December 2009 Newsletter
On the Move.....
First and foremost I want to extend a special thanks to our supporters and volunteers who made our Night in Tuscany event a smashing success. On October 16th over 200 people flocked to the StoneTree Golf Club and participated in a fun filled day which started with golf and finished with dinner, raffle and auction festivities. The $70,000 raised at this event supports NBCC scholarship and health and nutrition programs. Our next event will be the Marin Valentine's Ball which will be held on Saturday, February 6th, 2010.
As economic challenges persist for so many families throughout the North Bay, NBCC continues to experience an increased demand for our programs and services. Many of the families we serve are struggling to stay afloat financially and are grateful for the many grants and donations we receive from the community that enable NBCC to care for more than 300 children on a daily basis. Thanks to four new contracts through the California Department of Education, NBCC has increased services for an additional 131 low-income children throughout the North Bay.
With the program growth we have experienced over the past two years NBCC has also been focused on further developing our management team. We created 12 new staff positions across our Marin and Sonoma Sites welcoming new faces to our administrative and teaching teams.
Special congratulations to Maureen Bush and Meg Frye who we promoted to Regional Director Positions in Marin and Sonoma Counties. In these new leadership roles, Meg and Maureen will oversee NBCC's day to day operations of the multiple sites in each of their regions while being responsible for linking community resources to NBCC through their involvement in the local planning councils, commissions, health service agencies, business leadership organizations, and school readiness initiatives.
We also welcome our newest member of our leadership team, Program Director Teri Lane. Teri brings with her 29 years of experience in early childhood education working with diverse populations in preschool, school age, and infant-toddler programs at UC Berkeley and CSU, Sacramento.
Lastly I wish to thank the many volunteers who contribute tirelessly to the success of our programs. Our newest group of volunteers consists of five women who come in weekly to read to our children as part of our Family Literacy Program. Any one interested in volunteering time in our classrooms or gardens should click here to read our Volunteer Opportunities.
I am filled with gratitude, as I watch our children devour the garden's wonderful bounty. The Garden of Eatin' staff is thankful to all the many parents and community volunteers who helped us sow the seeds of good health for our children. I want to also thank the 26 nursing students from Dominican University who each spent hours last semester participating in our Garden of Eatin' project as part of their community service internship. According to their Nutrition Instructor Lynn LoPresto, "after collecting my students final service-learning essays I must say that these are the best and most passionate essays I've seen from my students, and it tells me that working with The Garden of Eatin' is really a great complement to my class. The students got what you do and they couldn't say enough about how amazing their experience was and that they could see how your program is changing the future. Many lamented that they did not learn when they were young what NBCC's children know and can see how learning about nutrition, food, health, etc. has impacted their own lives at age 18. Many were also challenged to eat more fruits and veggies and exercise by seeing that they little kids were doing better than they are! These kinds of results don't happen by just reading about the facts in a book."
Our intention is to keep young children strong and healthy. You can see how much children love fresh fruits and vegetables when you see the joy on their young faces as they discover the sweet flavors of vine ripened and hand picked foods. Our hope is our beautiful children will continue to enjoy the fresh taste of wholesome fresh foods for the rest of their lives.
We now know that there may be a hundred different causes why almost 30% of young Americans are obese and if present trends continue, one in every three children will develop diabetes and other related life-shortening cardiovascular disease. There is one clear solution to childhood obesity and that is for children to eat a nutrient rich fruit and vegetable diet. We invite all North Bay Children's Center parents to become active supporters of our Healthy Kids Parent Partnership Program. Our gardens need volunteers. Please click here to read our volunteer opportunities. Join us to sow the seeds of good health for your children. As you already know, there is no better investment in the world.
Special Notice from the Garden of Eatin'
1) San Francisco Food Bank selected NBCC's Garden of Eatin Program as one of only a few organizations in Marin County for membership in their "School Distribution Program". This will result in even more fruits and vegetables served in our school food program. Additionally, all produce in excess of our school food program's requirements, will be distributed to our families.
David Haskell, Garden Program Director
"All Children Have Gifts. They simply choose to open them at different times."
Children learn through a series of processes. As they begin to scaffold knowledge onto their base of experience, new concepts and skills evolve. We nurture seedlings in our "Garden of Eatin" and we nurture young minds in our classrooms. Young minds require care, consideration, patience and skill from teachers as they accompany the developing child. A complex sequence of events unfolds while children acquire language, fine, gross motor and social skills.
Our focus in the early years is to allow children to develop in their own time and in their own way. My vision and goal for North Bay Children's Center is to infuse our Programs with well educated teachers who understand and embrace Early Childhood Education "best practices". They are taught to write curriculum which supports cognitive, physical and social/emotional growth of children. Everything is taught with a purpose, process is more important than product and each child is respected and acknowledged for their individual skill level. Vital to the process is a wide variety of curriculum materials placed alongside a print-rich environment where children are encouraged to explore and build trust with their teachers.
During the past year, we have continued to expand our competent teaching teams to include staff that has degrees in Early Childhood Education. All our staff clearly demonstrates their enthusiasm and passion for the field of Early Childhood Education.
As the new school year begins, we are very excited to welcome all of our families, and for those that have graduated from our program, we wish them well, and know that they are ready for the academic journey that lies ahead.
Sonoma News
This summer NBCC was presented with the exciting opportunity to expand further into Sonoma County. The Santa Rosa City School District offered NBCC a contract funded by the California Department of Education to provide on-site preschools at two of their Santa Rosa elementary schools campuses (James Monroe and Steele Lane). By opening these two sites NBCC now provides full day, year round school readiness programs for an additional 60 children --- all low income.
Our Petaluma sites have been equally busy. Both sites continue to grow serving over 100 children in South Sonoma County. We have expanded our preschool program at Cherry Valley and quickly filled our McDowell site with 40 preschoolers and 24 school-age children.
As NBCC's Sonoma County Regional Director I thoroughly enjoy participating in the Sonoma County Child Care Planning Council, and the Petaluma Non Profit Alliance and the Healthy Start Collaborative. These are important groups that continue to make a difference in the lives of young children throughout the North Bay.
Meg Frye, Regional Director, Petaluma and Santa Rosa
Reflections
As I reflect back on my first year as Board President, I couldn't be any more honored and proud to be involved with North Bay Children's Center. It is an exciting time to be a part of its recent growth and expansion.
I am impressed with the commitment of our Board Members to further the NBCC mission. The Board has consistently risen to the challenge and supported the direction of NBCC; whether it be through fundraising, good governance or outreach in both Marin and Sonoma communities. In May we created an Emeritus Board position to honor those who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership to NBCC. Forrest Craig, a former Board member and President, was the first to be honored for his commitment and leadership.
We have also expanded our services beyond Novato and Petaluma into Santa Rosa for a total of six NBCC sites. This has given us a great opportunity to continue our outreach for new donors and volunteers from Sonoma County. I'm thrilled to welcome our newest Advisory Board Member, Larry Peter of Petaluma Creamery.
Though we have seen some challenging times recently in our economy, it is now, more than ever, that non-profits such as NBCC need committed individuals who believe in the programs that serve our most vulnerable community members. I thank all of you who continue to contribute in one way or another to our organization. We truly cannot exist without your support.
Developing News
This is our inaugural newsletter. We hope you enjoyed it. Our current website has been completely revised and updated. A special thank you to Alex Paine and Vanessa Thomas at WebSight Design for all their help and support. Please continue viewing our website and learning about all our programs!
Staff Wish List: Novato, Petaluma and Santa Rosa NBCC Sites
