First Steps Has High Hopes Pasta Dinner and Silent Auction will Fund Program for Another Year
First Steps playgroup sessions end with a closing circle with songs or a poem, and a goodbye song.
photo credit: First Steps
Manchester First Steps’ 3rd annual Pasta Dinner and Silent Auction is just around the corner. In fact, tickets are on sale now for this huge fundraiser happening on Saturday, March 29 at the High School Commons. Doors will open at 4:30pm and a pasta dinner, catered by Classic Catering of Frank’s Place, will be served until 7:30pm. In addition to the delicious food, there will be a large silent auction with 50+ baskets, 50/50 raffle, a Kindle Fire raffle, bake sale/ dessert-by-donation table, and a kid’s box raffle. Entry to the auction, raffles and the bake sale is free. Pasta dinner tickets are available from First Steps families, Frank’s Place Restaurant and Manchester Community Schools Central Office in the Ackerson Building. Advance tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children age 6-12. There are discounts for families and seniors. Children 5 and under are free.
Christie Taylor, whose son is shown here painting a tooth white with a toothbrush as one activity during a dental-hygiene focused week, talked about her experience with First Steps and Beckie Brewis, “The FSW (First Steps Washtenaw) experience doesn’t end after our children’s first five years. As a mom, I made strong and supportive relationships with other FSW parents that I wouldn’t have made otherwise. We spent two days a week together for five years, in a supportive and educational environment for our children. Parents and children can’t help but form strong friendships in that type of environment. Also, during my son’s Early On years, Beckie was a constant source of support and information. Yes, I got a big folder of Early On info, but with three young children who has the time?? Because I had a level of trust in Beckie, I would call her and she would direct me to the certain forms in my folder I needed. I will forever be grateful to the skills that Beckie taught me and the help she has offered our family and all FSW families.”
photo credit: First Steps
Manchester First Steps is a non-profit early childhood education program here in Manchester. It provides twice weekly parent/child play & learn groups for families with children from birth to kindergarten. These groups meet during the school year on Thursday morning from 9:30-11am and Tuesday evenings from 6 to 7:30pm and are led by a certified early childhood education specialist. Children have organized opportunities for social play, activities, music, snack and physical activity. Meanwhile, parents have a chance to connect, and opportunities to learn new parenting skills and approaches to support their child’s early learning. In addition, the program’s certified educator provides developmental screenings, personal visits, parent classes and connects families to additional community resources.
The Reggie the Rainbow program has been very successful in getting kids to try fruits and vegetables they aren’t familiar with. Each week fruit and vegetables of a different color are introduced and each child is expected to try a small bite. Afterward, they get to add that color to their rainbow hat. These 3 tried all of their colors!
photo credit: First Steps
The theory behind First Steps is that parents are a child’s first and most influential teachers. Manchester First Steps uses the Parents as Teachers (PAT) curriculum. Rebecca Brewis, the certified specialist who facilitates First Steps in Manchester explains, “PAT teaches parents to capture the teachable moments in everyday life, enhancing their child’s language development, intellectual growth, social development and motor skills. It ultimately assists children in reaching their full potential and preparing them for school and LIFE success!”
A child’s brain grows and develops faster in the first five years than at any other time in his/her life. The First Steps room is full of learning toys for even it’s youngest participants!
photo credit: First Steps
Manchester First Steps is in it’s 13th year. Brewis commented on the impact of the program over this period of time, “Next year the oldest preschoolers who participated in First Steps in 2001 will graduate from high school! It has been so exciting to see these children grow up in our community and to see how their families have supported their learning, the community and each other.”
Brewis explains the link between nurturing and brain development, “Children are born learning and while each child comes to life with a certain genetic makeup, the experiences each child has is what helps their brain development and grow. A child’s environment – and the amount of nurturing and care they get from the adults in their lives – shapes their brain development. Forming stable and nurturing relationships fosters healthy growth.”
photo credit: First Steps
Manchester First Steps began in 2001 with state funding targeted at developing, connecting and promoting services that help children enter kindergarten “ready to succeed”. Each district in Washtenaw county, including Manchester, started a First Steps program. Unfortunately, because of a decline in the economy, the state discontinued funding in the second year. At that point, the Washtenaw Intermediate School District stepped in and funded all of the First Steps programs but at a much reduced rate. The WISD funding continued at decreased amounts each year until 2010, when it also discontinued funding.
Julie Helquist, whose children have been out of First Steps for years is active is organizing and working at the fundraiser every year. She said “My kids are 8.5 and 6 and still tell me they wish they could go to play group with Ms. Beckie! First Steps was the most wonderful opportunity for an out of town mom (lives in the country) to meet other parents and kids that my children would eventually go to school with. I’ve made lasting friendships and so have my kids. I also found out what a great town Manchester is and through First Steps found out about more activities available to my children that I would never have known about otherwise.”
This photo shows some of last year’s First Steps kids making ice cream. These kids will all eventually be in school together as well.
photo credit: First Steps
Although the Manchester Community Schools provides space for First Steps as well as sharing resources and support services, they were unable to assist with funding, and in the fall of 2011, First Steps did not open it’s doors for the first time in 10 years. Parents of children both currently and previously in the program met many times and created the 1st First Steps fundraiser in the spring 2012. It was successful enough that First Steps was able to start back up. Now all of it’s funding comes from the Manchester community, primarily through this annual fundraiser.
Some of the current First Steps participants holding teddy bears they received as part of a current parent/child multi-week education program aimed at normalizing bedtime routines.
photo credit: First Steps
This year’s fundraiser sounds like it will be as successful as ever, with more than 50 auction lots. These include many tickets to plays, concerts, games, races; an overnight golf getaway for 4 to Cadillac, zoo passes, and museum memberships. Some of the more popular items from previous years that are returning this year are Walt Disney World Park Hopper passes, a year membership at the Clark Lake Beach and Boat Club, Ugly Dog Distillery basket and Stormy Krommer caps!
Stephanie Johnson, parent of a child currently in the program and a kindergartener stated “First steps provided a wonderful opportunity to meet other Manchester parents! It was fun watching our little ones go through the program together and are now in the same grades at school. Rebecca Ann Brewis is also fabulous! My 2 year old (pictured here eating pancakes and applesauce for National Pancake Day with playgroup friends) said last week, ‘I love Miss Beckie and I love playgroup'”.
photo credit: First Steps
Each year the auction has been been filled with more and more local donations as more of Manchester finds out about First Step’s financial situation. This year, the auction is bursting with local donations, including 2 season passes for the upcoming MHS football games, a voucher for U-6 or U-8 recreation soccer, tickets to the MHS spring musical Fiddler on the Roof, a gift certificate to the Coffee Mill, oil changes from Wolf’s, a Community Garden plot, a year of fine-forgiveness from the library, 3 months of Jazzercise, gifts from Wild Acorn, summer ballet class from Dance Arts of Manchester, a scholarship to CAS music summer camp, subs from Subway, a purse from Marti’s and many more!
First Steps families plan an outing to the Binder Park Zoo at the end of every school year. Here are a few enjoying a zoo train ride.
photo credit: First Steps
Brewis would like to thank current and former First Steps families who have rallied community support by requesting auction donations and by asking them attend the fundraiser. She also would like to thank community members who have learned about the impact that First Steps has on families and children and have gotten behind their fundraising efforts!
Beckie Brewis reads Dr. Seuss as they prepare to make Green Eggs and Ham at playgroup.
photo credit: First Steps
If you have questions about the event or items you’d like to donate for next year’s auction, please contact Beckie Brewis (428-9711 ext. 1343 or bbrewis@mcs.12.mi.us.) If you are unable to attend the event but would like to support the program, tax-deductible donations can be made to Manchester Community Schools; Memo: “Manchester First Steps” and addressed to Kathleen Lixey, Central Administration, 410 City Road, Manchester, MI 48158. You can also contact Kathleen Lixey about donating at 428-9711 ext. 1005 or klixey@mcs.k12.mi.us.
Some of the auction item:
This Dr. Bronners gift basket full of organic, fair trade products both good for your body and for the planet is part of a “Healthy Living” basket that will also include a $50 gift certificate to Door to Door Organics.
Some of the baskets, this one included, will be on display this Friday at Math and Science Night at Klager Elementary and open for early bidding!
With the popularity of the Lego Movie, this bricks-4-Kidz basket is sure to be a hot item. It includes a voucher for an upcoming class as well lots of lego paraphernalia.
Baseball fan? The silent auction has tickets to a Tigers game, Mudhens game AND a White Caps game.
Every year the box raffle has had a remote control car and every year it has been a favorite with the kids. Kathy Dimond donated this radio-controled off-road safari vehicle so they wouldn’t be disappointed this year!
It’s pretty easy to day dream about a trip to Florida with this winter we’ve had! The silent auction includes 4 Walt Disney World one-day Park Hopper passes to help your day dream along.
These two caps and license plate donated by Steelegrafix will be paired with two 2014 season passes to MHS football games donated by the athletic boosters, in a “Dutch Fan” basket.
Beautiful, handmade accessories in the auction include a red corduroy purse by Marti, 4 crocheted scarves by Vale Salkauskas, earrings by Dee Miles and beaded necklaces and bracelets by Barb Ellison.
This guitar was donated for the silent auction by Worth Repeating, always a generous supporter of First Steps.
The silent auction includes golf packages at Mt. Brighton, Reddeman Farms in Chelsea and the Country Club in Cadillac (not pictured).
This complete sleepover set sized perfectly for 18″ dolls includes a sleeping bag with pillow, stuffed arm pillow, nightgown, 2-piece pajamas, slippers, robe, storage bag for clothes and a large carrying bag and was handmade and donated by Ruth Vanbogelen.
Does your family like the zoo? There are passes to the Toledo Zoo, Binder Park Zoo, Children’s Zoo (in Saginaw), African Wildlife Safari (in Port Clinton, OH) and The Great Lakes Zoological Society Indoor Zoo (in Ann Arbor) in the silent auction.
Speedball donated two different calligraphy sets for the silent auction, mailing them all the way from North Carolina. This is the second year in a row Speedball donated art supplies.
Zingermans donated a voucher for 2 to take one of their half day baking classes held at their bakehouse in Ann Arbor.
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