2018-2019 will be our school’s ninth year participating in Odyssey of the Mind (OM). OM is the largest worldwide creative problem-solving competition for children from kindergarten through college. OM’s mission is to foster the development of creative thinking and problem-solving skills.
Each year, SACO pays for our school’s membership in the program. This allows SRCSA to have up to 10 competitive teams and as many primary (K-2) teams as desired; teams then pay a small amount to register their individual team. SACO’s OM Program Coordinator is the conduit for communication between the local OM organization, our school, and the team coaches. Also, the Coordinator serves as a resource to new coaches. While at many schools teachers lead the OM program, we are very lucky to have SRCSA parent and Odyssey veteran Kerri Izen filling this key role so that our school can participate!
The Odyssey of the Mind program is 100% volunteer run, and each team of 5 to 7 kids needs a coach, typically a parent volunteer! Coaching is not an insignificant time commitment but it can be a very rewarding experience. The OM coordinator is available to support communication between prospective coaches and team members, but ultimately coaches decide their team’s members.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Odyssey of the Mind?
Imagine a combination of theater and problem solving with a creative twist. Through the writing of original scripts, the creation of costumes, props, scenery, and technical elements, teams of students work together to produce incredible solutions to creative problems. Students with talents in many areas find a unique opportunity to showcase their gifts in script writing, costume creation, music, dance, visual arts, props and scenery construction, engineering, problem solving, leadership, critical thinking, and more!
Who can participate in OM?
With our school’s membership in OM, we can have 10 teams for grades 3 through 8—the limitation is that each of the five problems can only be assigned to one Division I (grades 3-5) and one Division II (grades 6-8) team. We can have unlimited primary teams (grades K-2). All students are welcome to participate in OM, but each team needs a volunteer coach and for the past several years, we have more interested participants than coaches.
How do I learn more about the OM program at our school?
Parents of prospective participants, and their students, are encouraged to attend the Informational Meeting scheduled for September 19, 2018 at 6:30 PM in the MPR. The purpose of the meeting is to provide a brief overview of the OM program, explain how OM works at SRCSA, share the new long-term problems, and hear from several veteran coaches about their experiences leading teams. At SRCSA, team formation is led by coaches with support from the OM Coordinator. The best way to ensure your student’s participation is to sign up to coach!
How much does it cost to participate in OM?
SACO pays the national ($135) and state ($75) membership fees. Each team is responsible for paying their team’s regional tournament fee, which is $65/team for grades 3-8 and $45/team for grades K-2. Coaches may request $20+ from each team member in order to purchase materials for practices, and teams often share snack responsibilities. With five to seven team members, the cost per student participant is typically around $50.
How much time does it take to participate in OM?
This is an individual team decision, but most teams begin meeting in October and continue until the Regional Tournament in late February (and beyond, if they advance past Regionals). Most teams start out meeting once or sometimes twice a week. Many teams meet from 1½-2 hours per meeting, depending on age and frequency of meetings. As the Odyssey season progresses, most teams will have lengthier work sessions to finish up props, backdrops, costumes, and so forth. A couple of extended work sessions (three day weekends) in January and February are customary. All meetings must be at the convenience of the coach and their team, of course! Parents of participants are required to complete volunteer hours at the tournament.
I’m interested in being a coach. But I’ve never done it before. How do I learn more?
We are lucky that the Redwood Region, which extends all the way north to the Oregon border and south to encompass Marin County, is largely based in Santa Rosa. Each year, the Region offers coach trainings on Saturdays in October and November. The Redwood Region provides a ton of information about Odyssey of the Mind on their web page. If you are interested in more information, please visit: http://redwoodomer.org/
Are there other ways to help SRCSA’s OM program?
Yes! Thanks for asking. Coaches will be looking for practice spaces and we count on SRCSA’s teachers to share their classrooms after school. Also, each coach-led team has to provide a volunteer judge to participate in the Regional Tournament. This volunteer is ideally not the coach or a parent of a team member since the volunteer will be working during the entire tournament (8:00ish – 3:00ish). If you’re looking for volunteer hours to support our school, this is a great way to earn a large chunk. More information at the Information Meeting or contact OM Program Coordinator Kerri at srcsavolunteer@nullgmail.com.
Really appreciate the positive community energy at today’s ice cream social! Parent volunteers served ice cream and handed out an information packet to attendees that will be sent home within the first two weeks of school… check out the “Forms and Flyers” link if you would like, or expect some paper soon. The Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, our school’s aftercare program, and the restorative justice specialist were also present.
It was great to see so many teachers handing out class lists and meeting students. One of the joys specific to our K-8 school is being able to see friendly eighth graders selling Narwhal spirit gear while simultaneously witnessing adorable incoming kindergartners check out the playground equipment with their parents.
If you couldn’t attend the ice cream social, here are some key info points:
It’s SEED season! Please consider making your SEED donation ASAP to help fund our classrooms. The forms are on this web page under “Forms and Flyers.” Or, check out the DONATE button for online payments by credit card.
The School for the Arts Community Organization (SACO), our school’s version of a parent-teacher organization, is hoping to broaden participation in our organization to benefit the school during the upcoming school year and beyond. We would love to see more familiar and new faces at our monthly meetings, but if you aren’t able to attend monthly meetings, there are many ways to contribute your time and talent in support of SRCSA’s wonderful kids and teachers.
In addition to classroom activities and arts-integrated education, there is a certain rhythm to the school year: we start with an ice cream social, where everyone is invited to come together before school starts. The SEED campaign, where we ask school families to donate $100 per student, always starts in August and ends in September. Art Walk, our school’s major fundraiser, is always in October and it is one of the most fun days at school. There is an annual canned food drive. Every year, parent volunteers organize a school yearbook, which is loaded with beautiful photographs of our students and school community. A weekly email from SACO goes home outlining events and activities; this email is deployed 40+ times during the year. The students enjoy a fantastic Book Fair/Literacy Week in late February/early March. There is an evening adults-only Spring fundraiser that brings us together for community and to raise funds for special projects. We appreciate teachers year-round and especially the first week of May. 
This rhythm, and the events and activities that comprise each school year, happens because parent volunteers make it happen, in partnership with the school. The fundraisers are more successful each year, thanks to the broad support of school families, but the organization and execution of all these activities is managed by a small group of parent volunteers. We need your help! In order for SACO to remain a viable support system for the school, we recognize that we need to grow involvement from more families, and specifically from more individuals choosing to get involved in organizing, leading, and volunteering in school activities. Together, we can sustain the kind of community events and regular activities that add so much value to our school.
People often worry about volunteering because they think that they’ll sign up to help with one thing and suddenly will find themselves spending all of their free time helping our school. It can happen—it has happened to some of us—but it doesn’t have to happen. Over the years, we have developed a series of tasks that are relatively discrete that give parent volunteers a chance to help with a key event or activity without becoming fully involved in the day-to-day work of SACO. Some of our volunteers literally do the same activity every year—and we need their passion and dedication—but we also need others to get involved. Families transition out of our school as students get older and move on to high school. Our school and SACO is strongest when everyone contributes.
Here are the specific tasks where volunteer power is needed:
SEED Coordinator
The SEED Campaign has resulted in more than $125,000 since it began in the 2011/2012 school year—and all of the funds raised have gone directly into the classrooms. In 2017-18, we raised $22K+ with 53% percent participation. We’re hoping to have another strong year! We are looking for one or two trustworthy parent volunteers to coordinate the annual SEED campaign with support from the SACO Board. The SEED Campaign will begin August 10 and end September 30—so we are hoping to find a volunteer ASAP! This is the annual fundraiser that infuses SRCSA’s classrooms with funds for materials, special field trips, or whatever the teacher decides. The SEED coordinator helps develop the campaign, checks in with teachers, tracks participation, and keeps the Board and teachers updated on progress. This involves relatively frequent trips to the school office during the course of the campaign to log donations, and integrating online donations into the SEED database. If you sign up to help, you will be paired a mentor and will also be assisted by SACO’s treasurers.
Campus Directory
Each year, SACO publishes a campus directory consisting of contact information for SRCSA families who wish to share their information with the community. We are looking for a coordinator to lead the gathering of the data and to complete the mail merge, document design, and final layout, with support from the SACO Board and another parent volunteer who will assist with data entry. We begin gathering data at the Ice Cream Social and the goal is to finalize and distribute the directory to all participants by mid-October. This task is fairly time consuming but is a great way to satisfy volunteer hour requirements while working from home.
Newsletter Coordinator
SACO sends a weekly email newsletter that includes weekly reminders and updates. In past years, SACO prepared a monthly or semi-monthly school print newsletter. Ideally, the print newsletter editor receives articles and information from the school and from other parent volunteers. The project would benefit from a small group of volunteers who would work together to gather up and write the content and then lay it out. This is a great project for people looking for evening volunteer hours, and/or gaining resume-building writing, layout, and publication experience.
Web Site
Ever wonder why the SACO web site isn’t up to date? We could really use a volunteer to take over ongoing maintenance. This could begin by refreshing the materials available on our web site. Depending on time and interest, the role could also consist of updating it semi-regularly with information and even to refresh the look and feel of the Word Press template. This role is perfect for someone who can dedicate some time now and in the lead up to August 15, and then will be available throughout the year to assist with updates.
Yearbook
The Yearbook Team does an amazing job photographing events, gathering photos from parents and teachers, facilitating an annual cover contest, putting together the pages of our school yearbook, and promoting book sales. Like other SACO tasks, we have a small core group of parent volunteers who make the yearbook happen—and would love to find more people to join the team. We have a parent volunteer willing to co-chair the yearbook and handle an assortment of tasks including setting the production and sales schedule, facilitating the cover contest, and leading production of the final book. We’re looking for another key volunteer to organize parent volunteers from various classes, and other photographers, to help put the book together. If this sounds like something you can help with, please let us know!
Art Walk
We have two parent volunteers who have agreed to chair the 2018/19 Art Walk event, our school’s annual walkathon, and other experienced volunteers who will help support them and the team, but we need others to join “Team Art Walk” at the beginning of the school year. The team will find t-shirt sponsors, organize shirt orders, distribute pledge envelopes, organize class prize baskets with help from volunteers in each class, promote the event, organize the course and its fun components, and ultimately help run the day-long event that typically involves managing 50+ volunteers and facilitating participation by 450+ students, teachers, and staff. After the event, the team collects pledge envelopes and prepares for the award ceremony and gift basket drawings. We are specifically looking for a shirt captain– someone to organize shirt sponsors, printing, and distribution of the free event shirts.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator
Each year, parent volunteers coordinate Walk and Roll to School days, and related activities, with support from the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition. The coordinator role could be a great fit for someone who cares about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and/or who is interested in helping our students get more daily exercise. We have an experienced volunteer who has managed the program for the past 5+ years. We’re looking for one or two people to serve in a Co-Coordinator role.
Library Volunteer Coordinator
We are so lucky that the library is staffed by a talented, dedicated school employee, but the time she gets to spend in the library is limited due to school budget issues. Would you like to work with the school and SACO to support the library and to continue to improve its offerings? Seeking a small group of parent volunteers to make this a focus. One component could be setting up a schedule for volunteers to assist in the library, or to setting up work days, as needed, to take on specific tasks. This project will be defined by those who accept the challenge!
Halloween Carnival
The beloved Halloween Carnival will return as an after-school event on Wednesday, October 31. We have an experienced event chair and are looking for people interested in helping organize and staff the carnival.
Literacy Week/Book Fair
The annual book fair typically coincides with Dr. Seuss’ birthday on March 2. We begin planning the week-long Literacy Week in January. Partnering with Scholastic to host a book fair that week provides a relatively easy center piece for the week, but there is always plenty to do ahead of time and during the fair including organizing a volunteer schedule, recruiting volunteers, staffing the fair, and planning fun events to expand the focus of the week beyond shopping. We have a seasoned Literacy Week chairperson and an incoming co-chairperson, and are looking for a couple more people who would like to help with this project.
Canned Food Drive
For the past eight plus years, SACO has organized the school food drive in November. We’d like to select a less hectic time of year for this event, and are seeking a new event chair or co-chairs. Organizing this event involves coordinating with Redwood Empire Food Bank to select a date, advertise the event with support from the SACO Board, distribute the bins to the classrooms, tally the results, and arrange for the bins to be picked up. The food drive typically operates over the course of one week.
Odyssey of the Mind Team Coaches
Each year, SACO pays for our school’s membership in Odyssey of the Mind. This allows our school to have up to 10 competitive teams and as many primary (K-2) teams as desired; teams pay a small amount to register their team and furnish their own materials. The OM coordinator, a parent volunteer, is the conduit for communication between the local OM organization and our school. Also, they arrange an informational meeting at the beginning of the school year and serve as a resource to new coaches. We are lucky to have an OM coordinator for the 2018-2019 season but coaches are needed for each team. 2018-2019 will be our school’s eighth year participating in OM!
School Garden/ Campus Beautification Coordinator
We have a small group of interested parents, and a teacher, interested in organizing garden improvements and other campus beautification activities this year. If you have expertise with drip irrigation or other garden systems or just have a passion for garden and landscape projects, please let SACO know and we’ll connect you with the group. We will be seeking volunteers for the first weekend work party tentatively planned for late September.
Spring Fundraiser
The Spring Fundraiser is held each year with a particular project in mind. In past years, this April event raised money for musical instruments, visiting artists, and playground equipment . If your work/family schedule allows you more time to volunteer in the second half of the school year, you are very welcome to join the Spring Fundraiser team! We have several experienced people who will lead the event so this is an opportunity to learn while you help.
Teacher Appreciation Week
We celebrate our teachers and staff the first week of May every year. Planning typically begins in early April and then the planning team facilitates fun activities, snacks, surprises, and a luncheon during the event week. This is a great way to get to know other parents while helping recognize our school’s amazing teachers. If you are interested in co-chairing this event, please let us know.
The easiest way to reach SACO is via email at srcsavolunteer at gmail dot com. Current families are welcome to join SACO’s email list by writing to us. Everyone is welcome to attend the first SACO meeting of the year, planned for Wednesday, August 22 at 6:30 PM in the MPR.
SACO is pleased to announce the date of the annual “Welcome Back!” ice cream social. We will hold this year’s event on Friday, August 10 from 4:30 to 6:00PM. All current families are welcome and encouraged to attend! Postcards will be sent home in early August with more details.
Date: Saturday, April 21, 2018
Time: 11am to 3pm
When: Saturday, March 24th, 2018
Time: 6:30p – 9:30p
Where: Steele Lane Community Center, 415 Steele Lane, Santa Rosa, CA
Tickets: $30 advance / $35 day of event / $100 Pack of 4 / $300 Reserved Table of 8 (new!) – Available at SRCSA Office, or ONLINE Click For Tickets!
Want to help with the Event? Go to our Signup Page for more info!: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0d48a4ac29a2f58-2018
We’re hoping the “2018” part of the 2017-2018 school year is great for SRCSA students, teachers, and parents. Typically, SRCSA families complete most of their volunteer hours in the fall at the Art Walk and Halloween Carnival and these events create wonderful connections between members of our community. Due to the wildfires, we had to re-plan the year with a focus on preserving the best parts of the fall events. This includes conducting the fundraising that supports SRCSA students and teachers through the year, while retaining the fun and community-spirited aspects of the Art Walk and the Halloween Carnival. Look out for some great opportunities to volunteer at the school to support our students and teachers!
Youth In Arts – Artist in Residence Hannah Gavagan
Last year, SACO identified a community interest in helping supplement the arts integrated education offered at SRCSA by bringing visiting artists to the school. This has taken shape as an artist “residency” where teaching artist Hannah Gavagan will be working with SRCSA students this spring. The program was anticipated to begin in the fall, but was postponed until now. In the first phase, 4th and 5th grade drama students and all middle school students (grades 6, 7, and 8) will begin working with Ms. Gavagan when school resumes in January. This special program kicks off with a Family Art Night planned for Thursday, January 11 from 5:30 to 7:00 PM. The event is free, and all 4th through 8th grade families are welcome and encouraged to attend. Pizza and drinks will be offered as an 8th grade fundraiser.
SACO’s goal is to ensure that all SRCSA students benefit from the residencies. We have applied for a grant that would provide significant funding for supplemental arts education and are awaiting final word about the amount and timing of the funds. In the meantime, we are very pleased to move forward with the first phase.
For more information about Ms. Gavagan, please visit Youth in Arts’ web site here: http://www.youthinarts.org/blog/tag/hannah-gavagan
This year’s Art Walk event, our school’s annual walk-a-thon fundraiser, is all about returning to our beautifully renovated home campus, with a theme of ‘There’s No Place Like Home.’ Art Walk will be held on Friday, October 13. The Art Walk is our school’s main fundraiser and fall party—students, teachers, and parent volunteers will spend the day of Art Walk having fun walking laps around the campus earning money for the school. The Wizard of Oz theme will be present in decor, costume, and class banners. The community will enjoy walking laps to the beat of fun music carefully chosen for the festivities. Of course, the Art Walk is not all business, and the kids are treated to fun activities along the way! Students will earn a ticket for every lap they walk, and can redeem the tickets for basket raffle tickets, penny prizes, face painting by Clementine the Amazing, snacks (donated by Trader Joe’s and Safeway
) and other surprises.
All students should have received their pledge envelopes. This envelope is really important because students are requested to ask parents, family, and friends to pledge money to sponsor their participation in the event. All of the pledges are donations to the school and will be spent this year making great things happen. People can sponsor your student by donating money for each lap they walk, or by donating a set amount. Every pledge helps support events and arts activities throughout the 2017-2018 school year.
The School for the Arts Community Organization is able to provide every student, teacher, and 50 volunteers with a free event t-shirt thanks to generous sponsorships from local businesses. Thank you to our wonderful sponsors: Anchor Rose, Beck Law, Clementine the Amazing: Face Painting and Entertainment, J. Christopher: The Rub, Junior Gym, McCoy Fire Protection, Pedersen’s, Second Wind, SLR Financial, Silkies Screen Printing, and Theta Wave Float Spa.
Volunteers are key to making this event successful and we are looking for 50 volunteers the day of the event! Volunteer who can help all day, from 8:30 to 2:30, are the most helpful and this is a great opportunity to earn volunteer hours while seeing our school in action and cheering on students and staff. Half-day volunteers (9:00 – 12:00, 12:00 – 2:30) are also very welcome. The first 50 volunteers will receive a free Art Walk t-shirt, and a light lunch generously donated by Whole Foods. The volunteer sign up sheet is online (http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e4aacaf23a0f85-artwalk) and in the office. Please email Sheri with questions at sheri_emerson@nullyahoo.com. In addition to more volunteers, we are in need of folding tables and pop-up tents.
Please support Art Walk by donating to your child’s classroom raffle basket. Each classroom is currently working on a themed prize raffle basket. These baskets serve as fun motivation to walk laps, and generate a lot of community excitement for the event. All families are asked to donate an item or cash for their class baskets to ensure fantastic prizes for the kids. If you have yet to donate to your student’s class basket, contact the classroom teacher or classroom parent in charge of the basket to find out how you can help. The basket winners will be identified at the Art Walk assembly following the event.
Every year, the teachers at SRCSA do a fabulous job supporting the Art Walk event. We are looking for donations of prizes for the teachers who compete the most laps. It is a spirited competition each year! If you can donate restaurant gift cards, wine or other treats, please let SACO know.
The friendly competition extends to the student walkers, as well, and medals for the most laps and most money earned will be awarded to individual students. In addition, one classroom will earn the highly coveted Class Spirit prize. Each class earns spirit points by completing a class raffle basket, making a class sign, showing team spirit and BEST behavior the day of the Art Walk, and turning in their pledge envelopes. The Class Spirit winners earn a trophy for their classroom and bragging rights for the year!
Art Walk, coupled with SEED, are the two main ways in which SRCSA families can financially support the school. We ask our families to focus their donations on these two fundraisers instead of multiple product driven sales (e.g. cookie dough and wrapping paper sales) throughout the school year. By having these two events early in the school year, SACO is able to get as much money as possible into the classrooms as early as possible, and create a budget to fund events, activities, and site improvements.
Lastly, please make sure to locate your student’s pledge envelope as soon as possible and get those pledges. More envelopes are available in the school office. We are hoping everyone will participate—no donation is too small. Please list all the pledges on the envelope and be sure to bring the envelope to school on the day of Art Walk, so that SACO can note the total number of laps completed.
Questions? If you have any questions about this important and fun community event or you would like to help, please contact Art Walk Co-Chairs: Judy O’Donnell (judithkod@nullyahoo.com) and Sheri Emerson (sheri_emerson@nullyahoo.com).
This is an exciting time to be part of the Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts Community. While we all worked together to make the best of things over the past two years, arrival back at the renovated Humboldt Street campus has felt like a fresh start and the current of enthusiasm and hope is infectious. It was palpable at SACO’s playground build day event in June, and the school was positively crackling with renewed energy over the first two weeks on the new campus.
As we begin using the Humboldt campus, we are learning about how it works. Simple stuff like remembering to sign in at the office before proceeding onto the campus to volunteer, or knowing where the bathrooms are located. Getting our kids safely to and from campus. Because the school administration’s communication system (autodialers, emails, etc) is not up and working yet after the district upgraded it, SACO is including key information from Principal Vogel in the SACO weekly email. If you are not yet receiving the SACO weekly email, please sign up!
This year, the school sent out a form requiring families to acknowledge SRCSA’s 20 hour per family volunteer requirement. It is important to know that volunteer opportunities are abundant, and especially so during the months of September and October. One of the important roles SACO plays is communicating these opportunities and helping recruit volunteers for key school events. We would love to make sure everyone is aware of the options, and we hope you’ll consider attending the September SACO meeting planned for Tuesday, September 12 at 6:30 PM in the MPR. This is the best place to get information, meet SRCSA families and teachers, and to contribute positively to school life.
Here is an overview of the key volunteer opportunities for September/October:
September SACO Meeting – Tuesday, September 12
Earn one volunteer hour by attending SACO’s first meeting of the year on Tuesday, September 12 at 6:30 PM in the MPR.
Campus Beautification – Saturday, September 30 (revised date!)
We are re-starting weekend campus beautification opportunities this year! These provide a great opportunity for families who can’t volunteer during the school week to earn volunteer hours on a Saturday morning. Planning is underway for the first event and an online sign up sheet will be available soon.
Art Walk – Friday, October 13
Art Walk is SRCSA’s annual walkathon and party planned for Friday, October 13! We need 50+ adult volunteers to assist with organizing, setting up, staffing, and cleaning up the event. Teachers will also look for volunteers to help lead the younger kids around the course. The Art Walk kick-off meeting was held on Friday, August 25 and we welcome everyone to get involved.
At this time of the year, SACO is actively recruiting a parent or two from each classroom to work with the other class parents to create the prize basket for each class. These prize baskets are primarily used to motivate students to get a ton of exercise, since they earn a raffle ticket for each completed lap and the baskets are very inspiring. Once we have a class basket captain for each class, outreach to families typically begins in mid-September. The sign up sheet is online. More information at the September SACO meeting!
Halloween Carnival – Tuesday, October 31
Each year, SACO hosts a free after-school carnival for SRCSA students. This fun, low-key event brings families together for wholesome-yet-spooky fun. We’re planning to hold the event on Halloween this year. Just like last year, the carnival will begin immediately after school beginning at 1:20 for kindergartners, 2:20 for grades 1-5, and 2:50 for grades 6-8. We need volunteers to staff the carnival but more importantly we are looking for parents to help plan this year’s event. Join our group of Halloween loving SRCSA parents if you can. Are you able to build cool things? Evening and weekend volunteer hours can be earned building new games for the event. Love to bake? We’ll have a cake walk and will need cakes. The Halloween planning kick off meeting is scheduled for Friday, September 1 at 8:15 AM.
Ongoing – Stop.Drop.Go.
The school is looking for volunteers to assist with the drop off system in the morning before school.
