Food Rainbows

Our food study has been deliciously successful this year.  In speaking with various teachers, several themes have been present across grade levels: learning about foods by color and what they do for our bodies inviting parents/grandparents to come in and share favorite or traditional foods of their families/culture making a connection to gardening and our . . . Read More


Juneteenth

 On Monday, June 19, the Seed will be closed in honor of Juneteenth for the first time in the school’s history.  Now a federal holiday, Britt Hawthorne describes it as a day “to commemorate the day that enslaved Black Texans in the U.S. were finally free.”  It’s the longest Black American holiday to be celebrated, . . . Read More


Shout Out for Gayle

One of my favorite annual Seed traditions started years ago and continues to this day.  Each year Changing Hands Bookstore donates a gift card to each of our Seed graduates, and the school matches the amount on the card.  It’s an arrangement that originated with Gayle Shanks, co-founder of Changing Hands, whose son, Michael, and . . . Read More


Why I Continue

Yesterday afternoon I returned from a week in Nebraska.  Most of that time was spent with my extremely elderly parents, who are hanging on by a thread.  Still living in their own house, they are daily supported by my brother and his wife, and one of our neighbors who is a childhood friend.  The intention . . . Read More


Caring for Mama

As Earth Day rolls around, we take time to reflect on our practices at the Seed to evaluate how we’re doing and what we can do better.  As I look around, one area in which we’ve improved significantly is with lunches and water bottles.  Throughout the school, children of all ages are utilizing reusable containers, . . . Read More


A Hole for Everyone

So many life lessons happen in the sand circle. The Seed playground continues to provide opportunities that serve as a microcosm of the way the world works.  A brief time supervising the Early 3s during their Monday recess did just that.   During the pandemic we removed many of the pots and pans from the . . . Read More


Among Other Humans

This week I’ve had the opportunity to observe our three youngest classes as part of our annual teacher evaluation process.  Additionally, we had another teacher presentation from our professional development series featuring classroom practices.  These experiences, as well as more time doing playground supervision, gave me plenty to write about.  When I looked for a . . . Read More


Where Gandhi Sat

To be fully transparent, I’ve had trouble focusing on my work this week.  It’s not that I haven’t tried, my mind is merely elsewhere.  I made a list of upcoming projects to inspire concentration, and still my attention wanders to faraway beaches on the Arabian Sea, and brightly colored clothing of the Indian people.  Glancing . . . Read More


A Good Day in India

Tuesday night I set foot on US soil again after two and a half weeks of traveling to India.  Shortly thereafter, I received a phone call from my daughter, welcoming me back, and she put my three-year-old great-granddaughter on the phone.  She asked, “Mamie, did you have a good day in India?” I told her . . . Read More


seedjustice

 We’ve been practicing social justice at the Seed since we first began in 1977.  Granted, our students were very young and there were just a few of them, but even in those early days we talked about saving the planet and being kind to each other.  Over time, as we grew larger and expanded our . . . Read More


Getting Ready

This entire week has been one of preparations.  Danielle and I have focused most of our attention on setting up schedules, staffing, and the calendar for upcoming aspects of our program.  For example, we have been talking about registration for the 2023-2024 school year, considering placement decisions and classroom configurations.  We have had conversation about . . . Read More


Food Kits

How can it be that we’re already entering the second half of November?  The cooler days make it seem more believable, yet it’s all going so quickly.  On the agenda for the Seed in the coming weeks is our annual gathering the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  In years past, each class cooked an item to contribute . . . Read More


A Place in my Brain

In preparation for a writing lesson about pumpkin seeds with the 3rd/4th graders, I found these few lines from a poem from “Jerusalem,” a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye: “There’s a place in my brain where hate won’t grow. I touch its riddle: wind, and seeds. Something pokes us as we sleep. It’s late but . . . Read More


Talent Show

These days fractals seem to  occupy my mind.  In her book, Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown describe fractals as “never-ending…infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales.  They are created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing feedback loop.”  Further on in the chapter about fractals, she applies this pattern . . . Read More


Catching Light Across Time

I listen to so many podcasts, it’s hard to remember which thoughts and ideas come from which podcasts.  Often podcasters interview each other and/or appear on a number of episodes within a short period of time.  I love this intermingling of thought leaders.  It’s interesting how they might speak on the same topic with different . . . Read More


Dirt Builders

Beginning school in early August has its challenges, one being the Arizona heat.  We’ve been lucky so far that the temperatures have hovered under 100, allowing us to be outside for midday recess.  Our policy is if it’s 100 degrees we will offer an indoor/outdoor option.  When it hits 110, we keep everyone inside, except . . . Read More


Be and Be Better

I know it’s unbearably hot this time of year, as sweat becomes a natural state of being.  That said, I love the storms and cloud formations that appear during July in Phoenix.  Last night the clouds were unusually mesmerizing, and I’m glad I captured a few views before the light changed.  As I continued my . . . Read More


What Are You Practicing?

It’s a time of practice for our 2nd-6th grade class.  They are in the throes of preparation for the 32nd annual Way-off Broadway production.  It’s a long-standing summer tradition here at the Seed and involves prop making, backdrop painting, practicing dance moves, and learning lines.  The performance at 2:00PM (which will be presented on Zoom), . . . Read More


Hugging the Peach Tree

On Thursday morning a group of  students ran up to me excitedly asking to pick peaches.  I noticed most of the peaches had already been picked, but said we could go check it out.  When it was determined there were enough still left, a small envoy walked to the kitchen with me to obtain a . . . Read More


Precious Times

On Tuesday I observed a group of fourth graders standing together talking at lunch recess.  While larger group activity options were available, this particular group opted for “something smaller.”  Essentially they were asking for space to just hang out and be together.  At this time of year, they’re soaking up every ounce of being at . . . Read More


Hope for the Planet

 It’s Earth Day, a day I  renew  my commitment to serving Planet Earth.  I’me realizing more and more that the most significant way I can be of help is to keep working with the upcoming generations who will assume stewardship of our planet.  Today’s blog is about one of those young stewards.   One of . . . Read More


Harsh Times

Lately I’ve struggled to find words to describe these times.  This morning a fourth grader gave me the words I needed.  In response to a classmate’s honest sharing of a poem about a difficult family situation, one student said, “Writing a poem is a way to get through harsh times.”  These are harsh times on . . . Read More


Literacy of the Heart

In a recent interview with Mark Nepo, he offered an idea I’ve been thinking about for days.  He said, “In the Middle Ages in Europe for about 300-350 years, only 10% of the European population was literate.  That means 10% of the people living in Europe at that time kept literacy for 300 years.  Whatever it . . . Read More


Girls with Dreams

I first met Elsie Moore in the late 1980s, around the time of the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster.  I remember vividly sitting at a low table with Elsie and her husband, Wade.  They were looking for a kindergarten program for their eldest son, Arthur.  She was pregnant with her third son, Allen.  As always, she was . . . Read More