Here in Colorado, winter can mean shorter days, colder temperatures, and sometimes icy side streets for weeks at a time. But it also means snowfall on a sunny afternoon, sledding, hot chocolate, and the occasional beloved snow day, precipitated by a spoon in the freezer at our house. While some see winter as the season of slowing down and settling in, since moving to Colorado as an adult, I’ve always seen it as a time of solemn beauty and almost weekly treks to the mountains to play in the snow with family.
For your Colorado Academy Parent Association, winter brings with it some beloved traditions and favorite activities as well, like Winter Market, Cookie Fest, and the Used Book Sale. In late November the Winter Market Greenery Sale Co-Chairs Jeanne Coleman and Lauren Sanley coordinated the online purchase and in-person distribution of winter greens, candles, poinsettias, and succulents on what truly was a wintry-cold day. Inside, Amy Stettner and Nancy Kimball and their crew of CA family vendors transformed the Sadler meeting room into a CA community market, where tables upon tables of gift items were perused, from toys and notecards, to skin care products and coffee, and from screen-printed water bottles and t-shirts, to candles and crafts. It was a wonderful way to catch up with CA friends and do a little holiday shopping at the same time.
The next PA winter event was held in early December, and once again CA families rose to the occasion. Cookie Fest is another annual event, this year chaired by Brooke Beasley and Jodi Rossiter, where CA community members bake homemade cookies and treats for distribution to the hard-working and talented faculty and staff at Colorado Academy. It was wonderful to see the creativity and generosity from those who either baked, transported, coordinated, or assembled boxes and boxes of sweet treats, while catching up with friends old and new.
As I type this, the yearly collection of gently used books for the annual PA Used Book Sale is well underway. Chaired this year by Caity Barton and Helen Weekes, the Used Book Sale is yet another way for our parent community to come together for some hard work and fun, all to benefit our school and community. Thousands of books have already been collected, transported, and categorized, awaiting resale. It is always powerful to see the sea of books in Sadler at the beginning of the sale, and even more impactful to see our children bring home “new-to-them” books to read and enjoy.
During this season of slowing down and Hardy’s “winter’s dregs,” the PA winter events are instead a source of joy, friendship, and activity, and a way of fulfilling the mission of the Parent Association: working to build the culture of community in our school and helping families feel connected. Many thanks to all of you who continue to enhance the unique culture of this special place. Here’s to a season of brightness and warmth for you and your family in the coming months.
Amy McPheeters is the CA Parent Association President-Elect.