Thank you for making the first OMA Fall Sharing Fair such a sweet and inspiring community event. We have had excellent feedback and are hoping to do this again next year with a few refinements learned this time around. The displays were beautiful and well-loved, and the mini-talks inspired drama, brain gym exercises, and singing! We thank you all for participating, sharing your talents, and preparing such lovely work to share.
Invitations will be sent soon for our Pub Night! We are scheduling just two this year, with the first coming up on Thursday, December 1st, 4:30pm to 6:30pm. We'll meet at the East Burn Tavern, 18th and Burnside.
We are excited to welcome Maren Schmidt to the Winter Workshop at Far Horizons Montessori School in Eugene on January 14th. Join us for a half-day workshop aimed at re-inspiring and affirming the Power of Observation. Details will follow soon and teacher training hours will be credited.
The OMA Research Initiative is about to begin! Dr. Jenny LaBounty of Lewis and Clark College has designed a comprehensive, longitudinal research project to begin documenting the outcomes of the Montessori children's house experience. She is available to attend your parent nights to share more details about the study and how families can be involved. A letter will be forwarded to participating school administrators within the week, inviting teachers and parents to participate. If your school would like to be involved and you have not yet contacted Jennifer, please, call or email soon. Guides working with children in the study will be asked to complete an online (or paper, if you desire) questionnaire concerning the individual children; continuing education credit hours will be awarded by OMA for this work. OMA has seen a great response to this charge, spurred by Dr. Steven Hughes, and we have many member schools looking forward to participating.
OMA's ongoing work... We are further developing the resources we have available to distant member schools. Volunteers have begun compiling packets to mail for parent or library talks, which can be mailed to schools across the state and in Washington. We are reviving the Speaker's Bureau and are already planning to send a speaker to Bend this winter to offer a workshop to area schools. We are in close contact with the mid-valley and will visit Corvallis and Eugene in the next two months. Let us know if you'd like to be considered for the travelling speaker's program or if you have parent talks to share with schools located further from the Portland Metro area. Our membership is growing, and we have many school members in Bend, Corvallis, and around the state.
Be sure to contact Jennifer if you have written work to share through a Forza Vitale publication. It is a wonderful exercise to reflect and write, and the community benefits from such shared thoughts and practices.
Check out the International Journal of Well-Being article by Robert Biswas-Diener, in which he nominates Dr. Maria Montessori as a "happiness enabler".
Manipulating Happiness: Maria Montessori
Let OMA know of Preschool Fairs in your neighborhood - we are going to Bend in February, and will plan to attend fairs in Lake Oswego and SW Portland this winter.
We regret to note one order of business, that if your school is one of the very few who has not renewed this year, we have to take your listing off of the "find-a-school" page. Our member base is healthy and growing, and we must provide benefits based upon current membership status. So, renew today and we'll reinstate your listing!
Check the Community Bulletin Board to learn about open houses, parent nights, events, and announcements from schools around the region. We have heard from schools that they are in need of on-call substitute teachers, which is often posted on the bulletin board. If you would like to become a sub, contact Montessori of Alameda or Sellwood Montessori School, or any local schools - the need is ongoing.
Salary/benefits surveys will come to administrators via email soon - thank you for your participation.
Your support, involvement, and participation in OMA is appreciated,
Jennifer Ryznar
OMA Executive Director
www.oregonmontessori.com
503-688-0526
jbryznar@gmail.com
