Saturday, September 18, 2010 at 10:00am – 5:00pm

660 Smith Road, Camano Island

Janis Smith, a Middle School math and science teacher at Villa Academy, is also a champion alpaca breeder! In 2005, she and her husband bought two female alpacas from Alpacas de la Patagonia on Camano Island. Over the past 5 years, the couple has developed a passion for this beautiful, gentle, and very intelligent animal.

At previous Villa Academy auctions, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Woodward have jointly donated, “An Afternoon at the Farm.”

This experience will be offered again, but why wait until auction time?

On September 18th Alpacas de la Patagonia is having an open house.

This is a rare opportunity to see one of the premier working alpaca farms in the county! Enjoy food and beverages, walk with alpacas, observe crias (baby alpacas) “pronking” in the fields, touch alpaca fleece, observe a breeder’s production sale, walk the 200 acres, listen to music, and more.

Food and beverages will be provided, so PLEASE RSVP to Janis Smith if you’d like to come and enjoy the day!
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Villa 4th grade students are quoted on the front page of this issue of the Food Lifeline newsletter. The students were encouraged to commented on their experience as volunteers for the local Northwest food bank. Responses included memories from the ongoing service project, things the students learned, and ways they can help, like this youngster who has big social entrepreneurial plans for the future . . . .

“I think when I grow up, I want to start a business like Food Lifeline. I always have a good feeling when I know I’m doing something that will help.”

Middle School English and drama teacher, Donald Mabbott, was recently featured on The East Portland Blog. The article, written by Mr. Mabbott, is a piece that supports the practice of listening to and extracting a student’s true voice through their writing.

Mr. Mabbott writes,

“For voice-immersed learning to take place among educators and students alike, the hierarchy, and the arbitrary morality of power must give way to a more liberating education—a pluralistic education, unfettered by distinctions of class, race, gender, religion, or ethnicity. Created, from it roots, by an inclusive, unification of voices, from which policy, procedure and curriculum design springs.”

Click here to read the full text

The fall gift wrap (and more) sale is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Villa Academy Parent Association (VPA). Innisbrook is our new vendor (we’ve formerly sold Sally Foster products).

Innisbrook is a GREEN company that believes a sustainable future is possible. Their standard gift wrap is printed on recycled paper and only 100% water-based inks are used.  Leftover inks are reformulated and recycled for other designs.  The sales packet information you receive is also printed on recycled paper. The online EZ Order Entry system eliminates huge order forms and saves millions of sheets of paper.

Villa Academy receives 50% of all sales which the VPA uses to fund innovative and enriching opportunities for our students via the Faculty and Staff Grant Program. Additionally, funds support the VPA Gift to School Program. Recent grants and gifts include the climbing wall, smart boards, science lab enrichment, weather station, playground equipment, bike racks and many more.

We very much appreciate your support and have GREAT PRIZES to award this year.  At the end of each full week of the fundraiser, we will award the top selling grade for that week with a free dress day — so don’t delay in getting your orders submitted!  The first free dress day will be awarded on September 18^th.

At the end of the fundraiser, we will award the two highest selling families with a reserved parking space for any one week of their choice during the school year and a beautiful Innisbrook gift basket stuffed with goodies.  A U-Village gift certificate and very special gift basket will be awarded to the highest selling teacher/staff member.

This fundraiser ends September 23^rd.

Thank you for your support!

Jeanne Birmingham and Lendy Vail

Gift Wrap Chairs

Join us for our annual Italian Dinner Carnival

5:30-7:30pm, Friday, September 24th

More info

Ms. Cassario’s 4th graders have the unique opportunity to present an illustrated book to Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea. The class has appropriately titled their book Sixteen Cups of Tea.

Mr. Mortenson’s book is a true story of his mission to build a school for a poor village in Pakistan. He was motivated by a desire to repay the people of the Village for their kindness and assistance when his group became lost while climbing K2.

The book was chosen as a  “read aloud” book for 4B because it allows the class to work, as a group, with a novel that may be beyond their reading level.  The reading operates much like a book club, with frequent opportunities for class discussion.

After finishing a read aloud novel, students typically draw pictures, discuss the book, and write about their favorite part. Many of the students enjoyed the interview at the end of the book, with Greg Mortenson’s daughter Amira. She talks about what it’s like to share her father, now a philanthropic leader, with the world.

After learning about the reading assignment, one 4th grade parent, a friend of Greg Mortenson, suggested that Mr. Mortenson and his daughter Amira would enjoy seeing the student illustrations. She graciously arranged for a bound compilation of the students illustrations to be sent to Mr. Mortenson.

Author Karen Cushman captured the attention of Villa Academy students this morning with a self-introduction that included a story from her childhood. As a little girl in an ethnic neighborhood of Chicago, Karen loved to tag along with her grandfather, everywhere but the “boogey joint.” Later, she realized that the bookie joint was not where the boogeyman hung out, and that her bookie joint was the library, a favorite spot for a little girl who loved to read and write.

Ms. Cushman told students that despite writing a 5-page novel as a child, she never considered writing as a career, until 20 years ago, when her husband refused to listen to another story she’d likely never write, and insisted that instead, she sit down with pen and get started.

Ms. Cushman shared with the students how her collection of personal experiences combined with historical tidbits she gathers from primary sources aid in the creation of her novels.

Student’s filled the last 15-20 minutes of the presentation with very thoughtful questions about what inspires Ms. Cushman’s stories, her writing process, and her plans for future stories.

One student confessed that she had started writing a story of her own, but was worried it was too short to ever become a novel. To this, Ms. Cushman responded, “Basketball players don’t start by playing in the championship game, they practice their shot for a long time first.”

Newbery Award winning author, Karen Cushman will speak to students in Grades 2 – 6, Thursday, June 10.

Ms. Cushman is the author of the following books:  Midwife’s Apprentice, Rodzina, Cathrine, Called Birdy, and The Ballad of Lucy Whipple. She won the Newbery for Midwife’s Apprentice. Her new book, Alchemy and Meggy Swann, has just been released.  A selection of her books will be for sale following the event.

Author Visit Details

Read UWeek Article

The Villa Academy Green Team is planting a native garden in the strip of soil between the two carpool lanes on the east side of the school. Funding for this student-driven project came from a $300 “Terry Husseman Sustainable School Award” granted to Villa Academy by the Washington State Department of Ecology.  Preparations for the garden began in May and will continue through the summer and into next year.

All the plants in the Green Team garden will be native to Washington State. In an effort to save water and energy in the summer months, the Team has focused their selection on plants that flower only in the spring and fall and have chosen species that are found in areas with more sun exposure and drier soil.

The students have worked diligently to plan and prepare the execution of this project. Lots of brainstorming, research and schedule planning preceded the first day of digging last week. As part of their preliminary planning, the Green Team writes, “Our native plant garden is important because it gives homes to native animals and our plants are adapted to the climate and to native animals. It also provides a variety of foods all through the year.”

At one of their earliest meetings, student members of the Green Team voted to spend the $300 award from the WA Department of Ecology on tools, supplies and planting soil to keep their garden growing.

Join us as we watch the Green Team’s Native Garden bloom! Students will begin planting this week. Informational plant signage and additional garden touches (such as bird feeders, woodpecker suet logs, etc) will be coming soon!