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PEG Bi-Monthly Newsletter, Oct. - Nov. 2023

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Did you know PEG has a parent volunteer-composed Bi-Monthly newsletter to keep you updated on all the events, volunteer opportunities and other ways to get involved in the GRS Community? Take a look! Thanks to the amazing work of Parent volunteer, Ashley Beermann, a vibrant PEG Newsletter will be updated if more events are added throughout November and come out again in December! Happy reading!

New updates, information, and PEG newsletters will also be available on the PEG website: https://www.greatriverschool.org/peg

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GRS 2nd Annual Logo Contest!!

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Who: Any current GRS student 

What: Design a fresh logo for Great River School that reflects community themes such as the heron, our animals, our neighborhood, or our experiences

Why: To use on limited-edition spiritwear to raise funds for Great River

How: To enter, please submit your entry to Karen Anway (kanway@greatriverschool.org) by December 8, 2023 in one of the following formats:

  • A vector, EPS, or high-resolution picture format; Procreate app is one recommended option for online drawing

OR

  • A freehand drawing on plain white cardstock with marker or acrylic paint colors or dark colored pencil with clearly defined lines

Winner will receive a free T-shirt featuring YOUR LOGO!

SAVE THE DATE! Odyssey Night 2023!

Please gather with us Wednesday, November 15th from 5-7pm in the LA Space for an evening celebrating the completion of our first Trimester! The evening kicks off with a performance by Musicianships at 5pm. Odyssey project presentations run from 5:30-6:30. Our LA Choir will close out the evening! LA Students have been working on research projects connected to the odyssey. Expect a variety of podcasts, zines, posterboards, and slide shows as well as some hot Odyssey food to sample!

Overview of the Schedule:
Odyssey Night, Wednesday, November 15th, 2023
5-5:20 Musicianship Performance
5:30-6:00 Presentation Group A
6-6:30 Presentation Group B
6:40 -7:00 Choir Performance

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2023 Fall Fund Drive!

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The 2023 Fall Fund Drive is on now! Help us reach our goal of 150 donations from November 2-17. Great River is a unique school—a tuition-free public Montessori institution, open to all students, and community-supported! However, as a charter school, Great River receives 87 cents to every dollar received by district public schools. It is up to all of us to make up that difference so we can continue to provide the education that makes Great River such a special place. All Fall Fund Drive gifts support the GRS general operating budget. Your contribution helps provide the unique learning opportunities and life-changing experiences that define the Great River education, from Montessori educational materials and athletic equipment, to food for classroom pets and camping gear. Your gift also supports the everyday needs to run a successful school: buses, utilities, our nutrition program, and paying faculty a fair wage. If you are able, now is a great time to give: greatriverschool.org/give

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LIST League sign-up and Coach needed!

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LIST League basketball coach wanted

Are you interested in coaching basketball for grades 5-6?. The season is mid-November to mid-February. The team will practice after school one day per week from 4-5:30 pm (Mondays or Tuesdays) and have games on Wednesdays at 4:30 or 5:30.. We are able to offer a stipend for coaching duties. Please reach out tokanway@greatriverschool.orgfor more information about this opportunity.

LIST League basketball signup for grades 5-8

LIST co-ed basketball will run from mid-November through mid-February. We anticipate offering one 5-6 team and one 7-8 team. 

We need a coach for the 5-6 team, so please reach out to kanway@greatriverschool.org for more information.

5-6 team: Practices Mondays or Tuesdays (TBD) and games on Wednesdays.

7-8 team: Practices Wednesdays and Thursdays and games on Fridays.

Coaches: Brent Cummins (7-8 team) and TBD (5-6 team)

Cost is $150 (jersey, league and coach fee)

Sign up here to indicate your interest, and you'll be contacted with team and payment information. 

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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Help us build a shed!

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*Shed pictured is not the shed being built*

We are getting a bigger and better shed to replace our broken plastic one by the garden. Brent and Todd could use 1-3 skilled volunteers to help build this wooden shed during the week of November 6. The plan is to start this on Tuesday, November 7. Any number of hours between 10:00am and 3:00pm from November 7-9 would be very helpful. Please email Brent Cummins at bcummins@greatriverschool.org if you are able to help and list your availability.

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IB Collaborative Theatre Night, Wed., Nov. 1; 6 - 7:30pm

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IB Collaborative Theatre Night is upon us! Come enjoy a night of theatre at 6pm on Wednesday, November 1st in the Performance Space.

Each fall, our IB Theatre students are tasked with creating original short play using collaborative methods. As part of the assessment, students are expected to perform for a public audience and gather feedback on how well they met their intentions through their piece. This event is free and open to the public, but recommended for adolescents and above.

Please note that there will be explicit language as well as (comedic) murders occurring during some of the shows. Audience members are welcome to come and go from the performance space between plays as needed.

LOCATION CHANGE: GRS Homecoming 23-24!

Hello Adolescent Families,

As we welcome the change of season and settle into our work here at Great River, our UA Student Leadership group has been hard at work planning a fall Homecoming event. Announcing....Homecoming 23-24! 

On Saturday October 28, everyone is invited to catch the Homecoming Ultimate Frisbee game at Humboldt High school at 3pm! Dress is your best School Spirit!

 UPDATE, LOCATION CHANGE: All GRS 9th-12th graders are then invited to meet for s'mores at the Homecoming Bonfires to be held at Great River School from 6-8pm. Costumes welcome. No Masks allowed. 

*** Students, please be sure to check in and out with us at the Event tent on the South side of the building on the day of the event if you plan to attend! ***

We are still in need of help! Please support these students in making this event possible. 

Please sign up to donate or volunteer here!

Thank you again for your support, the students are really excited.

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BIPOC Caregiver Meetings 2023 - 2024

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BIPOC Caregiver committee meetings will be returning this month with some minor changes for the year. Meetings will be held in person on the final Thursday of each month. Our first meeting will be held on Thursday October 26th at 4:30pm.

As a reminder this meeting is for any caregiver that has a student of color attending Great River. Future meeting dates can be found on the GRS calendar. If you have questions please contact Jordan Samejima at jsamejima@greatriverschool.org

Mandate/Objective of the group: This group provides an opportunity for caregivers with students of color attending GRS to come and build community by voicing suggestions, support, care, and concern. This group is a working group of the board which means that the caregivers' voices are being heard from a board member who monthly will bring their suggestions, concerns, and comments to the board. 

Recess and Weather Reminders for Lower Adolescents

Dear Lower Adolescent Families

Great River School recognizes the positive impact of physical activity and the outdoors on student learning. Therefore we continue recess in 7-9th grade; I have included our Recess Guidelines form the Student and Family Handbook below. Please ensure your students are coming to school with proper attire, so they can comfortably be outside for recess from 11:15-11:45 (daily for 7th/8th, 3x week for 9th graders). Friday was our first real experience with less-than-ideal weather during recess and many kids came unprepared. If you need help accessing winter gear, please reach out to the Lower Adolescent Social Worker, Gina Carveth, at gcarveth@greatriverschool.org

Great River School Recess Policy:

RECESS GUIDELINES PERTAINING TO WINTER WEATHER

Our hope is that students have access to outdoor recess whenever it is safe to be outside.  To that end, the following guidelines will be enforced at Great River.  We ask that all families prepare students for dressing accordingly.

  • If the temperature is 32 °F or below, a coat, hat or hood, and gloves/mittens are required.

  • When the wind chill falls between -15 and 0 °F, recess may be abbreviated at supervisor discretion.

  • Outdoor recess will not be held when windchill is below -15°F.

  • At all other times, outdoor recess will be held.

Sincerely,
Nick Beermann
nbeermann@greatriverschool.org

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VOLUNTEERS AND DONATIONS NEEDED: Harvest Fest, Sat., October 14th; 2 - 5pm

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Who's excited to be at Harvest Fest on Saturday? It's a time of community gathering, work and celebration and truly a magical day at GRS! We have a lot of support so far, AND we could use a lot of volunteers still. If you aren't able to be there Saturday but want to contribute in advance, let us know----lots of advance prep and shopping can be done! For more information, please contact PEG at peg@greatriverschool.org or click here to view the remaining slots and sign up to volunteer.

We have many lead roles filled but are in need of volunteers in the following areas:

  • Caramel Apples: Assist with Caramel apples and bring gallon jugs of Ghiradelli caramel with pumps, topping and help serve.

  • Cider Press:  Helpers, apple donations and compostable cups. 

  • Harvest soup: Kitchen assisting with roasting and prepping soup Friday after school/Saturday morning and could use some kitchen assistants.

  • Donations needed of lots of root veggies, bouillon and some helper for roasting and preparing soup!

  • Gear Swap: Donations and a few helpers to hang, stage and then clean up.

  • Bounce House: Assist with the kids in line and also pre-fest campus clean up. He's going to need some extra hands with the bounce line as well as helpers with wood chips and campus projects 

  • Face Painters and help with temporary tattoos 

Donations being accepted:
- We will also have some farm stand and bake sale goods for sale----if you would like to share any of your extra homemade jams/jellies, sauces or other fall items, we would gladly receive them (please be sure to label all ingredients)

- Clean clothing for the Gear Swap

-Root Veggies, bouillon

As you can see---it's a wild ride getting to Harvest fest and a lot of fun in the making. It takes a whole community to put on a great harvest fest and it really shows how the Great River works together to do all the things.

PEG Ambassadors and the whole GRS community are excited for this event and look forward to collaborating with you.
Thank you,
PEG

Check out the PEG happenings at GRS in their Bi-Monthly newsletter: https://www.smore.com

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External Volunteer Opportunity: St. Paul Promise and Homework help

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Saint Paul Promise is currently seeking volunteers to help provide homework help to our elementary through high school-age scholars whose families are participating in the PAC. The upcoming PAC launches on Wednesday, October 11, and runs for six weeks – meeting every Wednesday from 5:00pm to 7:30pm – through Wednesday, November 15. The PAC meets in-person at Hallie Q. Brown Community Center (270 N Kent Street) in Saint Paul.

Volunteer homework helpers can sign up for one or more Wednesday shifts by emailing Megan Jekot, Advocacy + Systems Change Program Manager, at megan.jekot@wilder.org. To learn more about Saint Paul Promise and the Promise Advocates Cohort, visit saintpaulpromiseneighborhood.com

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Harvest Fest 2023

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HARVEST FEST, GEAR SWAP, AND MUCH MORE!

Join the GRS community for Harvest Fest 2023 on October 14th, from 2:00pm-5:00pm!

Harvest fest is our annual community celebration of Autumn. We'll create stone soup over a fire, sell micro-economy goods from Key Experience trips, and welcome in the change of the season. Enjoy games, food, caramel apples, face painting, a gear swap, and much more!

Volunteer your time or donations to make Harvest Fest happen! Sign up here!

SAVE YOUR GEAR FOR THE GEAR SWAP!

Bring your used gear (jackets, snow pants, boots, hats, gloves, scarves, camping gear, etc) that you no longer need to Harvest Fest at 2:00pm or to the school on Friday, October 13th (at dismissal, a sign will show you where you can drop used gear). Then come to Harvest Fest to browse the racks and grab some new-to-you gear for this 2023-2024 season! All clothing sizes are accepted, including toddler sizes.

Nothing to donate this year? No problem; come see what you could use! We always have extra and lots of leftover gear!

*Leftover gear will be donated to schools/families in need*

Questions? Email Ashley Beermann, ashleyabeermann@gmail.com

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FTC Robotics Team Athena

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Hey Great River, We have another Robotics team! FTC Team Athena!

FTC Team Athena is like NoMythic but with smaller robots. This is a great space to learn new skills like building, coding, and problem solving. This year’s game even lets us design robots that throw paper airplanes!

We are having an intro night on Wednesday the 27th from 4:30-6. Interested students should come fill out an application and find out what the season will hold. Responsible adults of the students should join us as soon as you are able after work to learn about what we are doing and how you can help. We have 8 spots for Lower or Upper Adolescent students.

Practices will be held after school on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:15-6 but may be adjusted after we discuss what works best with the team. The robotics room is off of the little garden at the end of the parking lot and will have a sign on the door for info night.

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GRS all-ages Chess Club

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GRS is partnering with the Twin Cities Chess Club again this fall for a guided chess club.

The Twin Cities Chess Club will provide coaching for any students interested in developing their game. Any skill level is welcome! Open to grades 1-12.

Meetings: Wednesdays, 4-5 pm, September 27-December 13 (9 sessions, only meets on school days)

Cost: $125

Space is limited. Scholarships in case of need and discounts for current Big Canoe participants are available; contact bigcanoe@greatriverschool.org

Registration: Sign up by filling out this form. 

Please pay the fee at this link to complete registration.