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NEWS FROM THE AMERICAN MONTESSORI SOCIETY COMMUNITY
MONTESSORI SPOTLIGHT: HAYWARD TWIN OAKS MONTESSORI SCHOOL, CASTRO VALLEY, CA
"We are all a single organism, one nation." -Maria Montessori
When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the world grappled with collective shock, anger, and fear-and then moved to action. The Montessori community did the same. From schools around the world, we have heard stories of educators, administrators, students, and families coming together to support those impacted by war, violence, and displacement.
Maria Montessori herself was no stranger to times such as these. Having lived through two world wars, she spent much time reflecting on peace education and believed deeply in the child's ability to bring about peaceful change. Her quote above, from Education and Peace, is a testament to her belief in the interconnectedness of all the world's inhabitants.
Hayward Twin Oaks Montessori School (HTOMS), in Castro Valley, CA, is located 6,119 miles from Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine-a geographic distance that at one point in history may have seemed endlessly long but that is now, thanks to technology and our interconnectedness, very immediately near. Frida Azari, an Elementary educator at HTOMS, wanted to find a way to support Ukrainian children and launched the One Nation Fundraiser, named for the aforementioned Montessori quote.
The goal was to raise $500 to send to UNICEF to support women and children in Ukraine.
Twenty-seven Upper Elementary students took part, supporting the project by serving on one of three committees: the marketing team, the bookkeeping team, or the sales and inventory team.
The marketing team broke into small groups to create posters with a consistent background and message. They chose "We need your helping hand" as their tagline and used blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag, on the posters, establishing a recognizable theme. The students added personal handwritten touches to the posters and hung them around campus (and checked on them frequently to assure they hadn't fallen). They also spread the word about the campaign by passing out information in school carline and sent flyers home with students.
The bookkeeping team was joined by a parent volunteer, who handled the money and worked at a donation table. The student bookkeepers were in charge of tracking donation slips...