Happy New Year, Stevenson families! 
I hope everyone was able to come to our December dance program, “A Collage of Dance.”  Under the wonderful direction of Megan Baade, Owner & Director of Garri Dance, our students put on a great show.  It was amazing to see how the complexity of the dances increased with each grade level – yet our students made it look effortless (even though we know they worked very hard!).

 

Now that they have successfully completed ten weeks of dance and movement instruction, our students and faculty will begin a ten-week Visual Arts program in January under the direction of Ms. Barbara Eisner.  This program has been designed specifically to meet California Visual Arts standards.  Yes, our public elementary schools are required to teach visual and performing arts, but they do not provide us with enough budget dollars to pay for these programs.  This is why Families for Stevenson Booster Association (FFS) was formed – to raise the funds necessary to provide arts education and other special needs for our school.  Whatever the project – dance instruction, library renovations, garden enhancements, Outdoor Science School, or shade structures for our playground – we are here to pick up where the state budget leaves off.  Needless to say, as our state budget continues to get cut, the need for fundraising increases. 

 

Who makes up Families for Stevenson?  You do — each and every parent, friend, corporation, foundation and community member that donates their creative ideas, time, money, services, food, raffle prizes, and/or products to every fundraising event we sponsor.  The FFS board and I look forward to working alongside the PTA board and each of you as we figure out how to raise the necessary funds for our school during a difficult economy.  Our important Annual Donation Drive begins later in January, followed by our Poquito Mas Dine-Out Day in March, Barnes & Noble Spring Book Fair & Dine Outs in April, and our biggest, loudest fundraiser of the year is coming in May:  Stevenson Rocks!

 

Thank you all for making arts education a priority, for making Stevenson a priority, & most importantly, for making our children a priority!  In this New Year, I can’t think of a better resolution than this.

 

Happy New Year!
Carrie Brown, FFS President