Life Academy Holiday Open House

The Monarch Life Academy invites you to an open house and holiday gift market on Tuesday, December 11, from 8:00 to 4:30. The Life Academy students will be offering a variety of wonderful items for sale, including notecards, gift baskets, soaps, and jewelry. The Monarch Tuesday tour will be given at noon, as usual, so bring a friend!

Online discussion about autism, 5/10 at 11:00

The Chronicle of Higher Education website will host an online conversation with anthropologist Roy Richard Grinker, author of Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism, on Thursday, May 10, at 11:00 CDT. You can submit questions ahead of time, follow the discussion in real time, and read a transcript later.

A Tisket, a Tasket...

...a Monarch Life Academy basket--on sale!

We are excited to announce our Spring Sale. The Monarch Life Academy students have worked hard to create a huge variety of wonderful baskets and gifts this spring. Please take some time to come by a browse for those gifts on your list.

Posted on behalf of Tessa Sandlin.

Pr/Marketing News

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE! SHANNON WOODRUFF is Monarch's new PR/Marketing Team Leader! Shannon's BA is in business administration with a major in marketing. She also holds an MA degree in general business. Shannon loves wearing multiple hats as Monarch's Director of Development, and admits that she "thrives on having lots on my plate". She will take our team to new heights as our school continues to thrive!

Our internal PR/Marketing Team was formed two years ago, as we grew larger and had the need for better coordination of all publicity and marketing. The team members are:

John Barone, Learning Center Director
Linda Caruso, Life Academy
Jenny Ferguson, Capital Campaign Assistant
Debrah Hall, Apprentice Program Director
Kyle Nguyen, Technology Director
Emily Reiter, Learning Center/Summer Program Assistant
Neal Sarahan, Challenger Program Director
Bryant Shaw, Diagnostic Clinic
Jessica Stoner, Events Coordinator
Jennalee Taylor, Admissions Director
Marty Webb, Head of School
Shannon Woodruff, Development Director

Having Shannon as the PR/Marketing Team Leader will also give Movers and Shapers who have projects involving publicity or marketing a "go to" person for help and advice!

Thanks, Shannon! We are SO glad you are on board!

"The Monarch Hour" on KPFT Radio, FM 90.1

On Thursday, April 5th, from 12 noon to 1 p.m., KPFT Radio, FM 90.1, will host its first program entitled "The Monarch Hour." The first program will feature Monarch staff, parents, volunteers and students informing the public about The Monarch School in a unique format.

This radio program, featuring The Monarch School, was facilitated through the superb initiative of our very own Marion Defalco, Movers and Shapers Facilitator of The Heralds Committee. Thanks so much, Marion! Please stay tuned for more information!

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR!

Congratulations to Justin Fox,
Chairman of the Monarch Movers & Shapers!

Justin was recently chosen to be one of 9 people out of many nominated to receive the 2007 Mayor’s Volunteer Houston Award! Now everyone in the city will know what we’ve known all along: Justin Fox has gone above and beyond in his support of the Monarch School since day one! City of Houston Mayor Bill White will personally present the award to Justin during a ceremony at the Houston Intercontinental Hotel.

This is the second time a Monarch volunteer has won this award. Justin shares the honor with another great Mover and Shaper, Ms. Penny Weiss, who received this award in 2005! Hooray!

Monarch parent on the news tonight!

Monarch parent Jonathan Etterbeek's interview with Fox News will air tonight at 9:30pm! Jonathan is a fabulous advocate for Monarch, and he's working with Marion DeFalco on a project to help many military families who have children with special needs.

We're in the News!

Monarch parent Jonathan Etterbeek was interviewed regarding special education in Texas. The interview will air this Thursday at 9:30pm on Channel 9 (Fox News). Jonathan is an articulate spokesperson and advocate for families whose children's needs cannot be met by the public schools.

We appreciate you, Jonathan!

Marty

Computers and Laptops

If you have not already heard, I wanted to share the great news with all of you. The Monarch School is a member of a program called Gifts In Kind. This program allows non-profits like us to "Shop" (we don't actually pay anything) for items that we need. These items are typically donated by large corporations. These items can be anything from furniture or computers, or even office supplies. Upon hearing that ExxonMobil had donated over 400 desktops and laptops to the program, I immediately asked for 32 desktops and 10 laptops. And guess what?!?! We got ALL of them. This is great news because these computers can replace all the student computers on both campuses.

Also, we recently received a generation donation from the Viereck's (Monarch parents) to pay for a defibrillator and cabinet for each campus, and for pediatric pads for the Apprentice campus. We are thrilled that they did this for us, especially with all the news going around about schools that do/do not have them. All staff will be trained at the beginning of November on how to use them.

Our Resident Artist

Hello all you Movers & Shapers,

If you missed it, check out this terrific Channel 2 News Report on the success of Kate, one our Monarch students!

http://www.monarchschool.org/NewsArticle17.html

Best,

John

Movers & Shapers Orientation

There's a whole lot of movin' and shapin' goin' on! Thanks all for your continuing dedication and hard work!

If you didn't attend last year's exciting orientation, sign up for the next one scheduled for Sept. 25! And please let us know of any new recruits so we can get them signed up as well!

Cheers,

JB

Water Report

This just in: our pond wasn't all that dirty, at least in terms of contaminants. Here's the report from the City of Houston:

"Your pond is pretty clean. You have the normal coliform bacteria that is found in all surface water. There is a small amount of E.Coli, 17 per 100mls. This is a very low count compared to the City Bayous. E.Coli is a measue of the fecal contamination in the pond. There must not be very many warm blooded animals around. Ducks can give a high count along with farm animals."

Testing the Waters

I'll be at the Apprentice Campus tomorrow morning collecting water from the pond. We'll have it tested by the county. Before summer programs start we'll be cleaning out the pond and refilling it. After the water (and the fish!) has had a chance to settle the kids can draw a second sample to compare to the first. Should be an interesting experiment!