Aspen Elementary School

Please join me in congratulating Aspen 3rd grade teacher Jean Earhart for winning the Office Max - Adopt a Classroom contest. If you noticed 3 people coming in with a HUGE orange box, they were on their way to tell Jean that she was nominated by a staff member (Thanks Wendy!!) and WON!

She got all kinds of cool new stuff for her room, along with a plaque, flower, and a great new chair. Please go by and give her a pat on the back for a job well done. She was very surprised, and is very deserving of this award.

To view pictures of her surprise go to the Activity Pictures link to the left.

Everyone is invited to Family Night at Townline on Thursday, October 2 from 7:00- 8:30 pm to watch the beginning of the creation of a sand Mandala.

As you may know, Aspen uses the Bernstein Artful Learning model to educate our students. This method uses the arts and the artistic process to foster learning in all areas. Each year a masterwork (painting, photograph, piece of music, etc.) is chosen and a concept is developed to tie learning together across all curricula. This year the chosen concept is Legacy and the masterwork is the Tibetan art of sand mandala painting. The image of the sand mandala will be used to teach the idea of legacy and the importance of what we do today, and how that will impact tomorrow. Students are exploring how their actions affect how others perceive them and impact the world around them.

This year Aspen will be focusing around a central theme, Legacy. Some of the things students and staff are asked to think about are:
-What do you want to become this year?
-What choices help you get to your quality world?
-What choices keep you from getting to your quality world?
-How do you want to be remembered for by your teachers, other classes, fellow classmates in years to come?

This morning at an all school assembly we learned about Sand Mandalas and how they fit into our theme. These beautiful works of art are traditionally created using multi-colors of sand, and many hours of patient work. As the year progresses we will all be more aware of our place in the school, society and the world as we discover how our actions create our quality world.

A great website to learn more about Mandalas is http://www.mandalaproject.org/What/Index.html

The beginning of the school year always brings lots of events to Hawthorn/Aspen School. Here are just a few of the things that are coming up:

Officer Friendly will be visiting all classrooms on Monday, 9/22.
PTO Spirit Wear orders are due by Wednesday, 9/24 (See the PTO webpage for more information)
Room Parent Orientation Meeting is Wednesday, 9/24 (See the PTO webpage for more information)
Picture Day is Thursday, 9/25.
PTO Gift Wrap Sale end Friday, 9/26.

FALL KICK-OFF MEETING - SEPTEMBER 16, 2008

Join us from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in Aspen's Cafeteria for our fall kick-off meeting. This meeting is for new and returning volunteers--all teams will meet to plan this year's Team activities.

Aspen’s Family Partnership Council (“The Council”)

The Council was created over five years ago to provide opportunities for parent involvement at school, to offer family events to enhance our sense of community and build relationships, and to educate parents on the school’s philosophy (Choice Theory). Get involved today! If you did not get a chance to sign-up to volunteer at Aspen’s back-to-school events, please feel free to download the Council's Volunteer Application Form HERE or contact the Council Co-Chairs, Nicole Carson or Rula Mansour for more information or to volunteer.