Cultivate Mankato: March 2021 News

VOL. 11 MARCH 2021

This Month's News

Parent Resources

CultivateMN

A Look Back at COVID-19, Community Garden, Month of Giving

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NURTURE. GROW. EMPOWER

March News On March 11th, 2020, the NBA announced the suspension of the 2019 - 2020 season. This was a profound moment in time. I remember

Learning Yoga poses in Toddler 3

sitting in the current large motor room freaking out, not because I love basketball, but because I couldn't begin to imagine the pivotal moment in time that caused a multi-billion dollar industry to close doors. It was this point in time that I knew we needed to create a plan. I spent the rest of the day talking with the leadership team, making calls to health departments, and doing everything possible to create a transparent dialogue between Cultivate and the families. At 8:28pm that evening, I sent the first of many emails to families about COVID. Minutes after sending out the email, I received responses that families were making the difficult decision to withdraw from the program. We were crushed and carried the weight of that emotional

Playing drums with yoga balls in Preschool 2

heaviness for months.

As we cross the year mark of living with the impact of COVID-19, I can’t help but think about resilience and vulnerability. There were many times over the year that many of us developed relationships based on vulnerability and resilience. We opened up in ways that we probably never would have and continued to work toward cultivating growth in ourselves and in others. At Cultivate Mankato, we bumped into many obstacles. At the most trying point of time, we had to rebuild 50% of our staff, our expenditures went up nearly 40%, our enrollment dropped 30%, we didn’t have access to basic supplies such as hand sanitizer (we had to do the ole’ coffee can homemade version), didn’t have access to specific foods, etc. While we committed to stay open to serve families and were grateful that we

Playing with sensory balls on a

could, we faced many challenges that may not have been known.

string in Infant 4

In all of this, I am deeply proud and grateful for the team that has continued to bring their best to work everyday to help children learn and develop. I am also appreciative of the families that continued to stick with us or have come back (or plan to come back) to the organization. I am appreciative of the lessons learned and growth opportunities presented during COVID. While this past year has likely been one of the most challenging years of many of our lives and careers, we have crossed an important milestone in this journey. I hope that everyone continues to have health and happiness.

CANDICE DEAL-BARTELL Making sensory bottles in

Executive Director

Toddler 2

CULTIVATE NEWS | 2

www.cultivatemankato.com

Laura has years of experience in the classroom as a preschool and kindergarten teacher and also brings a plethora of leadership experience. She works directly with our teachers to ensure they are supported in early

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childhood education.

“My name is Laura Walser and I am the Laura Walser, our Early Education Coordinator will be creating short parent resource videos called Upskill for $10/month.

Upcoming topics will be:

Early Education Coordinator at Cultivate Mankato. I am from Minnesota Lake. I graduated from Maple River Schools, then got my Early Childhood Education degree from Minnesota State University

Handling big emotions

Mankato. I worked at Maple River for 14

Emotion coaching

years as Kindergarten teacher and then

Keeping yourself calm

Early Childhood Director. Through my

Bedtime routines

experience in working with children and

Building independence

Some more topics that will be discussed in the future include:

being a parent, I have established a passion for social/emotional development and the important role it

Biting

plays in laying the foundation for a

Morning routine

child's life. It is so incredible to think of

Teaching a skill vs consequences

the impact we as early childhood care

Multiple environments equals multiple

providers can have on children...it's an

expectations

amazing feeling to know that our work

Childcare drop off and pick up routine

truly makes a difference! I am thrilled to

Setting your child up for successful sleep at childcare Potty training The importance of sleep Knowing yourself as a parent Guiding your child’s behavior; positive discipline Language development

be part of curriculum development and ensure best practices with the team at Cultivate Mankato. I strive to provide the staff with the competencies, support and confidence they need to create a positive learning environment! I also enjoy collaborating with families and the community to empower them as well, in

If you have questions, please email Laura

laura.walser@cultivatemankato.com CULTIVATE NEWS | 3

meeting the needs of young children.”

www.cultivatemankato.com

PARENTS WE

NEED

YOUR

HELP

SPREADING

THE

WORD

ABOUT

THIS

MEMBERSHIP

BE THE CHANGE #supportyouremployees

CULTIVATING CONNECTIONS CHILD CARE BUSINESS MEMBERSHIP

Upcoming Study Within our education curriculum, we use studies to

C U L T I V A T E N U R T U R E .

C A F E

G R O W .

E M P O W E R .

guide our lesson planning. Studies are a broad concept that we focus on for 4-6 weeks.

Currently our study has been about music. This month we will begin our

Cultivate Cafe Connect Stop by the Cultivate Cafe for a cup of coffee with Candice!

Once

a

month,

Candice

will

Recycle/Reduce/Reuse

study. If you feel your family has something

special to share in regards to our upcoming study, we would love family participation. Reach out!

be

offering parents an opportunity to connect with her. Parents can stop by

the

Cultivate

Cafe

cart

where

Candice will be serving coffee. The Cultivate Cafe cart will be located at either one of our entrances.

CCC Hour with Candice One Friday a Month 7:30-8:30am **will be announced the monday before**

Snack Cart Did you know we have a snack cart for children to take a snack home at pick up? Our snack cart is next to the island in our community room and it is stocked with healthier snack options; apples, bananas, fruit snacks, pretzels, crackers, etc.

We had a few visitors in our classrooms during our music study to share their love of music with us. One brought a drum, one brought a violin and one brought a mandolin. Preschool 1 also got to go into the new sensory room next door to play drums on yoga balls!

CULTIVATE NEWS | 5

www.cultivatemankato.com

Future Closures Friday, April 2nd

|

Online Store

Friday, July 2nd

Reminders Weather: We want to remind you of our weather policy. Cultivate Mankato does not follow the district 77 weather closings. However, we may have to close if it is deemed unsafe for families and employees getting to and from Cultivate. Also remember to bring all your child's winter gear.

Safety: If you park on Broad Street to drop off or pick up, please be sure you pull forward PAST the BIKE LANE SIGN. This allows some space between your vehicle and the corner on Main

www.cultivatemankato.com/shop

Street. Sometimes cars come around that corner really fast and we want there to be some time for them to see you and your vehicle.

Also, remember to make sure the side door leading out to Broad Street closes all the way.

Many families exit out of this door which is

Scholastic Book Orders

totally fine. However, sometimes the door gets swung open too far and gets stuck open, which

Through the Scholastic Book Club, you have the

brings in cold air and causes safety risks as well.

choice to place an order each month. Your

If you can please make sure to check behind

orders will allow us to earn free books for our

you to ensure the door closes that would be

Cultivate library and will be used throughout all

deeply appreciated.

of our classrooms. Books will be delivered to Cultivate and sent home with your child. Orders will be due on the 2nd Friday of each month.

On-Site Work Retreat

Use the link below to order.

Order will be due on Friday, March 12th.

Our leadership team had a very productive

Any questions about ordering can be emailed to

on-site work retreat a few weeks ago, where

Ms. Tera at

they spent the day discussing and

Link to order:

implementing policy and procedures for Cultivate Mankato. It is our hope to hold these work retreats on a quarterly basis.

CULTIVATE NEWS | 6

tera.vankeulen@cultivatemankato.com

https://orders.scholastic.com/R76H7

Class Code: R76H7 www.cultivatemankato.com

Recruitment Day

March Giving Back to our Community During the month of March we will be collecting items for BIRTHDAY PARTY KITS for the Echo Food Shelf!

Items needed: Boxed Cake Mix - Any Flavor Frosting - Any Flavor

We are hiring teachers in all programs!

What:

On-Site Hiring Event

When:

Monday, March 15th 8:00am-5:00pm

Sprinkles Birthday Candles Party Plates & Napkins Vegetable Oil

Thank you for your continued support and living the Cultivate Mankato values of:

LOVE AUTHENTICITY RELATIONSHIPS and COMMUNITY

Where:

Cultivate MN 110 S. Broad St. Mankato MN, 56001

Must submit application or resume before Monday, March 15th. Must be able to work full-time.

Employment Package includes: health, dental & vision insurance, child care benefits, retirement plan, professional development stipend and other

Click Here for more information about the ECHO FOOD SHELF

employment perks.

Please share this information to help us find an outstanding, caring and qualified individual to join our team!

CULTIVATE NEWS | 7

www.cultivatemankato.com

Memories Our building construction two years ago.

Message from Anissa We had barely been open for six months when everything changed because of Covid-19. Our response was to do whatever we could to maintain quality of care across our programs and to ensure the safety and well-being of our team and the families we serve.

The challenges were many, but throughout it all we continued to grow and to expand the depth of our programs. We provided resources for families who were sheltering in place while the world tried to figure out how to move through a global pandemic. We provided a place to go and a meal to share for team members who couldn’t go home for holidays.

We shared messages of love and support with our neighbors. We opened a school-age room and provided teachers to help with distance learning. We opened a new preschool room

In Search of Seeds for Community Garden We are in need of seeds! We have reserved

and a new toddler room. We hired more people for our team. Over and over again, our team rose to the occasion. We found ways to move forward during a time that often seemed to stand still.

a garden plot at Grace Lutheran. Our

Our vision is to cultivate an inclusive

preschoolers will walk over in groups this

community working together to create a safe

summer to plant and care for our garden.

and stimulating environment of love and

We also plan to have the children plant

learning for all children. Cultivate Mankato is

seeds in between our two buildings;

rooted in developing strong, consistent, loving

Cultivate Mankato & Cultivate MN.

relationships with children, families and care providers. We do this by nurturing children, making intentional efforts to grow communities, and empowering parents with the tools and resources they need. At Cultivate Mankato, we have a clear vision of who we are and why we do what we do. A pandemic isn’t going to change that.

ANNISA SANDLAND Culture & Community Coordinator

CULTIVATE NEWS | 8

www.cultivatemankato.com

A Look Back at the Beginning of COVID-19 March 17th Super Laura and a reminder from some dude on the street to “Wash Yer hands”

March 18th Elastigirl and homemade hand sanitizer

The Beginning: March 2020 Last Day of Taekwondo Tuesday

People still going on Spring Break - there were lots of times that I screenshot images of the news because I knew I’d never want to forget

March 19th Couldn’t find supplies

Had to ask people

anywhere - empty shelves

for hand sanitizer donations since we couldn’t find any in stores or on Amazon

March 23rd World of Hearts

March 13 Spent an entire weekend disinfecting every single toy

March 16th Started “Story Time” with Laura

CULTIVATE NEWS | 9

www.cultivatemankato.com

A Look Back at the Year of COVID-19 April 2nd School Age Room opens up

April 21st Trying to spread some cheer by dancing on the sidewalk

April 29th Started our first food drive

June 10th Team Meeting

CULTIVATE NEWS | 10

www.cultivatemankato.com

s& U r e off Ref 0 2 ve $ on i e c Re uiti t r you

Community Room BEAUTIFUL EVENT SPACE FOR YOUR UPCOMING PARTY OUR COMMUNITY ROOM PROVIDES: • A large kitchen island with bar stools

• A kitchenette with a refrigerator, freezer, sink & microwave

• Tables, table clothes & matching chairs

• Access to a preschool room or an extra meeting room

• Three large windows for lots of natural lighting

• Access to bathrooms

• Beautiful artwork

ENROLLED CULTIVATE FAMILIES RECEIVE A FREE COMMUNITY ROOM RESERVATION

To reserve visit:

CULTIVATE NEWS | 9

www.cultivatemankato.com/community-room

www.cultivatemankato.com

CELEBRATING ONE YEAR WORK ANNIVERSARY Katie Hawbaker

CULTIVATE NEWS | 12

March Menu

We would like to give families the opportunity to order the bread that River Rock makes for our children. There are two different options to choose from: Sourdough and Midwest Multigrain.

Pick up is at Cultivate. Payment is added to your tuition.

Click the menu to download a pdf

CULTIVATE NEWS | 13

To place an order: Email us at info@cultivatemankato.com or send us a message in ProCare!

www.cultivatemankato.com

Cultivate MN has a new private podcast studio available to rent ‣

$25 per hour private podcast recording room

for each microphone

‣

Audio interface

‣

‣

Two dynamic microphones

‣

Mic boom

System designed to be compatible on MacBook

All you need is your own computer! And we will help you install audio interface software. Don't want to edit your podcast? We partnered with Nulifestyle Co: Meraki Marketing to offer podcast editing for an additional cost. To book our podcast studio, contact us at info@cultivatemn.org

What is Cultivate MN? CultivateMN is a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to promoting awareness within early childhood programs, family services organizations, and child welfare programs. We believe sharing stories promotes awareness and cultivates connection.

CULTIVATE NEWS | 15

www.cultivatemankato.com

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

MEET OUR PODCAST GUEST

CultivateMN is a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to promoting awareness within early childhood programs, family services organizations, and child CULTIVATE NEWS | 16 w e l f a r e p r o g r a m s . W e b e l i e v e s h a r i n g s t owww.cultivatemankato.com ries promotes

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

MEET OUR PODCAST GUEST

CultivateMN is a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to promoting awareness within early childhood programs, family services organizations, and child CULTIVATE NEWS | 17 w e l f a r e p r o g r a m s . W e b e l i e v e s h a r i n g s t owww.cultivatemankato.com ries promotes

COMING

SOON

MEET OUR PODCAST GUEST

CultivateMN is a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to promoting awareness within early childhood programs, family services organizations, and child CULTIVATE NEWS | 18 w e l f a r e p r o g r a m s . W e b e l i e v e s h a r i n g s t owww.cultivatemankato.com ries promotes