Great River School will be closed for Teacher PD & MEA Break this Wednesday through Friday, October 20th-22nd. No classes or activities will be held.
Off Campus Mountain Bike Trail Ride - Tomorrow
Derek Damron (Elementary Program Assistant) is inviting *all ages* to come ride mountain bikes at Carver Lake Park on Sunday, October 17th at 2pm (weather permitting).
Here is a link to the trail map - check it out if you have never been there before! We will meet at the skills area to warm up for a bit, then divide into groups for some trail riding! Plan to be there for a few hours. Bring your own snacks, water bottle, bikes, helmets, etc. We will have some tools, a floor pump, first aid, and water in case anyone needs them!
Please reach out if you have any questions about what bikes would be appropriate for this activity. If you NEED a bike in order to join us, please reach out to ddamron@greatriverschool.org and we can try to figure something out. Hope to see you there!
Harvest Fest TOMORROW - Food and Craft Features Written by Lower Adolescents
Hello friends and families of Great River School!
We are the leaders of the kitchen microeconomy class and we are eager to tell you about the soup, bread, and craft options we are preparing for Harvest Fest, happening TOMORROW, October 16, 2021 from 2-5pm (looking for more Harvest Fest details? Scroll to the bottom of this email!).
Here we will feature the food that the Q1 Lower Adolescent Culinary Arts Creative Expression has prepared for you!
Stone Vegetable Soup
The first item on the menu is vegetable stone soup made by the 7th and 8th grade students of the kitchen! The soup will be mainly of vegetables and beans and will be the primary food item of Harvest Fest because we've been making it every harvest fest for years! It is a tradition at Great River School. For the soup, you need to bring your own bowl/cup and spoon for every person in your family in order to get served the soup. Feel free to bring vegetables to add to the soup as well! You will have to bring it to the people at the front counter by the soup pot!
Ingredients: it will be a vegan soup with all sorts of vegetables brought from many different families of the school! If you are concerned about what is in the soup due to allergies, ask one of the people at the soup pot what there is!
Pumpkin Bread
The sweet bread that is being baked is pumpkin bread! This is NOT gluten-free or vegan. The students have practiced making sweet bread over the last couple weeks and are excited to have you all try it! The students will even roast a pumpkin and gut it to make the pumpkin bread! We hope you enjoy it!
Ingredients: Eggs, pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, white sugar, flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, ground ginger, salt
Gluten-Free Bread
It’s a free yeasted bread, the gluten-free bread will also be made into a baguette shape! It’s dairy-free and coconut free and there will be the same amount of it as the yeasted bread! We're glad we could make gluten-free bread for gluten-sensitive people.
Ingredients: gluten-free flour, yeast, salt, water, tapioca starch, and baking powder
Yeast Bread
It is a simple recipe that is vegan. It will be shaped into a loaf and cut into slices at Harvest Fest! It is the main item that will go with the soup and is made with ingredients from the school itself. There will be a lot so there's no need to bring bread to the harvest fest! This is one of the first things the students learned to make so it should be good. Thank you!
Ingredients: flour, yeast, salt, and water
Other Craft Items
There will be student-made items for sale, including:
Nature dyed yarn
Hand-woven hangings
Beeswax wraps
Hand-sewn hot/cold packs
and much more!
All funds raised with food/craft sales will go to support the programming and work of Great River School.
Sarah Hansen with a bag of student naturally-dyed yarn
Harvest Fest TOMORROW Saturday, October 16th - COVID-19 Protocols and More
Harvest Fest is this Saturday, October 16th, from 2-5pm! We are excited to bring back this annual tradition to campus. ***The bouncy houses have been shifted to inflatable obstacle courses. To see more details, check out the COVID-19 safety plan linked below!
PEG has drafted and the Pandemic Advisory Team has approved a COVID-19 safety plan for the event. Please read before attending and make sure to bring your face mask!
We need lots of volunteers to make the event a success. Adolescent volunteers are welcome! You can donate items, keep the soup fire going, and more!
Interested in performing at our Outdoor Coffeehouse open mic? Sign-up for a time slot here!
We’ll be accepting used winter gear donations for our Elementary Winter Gear Exchange. Look for the marked donation bins at Harvest Fest!
Mayyadda Performance - 2pm
GRS is excited to announce that Twin Cities singer-songwriter Mayyadda will be performing at Harvest Fest on Saturday at 2pm!
"Mayyadda is a singer-songwriter from Minneapolis who aspires to use her music to make people slow down, find themselves in another perspective, and feel their way towards individual and collective healing. With an eclectic mix of neo-soul vocals, folksy guitar, pop-style piano with trap beats sprinkled in for flavor, she likes to refer to her genre as, “BlackGirlMagic.” She has been active as a recording artist since 2015, releasing four projects since then: most recently, TRY&REMEMBER, released in October 2021."
More Harvest Fest Details:
What should I bring?
a mess kit (bowl, spoon for eating the soup)
prepared vegetables or a small stone to add to our soup (bring pre-cooked veggies or tender greens that cook quickly - make sure they are chopped small or pre-sliced for the soup! Stones should be small & clean)
an attitude of hospitality
What will be happening?
all free of charge:
Inflatable obstacle courses for fun leaping and bounding!
Body art for wonder and whimsy!
Coffee House open mic style music
Caramel Apple stand
Leaf Crowns
Bird feeder making
Stone soup making
A chance to buy from student micro-economies (student-made crafts, foods, etc)
Harvest Fest This Saturday, October 16th - COVID-19 Protocols and More
Harvest Fest is this Saturday, October 16th, from 2-5pm! We are excited to bring back this annual tradition to campus. ***The bouncy houses have been shifted to inflatable obstacle courses. To see more details, check out the COVID-19 safety plan linked below!
PEG has drafted and the Pandemic Advisory Team has approved a COVID-19 safety plan for the event. Please read before attending and make sure to bring your face mask!
We need lots of volunteers to make the event a success. Adolescent volunteers are welcome! You can donate items, keep the soup fire going, and more!
Interested in performing at our Outdoor Coffeehouse open mic? Sign-up for a time slot here!
We’ll be accepting used winter gear donations for our Elementary Winter Gear Exchange. Look for the marked donation bins at Harvest Fest!
More Harvest Fest Details:
What should I bring?
a mess kit (bowl, spoon for eating the soup)
prepared vegetables or a small stone to add to our soup (bring pre-cooked veggies or tender greens that cook quickly - make sure they are chopped small or pre-sliced for the soup! Stones should be small & clean)
an attitude of hospitality
What will be happening?
all free of charge:
Bouncy Houses for fun leaping and bounding!
Body art for wonder and whimsy!
Coffee House open mic style music
Caramel Apple stand
Leaf Crowns
Bird feeder making
Stone soup making
A chance to buy from student micro-economies (student-made crafts, foods, etc)
GRS is Hiring a COVID Testing Coordinator
The COVID Testing Coordinator is responsible for coordinating our COVID-19 testing program on campus this school year. This position will order and administer saliva tests and ship samples back to the lab. The Coordinator will serve as a liaison between the testing company and the school community. This position is 30-40 hours per week and benefit eligible.
Click here for a direct link to the job description.
To apply, send a resume and letter of interest to jobs@greatriverschool.org.
BIPOC Caregiver Committee - Surveys For Families
The BIPOC Caregiver Committee is a group of caregivers who meet the first Thursday of each month to talk about ways that the school can be more inclusive for BIPOC students while also focusing on encouraging everyone in the school to explore their identity.
We put together a survey to see what activities students and family would like us to focus on so we have more voices of what the community is desiring to see this year. We are inviting all students & caregivers to fill out the below forms, to gather information and ideas of what activities students would like to do this year to explore their own cultural identity and the cultural identity of others in the community.
Elementary survey
We are also inviting all community members to participate in a GRS cultural activities and recipe cookbook. There is a survey link below to share a recipe contribution or a specific cultural activity:
Cultural Cookbook survey
Community Request
Hi dear community!
Our Theory of Knowledge 11th and 12th graders will embark on an exploration of Knowledge and Religion in mid-November. I'm looking for connections to places of worship and religious institutions that might be open to student visitors or speaking with students about how religion shapes the way they understand the world. Here's a link to a document with more of the questions we will explore.
Gratitude, Sarah Garton / sgarton@greatriverschool.org
Harvest Fest This Saturday, October 16th - COVID-19 Protocols and More
Harvest Fest is this Saturday, October 16th, from 2-5pm! We are excited to bring back this annual tradition to campus.
PEG has drafted and the Pandemic Advisory Team has approved a COVID-19 safety plan for the event. Please read before attending and make sure to bring your face mask!
We need lots of volunteers to make the event a success. Adolescent volunteers are welcome! You can donate items, keep the soup fire going, and more!
Interested in performing at our Outdoor Coffeehouse open mic? Sign-up for a time slot here!
We’ll be accepting used winter gear donations for our Elementary Winter Gear Exchange. Look for the marked donation bins at Harvest Fest!
More Harvest Fest Details:
What should I bring?
a mess kit (bowl, spoon for eating the soup)
prepared vegetables or a small stone to add to our soup (bring pre-cooked veggies or tender greens that cook quickly - make sure they are chopped small or pre-sliced for the soup! Stones should be small & clean)
an attitude of hospitality
What will be happening?
all free of charge:
Bouncy Houses for fun leaping and bounding!
Body art for wonder and whimsy!
Coffee House open mic style music
Caramel Apple stand
Leaf Crowns
Bird feeder making
Stone soup making
A chance to buy from student micro-economies (student-made crafts, foods, etc)
Harvest Fest This Saturday, October 16th - COVID-19 Protocols and More
Harvest Fest is this Saturday, October 16th, from 2-5pm! We are excited to bring back this annual tradition to campus.
PEG has drafted and the Pandemic Advisory Team has approved a COVID-19 safety plan for the event. Please read before attending and make sure to bring your face mask!
We need lots of volunteers to make the event a success. Adolescent volunteers are welcome! You can donate items, keep the soup fire going, and more!
Interested in performing at our Outdoor Coffeehouse open mic? Sign-up for a time slot here!
We’ll be accepting used winter gear donations for our Elementary Winter Gear Exchange. Look for the marked donation bins at Harvest Fest!
More Harvest Fest Details:
What should I bring?
a mess kit (bowl, spoon for eating the soup)
prepared vegetables or a small stone to add to our soup (bring pre-cooked veggies or tender greens that cook quickly - make sure they are chopped small or pre-sliced for the soup! Stones should be small & clean)
an attitude of hospitality
What will be happening?
all free of charge:
Bouncy Houses for fun leaping and bounding!
Body art for wonder and whimsy!
Coffee House open mic style music
Caramel Apple stand
Leaf Crowns
Bird feeder making
Stone soup making
A chance to buy from student micro-economies (student-made crafts, foods, etc)
Off Campus Mountain Bike Trail Ride
Derek Damron (Elementary Program Assistant) is inviting *all ages* to come ride mountain bikes at Carver Lake Park on Sunday, October 17th at 2pm (weather permitting).
Here is a link to the trail map - check it out if you have never been there before! We will meet at the skills area to warm up for a bit, then divide into groups for some trail riding! Plan to be there for a few hours. Bring your own snacks, water bottle, bikes, helmets, etc. We will have some tools, a floor pump, first aid, and water in case anyone needs them!
Please reach out if you have any questions about what bikes would be appropriate for this activity. If you NEED a bike in order to join us, please reach out to ddamron@greatriverschool.org and we can try to figure something out. Hope to see you there!
Harvest Fest This Saturday, October 16th - COVID-19 Protocols and More
Harvest Fest is this Saturday, October 16th, from 2-5pm! We are excited to bring back this annual tradition to campus.
PEG has drafted and the Pandemic Advisory Team has approved a COVID-19 safety plan for the event. Please read before attending and make sure to bring your face mask!
We need lots of volunteers to make the event a success. Adolescent volunteers are welcome! You can donate items, keep the soup fire going, and more!
Interested in performing at our Outdoor Coffeehouse open mic? Sign-up for a time slot here!
We’ll be accepting used winter gear donations for our Elementary Winter Gear Exchange. Look for the marked donation bins at Harvest Fest!
More Harvest Fest Details:
What should I bring?
a mess kit (bowl, spoon for eating the soup)
prepared vegetables or a small stone to add to our soup (bring pre-cooked veggies or tender greens that cook quickly - make sure they are chopped small or pre-sliced for the soup! Stones should be small & clean)
an attitude of hospitality
What will be happening?
all free of charge:
Bouncy Houses for fun leaping and bounding!
Body art for wonder and whimsy!
Coffee House open mic style music
Caramel Apple stand
Leaf Crowns
Bird feeder making
Stone soup making
A chance to buy from student micro-economies (student-made crafts, foods, etc)
Back to School Spiritwear Sale - Ends on Wednesday
Grab some new Great River spiritwear during our Back to School sale!
We’re excited to offer some new merch this year - windbreakers, flannel shirts, baseball caps, & more! Check out what we have on our spiritwear site (always accessible through our website under the “Current Families” tab) and get 15% off everything with code GRSBTS21 now through October 13th.
Outdoor Coffeehouse and Harvest Fest Are One Week Away
We’re excited to announce that our fall Coffee House will be held outdoors at Harvest Fest on October 16th!
Coffee House is an annual open-mic tradition for the GRS community to come together to celebrate our talented students. In the past, we have had lots of music, stand-up comedy, dancing, poetry, and juggling. We welcome all talents from all ages (including family acts).
Please register to perform here and email Zack Scott (zscott@greatriverschool.org) with questions.
More Harvest Fest Details:
We need lots of volunteers to make the event a success. Adolescent volunteers are welcome! You can donate items, paint faces, keep the soup fire going, and more!
What should I bring?
a mess kit (bowl, spoon for eating the soup)
prepared vegetables or a small stone to add to our soup (bring pre-cooked veggies or tender greens that cook quickly - make sure they are chopped small or pre-sliced for the soup! Stones should be small & clean)
an attitude of hospitality
What will be happening?
all free of charge:
Bouncy Houses for fun leaping and bounding!
Face painting for wonder and whimsy!
Coffee House open mic style music
Caramel Apple stand
Leaf Crowns
Bird feeder making
Stone soup making
A chance to buy from student micro-economies (student-made crafts, foods, etc)
GRS is Hiring a COVID Testing Coordinator
The COVID Testing Coordinator is responsible for coordinating our COVID-19 testing program on campus this school year. This position will order and administer saliva tests and ship samples back to the lab. The Coordinator will serve as a liaison between the testing company and the school community. This position is 30-40 hours per week and benefit eligible.
Click here for a direct link to the job description.
To apply, send a resume and letter of interest to jobs@greatriverschool.org.
Harvest Fest Volunteers Needed
Harvest Fest is back! This is a time for us to come together as a community and celebrate the season.
We need lots of volunteers to make the event a success. Adolescent volunteers are welcome! You can donate items, paint faces, keep the soup fire going, and more!
What should I bring?
a mess kit (bowl, spoon for eating the soup)
prepared vegetables or a small stone to add to our soup (bring pre-cooked veggies or tender greens that cook quickly - make sure they are chopped small or pre-sliced for the soup! Stones should be small & clean)
an attitude of hospitality
What will be happening?
all free of charge:
Bouncy Houses for fun leaping and bounding!
Face painting for wonder and whimsy!
Coffee House open mic style music
Caramel Apple stand
Leaf Crowns
Bird feeder making
Stone soup making
A chance to buy from student micro-economies (student-made crafts, foods, etc)
BIPOC Caregiver Committee Meeting TOMORROW
The BIPOC Caregiver Committee is a group of caregivers who meet the first Thursday of each month to talk about ways that the school can be more inclusive for BIPOC students while also focusing on encouraging everyone in the school to explore their identity. All caregivers of BIPOC students are welcome.
Our next meeting is TOMORROW, October 7th at 7:45pm. Want to join the BIPOC Caregiver Committee? Email Anu (adean@greatriverschool.org) or Cassie (curbano@greatriverschool.org) to get connected!
Art Club Kick Off Meeting
Drivers Ed Starting October 12th
Great River School will be hosting A+ Driving School again this fall for an in-person, after-school Driver’s Education course.
When: Oct. 12,13,14,15, 18,19, 26,27,28,29, from 3:30-6:30pm
Where: Great River School campus, Abby Mesnik’s classroom
Want more information or to register? Check out the A+ Driving School’s website!
Or email amesnik@greatriverschool.org with questions.
Wednesday, October 6 is International Walk to School Day
On Wednesday, October 6, parent volunteers will make it easier for families to try a “drop and walk”. Students who come to school in family vehicles can receive help from parent volunteers crossing streets near Great River if they are dropped off at McMurray Fields at Como Park or on Taylor Avenue & Hamline Avenue south of school. Students are already familiar with these routes due to frequent walking field trips in the neighborhood. Parents are welcome to walk with students.
North of school/McMurray Fields at Como Park
Gather by 7:55am at the McMurray Fields parking lot in Como Park. Karen Solas and Sam Olson will walk with students all the way to school, assisting at intersections and driveways. There will not be walking support after school. Contact Karen (ksolas@gmail.com) with questions.
South of school/Taylor Avenue at Hamline Avenue
Be sure to travel westbound on Taylor so your kids can hop out of the car on the passenger side, reducing the number of streets they need to cross. Students may walk along Taylor Avenue to the sidewalk adjacent to Hamline Avenue. Join parent volunteers to find out about helping as a crossing guard at Pierce Butler on a daily basis. Crossing guards will be there from 8:00am to 8:30am. Contact Susan (susan.sochacki@gmail.com)with questions.