st-3rd, who run for less time. Two students tied the 2nd grade record (22 laps) and two students tied the 3rd grade record this year (24 laps.) Every year it's so impressive how many laps the students can run. Many students set their personal best record this year.

We received lots of pledge sheets today that will be processed and turned back to students next week. If you haven't turned your pledge sheet in it's not too late! Get it to Ms. Cori or your child's class teacher next week. We have extra blank copies in the office and on our website if you need a new one.

Board Update

Greetings Madrone Trail families!

Our regular board meeting was relatively light by normal standards, and our meeting was wrapped up in record time. To accommodate the schedule of some members better, we will be moving our monthly board meeting to the second Thursday of each month, starting in November. Our financial audit is also just about wrapped up, also in record time.

Regarding the playground, you may have heard or gathered, but we’ve had some difficulties in working with our previous developer, and are going back to the drawing board a bit to develop a plan that may be more workable for our school. We have a committee that is meeting weekly to develop the plan and chart the path forward, and happy to have additional participation.

On the financial front, we’re continuing to engage the Medford School District on funding opportunities they had proposed last year, and do research on best ways to have sustainable funding for our school. If you have not heard, the District is currently researching why families have left the district, or have chosen to attend charter schools. We highly recommend you look for those opportunities to let them know what you love about Madrone Trail! 

Lastly, some folks have been following up with us regarding some of the DEI discussions from last year. This was discussed at our board meeting, and the administration is forming a working group that will include faculty and board members to research DEI-related issues that the school is reviewing.

For the good of the school,



The Madrone Trail Board of Directors

board@madronetrail.org

From the Athletic Director

Cross Country and Volleyball has ended. Our main goals of sport participation were accomplished. Our participants showed great sportsmanship, dedication, work ethic, teamwork, goal setting, and resilience. A lot of things that will help them the rest of their lives! Also, they had fun!  

Volleyball

Monday we played New Hope. Varsity lost 1 set to 2. JV won all 3 sets. Wednesday we played Rogue River. Varsity lost 0 sets to 3 and JV lost 1 set to 2. These were all hard fought games and our girls were competitive. The sets were close. I personally was able to go watch the games on Wednesday and I was amazed at how far our players have come. Way to go Dragons.

Cross Country

Yesterday our runners ran in the district meet at the Rogue Valley Expo center. We represented ourselves very well in each division we ran in.

Results

JV2 girls (Out of 59 runners)

Kaela Morgan 18:58.91 (32nd)

JV2 boys (Out of 110 runners)

John Richardson 15:58.15 (48th) (PR)

JV boys (Out of 107 runners)

Theo Gerig 13:16.06 (25th)

Varsity girls (Out of 103 runners)

Maddy Bevers 14:10.53 (55th)

Sidra Price 15:14.46 (71st)

Varsity boys (Out of 106 runners)

Isaac Richardson 14:06.42 (85th) (PR)

Fall Sports Celebration: The fall sports celebration will take place at my house this Saturday; 4:30-6:30. Please email me if you did not receive the information.

Boys’ Basketball

Boys’ Basketball practice begins October 26th. We will practice Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at Sacred Heart 4:00-5:30 pm. Wednesday times are still being discussed. Game schedules will be out by the end of next week. Games are typically Mondays and Wednesdays. Forms have gone home with interested 6th-8th graders. Cost is $100. Scholarships and payment plan options are available. Deadline to register is Wednesday, Oct. 25th. Please turn in forms and payments to Ms. Sherrie.

Cooking Club

Calling all future chefs! Or maybe just some hungry kids who want to cook some food and eat it after. Cooking Club with Chef Jen starts Thursday, November 2nd after school in our kitchen. Registration forms have gone home with interested 6th-8th graders. Deadline to register is October 31st. Note: Physicals are not needed to participate in clubs.

Who: 6th-8th graders

When: Tuesdays and Thursdays

Time: 3:30-4:30 pm

Cost: $75

Start date: Thursday, November 2nd

End Date: Thursday, December 14th

Meet Coach Jen

Hi my name is Jen, aka “Chef Jen”, aka “Coach Jen” In the roller derby world “JumpOnJen." I have been in sports since 7 years old I have been coaching off and on roller derby and volleyball my entire adulthood. I have also coached my son's track team. I love to teach and see the smiles that sports can bring to youth! When I am not coaching, I am cooking up a storm for the kids at Madrone.

Madrone Athletics Sponsors

We received another company sponsor this week!

Body Right Studio

Kyle Rawlins is a certified Rolfer. As a certified Rolfer I utilize a specialized form of bodywork that focuses on manipulating the body’s fascia to restore balance, alignment, and flexibility. Through skillful hands-on techniques, we can address postural imbalances, reduce pain, and enhance your body’s natural ability to move with ease. Experience the transformative effects of Rolfing and discover a renewed sense of freedom in your body.

Rolfing® Structural Integration is a form of bodywork, joint manipulation and deep tissue massage that reorganizes the connective tissues, called fascia, that permeate the entire body. It has been touted for flexibility, balance, mobility, pain reduction and athletic performance.

Email: Kyle@bodyrightstudio.com

https://bodyrightstudio.com/

Your copy should address 3 key questions: Who am I writing for? (Audience) Why should they care? (Benefit) What do I want them to do here? (Call-to-Action)

Create a great offer by adding words like "free" "personalized" "complimentary" or "customized." A sense of urgency often helps readers take an action, so think about inserting phrases like "for a limited time only" or "only 7 remaining"!

Madrone Trail Clubs

Do you have a special skill or hobby that you would like to share with MT students? We are looking to offer more clubs here at Madrone Trail. If you think you might be interested, please take a moment to review and submit our Madrone Trail Clubs Form with details about your offering. We will post club ideas in our Friday Updates to see if there is any student interest. Clubs need to have 8 participants to be held. The school will do all the recruitment and sign ups! Club Leaders will receive a $500 stipend at the end of the 7-8 week offering. Join the Madrone Trail Club Community!

Madrone Trail T-shirts Update

Our pre-sale window has closed. We had 110 items ordered! If you were unable to order this round and still want a shirt or hoodie we will be reopening the link near the end of the month. At that time your choices for delivery will be shipped to your house for a fee or pick up for free at Moxley Media, located off Rossanley Dr.

Our shirts unfortunately did not come this week, but should be here next week! We'll keep you posted.

If you have any questions please contact Ms. Cori, cori.royer@madronetrail.org

Lost & Found

Lost and Found will be donated next Friday, October 27.

Halloween Costume Guidelines

As you look to purchase or make your child's Halloween costume this year please observe our school guidelines surrounding the Halloween costumes that they wear at school. If students would like to dress up in something that is outside these guidelines, we encourage them to do that on Halloween night instead of at school.

• Bring your costume to change into before parade. Parade will be at 1:30 pm for 1st-8th grade.
• Kindergarten families, look for emails from your student's teacher about kindergarten specific plans.
• Homemade costumes are encouraged.
• Costumes must follow the school dress code.
• Keep face paint, make-up, and hair simple (you’re going to be applying it all at school.)
• You must be able to sit, walk, hear, and see and be seen with your costume on (no full face masks)
• No costumes that are gory/scary.
• No prop weapons.

Substitute Teachers and Assistants Wanted

We are always looking for more Substitute Teachers and Substitute Assistants to be on call throughout the year. If you are interested, please check out our Indeed ads here: SubstituteTeacher and Substitute Teacher Assistant

An Easy Way to Support our School

If you shop at Fred Meyer there is an easy way to earn money for our school! You only need to set it up once, then you are good to go.

The Fred Meyer Community Rewards program donates to local schools, community organizations, and non-profits. Go to their website. You will need to create a log-in if you don't have one already, or sign-in if you do. Search for Madrone Trail Public Charter School, and select us as your charity of choice. Every time you use your Fred Meyer Reward Card it will donate a small portion to our school. Last quarter our school earned $49.77 from 31 families, the more families we can get to do this the better!

Quote of the Day

Handlettered by Ms. Cori

MADRONE TRAIL PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL

www.madronetrail.org

Madrone Trail Public Charter School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or age in its programs and activities.