Biscuit's Bulletin Spring/Summer 2023

BISCUIT'SBULLETIN

SAINT ANNE'S DAY SCHOOL ALUMNI NEWSLETTER

InThisIssue

Celebrating the Class of 2023

Springtime Highlights

Professional Development

Cultural Arts

Soirée Success

FromtheDirector

What is a community? When I taught Kindergarten many years ago, Life in Community was a yearlong theme of study where the children explored what it means for a group of individuals to share spaces, interests, and common goals. These investigations led to beautiful projects involving families, neighborhoods, places of worship, and extracurricular activities. Every year, the children decided that community wasn’t just about sharing something in common; it was also a feeling. Without exception, the children used the word "love" to define what community meant to them.

A thriving community is one where people feel connected, encouraged, and inspired to create. It promotes a love that fuels each person and the collective toward something greater. Saint Anne’s Day School and Enrichment Programs is more than a place where children attend school. Ours is a thriving community where people who love children and believe in their boundless capabilities come together to create an environment of marvelous joy.

GRANDparents

In this edition of Biscuit’s Bulletin, you will see many examples of the love emanating throughout our community, from classroom provocations to POPs events and even in the production of this newsletter. Thank you for being a member of the Saint Anne’s community and for the way your love helps us thrive.

Take care.

BehindtheBulletin

Editors

Danielle Hutlas and Emma Moore

Content Curator

Emma Moore

Art Direction/Design

Danielle Hutlas

Featured Photographer

Danielle Hutlas

Annual Fund

Emma Moore Contributors

Kristin Baynes, Kathy Bennett, Sarah Bennett Cook, Annie Jamison, Rhonda Mitchell, Day School Staff

Director

Danielle Hutlas Assistant Director Admissions, Social Media, Community Engagement

Emma Moore Administrator for

Advancement

Registrar, POPs & Alumni Liaison, Summer

Camp Enrollment

To subscribe to Biscuit's Bulletin, or if you have photos, stories, or memories of Saint Anne's to share, e-mail:

alumni@saintannesdayschool.com.

Summer Camp

Annual Fund

Classroom Feature

Rhonda Mitchell

BRIDGINGCEREMONIES

2022-2023

BridgeRoom(TransitionalKindergarten,TK)andtheSun,Window,RiverRooms(Pre-K)classes heldtheirBridgingceremonies,graduationsforthosechildrenleavingSaintAnne'sorloopingon to TK. Classes conducted individual classroom ceremonies recognizing each child and their accomplishments.Itwasabittersweetmorning,aswesaid,"Wewishyouwell!"tothestudents andeducatorscontinuingtheirnextchapterbeyondSaintAnne'sDaySchool.

ALPHA-OMEGAS

Children who attended Saint Anne's Infant/Toddler Programming through Pre-K/TK

AbigailAlawabdy

DavisDick

MillerEderle

ViviFruh

LiviLancaster

RawsonLivezey

ElizabethMonk

AvaMorse

CeCePhillips

BodeTennille

GilesWhitney

SweetheartBreakfasts(February)

The Valentine's breakfasts continued this year with classes Threes and older inviting their sweethearts (a grandparent, parent, or other family member) to party, craft, eat yummy snacks, and play games.

Springtime Highlights

Spring semester is always a flurry of activity. Once the Day School returns from Spring Break, the final weeks of the school year fly by at lightning speed, and this year was no different.

Muffins&Momosas(May)

Nesting Room Threes hosted a beautiful Mother's Day Brunch for its moms.

HeartsforHeroes(February)

For its annual spring service project, the Saint Anne's community created Valentines and artwork and collected candy for its local heroes. This year's contributions reached Fire Stations No. 5, No. 26, No. 28, Emory St. Joseph's Hospital and SaintAnne'sTerrace.

SpringSpecials(March/April)

In addition to fall's successful Cooking and STEM classes, Enrichment Programs Specials added Art and French Club to its spring rotation and ended with a Ballet recital.

TeacherAppreciation(May)

Thank you to POPs for hosting a lovely afternoon celebrating our staff at the annual Teacher Appreciation Luncheon.

Retirements(May)

It's official -- Ms T is a retiree! Mzia Tevdoradze has served Saint Anne's for 16 wonderful years, both in the Day School and After School We will miss her dearly and wish her a retirement full of good books and very strong coffee.

Post Bridging Ceremonies grade-wide party on the playground

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Day School has long prided itself in the area of professional development and supporting our growthoriented teachers in the field of early childhood education. Throughout the school year, Wednesday Workshops are reserved for such opportunities. Some of these in-house experiences included:

Monica Maddison

BLOOM Behaviour's Educational Consultant Monica Maddison met with us virtually, leading two interactive sessions around neurodiversity and cultivating inclusive classrooms. We are fortunate Monica will join us in person this fall for even more engaging professional development.

Studio Sessions

Spring semester's new Art Studio teacher Grace Davis graciously offered a clay atelier to the staff, sharing the ins and outs of working with the malleable medium. Topics of discussion included techniques, glazing methods, various types of clay, and pieces created by the children.

School Visits

Interested in knowing more about the schools our children attend after Saint Anne’s, Day School educators traveled to eight different Atlanta schools this spring:

The Galloway School Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Morris Brandon Elementary The Schenck School St Benedict’s Episcopal Trinity School Westminster Schools Woodward Academy

New Teacher Experience

New teachers participated in an experience around environments, materials,andprovocations Educators discussed the use of the environment as a third educator, how we curate our classrooms to feel warm and inviting, and the types of materials and activities we offer children to encouragetheircuriositiesandlearning styles Teachers reimagined classrooms, collaborating on ways to rethinkhowthespacesareused.

“Good collaboration is always important, and it’s good to help your fellow educators. They have different points of view and fresh perspective, and it also gives you an appreciation for your own space,” says first-year Butterfly Room educator, Shantate Watkins.

RETURN OF CULTURAL ARTS

After a Covid-19 hiatus, the Day School welcomed back in house field trips this year. The cultural arts experiences included:

Learning Dome -- Operation Teach's mobile planetarium and outer space presentation

Kids Go Wild - Storyteller Christy Foelsch, grandmother to former Saint Anne's alumni Georgia and Lucie Tate

AWARE Wildlife - An Animal rehabilitation center visited with a turtle, an opossum, and an owl

Butterfly Ballad - Puppet show from Piccadillly Puppets

Beekeeping - Former Day School educator and current consultantart therapist & LPC - Jenn Nestor Cardwell shared her hobby and a honey tasting made by her very own honey bees.

ThePOPsPage:SpringSoirée

A longstanding tradition of Saint Anne's, the annual Spring Soirée serves as the school's largest fundraiser This year's auction Chairs dedicated countless hours to ensuring the event'ssuccess,andsucceedtheydid,raisingover$70,000!

The Latin Nights themed evening included a taco truck, live music, three signature cocktails, stunning items up for bid, beautiful tropical decor, a VIP area, and attendees who came dressed to impress The Soirée was highly attended by both familiesandstaff

Thank you to everyone involved in bringing Latin Nights to life: our generous families for their contributions and sponsorships, the teachers and parents who helped with Class Creations, staff and parents who assisted with all the behind the scenes setup and details, and Administration, especially Emma Moore, for coordinating all the moving parts, and Studio Educator Grace Davis for their extra time arrangingthecountlessfloraldisplays.

Among the many outstanding details of the night, the new addition of the exclusive VIP area for Platinum and Gold Level sponsors featured cigars, charcuterie, and a pour of Pappy Van Winkle's 10-year aged bourbon

2023 Soirée Chairs, Above from left: Nancy Pollock, Erinn Pearson, Weezie Finlay, Erised Quintas

ClassroomFeature

Our springtime feature follows Saint Anne's Transitional Kindergarten class, the Bridge Room, and its semester's work with kindness and connectivity, both in the classroom, at home, and into the community Through an interactive charity project, the five and six year olds connected the Day School with its neighbors through friendship jewelry

Since the beginning of the school year, the Bridge Room focused on relationships. The class explored connectivity in relation to nature, themselves, their families, one another, their similarities and differences, the world and its various peoples and cultures

Inspired by the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Bridge children discussed their dreams for the world:

Behappy,andbenice toallofyourfriends. Beniceandspreadjoyness. Havepeace.Beloved. Staywhoyouare,andbenice. Havelotsoffun. Bekindtoeveryone. Berespectfulandgood. Belovingandkind."

These conversations led to thinking of ways we can help our community - both inside the classroom and out The class expanded on its compliments and shoutouts to one another, recognizing the ripple effect kindness has and how powerful our words can be. Bridge educators Kristin Baynes and Annie Jamison implemented an "acts of kindness" jar, and celebrated when the children said or did something nice for their peers, writing the acts down and filling a jar with all the kind deeds. Families continued the sentiments at home. From this experience the Bridge's service project was born

Extending their acts of kindness beyond the classroom, the children determined their class gift to the community -- what have lovingly come to be known as Bridge Bracelets, stretchy jewelry that spread joy. The children brainstormed words of positivity: "peace, love, joy, friendship, lightness, kindness, etc." that were then beaded onto each bracelet. With the help of family, peers, and some neighbors at the Saint Anne's Terrace senior living center, 200 bracelets were created.

"Peoplemakingnewfriendsisfun fortheworld.

"Wehavewitnessedchildrenofferingto helpeachother,sharingsincere compliments,welcomingfriendstojoin inplay,andsendingwarmwishesto ourunwellfriendsathome.The excitementthisisbringingintoour classroomiswarmingourhearts."

KristinandAnnie,BridgeRoomteachers

Gaines:MyfavoritepartaboutbeingintheBridgeRoom wasmakingbraceletsforcharity.

Miller:Charitymeanshelpingotherpeopleandanimals. Myfavoritepartaboutitwasgettingtopetthedogat theend.

ChildrenfromtheBridgeRoom

After a couple in-house days and Church sales one Sunday, the bracelets sold out almost immediately, raising nearly $1,000. Because of the Bridge's love for people and animals, the proceeds benefited Urban Recipe, a local food pantry, and LifeLine Animal Project, a local rescue. While there are lessons of kindness and charity to be learned throughout this process, Bridge Bracelets are more than just beautiful baubles, but vehicles for love and connectivity, bridging together their makers, buyers, and fellow wearers.

"Theconnections wehaveallbuilt, thefriendshipsand collaborations wehavecreated... haveallbeenfound inspirationallyin joy,love,peace, kindness,and respect."

KristinandAnnie

Above: Bridge children present representatives from LifeLine Animal Project and Urban Recipe with their bracelet proceeds and learn more about each organization

Grand Parents

Not only does the Day School enjoy parent participation, we love grandparent visits too. The children's smiles are never wider than when their families spend time with them at school.

Recognizing the importance family plays in children's developing identities, Ms. Milford and Ms. Thomas (Nesting Room Threes teachers) hosted a classroom Grandparents' Day where these beloved family members shared in a morning of fun activities -singing, cooking, story time, and more. The educators note that the children often bring up their grandparents when sharing details of their lives outside of the Day School. "Grandma was picking up today. Grandpa was taking them to a baseball game this weekend, and so on." As Ms. Milford adds, "Learning more about a child's family and where they come from gives us a better picture of the whole child."

For the Tennille family, Saint Anne's involvement is a family affair. Bode (Pre-K) and Tapley (Twos) have attended the Day School since their infant days; their older brother, Townsend, is a Saint Anne's graduate. Leah Tennille, their mother, is an avid church member and parent volunteer who also substitutes for the Day School. Next door at the Saint Anne's Terrace live Leah's parents, Michael and Margaret Kannensohn. The grandparents often walk the short path connecting the Day School and Terrace to pick up their grandchildren, and on occasion, they surprise Bode and Tapley as their class' Mystery Reader. When the Cultural Arts Learning Dome inhouse field trip visited, Michael and Margaret eagerly joined.

"Learning more about a child's family and where they come from gives us a better picture of the whole child."

Sephonia Milford, Nesting Threes educator

GrandparentsCont'd

Q&A with Kathy and Sarah

Q: What is your favorite part about working in the same place as your (grand)kids?

Kathy: My favorite part about working in the same place as my daughter and grandchildren is that each and every day I have the privilege of just laying eyes on them I have so many friends that tell me they are so excited because their children are coming to town to visit. I secretly smile to myself knowing I saw mine just walking down the hall

Sarah: Seeing how happy [my kids] are without me! I feel so proud when I spy them going down the hall with their class, off to discovering new things. [As for my mom], I can get a hug from her pretty much whenever I need It's special when parents that know both of us realize that I'm her daughter and then tell me how much they love my mom

Q: What fun story or detail would you like to share about being at Saint Anne's all together?

Kathy: When my granddaughter Caroline was finally old enough to come downstairs to After School, and I, her "Mimi," would be in the same room with her I was so excited But I was taken aback one day when she called me "Ms. Bennett" instead of Mimi! I know she was just trying to be like the other children but it did give my heart a jolt. Nowadays I am back to Mimi, but every now and then I hear "Ms Bennett"

Sarah: Almost every library book in our library has my mom's handwriting in it During her years as librarian, my mom wrote the dedication stickers on the first page of each new book that year. Now, whenever Caroline checks out a book and we open the cover, I get a quick jolt of joy when I see her handwriting It's super special to me. To me, that library will always be hers

Elaine Christopher (Longtime friend and former colleague): The Bennett Ladies are positive influences in our school Caroline and James light up our corridors with their smiles and inquisitive ways It is a true testament to our school’s philosophy when three generations can learn and grow together!

A Family Affair

It'snotoftenthatthreegenerations go to the same school at the same time, but for Kathy Bennett, Sarah Bennett Cook, and James and CarolineCook,that'sthenorm.

Kathy came to the Day School as a part-timelibrarianin1993,andherrole has since evolved to full-time After School Director. In between those times, Kathy also served as resident storyteller, Queen Glitter Her daughter, Sarah, joined the Day School as a full-time teacher in 2012, and now Kathy's grandchildren, Caroline(Pre-K)andJames(2y)attend

Blast from the Past

Mother to Daughter to Mimi

During Kathy's tenure as librarian, Ms Bennett welcomed each child with a nose "Boop! What's your name?" As Queen Glitter, each child received a sweet story and a pinch of glitter Kathy also portrayed Peter Pan along with an array of other fun characters In her most recent role, to her grandkids she is "Mimi"

After college Sarah tested the Saint Anne's waters, working as a nanny for a Day School family, frequently substituting, and working prior to that as a teenage Camp Counselor With the encouragement of other Day School educators, Sarah applied for a full-time position at the school and fully dived in to the Saint Anne's community. Since then, she's taught Twos, Threes, Pre-K, and this past year served as a grade level lead for the Threes classes.

From left: Kathy Bennett, Caroline and James Cook (grandchildren), Sarah Bennett Cook (daughter)

Daughter to Teacher to Mother

Clockwise from top: Kathy and Martha Isler in the Butterfly Room Kathy's storytelling persona as Peter Pan Sarah as a teenage Summer Camp Counselor

ThereknownedQueenGlitterturnedMimi

SaintAnne'sScholarshipFunds

Judy Eckardt Scholarship Fund

Judy dedicated her life to making a better world for children. She was an inspiring teacher who used her many talents to create a thirst for learning in all of her students. Judy loved life and instinctively knew how to help others see the joy of learning new things. She touched every teacher, parent, and child who called her friend and/or teacher.

The treasured memory of Judy Eckardt lives through the Judy Eckhardt Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Ryan Grand Scholarship Fund

Ryan Grand (12/6/1989 - 11/15/2011) enrolled at Saint Anne's Day School in 2000 when he was 6 months old and continued through his Pre-K year. He loved his time at Saint Anne's so much he continued to come back to the school during his high school and college years to work as a Summer Camp counselor Some of his closest and earliest friendships were established at Saint Anne's and continued throughout his life. Because of his strong connection with the Day School, Ryan's family and friends established the Ryan Grand Scholarship fund.

Martha Isler Memorial Fund

Martha loved children and had a passion for teaching. She had a Master's Degree in Elementary Education and taught at various elementary schools around Atlanta before coming to Saint Anne's as a teacher. She was a gifted educator and had several students who stayed in touch with her into their adulthoods.

Martha's daughter, Maggie Isler Killgore attended Saint Anne's as a child and her four children have also attended, with her youngest currently enrolled. Martha was a very active grandmother and could be seen weekly at Saint Anne's, bringing her grandchildren to school or picking them up in the carpool line.

Because of her deep affection for Saint Anne's Day School, her family and friends created the Martha Isler memorial fund. Martha died on July 22, 2021.

Edith M. Smith Memorial Fund

Edith was a much loved teacher of the Twos and Threes at Saint Anne's Day School for 41 years. She was an outstanding storyteller and could capture the hearts and minds of all ages with her stories. She was a member of Saint Anne's Church and an active participant in the school's Chapel services. Often she was approached by her now adult students with fond memories of their time at the Day School Edith's 3 children and 4 grandchildren were all alumni and gave many hours of volunteer service to the school.

Edith Smith died on December 5, 2018.

SaintAnne'sSupporters

2022-2023 Annual Fund Donors

The Barker Family

The Batcheller Family

Kristin Baynes

Kathy Bennett

The Benoit Family

Sarah Buchly

The Burdette Family

Alina Buzea Yusufji

April Chalmers

The Childress Family

Elaine Christopher

Tonya Cole

Angie Cook

Sarah Cook

Loreen Costa

Rebecca Cummiskey

Chetta Davis

Olivia Dillon

Susan & Malcolm Duncan

Mike Dunlap

The Dzhanov Family

Allison East

The Engram Family

Caroline Fleming

Elizabeth Ferguson

Lindsey Glass

The Griffith Family

The Gump Family

Charlotte Hassett

Denevia Hicks

The Hirsekorn Family

Yuri Huntsberry-Morton

Danielle Hutlas

Annie Jamison

Mary Kibler

The Killgore Family

JM and Nancy Kota

Larmore Family Foundation

Georgia Wimberly Pierce Memorial Scholarship

Katie Lebel

The Leach Family

The Loyd Family

Maddox Family Private Foundation

The Maebert Family

Sephonia Milford

The Miles-Davidson Family

Charlotte Mills

Rhonda Mitchell

Emma Moore

Laura Mullins

Monica Murray

Jennifer Nestor-Cardwell

The O'Rouke Family

Winnie Pannell

Jenny Rogers

The Rollins Family

Saint Anne's Church

In 2007, when Georgia was almost three years old, she passed away while vacationing with her family. The families and friends of the Pierce family created the Georgia Pierce Memorial Scholarship fund in her honor. Since 2008, the funds raised annually for the scholarship are allocated toward the total amount of financialaiddistributedeachyear.

Tena Sarabia

The Scott Family

Greg & Eileen Seitz

Faye Sisk

Melissa Sebel

Kathleen Slovis

The Tarbet Family

Mzia Tevdoradze

Yeme Thomas

The Thompson Family

The Truist Foundation

The Waggeners

Kristin Watts

Shantate Watkins

Alexandra Weldon

The Whitney Family

Angela Wilhoit

2022-2023 Pierce Scholarship Donors

Rebie Bland

Ashley Brantley

Ashton Bozard

Susannah Hubbell

Cami Hutchinson

Suzette Laney

Maryanne Martin

Troy McCormick

Paige Merrill

Daisy Miller

Eleanor Morrison

Elizabeth & Roger O'Connell

Natalie Scott

Chelsea Sneed

Marcy Swan

April Tegler

Katherine Todd

Traci Waite

Elizabeth Zadig

Photo:ChildreninGeorgia'sMemorialGarden

SummerCamp

Saint Anne's annual Summer Camp hosted five weeks of fun throughout June and July. As always, camp was well attended by both Day School and the greater community, welcoming children ages two to seven years old This year Camp also launched an After Care program allowing children to extend their days until 4pm.

Camp themes this summer included topics like cooking, sea creatures, up-in-the-sky, art, music, messy play, nature, GRL PWR, Water Day, and of course, a fabulous 4th of July Celebration -parade included. And, as is Camp tradition, the popsicle truck visited every Friday.

Above: In a Camp class of all girls, the Threes teachers decided "GRL PWR" would be the perfect theme to celebrate each other.

Callingall CurrentParents!

Ongoing improvement is always a goal of Saint Anne's Day School & Enrichment Programs. We invite you to fill out the following (current parents) Parent Survey, so we may continue to improve curriculum, schedule programs, and craft communications. Thank you for your time and feedback

Click the link above, hold down QR code, or