WHIMS April 2017

  
Welcome Back!

We return to Riley reinvigorated and refreshed
after an immersive April vacation camp! 



Calendar updates
(See more community calendar events below)
May 2017 

Monday-Friday, May 1st-5th: Art Week (many workshops and field trips)

Friday, 6th: ☕️ Join us for Parent Coffee in the Gallery at 8:15am ☕️
Becky will bring ingredients to make natural tick repellant. Bring a small bottle.

Tuesday, 9th: Pizza Night at Flatbread in Rockport to benefit Riley from 5-9pm
Please spread the word and bring friends. This is an easy fundraiser and another chance to buy a raffle ticket for Riley Gold! 

Wednesday, 10th: Alumni return for a "Life After Riley" conversation from 2:30-3:30pm. Parents are welcome at any time.

Thursday, 18th: Pottery Open House 3-5pm

Thursday, 25th:
 Twinderella in the Theatre at 6:30pm. Doors open 6:15. 
Middle/Upper School stage call at 5:45. Lower School at 6pm. 
Family Potluck in the Math room 5pm. Clean up volunteers needed.

Friday, 26th:
 
NO SCHOOL, Faculty Workshop
WADE ACRES Work party from 9am-12pm followed by picnic lunch (ice cream provided) 

Monday, 29th:  NO SCHOOL, Memorial Day 

June 2017

Thursday, June 1st:
All campus picnic
Pottery Gallery Opening
Music Fest 6:30

Friday, 9th: LAST DAY OF SCHOOL ~ HAPPY SUMMER VACATION

Saturday, 10th: WADE ACRES Breakfast at Theatre 8-10am
 
Pizza Night at Flatbread in Rockport
May 9th, from 5-9pm. Eat pizza, benefit Riley!


Join us May 9th from 5-9 p.m. for a night of family, fun, raffles and pizza at Flatbread ( at 399 Commercial Street in Rockport). Eat in and enjoy an evening connecting and getting to know the extended Riley family. Bring friends !  Can't stay for the evening? Order take out and pop in to say hi when you pick up your to go order. A ll raffle ticket sales as well as a percentage of all pizza sales go to benefit the Riley Children's scholarship fund. 

We hope to see you at our fundraising event. This is a wonderful opportunity to show your support of a great school in our community.

NOTE: We need parent volunteers to staff the raffle table, act as hosts and support children in selling additional raffle tickets. Please respond to Jesse Thompson at 975-1947 or Aura Ellis at aurabellis@gmail.com with your availability.
 
Riley goes renewable
with solar energy 

Did you know that Riley has a solar power generation array capable of powering the campus (as long as Mother Nature remains amenable)? You can look on the bright side of life and keep tabs on Riley's solar savings courtesy of Revision Energy's online dashboard
 
Summer Vacation Camp
is now enrolling 



Visit our website for the registration form where more details schedule is provided. 


Please send inquires to SummeratRiley@gmail.com or call 596-6405 to leave a message for our program directors..
 
Reminders
  • It's tick season! Please do frequent and comprehensive tick checks on yourselves, your children, and your pets. Spraying essential oil onto your clothing and rubbing it onto your skin will help deter ticks from coming near you. This also works to deter mosquitoes and black flies. Using essential oils instead of tick or insect repellent helps to eliminate the amount of chemicals you're exposed to. Lint rollers also effectively remove ticks from clothing. Perhaps we can mix up some essential oils at the next Parent Coffee meeting!
  • Please bring back silverware and kitchen items that may have come home.
  • Also, please return any borrowed clothes and outerwear.. and take a walk thru campus for any missing ones.  Thank you! 
  • We welcome volunteers for Friday Activities. If you have time to spare please come play with us or offer an activity (let Sarah know the Friday BEFORE).
Our campus and community thrives with the care of many hands....
  • A HUGE thank you to Bob (Gunnar and Cadence's dad) for filling in all our potholes. Many hours and a broken wheelbarrow later Bob has made all our lives and rides easier... and perhaps saved our suspensions! Please drive slowly! It helps keep the roadway passable!
  • Board member Tony Oppersdorff, with design help from Charlie Chamberlain, created and hung our new RILEY sign over the theatre doors!! 
  • Faculty and children did a massive spring cleaning just before break. Everyone should be congratulated and admired for this demonstration of pride and ownership of our beautiful campus. 
  • Jane Morgan created the doorway curtain for the Gallery Bathroom
  • Maria and Mandy did a wonderful job welcoming campers over April. Check out our FB feed for some of their activities. 
  • Look for our Flatbread and Camps flyers around town beautifully designed by Angela Kortemeier

    AND... 
     
  • We have a new shipment of  walkway stone. Anyone with an hour and a strong back will be welcome!
  • The Greenhouse is warm and ready for seedlings and planting. Let Becky know if you would like a spot for your family inside or out. Maddie and Nina and Kathy are beginning to all it up.. and would welcome your help.

    THANK YOU!
Wish List
  • The Lower School would like scrap wood for building materials.
  • Someone to build shelves for the amazing collection of Art history books donated by the Blood Family
  • Woodworking tools
  • A hard-working vacuum cleaner
 
Best of Maine 2017

Readers' Choice - Down East

Voting is open every week until May 8th! 

We would love to see Riley get the recognition it deserves in the Best of Maine!
There is a lot to vote on but Education is on the 2nd page. Vote for Riley and pass the link on to all your friends and relatives to vote too (you don't have to be in Maine!)

See the choices here: http://downeast.com/readers-choice/
 
Planning the Gardens


We are starting to plan the gardens and greenhouse programs! This year, we hope to expand our gardens, grow even more delicious and beautiful vegetables, berries, herbs, and flowers, and create exciting opportunities for interdisciplinary learning. We are planning educational field trips, community garden plots and exploring a variety of garden-related programs on campus for our children and the greater community. Over the next month, we will send out more specific announcements about garden plans and needs. We welcome volunteers and donations and will organize some work days to beautify the campus and prepare our garden beds for the new growing season.

Would your family like to design your own garden plot? Or perhaps your children have favorite vegetables or flowers that they'd like to grow and see more of? Please feel free to share your garden related ideas. We will be more successful if we can include our families in designing and maintaining the garden program. Please feel free to contact one of the parent organizers, Maria Orlova, with thoughts or ideas. She can be reached at  wholelifeyogaarts1@gmail.com  or at (978) 314-1020.

 
Amazon Smile 

Use the Amazon Smile program to benefit The Riley School
 
Choose Riley as your charity through the Amazon Smile program.
 
Riley receives .5% of every purchase with no additional cost to you!
 
Since November, Riley has received $47.17 from Amazon. Every purchase helps.
 
The Smile Amazon page looks and works the same and you can use it with Prime memberships too.
 
Simply go to the link below and bookmark the page, or google "Amazon Smile."
 
(It is necessary to take this step, the regular site and the "Smile" site are not linked)
 
Here is the link:  http://www.smile.amazon.com/
 
This link also appears at the bottom of all Whims.

 
Dancing Jaguar's Spirit Camp!

 
Community Corner

Remember, it's your Whims!

Get involved and communicate with other parents here... What do you need? What are you trying to sell? What are you involved in that other families might like to know about?

Help Wanted at Village Ice Cream

Spring has arrived and it's time to start thinking about ice  cream. Village Ice Cream in Port Clyde is looking to add people to its team. We are currently looking for a manager to oversee daily duties of the retail shop and its employees. Duties would include but aren't limited to, inventory, ordering, scheduling, and baking, as well as being a presence in the retail store, overseeing and training the employees.

We are also looking for scoopers. Must be at least 14. Duties include, but are not limited to scooping, running a cash register, taking customer orders, interacting with customers, cleaning the retail area, and stocking shelves.

Good customer service and communication skills a must.

These are all seasonal positions. If interested, contact:
Jessica Thompson at 975-1947

 
Please contact us with your news 
or to correct inaccuracies: 
director@rileyschool.org or 

Community Events

Saturday, April 29th: Children's Fair and Touch-a-Truck, 9:30am-12:30pm at The Coastal Children's Museum, 75 Mechanic St., Rockland. RSVP on Facebook

Tuesday, May 2nd Fiber Arts Group 3:30-5pm at the Rockport Public Library. FMI call 236-3642 or visit  rockport.lib.me.us . (recurs every first & third Tuesday of the month)

Thursday, May 4th:  Lego Club, 4:15pm; Musical performance: Velocipede (Julia Plumb and Baron Collins Hill), 6:30pm at the Rockland Public Library, 80 Union St., Rockland.

Friday, May 5th: Tabletop Gaming for Ages 10-100, 3-6pm at the Camden Public Library, 55 Main St., Camden.  RSVP on Facebook.

Saturday, May 6th: 
Calf Unveiling Day , 10am-3pm at Aldemere Farm, 70 Russell Ave, Rockport.
Let's Get the Rhythm, 2-3pm at The Farnsworth Art Museum, 16 Museum St, Rockland.


Sunday, May 7th:  Bake sale to benefit the Diaper Fund, 10am-2pm at French & Brawn, 1 Elm St., Camden.

Saturday, May 13th: Spring Fling and Pet Parade (hosted by P.A.W.S. Animal Adoption Center), 9:30am-1pm at Camden Harbor Park and Amphitheatre, 55 Main St., Camden.  RSVP on Facebook.

Sunday, May 14th: Mother's Day 5K, 10am-12pm at Oceanside High School - East, 400 Broadway, Rockland.

Tuesday, May 16th Fiber Arts Group 3:30-5pm at the Rockport Public Library. FMI call 236-3642 or visit  rockport.lib.me.us . (recurs every first & third Tuesday of the month)

Thursday, May 18th:  Lego Club, 4:15pm at the Rockland Public Library, 80 Union St., Rockland. (Recurs every other Thursday)

Saturday, May 20th:
Early Bird Reading and Fun, 9-10am at the Thomaston Library, 60 Main St.
Free Car Seat Checks , 9am-1pm. PBMC Child Passenger Safety Program at Fuller Auto Mall, Camden St., Rockland. FMI call 921-8711. (Recurs  Every third Saturday).
The Maine Event (hosted by Rock Coast Rollers), 4-8pm at Midcoast Recreation Center, 535 West St., Rockport. RSVP on Facebook.

Sunday, May 28th:  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 12-3pm at The Strand Theatre, 345 Main St, Rockland. RSVP on Facebook. (Part of an ongoing monthly Harry Potter film festival)
 
So you think you know who's who?
Following up from the last Whims, 
here are the mystery subjects from 26 years ago (can it be?)

From left to right are the graduating class of 1991: Amber Harper, Erika Demartinis (née Earth St. John), Glenna Plaisted (founder of Riley), Lindsay Powers and Kim Slawson (both second-generation Riley parents).

 
Amazon will donate .5% of every
purchase  to the Riley School if you go to 
and choose Riley as your charity,
at NO additional cost to you! 
The Riley School | P.O. Box 159, Rockport, ME 04856 | 207.596.6405

In its employment and admissions practices, Riley is in conformity with all applicable federal and state statutes and regulations. We do not discriminate on the basis of sex, age, race, color, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, creed, ancestry, national and ethnic origin, or physical or mental handicap. Riley is a nonprofit organization, gifts to Riley are tax deductible 
The Riley School guides children to become independent, lifelong learners and innovative thinkers. Founded as a Progressive, ungraded elementary school in 1972, Riley recognizes each child's unique learning style. The individualized curriculum challenges children to express themselves and develop their own intellectual and creative capabilities through doing, questioning and by discovery. We foster a sense of responsibility towards our natural world, our community, and each other. We value cooperation over self and honor the balanced development of social, emotional and physical with academic growth.