EDITOR’S NOTE
STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS
STAFF QUESTION
What’s your family’s favorite rainy-day activity?
COPUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Cathy Resmer
cathy@kidsvt.com COPUBLISHER
Colby Roberts
colby@kidsvt.com MANAGING EDITOR
Alison Novak
alison@kidsvt.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Meredith Coeyman meredith@kidsvt.com ART DIRECTOR
Brooke Bousquet brooke@kidsvt.com
MARKETING & EVENTS MANAGER
Corey Grenier
corey@kidsvt.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Kaitlin Montgomery kaitlin@kidsvt.com
CALENDAR WRITER
Brett Stanciu
brett@kidsvt.com PROOFREADERS
Carolyn Fox, Katherine Isaacs, Kara Torres PRODUCTION MANAGER
John James CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Don Eggert DESIGNERS
Charlotte Scott, Rev. Diane Sullivan CIRCULATION MANAGER
Matt Weiner BUSINESS MANAGER
Cheryl Brownell CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Nancy Stearns Bercaw, Sarah Tuff Dunn, Megan James, Astrid Hedbor Lague, Ken Picard, Erinn Simon, Autumn Spencer, Jessica Lara Ticktin, Sarah Yahm PHOTOGRAPHERS
Sam Simon, Matthew Thorsen ILLUSTRATOR
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A
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I like to take out OLD PHOTOS AND VIDEOS and look through them with my kids. We talk about friends and family, and when we’ll see them again. If we’ve just printed a bunch of photos, we’ll organize them into photo albums or change up the photos we display in frames. CATHY RESMER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
We MAKE A FORT in the living room with every blanket and pillow we own! MEREDITH COEYMAN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
CONTRIBUTOR’S NOTE NANCY STEARNS BERCAW (“Use Your Words,” page 43) is an NCAA All-American swimmer and national champion. Her new memoir, Dryland: One Woman’s Swim to Sobriety, was recently published by Grand Harbor Press and is available on Amazon. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Huffington Post, U.S. News & World Report and Seven Days. She is also the author of Brain in a Jar: A Daughter’s Journey Through Her Father’s Memory.
KIDS VT
ALISON NOVAK, MANAGING EDITOR
BROOKE BOUSQUET, ART DIRECTOR
APRIL 2017
t the end of March, I joined my 9-year-old daughter, Mira, in the Spectrum Youth & Family Services Student Sleep Out. The annual event, a spin-off of the nonprofit’s adult Sleep Out, was started in 2014 t o raise money and awareness about homelessness in the state. During the Sleep Out, we heard from speakers, including a young woman who had once been homeless and a local police officer. We ate “stone soup” for dinner made with kids’ contributions. And we walked through town with signs urging people to help fight homelessness and support Spectrum. After campfire discussions, our group — more than 50 strong — packed into sleeping bags and slept, shoulder to shoulder, on the town office building’s hard floor. (Organizers decided to have kids sleep inside this year due to the wet, snowy ground and frigid temps.) As a community, we raised more than $10,000 to support Spectrum. It was an experience that will undoubtedly stick with Mira for a long time, and hopefully will make her a more compassionate and generous person. As for me? Well, in addition to a sore back, I felt tons of mom pride in Mira’s enthusiasm for the experience, as well as gratitude to my fellow parents who made this event possible. My own experience reminded me of contributor Erinn Simon’s piece in this month’s Money Issue. She took Hunger Free Vermont’s 3SquaresVT Challenge, which meant feeding her family of five for a week with only $115 — the average amount families of the same size receive for food when they qualify for government assistance. The challenge was created to draw attention to what it’s like to live on a strict food allowance. It’s our hope that, in addition to giving our readers tips on eating well on a budget, Simon’s piece will raise awareness of the fact that 17 percent of children in our state live in food-insecure homes. Other money-related content in this issue includes an interview with a financial adviser about saving for college, an advice column about allowance, and — as we ease into the spring season — articles about growing salad shoots and building a greenhouse on the cheap. Whether it’s taking your own version of the 3Squares challenge or embarking on a new gardening project, we hope this month’s issue will nudge you outside of your comfort zone and help you grow.
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Rising to the Challenge
We like to PULL OUT THE LEGOS in the living room and make a giant Lego city. Our collection includes my husband’s childhood Legos, so he especially enjoys it. We also love a good FAMILY MOVIE DAY. Sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn in the middle of the day feels overindulgent when the sun is shining but completely acceptable when it’s dreary out!
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