NewGate School Newsletter | February 2020

CULTIVATING A LIFELONG LOVE OF LEARNING | EDITION #6

FEBRUARY 2020

Picasso Room, December 2019

Being Kind is Teachable

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?”

In our classrooms, we look for opportunities to serve. These may look like random acts of kindness, service-learning experiences, or studying the habits of those who role-model altruism, the belief in and practice of selfless concern for another’s well-being. Being kind is teachable. Giving of oneself is modeled. For example, on Saturday, February 1, at 9am, NewGate community members, young and old, will be walking in the UNWomen’s Gulf Coast Chapter’s Winter Walk at Payne Park to help raise awareness about violence against women. This newsletter highlights altruistic happenings and activities in and around our campuses.

TANYA RYS KIND ASSOCIATE HEAD OF NEWGATE SCHOOL

FACULTY Q&A WITH EDWARD COSTER Art Teacher WHAT MAKES YOU SMILE? There are loads of things that make me smile, however, I just love when I see one of my art students get excited or inspired about art.

WHAT LEVEL AND/OR SUBJECT AREA DO YOU TEACH? Art: Lower Elementary through 2nd cycle.

WHAT ARE YOUR WEEKEND HOBBIES? I love to Paddleboard through Roberts and Dona Bay and spend time with my wife and children.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE SNACKS/FOODS? I never had a snack I didn’t like, however, chocolate has a special place in my heart.

COULD YOU SHARE A BOOK RECOMMENDATION? I truly loved The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. A very well-written novel narrated by Death, which takes place in Nazi Germany 1940s. An excellent read for the young adult/adult.

Our Storie� THE CHILDREN’S HOUSE

ASHTON ROAD CAMPUS

Cousteau | TODDLER CLASSROOM One of the things we really try to encourage in the toddler environment is true and honest altruism. We don’t ask children to apologize (because “sorry” doesn’t mean anything to them yet); we simply draw focus to the child who has been hurt. Using language like, “your friend really didn’t like it when you touched her work. Her face looks sad,” identifies the emotions happening to others. When children begin to identify sadness in friends, then we start to see spontaneous gestures of comforting and caring for others who are hurting.

We often want to “fix” play situations, especially when we feel our child has wronged someone. Giving the children the language and space to act on their own empowers them and forges strong friendships.

Cousteau Room, Jan. 2020

Cassatt Room | PRIMARY CLASSROOM Altruism is ripe for nurturing at this age - kindness without conditions, caring without praise. We do this best through modeling — picking up a dropped item for a stranger, holding a door, volunteering at a nonprofit — and engaging in conversation about that action. Notice (rather than praise) your child when they act altruistically! “I noticed that you did that for me without being asked: that was kind!”

Cousteau Room, Jan. 2020

Montessori Room | PRIMARY CLASSROOM In our classroom environment, we encourage children to “care.” We believe deeply in the practice of selfless concern for the well-being of others. In observing our classroom environment of children 3-6 years old, we enjoy seeing the older children care for their younger peers. It is so rewarding to see children play and work cooperatively while demonstrating empathy for others.We strive to model selfless acts of giving. “Give of your hands to serve and your hearts to love.” - Mother Teresa

Montessori Room, Jan. 2020

Carson Room | LOWER ELEMENTARY (LE) Lower Elementary students, all of whom are early in the second plane of development, are starting an exploration of justice and morality. This developing sense of fairness can make the news and stories that lack fairness particularly difficult for this age. We follow the warm advice of Mr. Rogers, to “Look for the helpers,” and add, “try to be a helper, too.” With all of this in mind, we have discussed the information brought in by students about the wildfires in Australia and the need to help the animals devastated by the fires.

Montessori Room, Jan. 2020

(Carson Room con’t.) We have made patterns and started cutting fabric to make pouches to help the young animals. We were presented with a regifted sewing machine that we joyfully opened in class and started using right away to make our pouches.We will send them when we have a few and are thrilled to be learning new skills as well as becoming helpers for the marsupials in Australia.

Picasso Room | UPPER ELEMENTARY (UE) In the Picasso classroom, we help to nurture altruism by guiding our students to be stewards and caretakers of the Earth and its inhabitants. By doing so, we create caring, empathetic students who are capable of thinking beyond themselves. Upper Elementary Montessori students function more independently.

Our Picasso students act as tutors and mentors for younger students, keeping Dr. Montessori’s vision of peer learning alive to develop and educate the whole child. Students also take responsibility in their community service efforts. The students learn the joy of giving of themselves and develop compassion through these real, practical life volunteer experiences.

UPPER SCHOOL

Carson Room, Jan. 2020

LAKEWOOD RANCH CAMPUS

Secondary First Cycle Even though the students in the First Cycle are still learning the true meaning of altruism, expressions of altruism are observed every day. The students do nice work volunteering to help one another. Some are generous of their time and show tremendous kindness towards others.They will sometimes go out of their way to help one another with technology problems or to calm down a peer if he/she is having a bad day. They include others in a game and welcome new students. The list goes on as they continue to mature..

Picasso Room, Jan. 2020

Secondary Second & Third Cycle We begin the year sharing with Secondary students that our year’s work will involve many opportunities for students to practice care of self, care of others, and care of the environment, core aspects of the Montessori adolescent program. As part of the care of others and care of the environment aspects of the program, Second and Third Cycle students participate in a weekly service-learning course. During the fall semester, students were involved in various service activities ranging from community in-reach with toddler, primary and elementary students in their classrooms to maintenance and beautification of both campus environments. Students also ventured out into the broader Sarasota/Bradenton community to volunteer.

They planted a pollinator garden at Rye Preserve, and they also worked many hours to turn superfluous plastic bags into “plarn”, a plastic yarn that will be crocheted into sleeping mats and distributed to homeless shelters in the second semester.

Through their service-learning activities, students bonded and developed a strong sense of altruism and teamwork characteristics that will enable them to contribute to an improved sense of community in the world around them.The service-learning course is just one component of the Secondary Program that engages students in authentic, altruistic experiences in hands-on learning environments.

Secondary, Jan. 2020

Secondary, Jan. 2020

Enrichment | THE MAKERSPACE One of my favorite aspects of my work in the MakerSpace and as a music teacher is the collaborative, altruistic nature of the efforts of our students. Frequently in the MakerSpace, a project begins as an idea one student has, another student adds to, and ultimately, a beehive of activity between many students bursts out and results in something everyone contributed to in some way. Similarly, I believe that all arts guide us towards our innate altruism: in music this month, I have watched with deep admiration as our students began working together to produce an ensemble performance, an act that requires a level of selflessness through attention to the group as a whole, and not just the individual.Through their projects and their performance, they have had the opportunity to experience the joy of elevating each other by supporting each other’s efforts, a lesson that leads to seeking out many more opportunities for altruism. — Jennie Caskey, MakerSpace

February Events

POETRY OUT LOUD AT SRQ MEDIA GROUP February 6th, at 8:45AM | Finalist round of Poetry Out Loud recitations with high school students at SRQ Media Group at 331 S. Pineapple Avenue in downtown Sarasota.

SCHOOL CLOSED February 17th, Presidents’ Day POP-UP ART SHOWS February 6th, at 5:30 PM - First and second cycle pop-up art show, Lakewood Ranch Campus February 20th, at 5:30pm - Elementary pop-up art show, Ashton Road Campus NEWGATE’S ANNUAL FUNDRAISING EVENT Love Our School Eat-Drink-Bid | Friday, February 21, 2020 at 6:30pm | Adults Only NewGate’s Annual Fundraising Event. Online Auction will begin on February 14th and end at the event on February 21st! All bidding will take place online. Purchase tickets @ http://squareup.com/store/loveourschool PARENT/TEACHER/STUDENT CONFERENCES Conferences will be held on Friday, February 28th, and Monday, March 2nd. Please look for more information about how to schedule your conference coming soon.

PARENT EDUCATION/MONTESSORI FAMILY ALLIANCE NIGHTS The Montessori Family Alliance nights will be held on Thursday evenings each month on both campuses.

These get-togethers give us an opportunity to share various topics from what is happening in the classrooms to special guest speakers. All Family Alliance Nights begin promptly at 6:30 PM. LAKEWOOD RANCH CAMPUS, FEBRUARY 6, 2020 | ASHTON ROAD CAMPUS, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

NEWGATE, THE LAB SCHOOL OF THE MONTESSORI FOUNDATION A Non-Profit, College-Preparatory, International Baccalaureate Montessori School | 18 months through 12th Grade ASHTON ROAD CAMPUS (941) 922-4949

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LAKEWOOD RANCH CAMPUS (941) 222-0763

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NEWGATE.EDU