Dear Fabulous Mosaic Community,
We're excited to update you about what we've been up to lately as we expand, develop, grow, and mature! Spring was a very full season for us — we hit a new record with six outdoor school sessions, three Youth Leadership trainings, and our ever-growing In-School Program initiative. Check out our 2008 Snapshot for a little slice of the Mosaic magic that our students, teachers, staff, and Youth Leaders experienced in Napa this spring.
"I knew Mosaic would teach me about peace, but I didn't know it would teach me how to make peace." — Nicolai, Age 9
We have also been working away in the office as we move over to our new database. Thanks in part to an in-kind grant from the Taproot Foundation, our new database will make us more efficient and productive in exciting and innovative ways!
And Now We Are More…
This September, we hired our fourth full-time staff member! We are thrilled to introduce Cherine Badawi, our new Curriculum and Training Director, to expand our in-school programs. Her dynamic and transnational experience in peace and social justice education will offer so much to our team. We're lucky to have her on board!Cherine has already hit the ground running. She has been busy developing in-school programming for our partner schools that will infuse Mosaic values into classrooms from kindergarten through ninth grade. We believe that a comprehensive in-school component is the “missing link” that will deepen our impact on school communities. It will help us lay the groundwork for our intensive residential outdoor school experience and reinforce lessons learned after the students return home. Also, with Cherine's support this month, we were able to offer several professional development trainings to other organizations and share our unique multicultural education strategies. We'll keep you posted on new developments!
Calling All Mosaic Teachers!
As we cultivate our in-school programs, we'd love to hear your wisdom, input, and ideas. We will soon create a Mosaic Teachers Advisory Council to help us develop and grow our in-school programs. If you are a teacher interested in offering your insights, please email Cherine by the end of October. We look forward to hearing from you!The World Is Listening
You all must be busy spreading the word about us because people are catching on! We're excited to share some of the positive press we've been enjoying recently. For starters, you can read a great feature article about us in the East Bay Monthly's August issue.We've also been selected to participate in GreatNonprofits, a helpful website that invites our greater community to share impressions of their Mosaic experience. Around the holidays, GreatNonprofits will pick a handful of reviews to publish in a “Giving and Volunteering Guide” to be inserted into local newspapers. We hope that your voices will be included, so please let the world know what you think and write a review!
Until Next Time…
Keep your eyes peeled for an exciting announcement next week about Brett Dennen's new album! We'll let you know all the details soon.Once again, we thank you for your generous support and for being an important part of our community.
Peacing it together,
Rachel & the Mosaic Team
The Mosaic Project
580 Grand Ave., Suite 303
Oakland, CA 94610
510-452-3377
mosaicproject.org