Our Top 10 TLC Moments from 2018
At the Reynolds Center TLC we’re celebrating the gift of “connecting the dots” with creative educators and changemakers like YOU! Thank you for all you do to inspire and support others to create bravely - and use their own gifts to move the world to a better place. We’re wishing you joyful, relaxing holidays ahead, and look forward to more creative collaboration in 2019!
1) Cisco Foundation Awards Grant for FabMaker STEM Program in NH & NY
Thanks to a generous grant from Cisco Foundation, the Reynolds Center is now able to offer Fab@School FabMaker Studio STEM program to young learners (K-6) in New Hampshire and upstate New York. This funding will allow another 20 elementary schools and 5 public libraries to secure the full program - including software, hardware and onsite/virtual PD through June 2020. Designed in collaboration with Dr. Peggy Healy Stearns and the Fab@School Coalition led by Dr. Glen Bull at UVA, Fab@School Maker Studio is the first digital fabrication software tool developed specifically for use in the classroom. While the maker buzz is generally about more elaborate 3D printing (e.g. additive layer printers & laser printers,) the FabMaker online program offers teachers a more practical, affordable onramp to 3D design that features low-cost paper and cardstock, inexpensive digital cutters, and a range of projects. Research conducted in partnership with Harvard University’s PEAR Institute have demonstrated dramatic increase in students’ disposition toward STEM learning, identity & careers. Interested schools are encouraged to complete the quick online application for the FabNH and FabNY grant-funded programs. Application deadline: Friday, Jan. 4, 2019. For more information contact Andrea Calvin at andrea@reynoldstlc.org.
2) The Word Collectors Website Unveiled
Thanks to support from literacy champion Brigid Huberman at the nonprofit Children’s Reading Connection, the Reynolds Center team has built and launched www.TheWordCollectors.org site! Along with providing free, downloadable resources, the site will now serve as the official HQ for The Word Collector book - with spotlights on educators and students who are celebrating the book all across the nation. As Brigid explains her enthusiasm for the book, "There is no doubt that the greatest things we can do to help children discover their full potential is to give them words. The Word Collector has the potential to transform word culture for children. It is THE perfect book to be placed in the hands, homes, and hearts of as many children and families as possible." Are you celebrating your favorite words? Share with us here!
3) Reynolds Center Launches TLC Virtual Open Studios
The Reynolds Center gets daily requests for Peter H. & Paul Reynolds to come to their schools, and while they’d LOVE to visit, it’s practically just not possible. So, we’ve launched a bi-annual, half-hour live webcast where classrooms can join Peter & Paul for a live, interactive virtual school visit. The duo has already connected with students across the U.S. and Canada - reading picture books, drawing live, and answering students’ questions. Schools are encouraged to consider a token honorarium in the form of a donation to help us continue our nonprofit mission, but the Center won’t turn any school away who wants to participate. For more information, check it out here.
4) On the Road Again . . . And Again . . . And Again!
While we enjoy our cozy, colorful HQ high atop the Boston Children’s Museum, the Reynolds Center team also enjoys traveling around the country - and world - to connect the dots in person with educators, students, librarians, school leadership, and foundations. In 2018, Peter and Paul keynoted California CUE in Palm Springs, CA, NCTE in Houston, NERIC Tech-A-Day in Albany, NY, Americorps ServeMinnesota in Indianapolis, Cause Camp in Nebraska, Universal Children’s Day at Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, MA, Teaching Channel TeamsFest in Portland, OR, Lusher Charter School Teacher Retreat in New Orleans, Berkshire County Professional Development Day in Pittsfield, MA, - and Peter is packing his back to talk at BETT in London next month! Check out everything that is planned for January 2019! For more information on speaking engagements, click here.
5) TLC League of Visionaries Unite
In 2018, the Reynolds Center launched the TLC League of Visionaries program - bringing together and celebrating kindred spirits who embrace our mission-based focus to foster creative, purposeful human potential around the globe. As a community of creative educators, we are united by the knowledge that so much of what is truly authentic and transformational learning is not contained in scope and sequence charts . . and can not be tested by the crude, unforgiving “testing cameras.” The TLC League of Visionaries is also a safe harbor for educators who understand the power of story to touch and change lives - using ample doses of empathy, compassion, creativity, and TLC to help learners navigate their full potential. If this sounds like your cup of tea, we’d LOVe you to join the League of Visionaries.
6) Hutch Celebrates Culture with its 20th Issue!
The Blue Bunny Bookstore once again hosted our HUTCH Magazine party - and this time marked the occasion of our 20th issue! Peter H. Reynolds hosted the December event, which featuring the ceremonial unboxing of the magazine in front of the ardent gaze of students (who contributed art and writing) and their families hailing from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and Texas.
The afternoon included delicious treats, a celebratory speech by Peter, autographing of copies of the new issue, and staff photo. Stay tuned for some exciting expansion plans for HUTCH, which will provide digital resources to help even more students be able to participate in this engaging ELA/publishing adventure! To contribute to HUTCH Issue 21, hop over to the Hutch Kids Magazine website. To purchase Issue 20, click here.
7) Oh My Word! Peter H. Reynolds Celebrates TWO New York Times Best-Selling Books in 2018
This spring, Peter was thrilled to learn that his storybook The Word Collector (Orchard Books) debuted at the #4 spot on the NYTimes Children’s Best Seller list. As Common Sense Media noted, after reading the book, "Kids will be inspired to 'collect' interesting words that strike their own fancy. The book also carries the strong and clear message that words are powerful tools for expressing what we are 'thinking, feeling, and dreaming.'" On the heels of The Word Collector, Peter’s collaboration with Author Susan Verde called I Am Human (Abrams Books) hit the NYTimes Best Seller list at (drum roll, please . . . ) the #1 spot. At its heart, this picture book is a celebration of empathy and compassion that lifts up the flawed fullness of humanity and encourages children to see themselves as part of one big imperfect family—millions strong.
8) International Dot Day Soars Past 13 Million Participants in 181 Countries
When Iowa educator Terry Shay and his students launched Dot Day back in 2009, little did they know all the dot connecting they’d causing - 13,415,164 to date, to be exact - all over the big blue dot of Planet Earth! Now called International Dot Day, the event, which celebrates the themes in Peter H. Reynolds book The Dot, inspires creativity and the courage to make one’s mark - on or around September 15th-ish every year. Easy sign up and free resources can be found at The Dot Club- and video and photos of global Dot Day celebrations can be enjoyed at on the Facebook page and Twitter.
9) FabMaker Studio STEM Program Adopted in 70 Schools in Massachusetts
With funding from Cisco Foundation and Morgridge Family Foundation, the Reynolds Center launched Fab@School MaSTEM, a grant-funded initiative bringing the Fab@School FabMaker Studio STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) program to Massachusetts school children across across 70 sites from Barnstable to the Berkshires. Schools have received FabMaker software, digital fabrication hardware and professional development as part of the grant.
10) We Celebrate Community at the First Rose’s Garden StoryWalk
This summer we teamed up with our Boston neighbors to launch the first Garden StoryWalk - featuring Peter’s' children's book, Rose's Garden - on the city’s stunning Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. Inspired by Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy’s faith and resilience, the book features a little girl named Rose who is determined to grow a garden on a dusty urban patch of land. Her vision and patience inspire the city’s children to bring paper flowers to cheer Rose on - until the miracle moment when Rose’s garden blooms side by side with the rainbow of paper flowers. The Greenway and partner organizations - The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, the Boston Children's Museum, and The Reynolds Center for Teaching, Learning, and Creativity, FableVision Studios, hosted paper flower making activities throughout the summer with a culminating event featuring Peter reading the book, and a special visit by the amazingly talented actress Nen Horan who played a fully costumed and propped “Rose” during the reading! For resources to host your own Rose’s Garden Paper Flower Making event, dig into this.
A special thanks to all of YOU who have helped us further the mission.
We couldn’t do it without your support and donations.