Galveston, Texas - Getting Ready to Cruise

 Our family joined the Matney family and the Snyder family on a gulf cruise starting in Galveston, Texas.  Everyone had passports and we made it to Galveston and stayed at a cute little hotel downtown at Pier 21.  We spent a day walking through the town, playing in the arcade and getting ice cream cones.  We saw a neat battleship in the harbor as well.  They happen to have an old fashioned car show while we were there, so we enjoyed looking at all the cool cars and engines.  Looking forward to getting on a ship tomorrow!

Oak Farm Music & Art Show

 Oak Farm showcases their students' music and art annually at the Music & Art Showcase.  The kids all got to sing with their grade levels, play instruments and create music.  Their artwork was showcased in the Elementary Arts Center for us to observe and celebrate.  Great job all!

Owen's House

FFA (Future Farmers of America)

 Cooper is involved in FFA through Oak Farm.  Crystal, the Farm Manager, has created such an incredible program for the kids to participate in competitions, leadership opportunities, and opportunities to speak.  Cooper attended this FFA regionals event and competed with Extemporaneous Speaking and some other competitions.  

Scouts Fish Fry

 The Troop 2 Boy Scouts run the annual Fish Fry.  Dawson enjoyed getting his hands really dirty and breading buckets and buckets of raw fish with his friends.  Then he enjoyed serving customers and helping to run the event in March.  What a great experience!

Roller Dome Skate Night

 Troop 2 Scouts held a roller dome skate night for families.  Dawson was able to earn his Roller Skating merit badge while the rest of us enjoyed some fun skate time!  All the kiddos are getting pretty good at roller skating!! 

Simplx Girl's Apple Dipping

 For Simplx Girl's Night, we learned how to make Caramel Apples with Greg's sister Heather.  She came and brought large honeycrisp apples, caramel and an assortment of toppings to dip them in.  We each got to make 2 apples.  It was a fun time together and yummy treats!

Nathan's Doggy Bank for Oak Farm

 Oak Farm founder, Lorene Dekko Salsbery, believed that providing choice in education to families in NE Indiana was important. So important in fact, that she used her own funds to purchase the land and seed the formation of the school. Twenty-four years later, her family's foundation continues to give a grant annually that supports operating expenses and provides tuition assistance to students. This dedication to philanthropy is not lost on our students and community.

Yesterday, four lower elementary students visited the front office to drop off their donation collected to benefit the school. This was child directed, child initiated, and a celebration of the children's work. "We want to make sure the school stays around for a really long time," shared second year Parker Walkup. After reading the book, "Una Caja" by Ana Galan, this Spanish Dual Language classroom felt compelled to combine their Spanish language lessons about recycling with the book's theme of imagination and all the things a box can become...including a 'doggy bank'!

A love of dogs was the obvious choice for the themed project, and a love of Oak Farm Montessori School, was the obvious choice for the recipient of their funds. Another second year, James Malon, said, "Other kids have to come here and have fun, I like it here."

How much did they raise? Well, that isn't really the point is it? At OFMS we say, it's not what you give, but that you give...and that message has been heard by our compassionate and philanthropic students, loud and clear. Thank you LE1

Komets Hockey Game

 Simplx is sponsoring the Komets and have developed the Komet's Penalty Box Camera.  We installed a camera in both penalty boxes for people to view.  And then we can get leads from those that view the Simplx Sponsored Penalty Cameras.  Because of our sponsorship, we got 7 box tickets.  We went to several games this season and always had a great time!  The Komet's Scout night was a fun one that I took the younger scouts to with some scout friends.  Go Fort Wayne Komets!

Simplx Cares: Project 216

 Our winter Simplx Cares event was Project 216, a public food packing event.  We packed thousands of meal packs by the end of the 2 hour period.  All the kids got involved and we had a lot of Simplx participation.  Everyone had a job, from scooping rice, to opening plastic pouches, to adding spices, to sealing the pouches, to pounding them down, filling a box & ringing a bell!  Lots of fun and good service :-)

Camp Paradise Middle School Play

 Kaylee participated in a middle school play directed by Kavin Ley.  The middle schoolers put on a story about summer camp and all the funny things that go into a summer overnight teen camp.  She even developed a "boy laugh" that was way too hilarious with her backwards cap and boy attitude.  She had a ton of fun with this.  The middle school was raising funds to support a philanthropical cause through ticket sales and concessions.  The middle school really went all out!  One hundred percent of the proceeds from the show will go to Habitat for Humanity whose mission is to make sure everyone has a “decent place to live.” Students chose this worthy cause because as Oliver G. shared, “it directly benefits people in need” and they believe in its mission. The show met its goal of $2,000 Thursday night and still has sales in progress to raise more.