Watch for Viking Tees, Caps, and Pennants on sale at the Ice Cream Social honoring Polly Skinner, after school Tuesday May 18.

The Villa Parent Association presents another hot topic parenting seminar!

Wednesday, April 28th, 8:30-10:00am in the Villa Parlor

As a registered dietician Toni Kohn has spent years developing strategies surrounding eating disorder prevention. We will explore ways that our children can grow up with a love of food that is not consuming and a respect for its nourishing qualities that is not obsessive. She encourages families to speak about, prepare, buy and serve food in ways that promote the family’s and individual’s health around food.

The Villa Academy administration, faculty and staff offer our heartfelt gratitude for the lovely luncheon and gift bags prepared for each of us last Thursday! In the midst of a busy day and week we were “transported” to an elegant restaurant and served like royalty. Thank you Parent Association Appreciation Committee for the planning, cooking, serving, organization of notes and  preparation of gift bags, and procuring extra help at recess and in the lunchroom to allow  faculty time to enjoy the lunch. Thank you Villa families for your kind notes, drawings and gifts.

The Meridian School Parent Association is hosting a parent education event!

Screen Time: How it affects your child and what you can do about it.

Wednesday March 24th 2010 – 7:00pm more details

2010 Poker Showdown Update: Paula H. was crowned champion of this year’s event!  Over 50 players, guests, and generous donors came together and raised over $7,200 for the CYO program.  This money will be used to fund uniforms, new equipment and scholarships. Thank you! See you all next year!

Proceeds benefit the Villa Academy CYO Athletic Program.
Please join us on Friday evening, January 29 for Villa’s Fourth Annual Villa Poker Showdown. The evening will offer great food and drink, an opportunity to socialize with the Villa community, and the chance to participate in the Fourth Annual Villa Poker Showdown!

The event is open to everyone in the Villa community, whether you’d like to play or watch the action from the sidelines. To participate, click HERE for a registration form. Participation is limited so sign up today!

What: Fourth Annual Villa Poker Showdown
When: Friday, January 29th
6:00 p.m. Check-in/6:30 Tournament play begins
Cost: $120 to play OR
$25 to attend and watch the action!
Where: Villa Academy Parlor

To Support Villa’s CYO Athletic Program

Please join us on Friday evening, January 29th  at the Villa for our 4th Annual Villa Poker Showdown!  The evening will offer great food and drink, a chance to socialize with the Villa Community and the opportunity to play in the Fourth Annual Villa Poker Showdown!

Last year’s tournament was a huge success and a fun night out that was enjoyed by many.  The event is open to everyone in the Villa community and no experience is necessary to play.  Please look for registration forms after the Christmas holiday, but mark your calendars now!

The Privilege of Volunteerism:
One Mom’s Reflection

Linda Wold receiving the Heart of Villa Award

Imagine me at our Gala Auction on the last night of February! Pardon the pun, but my heart took a leap. It was after all February 29. Within the happy hum of a Villa auction crowd, I was enjoying conversation at my table and was caught unaware. It had just been announced that I was the recipient of the Heart of Villa Award given annually to a Villa parent volunteer.

As I was beckoned to the podium, my 14-year old daughter, Keely, stood at the base of the stage, all fresh and golden; isn’t every mother’s daughter an angel? Together we climbed the stairs to the stage where I accepted this incredibly special honor. This year, two parents shared the award making it doubly special! It was an honor to share this recognition with Jim Williams, Jake’s father. I am sure that I speak for both of us in describing it as our proudest but most humble moment at Villa Academy.

In the days since that special night, I began to reflect on what a privilege it has been to share my personal time and effort on behalf of this exceptional school. I began to contemplate how quickly these years have flown, and to experience the blur that must be felt by all eighth grade parents as our children begin the inevitable journey toward new goals and higher education. It seemed a perfect time to share some thoughts about the privilege of volunteerism.

My comments are geared in particular toward the lucky parents whose children will be returning to Villa in the years ahead. You cannot yet appreciate how difficult it will be for the rest of us parents to drive to school on that last day in June, making our final decision: Do we veer left on the yellow road? Or right on the blue? We won’t have the luxury of returning in the fall to a school we know and love, a school that has prepared our children so well to enter high school, equipped for the challenges that lay inside new classrooms, labs, and gymnasiums.

It is now, at the end of our own family’s Villa years, that I feel inspired to encourage all parents to make the most of every volunteer opportunity available to you in your remaining years at this extraordinary school! Whether you serve in a lunch line, transport students on a field trip, stuff envelopes in the Development Office, coach a second grade soccer team, cut carrots in the school kitchen, or help a kindergarten teacher with the unending displays of student masterpieces (yes you can help from home!) your involvement as a volunteer is priceless to both the school and to your child!

Many of you are already aware that the rewards reflected in your child’s eyes are immeasurable! There is nothing more important to your child than having you be part of their waking day. After all, from that first morning in kindergarten until they march up to accept their eighth grade diploma, the majority of their waking hours will be spent beneath the nurturing umbrella of Villa Academy. Do not hesitate to invest yourself in those same hours while you are still welcome in classrooms, in hallways, and on field trips. The years fly by faster than you can possibly fathom, and the opportunities to share in these special moments can never be reclaimed.

I would give anything to go back to our son’s first day of kindergarten (nearly twelve years ago!) and start all over. I could relive the trips to the pumpkin farms, help grandparents find the classroom where their beloved grandson waited to introduce them, cut out all those letters for hallway displays, put together a gift basket for an annual auction, help a timid first grader fill her plate with her first Villa lunch,  donate a book to the school library, sit in the parent pews at a school prayer service, brag about Villa to prospective parents at an Open House, apply costume makeup at a Halloween carnival, cheer for my son or daughter at a Saturday morning CYO game, and create a game of Jeopardy for a Spanish classroom (yeswe had categories such as, “Los Colores de Navidad” and “Las Personas Famosas”).

But those are privileges no longer bestowed on me. All that is left is the opportunity to remind those of you who are blessed to return to Villa in the fall: Get involved while you still can! That proverbial clock ticks relentlessly! Never forget how incredibly privileged you are to be here treasure every moment and make them count!

May God watch over Villa Academy! Long live the Vikings and the Blue and Gold!