Archive for the ‘Community’ Category
Parent Education Events at Meridian in March
Mark Your Calendar: Two outstanding speakers are coming to Meridian in March!
“The Young and the Restless: Social Lives of Our Children.”
On Thursday, March 17, Julie Metzger, pediatric nurse, writer, and educator, will present “The Young and the Restless: Social Lives of Our Children.” Julie has spoken previously at Meridian and approaches the sometimes-bewildering stages of parenting with humor and insight. She will discuss ways to help children communicate effectively and build healthy relationships, including myths about bullying, differences in how girls and boys approach socially stressful situations, and parents’ roles in their children’s social development. The talk will be held in the Good Shepherd Center Chapel, beginning at 7:00 p.m. This event is sponsored by the Meridian Parent Association.
“Reel Diversity: Understanding Multicultural Literacy”
On Wednesday, March 30, Brian C. Johnson, a nationally recognized speaker, author and educator, will present “Reel Diversity: Understanding Multicultural Literacy”. Mr. Johnson will discuss how to help children critically evaluate the media surrounding them-especially Hollywood film-and how movies impact how we think about ourselves and those who are different than us. Mr. Johnson will explore strategies for parents and teachers of elementary school students to have deeper and more meaningful discussions about diversity and social justice through the medium of mainstream Hollywood movies. It begins at 6:30 p.m. in the gym. Brian is the author of We’ve Scene It All Before: Using Film Clips in Diversity Awareness Training (2009) and co-author of Reel Diversity: A Teacher’s Sourcebook (2008). Please RSVP at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/howtohelp
Girls Scout Cookies
The Villa Girl Scout Troop will be out again in full force this weekend if families would like to plan on picking up some cookies with their grocery shopping. The troop is also accepting donations of cookies for Operation Cookie Drop and the University District Food Bank.
Friday,March 4, Wedgwood QFC 4-6pm
Saturday, March 5, Wedgwood QFC 12-2 and U Village QFC 2-4
Sunday, March 6, U Village Courtyard 1-3 and Met Market 2-4
Many thanks to all who stopped by and bought some cookies last weekend.
Villa Partners with UW Landscape Architecture Students
Students in the University of Washington Landscape Architecture program have selected the spacious grounds at Villa Academy
for a case study project. This partnership provides UW students with the opportunity for practical application of their studies and gives the Villa Academy Building and Grounds Committee well developed suggestions for campus improvements.
The discipline of landscape architecture is focused on the creation of urban open-space and development that meets the aspirations and needs of human, wildlife, and other biological processes on earth.
As part of the initial research, UW students met with Villa’s middle school Green Team. The Green Team offered guided tours of campus as well as their thoughts and ideas surrounding future campus development. Watch Video.
Last week, the Landscape Architecture class presented spatial and programmatic ideas to the Villa Building and Grounds Committee. There are four student teams, each with a different vision for the future development of Villa’s campus.
All of the groups 
addressed traffic and pedestrian challenges and looked for ways to improve the busy flow at drop-off and pick-up times. Many of the teams had exciting suggestions for ways to integrate outdoor learning. Designs for outdoor classrooms, amphitheaters, sensory gardens, agricultural areas, and space for students to practice environmental stewardship were illustrated on large presentation posters on every wall of the classroom.
An architectural model of the Villa Academy campus was the center piece of the room, reminding us all of the amazing resource we are fortunate to be working with.
Girl Scout Cookie Season has arrived.
Troop 43672 unloaded hundreds of boxes of cookies on Saturday (at a top secret warehouse!) to be sold in the upcoming cookie sale. Members of the troop will be out selling cookies at local stores for three weekends starting February 26th.
The troop will take donated cookies to the University District Food Bank and Operation Cookie Drop for members of the military.
You can find Villa girls at
Wedgewood QFC: Sat, Feb 26th from 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Safeway: Sun, Feb 27th, 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Wedgewood QFC: Sun, Feb 27th, 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Met Market: Sat, Feb 26th, 4:00 – 6:00pm
Mountain School
This spring, Villa sixth graders will venture into the North Cascades to participate in a field science study offered by the North Cascades Institute.
At Mountain School, students are introduced to field science and research skills by investigating the habitat potential of the forest community surrounding the Learning Center for carnivores such as the fisher, pine marten, lynx and wolverine, endangered forest dwellers. Students are taught how to measure tree diversity, canopy cover, coarse woody debris and ground cover by creating and surveying their own forest transects in small groups. They learn the roles of forest carnivores in the ecosystem and the history of hunting and trapping that have dramatically reduced their numbers. At the end of this program, groups analyze their data and draw conclusions regarding the potential of the Learning Center forests for regional wildlife.
Tuesday, February 15, 5:30, Rainbow Theater
Villa is hosting a representative from the North Cascades Institute for a parent/student informational meeting.
Hi-de-ho Villa Neighbors!
Today, as part of Catholic Schools Week, we celebrate our neighborhood community! We would like to thank our close neighbors for their support, patience and understanding with a special card and small gift, crafted by our kindergarten/eighth grade buddies and delivered by our Middle School students.
Living near a school is a joy and a challenge. Our neighbors are the best!
The Diversity Speaker Series
Barbara J. Love
Bending the Arc of the Universe: How Young People Change the World
Date: Thursday, March 3, 2011
Women’s History Month
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: The Bush School Community Room
Dr. Barbara J. Love is an exciting speaker, presenter, consultant, and writer on multicultural organizational development and critical liberation theory. Her education background includes teacher education and staff development, curriculum development, and multicultural organizational development. She has degrees in history and political science. She consults internationally on organizational and individual empowerment and transformation. She has worked with a variety of organizations in North America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa on issues of diversity and inclusion. Dr. Love works from a unique set of assumptions about the nature of humans and the process of personal, organizational, and social change which participants have found empowering, enabling, and effectively motivating. Dr. Love has published widely on issues such as internalized racism, self-awareness for liberation workers, building alliances for change, and critical liberation theory. She is a professor of social justice education in the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is a member of National Training Laboratories and is on the Board of Directors of the National Black Women’s Health Initiative and The Equity Institute. She works with the Black Liberation and Community Development Project of the International Re-evaluation Counseling Communities. She has worked with organizations in North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean on issues of diversity, inclusion, and liberation. She has coauthored chapters on Knowing ourselves as Instructors, Racism, and Ageism and Adultism in Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice.
Brian C. Johnson
Reel Diversity: Framing the Diversity Conversation Through Modern Film
Date: Thursday, March 31, 2011
Black History Month Celebration
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: The Bush School Community Room
Brian C. Johnson honors the struggles and accomplishments of the ordinary citizens who launched the Civil Rights Movement by committing himself personally and professionally to the advancement of multicultural and inclusive education. He serves as a faculty member in the department of developmental instruction at Bloomsburg University and is the director of the Frederick Douglass Institute for Academic Excellence. He is a founder of the Pennsylvania Association of Liaisons and Officers of Multicultural Affairs, a consortium that promotes best practices in higher education. He earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from California University of Pennsylvania and has completed the necessary coursework toward a doctorate in education from Nova Southeastern University. His research is in the area of white student racial identity development. Brian is the coauthor of Reel Diversity: A Teacher’s Sourcebook (2008) and in December 2009 Sense Publishers released We’ve Scene It All Before: Using Film Clips in Diversity Awareness Training. Johnson serves on the ministry team at Revival Tabernacle in Watsontown, Pennsylvania where he is a church elder, youth minister, and a team leader for the Tabernacle Players, the church’s performing arts troupe. He is a film reviewer for Christian Spotlight on Entertainment (www.christiananswers.net). In August 2009, his book Sintimacy: The Christian’s Love Affair with Secret Sin was published by Revival Nation Publishing.
