Upcoming Events
Thursday, October 26th, 1st & 8th Grade Field Trip to A&M Farms
Friday, October 27th, 5:30 - 7:00pm, Día de los Muertos Celebration (We can use flowers and other natural decorations for our ofrenda (altar). If you have corn stalks, gourds, marigolds or other flowers, please send them to school on Wednesday, October 25th.)
Friday, October 27th, 3rd Grade Field Trip to Food for Lane County
Monday, October 30th, 5:30PM, Board Meeting, Zoom
November 1st - 3rd, No School (Grading and conferences)
Monday, November 6th, 6th Grade Field Trip
Wednesday, November 8th, 6:00 - 8:00pm, Math Night
Quick Links
In the interest of reducing the sheer length of the Village Voice, we have replaced several repeating items with links to shortcuts:
Día de los Muertos Volunteer Signups (1 set up and 1 clean up helper needed)
Potluck Signups (A few more signups are needed)
Math Night Volunteer Signups (12 volunteers needed)
Administrator's Message
Greetings Village School Community!
Things are really happening at the Village School!!! We are so excited for the beautiful fall weather and all that comes with it! Two of our favorite things about fall are MUSHROOMS and the DIA DE LOS MUERTOS CELEBRATION and we will talk about both in this administrator's message!
We start with Dia de los Muertos coming up this Friday, October 27th at 5:30pm! We will have a potluck, face painting, crafts, and a performance by Raices de Oregon-Baile Folklorico. It’s going to be an awesome party, be sure to mark your calendars.
Día de los Muertos is also a celebration that reminds us that death is a natural part of the cycle of life, and that all things pass from the physical world eventually. On the Day of the Dead, the borders between the spirit world and the physical world dissolve and the spirits of those who have passed travel back to us to celebrate. Traditionally, people place food, and drink, and items that were important to those dead ancestors on the ofrenda to honor them and help them find their way back. Here is a fantastic looking recipe to whip up for your own Dia de los Muertos Celebration! The recipe calls for a famous fungus, which allows us to segue perfectly into our next favorite fall thing: Mushrooms. Since mushroom season has officially begun, we will allot some time for three interesting mushroom facts.
1. The fungus in the recipe above is called Ustilago maydis. It infects young kernels of corn, turning them into bloated, bulbous, zombie-like, monster blobs. After the corn is infected, it is called a corn smut and it’s edible! This delicacy is called huitlacoche, an Aztec word, and it’s very nutritious and delicious. Roz ate some once in Tulum and found it to be delightful, if a little macabre. In Aztec times, a big flush of huitlacoche was a good omen for a successful and bountiful harvest! This is a great article about how cultural assumptions and bias keep cool foods like huitlacoche off our tables in the US!
2. Mushrooms are more closely related to people than they are plants. In fact, this is partly why fungal infections on people are notoriously difficult to overcome–many medicines that fight fungal cells will also fight human cells because they are so structurally similar. So when you see that elfin saddle (Helvella lacunosa) staring up at you with the wizened features of an ancestor, lean in and listen! She might have a funny joke to tell you.
3. Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) lure roundworms into their mycelia and once they’re in, they paralyze them with a special nerve gas, and suck out their insides. We’re not making this up! It says so right in the first line of this article.
One last detail, please turn in your Walk-a-Thon contributions. Our tally is getting close to $12,300 and we'd like to finish this fundraiser soon!
Stay cozy,
Roz, Shannon, & Andy
Thank you Volunteers!
Thank you to all of our amazing volunteers who have started the year off strong supporting field trips, the kitchen, in the classroom, and most recently the Walkathon and Picture Day! Thank you for signing up to support Día de los Muertos, as well!
Because of your generosity and commitment, our students are able to experience wonderful events throughout the year! We appreciate you!
Calling all Volunteers
There are many fun-filled events that are coming up at our school!
These events cannot happen without the support of parent volunteers. Work toward meeting your 40 volunteer hours with one or all of these events!
Our Día de los Muertos Celebration is on Friday, October 27th! (see details below) We need 1 more volunteer to help with Setup, and 1 more volunteer to help with Cleanup. Here is the link to sign up.
Math Night is happening on Wednesday, November 8! (see details below) We are looking for 12 more volunteers to help out at this fun event! Here is the link to sign up.
Please let me know which volunteer positions interest you! If you have not filled out a volunteer packet yet, please swing by the office to pick one up. If you have any questions
514-345-7285
We ask families to contribute 40 hours of volunteer hours per year, and single parent households to contribute 20 hours. There are so many ways to meet these hours, while getting to make connections with other families, and helping to make Village School the incredible community that it is. We could not do this without you!
Another way to contribute to our school community is by attending Parent Council Meetings! We will be holding our next meeting on Tuesday, November 14th at 6pm in the Village School Library. Every parent and guardian's voice is valued in decisions about what Parent Council funds are used for, events that are held and collaborations with departments and teachers at the Village School!
Don't forget to sign in and out at the office when you volunteer, as well as to sign up for HelpCounter and report your hours so we can see the amazing contributions from our Village School Families
Día de los Muertos Celebration
The Village School Día de los Muertos celebration is this Friday, October 27th!
Please join us for musical and dance performances, crafts, face painting, and a potluck dinner. We are excited to see you all at this wonderful evening!
*We are still looking for one volunteer to help with set up and one to help with cleanup, as well as potluck contributions.
We can use flowers and other natural decorations for our ofrenda (altar). If you have corn stalks, gourds, marigolds or other flowers, please send them to school on Wednesday, October 25th. Thank you all for making this event possible!
Village School T-Shirt Sales
Help support the Village School Parent Council with some Village School swag! These items are all offered as presale. You may order items until 11/8. On that day we will submit our order and shirts/sweatshirts should be ready to pick up in early December. If there are manufacturing delays you will be notified.
Thank you so much for supporting Village school. Funds from these items go into the Parent Council account to support activities for our students.
You can order at: https://www.eugenevillageschool.org/shop
Kindergarten Field Trip
The kindergarteners had a great visit to the pumpkin patch at A&M Farms. Thank you so much to our parent drivers and chaperones!
8th Grade Fundraising
See some opportunities to support the 8th grade below:
Wreath Sales are here! The ordering deadline is November 6, 2023. Order pick up will be the first week in December. Orders can be made via our online store (click here), by QR code, or follow the link under Shop on the Village School Website, or in person at our sales table on 10/18 after school, or on 10/27 during the Día de los Muertos festival.
Grab a pizza dinner on November 1st!
Song Circle
Last Friday, we had our first all school singalong assembly. Thank you to Jennifer Sellers and Jon Bilenki for leading it! Since it went so well, we are hoping to have this be a fun, monthly tradition.
Library News
Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) is starting soon. OBOB is a state-wide, voluntary reading program in which students form teams of four, read from a set of 16 books, then participate in "battles" where they answer trivia questions about the books. OBOB will be an extracurricular activity taking place outside of school hours. This may be different than some grades had in the past. Be on the lookout for OBOB sign up sheets that students who want to participate bring home. Students may form their own team or sign up and I will place them on a team. I also need at least one parent for each team to be their coach. This involves hosting a meeting, (usually once a week or once every 2 weeks) helping the children decide what books to read, and helping them practice answering questions. If you are interested in coaching, please provide your name and contact information on the OBOB sign up sheet. For more information, you can see the OBOB website or contact me.
Molly Bautista, VS Librarian
Spanish Class Happenings
The 7th graders helped their 2nd grade buddies with Día de los Muertos crafts!
Aftercare Helpers
A few of our students decided that they wanted to help clean up the campus during Village Care! Thank you Ezra, Peregrine, and Wendell!
The Village School Math Night
Math games for all ages including parents! Prizes! Pizza! Wednesday, November 8, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Sponsored by Title 1 and Mathnasium of Eugene
Please sign up here to volunteer at this fun event!
Parent Council
The next Parent Council Meeting will be on November 14th at 6:00pm! We will be meeting in the Village School Library.
Please join us and send questions and ideas to parentcouncil@eugenevillageschool.org.
The notes from past meetings can be found here.
Every Village School parent and guardian is a part of Parent Council - Parent Council Meetings are open to all parents and guardians on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.
You can also engage with Village School families on the Parent Council Facebook page, The Village Vine!
Village School Lunch Diaries
What's not to love about rice and beans day! Plenty of Yumm sauce, the Village School's own hot sauce and chimichurri sauce.
Chickpea Tandoori is always such a treat! A squeeze of lime and fresh cilantro really brings out the flavors. Paired with slow roasted cauliflower, it's delightful.
Help Wanted
Substitute Teacher & Substitute Educational Assistant
Duties: Serve as substitute teacher or substitute classroom assistant.
Qualifications: Experience working with groups of children. Knowledge of Waldorf curriculum a plus.
Teachers require Valid Oregon Teaching License:
[Main lesson (K-8), Movement/PE, Spanish, Music, Handwork]
Instructional Assistant (BA and fingerprint background check required) Willingness to get CPR training Background check required Complete Covid vaccination records Salary Range: $26 per hour for Teachers, $18 - $20 per hour for Assistants
Strong verbal and written communication skills
Benefits include our healthy lunch service, PERS coverage.
Community Bulletin Board
Eugene - Springfield Youth Orchestra String Academy
Registration is still open! There are a few more spaces available.
Beginning Strings – for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders! Classes are on 7:30 - 8:15am every Tuesday and Wednesday at the Village School.
Eugene-Springfield Youth Orchestras (ESYO) offers your children a chance to learn the violin, viola, or cello – and they provide the instrument to take home! Accessible, affordable classes are held right here at the Village School. Classes meet twice a week before school, Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30-8:15 in the music room.
Scholarships for program fees and instrument rentals for any family that qualifies for federal assistance. We also have scholarships for private lessons!
There are so many benefits! Students gain self-confidence, discipline, cooperation, and the sheer joy of making music together. They perform for their schools, and twice a year, the strings students from different classes come together to play their concerts and show what they’ve learned to family and friends.
It’s a unique and wonderful experience – find out more here: https://esyorchestras.org/programs/string-academy-i/ or 541-484-0473.
Oregon Children's Choir
Sing with the Oregon Children’s Choir!
The Oregon Children’s Choir welcomes 1st-12th graders to join one of our fun and inspiring choirs for the 2023-2024 school year! Develop new singing techniques, learn new songs and make new friends. Choirs meet once per week after-school and perform four concerts per year. Scholarships and sibling discounts available. Registration and information at www.oregonchildrenschoir.org.
