Years ago, a Heron (well, he was an Elm, a precursor to the Herons) was considering the Habits of Mind and decided that we should have an extra one. "I think we should try to go Above and Beyond what is expected," he said. He thought it was important enough that it should be its own Habit of Mind and we agreed. It's been on our wall ever since.
I feel so lucky to teach in a school community that supports us to go "Above and Beyond". The state's per pupil allowance would allow us to teach the basics, to be sure. But the volunteering and financial gifts of our school community allow us to take our work with your children to the next level. We depend on that support to teach in the way we believe children deserve. Here is what the money raised by Give to the Max enables us to do:
Small Class Size: We are able to really get to know children and their individual needs and gifts. Having twenty students in a class enables us to give each child attention and consideration. We know children deeply and can make our classroom responsive to their needs, a crucial element of progressive education.
Unique Themes: Simon has never told me "no." Whether we've needed silk worm pods to unravel along the silk road or a trip to Cannon River Wilderness Area to explore hydrology, we have what we need to teach memorable themes each and every year. It's a lot cheaper to put together the resources to teach Colonial America and do it every year — but we don't need to. We can design (and provision) themes that explore new concepts every year. The children benefit from this, but so do we as teachers. In fact, I think that the freedom to design curriculum is something that attracts great teachers to Prairie Creek. Our generous classroom budget is a direct result of Give to the Max fundraising – we have what we need to teach themes because of you.
Forest School: Last year was our first for Forest school. I needed a lot of new materials to make it work — knives, compasses, jeweler's loupes, guidebooks, rope, tarp. Again, the flexibility of my class budget enabled me to meet the class's needs – and that budget is provided through fundraising. Your gift is literally putting tools into our hands.
The Arts: We are able to provide rich arts opportunities at Prairie Creek because we make it a priority in our budget. From field trips to the Ordway to a yearly arts residency, we commit both time and financial resources to providing arts opportunities for all of our kids. Our orchestra is a free program and supports students with instrument scholarships. Our art room has materials for all to use to integrate visual arts into our classroom work. All of these things are part of going Above and Beyond and they are enabled, once again, by your generous contributions.
Professional Development: We are constantly learning at Prairie Creek and we are expected to seek out professional development. Your donations contribute to our growth as teachers – whether its funding to go to a workshop or money for the latest book on numeracy development. By learning about our craft, we can continue to go Above and Beyond what we've done before. Being a part of a faculty that is never complacent and always questions the status quo is exciting and intellectually engaging. Our professional development program really defines us as a school — and it is supported by our fundraising.
I could go on. There are so many ways you support us to make Prairie Creek what it is. Volunteers are a crucial part of our work — you give so much to the school from caring for our garden spaces to leading book clubs to board service to lunch serving to cooking with a crew of second graders (gulp!) . And many of you donate to us as you are able financially, too. Without both kinds of support, our school would be a shadow of what it is.
So, I hope you'll join me next Thursday and make a donation to Prairie Creek to Give to the Max (I'm going to make it a sustaining gift this year by giving once a month.) Your donation truly does make our school what it is — a school that is able to go Above and Beyond every day.
Thank you!
The Rookery 
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