The Spark! – August 2018

Posted on August 9, 2018
The Spark!
August 2018
A Note From The Director
Dear Parents,
We are having a great summer here at Discovery! Camp is fun and we are enjoying the full range of ages that we have from two to twelve. Summer is a time of transitions and usually saying goodbye to staff at the end of the summer is one of those transitions. At the end of August, we are saying goodbye to our early childhood teacher, Timi Mathai. Timi has been with us five years and it will be very hard to see her go. She will be starting her student teaching as part of her early childhood degree requirements. Many of her students talk about Ms. Timi endlessly at home and her nurturing bond stays with them. 

I always love to see the transformation of our staff from assistants to head teachers. One of our former gym directors used to call it “getting their wings to fly.” When our assistants begin, sometimes they only have one-on-one child care experience or they taught in different types of class settings. Sometimes, they are just starting their masters degree or they are deciding if they want to pursue early childhood or general education. Timi was one of those assistants. It’s been wonderful to see her grow into her own wings. She has transformed into a strong, confident, thoughtful, and creative teacher. I will miss Timi greatly and I know the rest of the staff and students will as well. Hopefully, as mentioned in my last Spark newsletter, I can entice her back for summer camp teaching in the future. We wish her the best of luck!

Enjoy the rest of August, and see you in September!
Warm Wishes,

Katie Kheel
Reflections
Timi Mathai
••••
“Watch the magic that unfolds when you give a person the perfect amount of space to be themselves.”

 -Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird

I think this quote truly captures what Discovery stands for. I’ve always felt like Discovery gave me the perfect amount of space to be myself and figure out who that was. I started assistant teaching at Discovery right out of college. I was 21 years old and I didn’t know what I wanted to do. What started as a temporary summer job as a camp assistant turned into my life for the next four years. All my memories of Discovery kind of blend into one, however, I have the strongest memories of that first year with the Turtles two-year-old camp group. I was Josh Max’s assistant and his ability to look for the fun in every situation made that summer so memorable. Don’t get me wrong, it was also exhausting, but the silly things the Turtles say and do made it all worthwhile. I fell in love with teaching that first summer and I realized this was something I truly wanted to pursue.   

The first year of head teaching was incredibly hard and I had so much to learn, but I am forever grateful for the guidance I received from Katie and Julia. That year I always felt like I had no idea what I was doing, but Katie was always so supportive and reassuring and had faith in me. I always knew that she had my back and that made me feel confident in my abilities. 

As I leave Discovery, there is so much I’ve learned that I am excited to take with me. However, I think it all goes back to the quote from the beginning: watch the magic that unfolds when you give a person the perfect amount of space to grow. I hope as I continue to teach I too can give students the support and encouragement that Discovery has given me and help them become the remarkable people they are meant to be. 

-Timi
Photo Op: Fire and Police Station Field Trip!
Photo Op: Crafting with Gym Camp!
Discovery Announcements!
Join us for Summer Camp! Don’t wait to sign up. 
– We have limited spots in the morning programs for 2-5 year olds. Our half and full day gymnastics programs for ages 5-13 also have spots but are filling fast. Some weeks are selling out.  The last week for morning camps is August 20th-24th, and the last week for gymnastics camp is August 27th-31st. 
Summer Classes- We are pro-rating! It’s a good time to take a sample class. 
– Discovery has classes for all ages throughout the summer in toddler programs, art, gymnastics, ballet, parkour, and more! 
Fall Registration is open!
– Don’t wait to sign up for Fall 2018 classes! Spots will soon be filling up in gymnastics, ballet, and parkour. 
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