Nurture Newsletter February-March 2020

Curriculum News

Nurture Classes - Via Creativa

During February and early March, the younger classrooms (Preschool-Kindergarten and Lower Elementary) will con-tinue with our theme of World Creation Stories. They’ll learn about the Big Bang theory, the creation of animals, the creation of humans, and the theory of evolution.

In addition to the Genesis creation story, they’ll also learn about the ancient Chinese deities of Phan-Ku and Nuwa, and they’ll hear stories from the Aboriginal, Maori, Native American, ancient Greek, and ancient Egyptian traditions.

The Upper Elementary class, after learning about Brigid, the goddess/saint, on Feb. 2, will continue exploring Women in the Bible. They’ll read about Mary and Martha, the Samarian Woman at the Well, the Woman with Two Coins, and Mary Magdalene.

Nurture Classes - Jesus in Jerusalem In mid-March, we’ll move into Lent and one of our Jesus in Jerusalem units. This year, we’ll learn about:

Week 1: Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem Week 2: The First Commandment Week 3: Jesus Prays in the Garden of Gethsemane Week 4: Jesus Visits the Seven after His Resurrection

Introducing...Sarah Scott

Sarah was born in West Asheville, which is where her parents lived after Sarah’s dad graduated from Warren Wilson College (right before I started teaching there). A few months later, however, Sarah, her two older brothers, and her parents moved to Lancaster, PA. Sarah grew up there, attending the Susquehanna Waldorf School from pre-pre-school through 8th grade. While there, she especially loved spending time outdoors, ex-ploring the Susquehanna River, and discovering nature through experiential learning.

Sarah then attended Lancaster Catholic High School. During those years, she spent lots of time inside, read-ing textbooks and taking tests. She thought the Hospi-tality Management Program at College of Charleston might be for her, but a campus visit quickly convinced her otherwise. Instead, she decided to follow in her fa-ther’s footsteps and attend Warren Wilson. It has been a great fit for her, and she has already declared her major in Outdoor Leadership and her minor in Education. When she graduates, she’s hoping to work seasonally for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and travel the rest of the year. Eventually, she hopes to become a Waldorf teacher.

As you might imagine, Sarah enjoys hiking, camping, and backpacking. But, she also enjoys crafting, crochet-ing, and solving all kinds of puzzles – jigsaw puzzles, word puzzles, number puzzles, brain teasers, etc. In an unexpected twist, one of her favorite places to visit is an airport! Sarah loves to travel but has been out of the country only once when she visited France with her high school French teacher and two classmates.

Nevertheless, she loves going to the airport and watch-ing all the people and planes as they come and go. She has also been to Colorado and Alaska, and she’s headed, very soon, to Puerto Rico for a wedding. However, Sa-rah has much more lofty goals since she hopes to spend a significant amount of time in at least ½ the countries in the world!

In addition to Sarah’s interest in nature and education, she also comes to us with an interesting religious back-ground. Her parents attended Jubilee before she was born – when they still lived in Asheville. She also expe-rienced Catholicism during high school. But her family opted for an intentional, but self-directed, nature-based

Sarah Scott (cont’d. to the right)

Sarah Scott (cont’d.)

form of spirituality. They would celebrate certain earth-based holidays, and every year of her life, she was given a special stone to mark each birthday.

Sarah was recommended to us by Maddie, her co-teacher in the Upper Elementary class, who knew Sarah through Warren Wilson’s soccer program. It’s been a great match. As Sarah says, “I love working with kids, in general, be-cause education is such a powerful thing – especially when you’re intentional about what, and how, you want to teach. That’s why I want to be an educator! I love being able to have conversations with the kids about things that matter. And I love giving them a space outside the school class-room to have fun, to explore, and to really connect with material that matters.”

Sarah is hoping to graduate from Warren Wilson in 2022 – which means we might be lucky enough to have her for a couple more years!! Thanks for being such a great addition to the Nurture Program!

Upcoming Events

Sunday, February 2 – “Souper” Bowl Sunday at Jubilee! Help celebrate the big game by donating non-perishable, unused food items. There’s always a need for proteins, such as canned meats and peanut butter. Or, you can simply write a check! This is an easy way to help our kids recognize the food insecurity issue in WNC. Take them to the store, let them pick some things out, and donate! Sunday, February 9 – Moonshine Mountain – Noon-3PM The teens will head out for a little snow-tubing after class! We’ll eat a quick pizza lunch and then go to Moonshine Mountain in Hendersonville. We’ll tube from 12PM-2PM, have a little hot chocolate, and then head back to Jubilee by 3PM. Know a teen who might be interested? Contact Vicki at vickig@jubileecommunity.org. Cost: FREE! Saturday, February 15 – Parents’ Night Out Need a Valentine’s Day night out with your significant other?! The Nurture Program will host a Parents’ Night Out on Saturday, February 15, 6:30-8:30PM, downstairs at Jubilee! Kids 3-10 years of age are welcome. We’ll have a craft, activi-ties, snacks, and a movie. No need to sign up, but if you know you’re coming, let us know. Attend the Amy/Kat concert or do something else fun downtown! Questions? Contact Vicki at vickig@jubileecommunity.org.

Sunday, February 23 – Visit from Urban Dharma – Upper Elementary Class Urban Dharma will come to us this time around! They will join our Upper Elem. class for a Buddhist story and some meditation. Parents/caregivers are welcome to join us!

Sunday, March 8 – Spring Forward Set your clocks forward one hour! If you forget, you’ll miss Jubilee!

Sunday, March 8 – Community Service Sunday – Room in the Inn Mattresses Please plan to stay for a few minutes after the 1st Celebration. We’ll be setting up the beds for the women who are part of Room in the Inn. It takes only about 20 minutes, and the more folks we have, the less time it takes. It’s also another great opportunity for the young ones to be involved in community service.

Sunday, March 29 – Visit to Urban Dharma – Preschool-Kindergarten Class We’ll continue our joint programming with Urban Dharma when our kids join their kids for a Buddhist story and med-itation. We’ll walk to Urban Dharma (77 W. Walnut St., 28801) at 9:50 and return by the usual end-of-class time.

Spring Has Sprung!!

Many faith traditions celebrate the arrival of spring in some way. We’ve already had Vasant Panchami in the Hindu/Indian tradition. And Vaisakhi in the Sikh/Hindu/India tradition will come in April. Here are a few of the spring holy days coming up in February.

Imbolc (Feb. 2): Imbolc is a Pagan/Wiccan holy day marking the start of the lambing season and the spring sowing period. You can celebrate by having a bonfire, enjoying the newly-grown flowers, cleaning your home, or visiting the lambs at a nearby farm!

Setsubun (Feb. 3): This Shinto holiday celebrates the coming of spring in Japan. It also doubles as a New Year cele-bration that sweeps out the previous year. This can be done symbolically by throwing beans at someone in a demon mask. Drumming rituals, soybean eating, and throwing lucky packets containing candy or a few coins are also popular.

Tu B’Shevat (sundown Feb. 9-sundown Feb. 10): This Jewish holiday commemorates the new year for fruit trees. Historically, it’s not a major holiday, but it is honored nowadays by many Jews with tree-planting events.