2013 Bake Sale

Our first shift of salespeople.

Once again we had a very successful bake sale. It was held last Friday at the Walmart off Missouri Boulevard. Between the baked goods we sold and the donations we collected, we brought in $359.14. Thanks again to all our members who baked goods, manned the table, and promoted the sale! And thank you to Jefferson City for coming out and supporting us. We really appreciate it!

Summer Park Days . . .

Sidewalk art.

This Tuesday we were able to return to our favorite park for our weekly Park Day. It was a gorgeous day with lots of fun and fellowship. My family and I were there from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. and there were several families still there when we left. Come out and join us next week! Check the Yahoo! group for details.

--photos by Evie M.







Baseball game.





A favorite piece of playground equipment.



Hanging out.

Science-Nature Club's First Meeting



On April 18 our Science-Nature Club held it's first official meeting. Eight families were in attendance to learn the scientific method and decorate their science journals.

Our first order of business was to discuss ideas, activities, and experiments for future club meetings. These included learning about nature (flowers, plants, animals, etc.), robotics, and chemical reactions. Everyone enjoyed discussing ideas and how we could incorporate them into our activities.

Each month a different family is in charge of leading the club meeting and activity or experiment. This month, members learned about the scientific method, then used it to hypothesize the identity of two liquids (water and vinegar) and two solids (salt and sugar). They used their five senses to observe and test the substances, then recorded their findings in their science journals. After the experiment, the kids decorated their science journals which they will be using the rest of the year.

The next meeting will on May 24 at the Prairie Garden Trust to learn about native Mo plant species and tour the gardens.

--by Billie S.

Colton's Fundraiser

On Monday, April 8, Colton's Steak House sponsored a fundraiser for us. They agreed to donate a percentage of all sales from 5 till 8 p.m. Several of our families and their friends dined there that evening. Yesterday, our fundraiser organizer Melanie picked up a check from the restaurant for $332.30. We are planning on using the money to fund a field trip to St. Louis in September.

Thanks to Colton's and to all who spread the word and/or came out to wine and dine. We really appreciate it!

State Capitol Tour

Our guide, Carla, shares some Missouri history.

On Friday, eight adults and 13 children attended a tour of the State Capitol. The tour guide, Carla, shared with us amazing facts about Missouri, the capitol building itself, and showed the group some of the paintings in the capitol--including the Thomas Hart Benton murals, A Social History of Missouri.

A few facts:

• All the rock in the capitol is limestone from Missouri, except the 12 capitals in the House and Senate, which are granite and marble from New Hampshire.
• 16 of the 41 lunette (half-moon shaped areas) paintings have optical illusions--either a change of direction or a change of size.
• Bonds were sold to raise money to build the current state capitol. Four and one-half million dollars were raised. When the building was complete, there were still one million dollars that hadn't been spent. So they used the money to decorate.
• The Missouri State Capitol is the only state capitol with a state park located inside.

If you missed this capitol tour, you can learn more about taking one yourself here.

Troop Support Service Project

Cards made by some of our members.

Some of our JCSHG families made cards, donated items, and provided funds for the 2013 Easter/Passover shipment to support our military personnel. This shipment included mailing a total of 24 boxes to these six servicemen:

Michael Biggers
AWS2 Nathaniel Edwards
Russell Gray
Anthony Hart, CS2
Sgt Corey Rudroff
SFC Joseph S. Wertz

George Lauer is the project's organizer and you can read more about this Troop Support shipment here.

Thanks to our Service Project Coordinator, Kolbi W., for organizing this service project!

2013 Parents' Meeting

Thanks to everyone who attended the 2013 Parents' Meeting for JCSHG on Tuesday. We had a great turnout despite the cold weather. We had lots of yummy treats to nibble on and the children were ecstatic to see their friends.

Evie and Jeannette started the meeting off with a review of last year's activities and events. Among other things we hosted numerous field trips and service projects, held two successful bake sales, offered a Music and Movement Enrichment Class, enjoyed a summer family picnic, and enjoyed many park days throughout the year.

We discussed activities, field trips, enrichment classes, service projects, the new membership form, and more. We appreciate all the great ideas that were contributed. With the involvement of so many great members we are sure to have an awesome year.

 

Again, thanks to all those who came out and brainstormed with us, we had a great time!

 

--by Billie S.