A story about a sidewalk

Have you seen the new sidewalk…or the Counting Caterpillar on the Dewdrop playground?

If you haven’t, be sure to check them out. These works of beauty were brought to us by the generous folks from Parchment.

On Tuesday, we had close to 40 Parchment volunteers roaring to go! In a mere 3 hours, this group was able to accomplish an astounding amount of work. Everyone can see the newly installed pea gravel walkway that will lead families from one building to the next and is complete with the custom mosaic stepping stones made then as well. Inside, hands were busy creating professional artist portfolios for all of the wonderful Wee Little Arts work from the Fall semester.

Big thanks to United Way Greater Austin for connecting us with this amazing group to complete projects that would have otherwise been impossible for us to tackle alone.

Bookspring / RIF Day 2013

Today was Reading Is Fundamental day at Mainspring! Twice a year Bookspring/RIF provide a rich reading experiences and brand new books to underserved children all over Austin, including those here at Mainspring. Books aren’t just about reading and enjoyment, they have the power to help children make sense of the world around them and to push at the corners of that world to make it as wide open as possible.

Our theme for today was Books At Bedtime so one class at a time Mainspring children, dressed in pajamas, packed into our blanket fort to hear a story read by a volunteer and to talk about their own bedtime routines. Afterwards they were led to a shelf (stocked by Booksping) that was packed with brand new, high quality books and told they could pick one to keep. After making their selection a volunteer wrote their name on a Bookspring/RIF bookplate.

All morning I’ve been hearing children “read” their names written in their books, or ask teachers to read their book to them. I saw Shining Stars showing each other the pictures in their book and improvising a plot line to go along with them. I saw Sunflowers sitting in laps, reaching out to touch the pages of brand new board books.  I saw the joy that a book and a story can bring to even the smallest child and I was reminded why the work we do at Mainspring is so important. Because what I really saw was a school full of children being given two of the best things we can offer them: a book and the lifelong love of reading.

- Rudi Andrus, Executive Director

Fairy tales and mentors

Mainspring has taken on another wonderful opportunity, this time in partnership with St. Dominic Savio High School. This school requires its students to acquire 15 hours of community service per year. More specifically, it charges these students with finding high-need, direct involvement opportunities. Mainspring is lucky enough to have been asked to be a part of this as an organization. Last week, about 12 Savio students (Mentors) visited our 3 and 4 year olds to complete a few hours of fun and service. While here, the Mentors helped guide our Songbirds and Shining Stars through creating a fairy tale of their own. The most recent theme in the classes had been focused around fairy tales and so it was only appropriate as a culminated project, they get to map out, design and bind their own book!

The experience with everyone working together was one that I know our kiddos won’t forget and we hope the older kids got something out of it too! We are already making plans for a visit in the early spring!

United Way Days of Caring

On Friday our West Playground received a much needed face lift! Thanks to a group of volunteers from Cisco, organized through the United Way of Greater Austin’s Spring Days of Caring, the rocky eye-sore next to the Honeybee classroom is now a utopia of beauty! During the West Playground's closure while the modular building was constructed rocks, debris and the like were unpleasantly unearthed. While a serious effort was put forth by Mainspring staff to make the playground usable, much more work was needed to unlock its full potential.

Beyond the 20 wheelbarrows full of rocks that were manually sifted from the sand play areas you can find a beautifully landscaped area, complete with native plants and mulch. Now the entire area not only looks nice but is more functional as erosion control.

   

HUGE thanks to Cisco and United Way for partnering to bring willing and able bodies our way. The whole day was such a success and we are so fortunate to be a part of such a loving, caring community!

3M - More than just sticky notes!

We are so fortunate from time to time when we are reminded of how generous our community can be! 3M, a global company, provides countless services and products for people nationally and internationally. While this large corporation could easily skate by, not noticing small institutions like us, 3M’s devotion to community service asks it’s many branches to intentionally and proactively search for non-profits and provide tailored, hands-on support. This past Friday, members of the local 3M Supply Chain department stepped away from their desks, put on work gloves and spent the day beautifying our grounds! The group of about 30 spent the day giving the classrooms and courtyard a nice Fall Cleaning! The magic didn't stop there. Outside, members of the group spent hours weeding, tilling and raking both playgrounds - and if you have ever weeded Bermuda grass, you know what a chore that is!

After a full day of work around here, this place was gleaming and everyone here was so thankful for all their hard work!

Be sure to like us on Facebook so you can see how the Songbird and Shining Star classes helped us thank the group for everything they did!