Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Page A-3
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Wednesday, May 17, 2017
DOME SCHOOL TIMES
Volume 2, Number 1 - Published twice yearly since 2016
This issue is dedicated
to Jill Gruenberg
Community building comes together
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to finalize funding
As the 2016-17 school year comes to a close,
our families and staff have been excited to see
the expansion of the Takilma Community
Building (TCB) taking shape. This project to
improve the Dome School’s home not only
gives our kids their own dedicated classroom
space but also serves to open up the heart of
the building for more dinners, movie nights,
meetings, yoga and dance and theater classes,
and much more. A true community building.
Tomorrow, May 18, marks the anniversary of
our groundbreaking ceremony for the project.
In one year, this several-decades-in-the-making
dream has become reality; Phase 1 of our
expansion project, closing the addition in, is
nearing completion.
But the question on everyone’s minds
remains: Will Phase 2, completion of all interior
work, be complete in time for the 2017-18
school year? The answer is a resounding “We
sure hope so!”
The good news is that we have secured more
than 80% of project costs. The bulk of this
has come from right here in our community,
including direct financial contributions, in-kind
service gifts, and donations at our numerous
fundraisers. These have been supplemented by
grants from generous local foundations.
But the not-so-good news for our current
timeline: the nearly 19% of funding still to go.
We will continue to write and submit grants,
but we can’t rely on these.
On Earth Day, we kicked off what we’re
calling our 30/50/70 campaign—30 Ways
to Raise 50K in 70 Days. Importantly, these
are ways that people can get in return for
giving. Examples include purchasing items
(Photo by Ryan Forsythe)
West Sii-iide! The siding is added to the west side of the Takilma Community Building addition, Monday, May 8.
(t-shirts, trucker caps, Takilma Common
Ground anthologies, etc.), paying admission
at special events such as concerts, and also
supporting local businesses (the Galloping
Goose, Ida’s Blueberries, and Diggin’ Livin’ are
a few donating portions of sales). The full list of
“Ways to Raise” can be found on our website, at
www.domeschool.org/campaign.
Elsewhere in this edition of The Dome
School Times, long-time community member
Stephanie Moor goes into greater detail about
what she sees as the need for this project.
Steph is a dedicated and integral part of our
community, and has been helping to fundraise
for numerous projects and non-profits
throughout the Illinois Valley. While our staff
can certainly speak to the benefits the new
classrooms will have for our students, Stephanie
speaks to the value of the building for the
community, those who will benefit from our
ability to really expand use of the space—not
only now but well into the future.
For those who can’t help any more
financially, it’s still critical that we get the
word out on the campaign to as many people
as possible. We ask everyone to share this
information with family and friends, like our
Facebook posts and spread the news on social
media, share newspaper ads and articles, or just
go ahead and call your good friends Oprah or
Ellen DeGeneres to feature us on their shows.
Now is a critical time for the project. We
appreciate any help in closing this funding gap,
and getting the expansion completed, for our
children and our community. Thank you so
much for your consideration.
Kindergarten commits to conservation
On April 22, the Dome
School celebrated Earth
Day with a family friendly
festival. In honor of the day,
our Kindergarten students
reflected on ways they can be
more earth-conscious.
I Can Take Care of the
Earth By...
“Riding my bike with my
sister.” - Tulsi
“Growing a garden.”
- Keenan
“Planting trees!” - Lilac
“Cleaning up trash from
the river.” - Breeze
“Recycling bottles and cans
and paper.” - Johnny
“Not cutting down all the
trees.” - Rio
“Teaching people how to
be good and how to help each
other.” - Rosemary
“Guarding the plants and
animals.” - Asher
“Planting flowers and food
with my mom.” - Ezra
“Respecting it and being
nice to it.” - Emma
“Keeping the water clean
for the fishes.” - Myis
“Picking up trash.” - River
“Being nice to the animals.”
- Samara
“Giving plants chicken
poop, water and lots of love.”
- Paisley
“Growing food in my
garden with mommy and
dad.” - Tristan
“Cleaning up trash,
planting plants, and don’t
throw trash in the ocean.”
- Django
Thanks so much for your service, Jill!
(Photo courtesy Ashley Beckman)
Kindergarten class displays their Earth Day Banner. Emma says, “We collected
sticks and leaves and moss and pinecones from outside and glued them on a big
piece of paper we got from the recycling box. It says EARTH.”
As noted above, this issue of the Dome School Times is dedicated to Jill Gruenberg, who has
served the Dome School in numerous capacities for decades: as a Special Education preschool
teacher, a music and movement teacher, and, most recently, as one of our regular preschool
teachers. This is not a complete retirement, as Jill will continue with music classes at the school.
But we’d be remiss if we didn’t mark the occasion and offer our sincerest thanks to Jill for her
many years of service to the school and our students. Thank you, Jill!
Primary pupils ponder prime peaks of past year
Our younger elementary class recently reflected on their
year! What they learned, how they’ve grown, and what they
liked best:
“I really had fun just doing math! I like doing really hard
addition, and I like doing so many problems.” - Clarysage, Age 8
“I want to be an actor when I’m older, and I want to act in
big plays and a couple of the most main plays. When I act, it
just makes me feel like I’m actually in the story. And I really like
doing the games in acting, it’s really fun! It’s like warm-ups to
me before I’m in the big, big plays. In ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ I
am the Princess of Hearts (instead of the King of Hearts)!”
- Alalana, Age 7
“I try to write books! I like writing because I like to write
stories. Writing is fun and I’m learning how to write – and I’m
good at writing!” - Kailen, Age 7
“I used to think Read-a-Thons were boring because I was
really bad at reading. I thought that I’d never be able to read,
and I was scared to admit that I didn’t like to read, because it
was really hard. But I’ve been reading a lot lately and feel like
I’m going to be able to read really well now. I’ve read almost
two hundred books in these last two months! I think I’m gonna
make the 200-Book Challenge! I believe in myself now.” - Lucy,
Age 9
“I had fun when I was building with the clay, because it feels
fun on my hands.” - Kamy, Age 7
“We learned about African queens and other things, like
African countries! Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland! We
learned about Wangari Maathai, the woman who planted trees
in Kenya.” - Airabella, Age 8
“I like Life of Fred math because it’s math! I like math.”
- River, Age 7
“I remember that there’s a star out of our solar system that’s
called Betelgeuse, and if our sun was an orange, and if there’s
an orange inside of a soccer field, that soccer field would be
Betelgeuse!” - Kailen, Age 7
“I’m excited to go back to the beach this week and camp
out!” - Cooper, Age 8
“First I thought, ‘I hate reading and I’ll never be good at
this.’ But now I think that reading is everything I want to do!
It’s read, read, read, read, read!” - Clarysage, Age 8
“I really like drawing! I don’t care if what I draw is good or
bad, it’s just fun.” - Alalana, Age 7
“Ice skating was awesome! I ice skated around the rink
three times in a row, not holding on to the edge and not falling
down.” - Albert, Age 7
“Theatre is passionate for me. Acting feels like, just ...
ME! So much ME! I want to be an actor when I grow up.
When I act, the words just sway and it’s relaxing to me. For
instance, I’m going to be the White Rabbit in our play, ‘Alice
in Wonderland,’ and I feel like, I may mess up, but that doesn’t
matter because it’s so fun. It’s just so much fun! And I love
watching all my friends act, too, and it’s just fun to watch, and
so fun to do.” - Lucy, Age 9
“I like reading!” - Bela, Age 7
“I like to go hiking and see banana slugs! All banana slugs
look like bananas, but they’re really not bananas. But Lucy just
found banana slugs on our hike in the redwoods and picked it
up, and said, ‘Say hello to my little banana slug!’” - Lori, Age 7
Several of this year’s Barter Faire posters were designed
by our students! Check them out soon around town.