Volume No.19 Issue No. 5 | March 2024 |
|
The mission of Concord Children’s Center is to cultivate an intimate, welcoming community where children develop respectful relationships and inquisitive minds, build confidence in their individual gifts, and are engaged, prepared and inspired to learn |
|
Dear CCC Community,
CCC is coming out of hibernation with several exciting events this spring! First and foremost, I encourage you to attend our gala, Celebrate Concord Children’s Center, on Saturday April 6. This is a fun, adult night out with opportunities to socialize and bid on events, experiences, and classroom creations. The classroom creations are my favorite part; our family still has the Circle Room picnic basket (2009) and the Heart Room Harry Potter treasure chest (2010)! Ticket prices to the event increase after this Friday, so don’t delay in purchasing yours.
In addition to the gala, CCC is offering two parent education events this spring. On March 28 at 7:30 p.m., our sponsor Cambridge Savings Bank will be hosting a zoom session on Financial Planning for Young Families. This is an easy way to spend an hour thinking about your financial goals and planning for action. For me, financial planning falls into the category of “when I have time,” which of course is never. So set aside this hour and feel accomplished!
On April 11, CCC is partnering with Concord Family Network to offer a Parent Education Panel featuring CCC educators discussing the importance of play in early childhood development. This will be an in-person event at our 250 Old Bedford Road location. Come and learn from our educators in a focused session, a step above the quick drop-off/pick-up conversations! We hope this will be the first in a series of Parent Education Events led by our expert educators.
Details on all of these events are below. I look forward to seeing you at any or all of them and around our sites on a daily basis as well. Happy Spring!
Suzie Kornblum
Executive Director
|
|
Celebrate Concord Children's Center is coming up on Saturday, April 6! This year's event will take place at the Sureau Family Discovery Barn at Nashoba Brooks School. This issue of the newsletter has all the information you need for the night, and you can also visit the Celebrate Concord Children's Center webpage.
Important Information About the Evening
How to buy tickets: Tickets can be purchased on-line. Tickets are $65 if purchased on or before March 22 and $75 after this date, including at the door (if available). You can also see who's going!
Your ticket includes: food, soft drinks, and your bidder number. Any winnings or fixed price items from the night will be charged to your credit card. There will be a cash bar -- domestic beer is $5, imported beer is $6, and wine, hard seltzer and hard cider are $8.
To bid on an item, buy raffle tickets or participate in the gift card grab bag draw if you can't attend the event: contact CCC Development Coordinator Jennifer Saxe about proxy bidding.
Visit the CCC website for more information about the evening.
Live Auction Items
For the Family
-
A two-night/three-day B&B stay for a family of four (two adults and two children under the age of 17) at the Lake Morey Resort. This is a great destination in any season with activities for all, including swimming, skiing, ice skating, leaf peeping, and more!
-
Three tickets to the Sunday, September 8, 1:35 p.m. home Red Sox game against the Chicago White Sox. These are great seats … five rows behind home plate!
For the Kids
-
A pajama party at CCC West Concord for a group of children (ages 2-7) with CCC staff members JC Conti, Anne Doherty, Jen Turini and Jordan Zirkel. Children will share a child friendly meal, make crafts, play games, and watch a short movie to end the evening. Bid on this one with a group of other parents!
-
An East Concord Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs dinner and movie night for a group of 10-12 children (ages 2-5), with CCC staff members Jennine Lesser, Tiffany Boisvert, Marie DiPace, Erika Gutermuth, and Isabelle Lechauve. Children will play games outside, help in the activity kitchen, and enjoy dinner and donuts while watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Bid on this one with a group of other parents!
For the Grown-Ups
-
Two tickets to the last Boston Celtics home game of the season at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, against the Washington Wizards. These are great seats — Loge 7, Row A.
-
An overnight for two adults at the Groton Inn, including a bottle of wine, breakfast, and a $100 gift certificate to the Inn’s restaurant, Forge & Vine.
-
A wine dinner for four couples at the home of Phil and Kara Barr, featuring a 5-course Michelin-star inspired menu prepared by private chef Brandon Farrell from Brilliant Wine Co., along with specially selected wine pairings from the Barrs’ cellar. Bid on this one with a group of other parents!
-
A day of self-care, including a Nordstrom gift certificate, a Rebel & Rose Beauty House gift card, a massage, and more — a perfect Mother’s /Father’s Day gift, for a special graduate or bride/groom-to-be, or in advance of prom and semi-formal season!
Classroom Creations
These very special items created by our children are always a highlight of the evening, and the children love making them, as you can see in the photos below!
|
|
Raffle
Gift Card Grab Bag
Buy a chance for $25, reach into the grab bag and see what you get! Each envelope contains a gift card worth at least the price of the ticket, some much more!
|
|
Thank You to This Year's Sponsors!
CCC sincerely thanks the sponsors of this year's Gala. Their support is critical to ensuring the evening's success.
|
Celebration
Community
Stephan and Faith Bader
Commitment
Caring
Katie and Nat Carr
Emily and Greg D'Arcy
Shannon Sweeney and Tyson Seely
Heather and Zander Strange
|
|
|
Professional Development
Day Report
|
Last Thursday's professional development day was a busy one for our teachers and staff. Thelma Ramirez from Harvard's Ecological Approaches to Social and Emotional Learning Lab started the day with a morning workshop on Elevating Care in Education: Exploring Your Role as an Early Relational Health Professional. In the afternoon, staff discussed what they had learned that morning in light of National Association for the Education of Young Children accreditation standards, a topic that is especially relevant now as we prepare to go through the reaccreditation process for our West Concord site and the accreditation process for our East Concord site.
In the afternoon, staff heard from Oak Room teacher Patricia Collins about land acknowledgements and wrapped up the day with a report from Executive Director Suzie Kornblum on the results of the staff winter survey.
|
|
|
|
Upcoming Community Learning Events |
|
Financial Planning for Young Families
Think it's too early to start saving for your child's college education? Retirement? It's not!! Hear why from Evan Diamond, VP and Financial Education Specialist at Cambridge Savings Bank. Evan will lead a special Zoom education event focusing on Budgeting and Saving just for CCC community members at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 28. In addition to being a generous supporter of CCC's tuition assistance program, Cambridge Savings offers financial learning resources on topics including budgeting, saving, investing, credit, insurance, and more. All are invited to join this timely and informative session!
|
|
The Power of Play for All Ages: Using Play to Build a Foundation for Young Learners
This joint Concord Children's Center/Concord Family Network family education evening will feature a panel of CCC educators. Julia Abreu, Patricia Collins, Liz Dolham, Lynn St. Germain, and Jen Turini will be speaking on the importance of play for children, focusing on infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Join us at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 11, at Concord Children's Center's East Concord location at 250 Old Bedford Road for what is sure to be an interesting discussion.
|
|
|
Upcoming Dates
Thursday, March 28, 7:30pm: Zoom budgeting and saving parent education event with Evan Diamond, Financial Education Specialist with Cambridge Savings
Saturday, April 6: Celebrate Concord Children's Center
Thursday, April 11: Joint CCC/CFN community education evening
|
|
Subscribe to the
CCC Calendar
Stay current on events at CCC by subscribing to the on-line calendar. Select which events you want to be kept informed about and stay up to date!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
