Critchlow Adkins Children's Centers' mission is to provide quality, financially accessible childcare for children and their families in a nurturing, diverse, safe, and enriching environment. | | |
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Thank You For Another Wonderful Year At
Critchlow Adkins Children's Centers!
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We blinked our eyes and all of a sudden, 2024 is coming to a close! This year has been a whirlwind of wonderful, thanks to you! Whether our Critchlow Adkins Kids were enjoying fun with friends, spectacular STEAM activities, brilliant books, fantastic field trips, or time with our terrific teachers, you gave them memories and educational experiences that will last a lifetime.
We hope you will take a few moments to watch the video below and see some of the smiling faces YOU made possible in 2024!
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Look At What We've Been Up To! | |
Spreading Holiday Cheer!
Our St. Michaels Site spent much of this month getting ready for Christmas in St. Michaels! The children made gingerbread houses for the decorating contest, staff and families built a festive float and rode in the parade, and some of the staff from our White Marsh Site even joined in to volunteer during breakfast with Santa. This wonderful community event was originally established to raise money in support of our St. Michaels Site. It has now grown to provide grants for a variety of incredible organizations serving St. Michaels. We are so honored to have been a part of Christmas in St. Michaels for 35 years!
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Look At Our Kids Van Gogh!
The uber-creative staff at our Easton School Age Site recently hosted their "A Snowy Night" winter art exhibit and fundraiser. The staff styled the site with inspiration from the traveling Van Gogh Immersive Experience Exhibit. The classrooms were transformed into magical wonderlands; every surface was covered by masterpieces created by our talented students. We're so proud of all of our amazing artists, and of our staff for creating such a memorable experience for our children and their families!
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Sweaters and Shoppers!
At our Cordova Site, our school age students got into the winter spirit, creating imaginative designs for sweaters and winter caps. The preschoolers took a trip to the Chapel Elementary Penguin Shop, thanks to an invitation from the school's Grandparents Club. Thanks to our generous board member and Critchlow Adkins Parent Darian Sump, every student in the class was able to pick out gifts to give to their families this holiday season. Thank you, Darian, for spreading a little holiday magic to our Cordova Site Community!
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Festive Fun!
Our Easton Preschool Site was feeling frosty and festive in December! The cuties in Room 1 decorated ornaments to take home and put on display. Room 2 brought one of the most fun outdoor activities into the classroom with a hilarious and lively indoor snowball fight. In Room 4, our littles talked about family traditions and worked together to make gingerbread playdough!
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Balancing and Building!
Our special friend, Miss Karen stopped by the White Marsh Site to help our kiddos find balance during the year-end hustle and bustle with a relaxing yoga session. The students also had a blast while doing some creative construction! Our school age students also spent time together building and decorating gingerbread houses for Christmas in St. Michaels, while the future engineers in the preschool class used recycled materials to build interesting structures!
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Follow us on Facebook to get your Friday fix of cuteness with our Weekly Round Up! | |
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We're Overflowing With Gratitude! | |
We have been overwhelmed by the incredible generosity of our community this month! Here are just a few of the many highlights: | |
Many thanks to the wonderful congregants at the Church of the Holy Trinity for their generous $1,000 donation, along with a giant wagon full of educational goodies for our Critchlow Adkins Kids. We are so fortunate to count Holy Trinity as a partner in Building Brighter Futures! | |
We are so grateful to Bicky and Dan Warrington and the folks at Shaper's Hair Salon for making us the beneficiaries of their annual poinsettia sale once again! Thank you to everyone who purchased these gorgeous plants and supported our mission! | |
This month, 1970 Society Members Kim and Linda Cassady issued the first annual donation from their Cassady Family Fund for the benefit of Critchlow Adkins Children's Centers, which was established with the help of the Mid-Shore Community Foundation. The funds will be used to provide professional development for our teachers and STEAM programming for our students each year. We can't thank you enough, Kim and Linda! Click here to learn about the 1970 Society. | |
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Big thanks go out to everyone who donated to Critchlow Adkins during the 3rd annual Mid-Shore Gives 24 hour give-a-thon on Giving Tuesday. You helped kick off year-end giving in spectacular fashion, donating over $8,000 in a single day, and propelling Critchlow Adkins into 3rd place out of 68 participating organizations!
Special thanks to the Mid-Shore Community Foundation for hosting this event each year.
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If you haven't yet made your year-end gift to Critchlow Adkins, there are still 2 days left! | |
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There are many ways to support Critchlow Adkins Children's Centers and the children and families we serve:
Make a one-time or recurring online donation
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Mail a check to:
15 S Hanson Street
Easton, MD 21601
Make a gift of stock or other securities
Take your Required Minimum Distribution from your IRA as a
Charitable Distribution to Critchlow Adkins
Check with your employer to see if they have a program to
match your donation
Join the 1970 Society with a planned gift to Critchlow Adkins
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Thank you to everyone who has chosen to make a gift to Critchlow Adkins Children's Centers this year. We are so incredibly grateful to you for everything that your generosity makes possible for the families we serve! We cannot fulfill our mission without your support! | |
Riesha is a teacher at our St. Michaels Site, and was selected, along with fellow teacher Amber Harper, to present at the Real World Saints event at St. Michaels Middle High School on December 19th. During Real World Saints, presenters from throughout the community spoke with students about real world skills that they may need to know in the future. Riesha and Amber were asked to speak about childcare. | | |
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Riesha attended St. Michaels Elementary School and graduated from Easton High School in 2006. She earned her Bachelors in Science from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in 2012.
Riesha joined the Critchlow Adkins family around 18 months ago. She started as a teacher's aid and then became a lead teacher.
Riesha loves working in childcare.
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"It's incredibly rewarding to be a part of a child's development and build strong relationships with both the kids and their families. It's amazing to see the impact on their lives," she shares. "[My late mother] had a career in childcare, and now I get to see firsthand why she loved it so much. [Critchlow Adkins Children's Centers] has given me the opportunity to build those same special relationships with kids and families. It is truly fulfilling to carry on her legacy." | | |
A December STEAM Project YOU Can Do At Home! | |
Winter is officially here, and we are anxiously awaiting our first snow day! You and your child can welcome the new season with a fun STEAM activity inspired by the beauty of snowflakes! | | |
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Before jumping into this month's project, let's explore the subject matter with a great book! Snowflake Bentley, by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, is about Wilson Bentley, the first known photographer of snowflakes. He was fascinated by the intricate designs of snowflakes and the fact that no two are alike, and he helped show this to the world through his photography. | |
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Now, it's time to explore the S and the A from STEAM - Science and Art - while making snowflake salt paintings! Here's what you'll need:
White card stock, mixed media, or watercolor paper
Elmer's white glue
Salt
Paintbrush or dropper
Food coloring, watercolor paint, or liquid watercolors
Water
First, draw pictures of snowflakes on your paper, then draw over your snowflakes with glue. Next, pour salt over the glue, making sure it is fully covered, and pour off any excess. Let the glue and salt dry.
Once everything is dry, mix a few tablespoons of water with food coloring or prepare your watercolor paint. Carefully drip the colored water on the dry salt and glue snowflakes. What happens? Mix it up by using multiple colors and observe the result. Let your unique snowflakes dry overnight!
So what is happening during the salt painting process? Salt is hygroscopic, which means that it attracts and absorbs water. The colored water is drawn to the salt, allowing the colors to spread and creating beautiful designs in your snowflake paintings!
If you want to add a new variable to your experiment, replace your salt with sugar. Sugar has different molecular properties than salt, so it may have a different reaction to the water drops. What do you think will happen?
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As always, be as creative as you want, and have lots of fun learning together! Follow our Facebook and Instagram pages to see a new STEAM project every week on "STEAM Saturday!" | | |
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You're SNOW
special to us! Thank you for being one of a kind!
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Your generosity blankets our sites with support! Just like snowflakes (and YOU), each one of our Critchlow Adkins Kids is unique and special. Thanks to you, each one can have an equally unique experience At Critchlow Adkins that nurtures and encourages their interests, bolsters their self esteem, and prepares them for success in school and in life! Consider supporting our snowflakes year-round by establishing a recurring monthly donation. | |
Support Critchlow Adkins While Shopping! | |
Connect your Harris Teeter VIC card to Critchlow Adkins via the Together in Education Program, and when you purchase the brands listed below, you help earn money to support our programs! | |
If you are a Weis Market customer, scan the bar code below at checkout to help Critchlow Adkins earn funds for supplies, programs, and more! | |
Thank You To Our Wonderful Community and Business Partners! | |
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Grant Partners
Bryan Brothers Foundation
Christmas in St. Michaels
Dock Street Foundation
Fullwood Foundation
Maryland State Department of Education
Mid-Shore Community Foundation
Rural Maryland Council
Rotary Club of Easton
St. John Foundation
Talbot County Health Department
Talbot Optimists
USDA Rural Development
Van Strum Foundation
Whole Kids Foundation
Women & Girls Fund of the Mid-Shore
Philip A Zaffere Foundation
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Academy Art Museum
Adkins Arboretum
Appleseed Books
Boy Scouts of America
Candlelight Cove
Carepacks of Talbot County
Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
Chesapeake College
Choptank Community Health
Eastern Shore Speech Therapy
Easton Cinemas
Easton Volunteer Fire Department
Environmental Concern
Family Affair Farm
Girl Scouts of America
Healthy Talbot
Imagination Library of Talbot County
Judy Amdur Music
Judy Center Early Learning Hubs
Lion's Club
Maryland Zoo
Pickering Creek Audubon Center
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Police, Fire, and EMS Departments
Positive Strides Therapeutic Riding
Project Right Steps
Ready at Five
SOS Sink or Swim
Society of St. Vincent de Paul
St. Michaels Community Center
Talbot County:
Health Department
Infants and Toddlers
Oral Health Department
Parks and Recreation
Public Schools
Talbot County Free Library
Talbot Family Network
Talbot Interfaith Shelter
Talbot Thrive
Trident Air Craft
University of Maryland Extension
US Armed Forces
4-H Club
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Critchlow Adkins is blessed to have incredible support from our local business community. It is our pleasure to introduce you to our CACC Stars!
*For more information on how YOU can become a CACC Star, click HERE or contact our Development Director, Liz Connelly, at lconnelly@cacckids.org.
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Bartlett Tree Service
Benson and Mangold
Brambles Electric
Carpenter Street Saloon
Chesapeake Building Components
Coventry Motor Works
Freestyle Fabrication
George's Green Thumb
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Moore Funeral Home
Out of the Fire
RLE LLC
Roto Rooter
Talbot County Chamber of Commerce
What's Good, LLC
Windswept Clothiers
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Licensed Maryland Childcare Providers
Cordova - 45445
Easton Preschool - 31291
Easton School Age - 31294
St. Michaels - 31292
White Marsh - 53488
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