The Beauty of Community - Maxfield Mosaic Project

For over 20 years at Maxfield, I have walked by the courtyard and looked at this:

It is an air exchange intake vent.  Looks kind of like a missile silo, doesn't it?
What could help?  Nettie & Friends; mosaic artist Lori Greene; enthusiastic students, and community members.

One day last May, while my brother was visiting, we started the process of prepping tiles:

Lori worked with students to design the "wrap around mural" for the air exchange.

We worked with an after school group at Maxfield. Students worked on panels of the mural, attaching tile to mesh.

We worked with families at an all school event last June and with community groups throughout the year at Mosaic on a Stick in Saint Paul.

Almost a year later, Lori and I gathered all of the panels and jumped for joy that we did, indeed, have all 19 pieces to cover the air exchange.

On a lovely day in mid-May Lori, Marsha and I installed the mosaic in the courtyard at Maxfield School.

As we were working, students stopped by with excited comments about "my squirrel"; "my butterfly"; "my flowers".  Staff came out to gaze upon the beauty of the mosaic.  Volunteers made a point to come out and ask questions about the project and take some photos.

Two days later, Lori grouted the entire piece.

I must admit, when I walk by the courtyard windows, my heart is lifted by the beauty I see.  I am proud of this work, this project, this contribution to community.  Thank you for your support throughout the mosaic process.

Come join us for the end of the year Maxfield Family BBQ on June 7th, 2012 from 5:30 - 7:00 PM and join us as we celebrate the beauty...

Our MN Horse Expo Field Trip

Each year, as a part of our Informational Writing unit, we visit the MN Horse Expo.  Our thanks to the MN Horse Expo organizers for providing such a wonderful, rich opportunity for our students. 

It is a chance for us to get "up close and personal" with horses. 

Students had a chance to ride a horse or pony (some several times!)

We talked to horse owners and trainers.  One was kind enough to show us the bottom of her horse's hoof.  We saw the 'frog' and the shoe up close...

 Another showed us her horse's mustache...

We rode in a wagon drawn by horses...

We all felt like this at the end of our happy day at the MN Horse Expo:

Thank you for helping make this annual event a possibility for us each year.

Field Trip to Three Rivers Regional Park

With thanks to a private donor and support from friends like you, on a delightful spring day in early April, Maxfield Learning Center students visited North Mississippi Regional Park for a morning of adventure, exploration and learning.

At the visitor and education center, we were introduced to some land and water loving creatures,  like the crayfish that molted this skin:

and this toad:

 and this turtle:

We walked along a lovely woodland trail and explored early spring life under the leaves (bugs, beetles and larvae.)

We wandered down to the shore of the mighty Mississippi and put a finger in the river; walked the sandy shoreline looking for beaver chewed trees, shells, lovely rocks, and shared our treasures with our classmates; then, we threw a few stones back into the river just for the fun of it.

 Thank you for making this wonderful day in the great out of doors possible for our students.

100 Days of School Celebration

In Kindergarten, counting up to 100 Days of School is a very big deal.
100 stickers on a hat, 10 groups of 10 snack treats in 10 paper cups
 to mix together in a 100 Days snack, 10 sets of 10 different exercises to
focus our energy, poems, songs, books, a necklace with 10 groups of 10 fruit loops.
(It is really hard not to eat them while counting.)
A picture is worth a thousand words and these smiling faces tell a story.
Enjoy some of our 100 Days of School projects.
Thank you for making this possible for ALL of the
Kindergarteners at Maxfield on this day of celebration.

Thank you.

A Real Snow... 1, 2, 3, Snow People!

Finally, a snow that would pack (and then melt quickly) but we jumped at the opportunity, with wonderful snow pants, warm waterproof mittens and warm boots we went to work (and play!)

We packed, rolled, stacked, built, laughed and looked on with a sense of pride and accomplishment.  Thank you for your support.  Thank you for making this possible.

Gingerbread House Extravaganza 2011

After two weeks of reading every Gingerbread book we could get our hands on, connecting the Gingerbread to every area of academics, creating nearly every craft we could find connected to the gingerbread stories, and retelling the Gingerbread stories over and over, we celebrated with our annual Gingerbread house building extravaganza.  Here are just a few examples the fun we had:

Should I stick on my house or pop it in my mouth?'

So, you pick this up and stick it like this. Make sure you have a lot of frosting!

I'm ready to start decorating... I like the frosting.

Thank you for supporting students at Maxfield as they learn and celebrate their learning.

2011 Nettie & Friends Opening Reception at the Egg AND I East, Saint Paul

It was a dark and stormy night, and STILL friends came out to support Nettie & Friends and Maxfield School at the Opening Reception on Saturday, December 3, 2011.   Thank you all.  It was a fun evening. 
Remember, the sale continues through the month of December at the Egg And I.  Come on over for breakfast or lunch - - do some shopping -- do some good.