Each year, families come together to raise funds for EELP through a one-month fund drive that culminates in an art walk and auction where we celebrate, and raise the final funds needed to meet our fund drive goal. In 2015, families came together to raise unprecedented funds for EELP! Our total goal was $20,000 and families donated a whopping $38,000! What a success… • Last year, a record number of parent volunteers, and our favorite fundraising volunteer, Nidhi Jain, came together to coordinate all of the details for the auction infrastructure and the main event!

2015 Annual Appeal Contributions $6,500 $14,500

• Families and staff came together to donate more than double the usual amount of stellar auction items. • We “Raised the Paddle” for the first time! For our anti-bias library and play yard enrichment. • The fundraising team was intentionally focused on reflecting the values of community building, joy, gratitude and accessibility in every component of the 2015 Annual Appeal Campaign.

$17,000

Auction Annual Fund Raise the Paddle

We’re so grateful, and here is the impact of the 2015 Annual Appeal Campaign…

In the summer of 2013, a committee of families and staff came together to actualize a vision of the EELP library as being full of outstanding books that reflect the lives of all families in our program, and in our larger community, in authentic, respectful and honoring ways. To raise funds for purchasing books, we invited last year’s families to raise the paddle to fund our first round of books – and raise the paddle they did! As a result, we were able to spend $2,500 on remarkable books and the result has been impossible to quantify…

“Our classroom culture has changed for the better because of the equality we see demonstrated in our anti-bias library. Photos attached of our work around "Can boys wear dresses?" People are always shocked when I describe the anti-bias aspect of our curriculum.  I am beyond proud to share with my peers the complex work that we do with our children on a daily basis… Because of the intentional work that we do, together, to celebrate each other and advocate for each other, kids leave EELP empowered to be good friends, good students, and good citizens. This is unique, and this is difficult, but we are committed to the work and I am so very grateful for that.”   — Emily Claire, Interlaken Teacher, Mentor Teacher

“The first thing I think about in terms of the impact of last year’s fundraising is how wonderful the anti-bias library has been.  I have this specific memory of bringing one of the "Ling and Ting" books into the classroom when it first arrived.  I was reading it out loud to a group of kids and one of our newer kids, who at that time was still feeling really shy, was standing behind a couple of kids listening.  We were reading a part of the story where the two girls, Ling and Ting were making dumplings, and suddenly he said, "That's like me.  I eat dumplings at my house!"  That might seem like a small thing, but that was one of the first times this new child spoke to me, and it meant a lot!” — Megan Arnim, Salmonberry Teacher, Mentor Teacher

“Having a library that is specifically focused on anti-bias goals is helpful and enriching for a number of reasons. First, the children are able to see all kinds of people reflected in the pages of the stories they love to hear. Diverse faces are a natural part of the books they love, so they are already receiving the messages that boys can wear dresses, two people of the same gender can get married and all skin colors are beautiful, before they have time to learn otherwise. Sometimes the books do introduce an idea that provokes big questions. These books give us opportunities to talk about big topics while at the same time normalizing the idea that all people are important, capable and beautiful.”  
 — Megan Rupert, Huckleberry Teacher

We hold strong values about our play yard as a place where children feel like they are playing in their back yard, with limitless opportunities for natural open-ended play. And, we love finding ways to enhance these values. Last year, we invited families to donate to this effort - and families gave hugely, so we got to work! With these funds, we’ve built custom-made mud kitchens for each campus, a custom-made sand box for the Interlaken campus, purchased shelters, storage and more for each play yard. Once construction is concluded, there’s hopes of a installing big-body components on the Parish campus, akin to the opportunities found on the Interlaken play yard. “Kids need more assistance at a typical playground due to the prescribed nature of the equipment. At EELP, kids can play how they want with less support needed from the teachers which I think is an important step toward independence and confidence in one's ability. In this way, I can really connect with the Reggio philosophy that the environment as the "third teacher.” — Emily Pickens, Salmonberry Parent “The canopy for our playground has been a huge help…It has been a port in the storm as well as a cozy place for gatherings outside.” 
 — Emily Beckley, Interlaken Teacher “We are out on our play yard every day.  By the fifth month of rain a person can start to take it personally - a shelter helps to gain some perspective and realize the rain doesn't hate you.” 
 — Sandra Floyd, Blackberry Teacher, Mentor Teacher

“Documentation is an act of love” — Carla Rinaldi Every week, teachers pour hours of thoughtful reflection into their laptops - doing the tricky job of transforming careful observations and artifacts of children’s full lives at EELP (pictures, hand-written notes, artwork, etc) into documentation that makes children’s meaning and learning accessible. Approaching our fifth year, we knew it was past time to buy new computers for our teams and we weren't sure how we’d be able to buy the kind of technology teachers truly needed to do their best work. All that changed when we saw the final numbers from our 2015 Annual Appeal – we knew we could really research the best tool for the job. Thanks to some tech-savvy parents, we were able to select and buy a MacBook for each teaching team – amazing! “Something I really appreciate about working at EELP is that I’m seen as a professional, and am given the time, tools and support needed to do the job, as you would expect a professional to do. In other words, I appreciate the EELP is willing to invest in planning time, and especially time for teachers to talk together and collaborate in their work. Naturally the kids are the very best part of working here, but right after that, is getting to dig deep, reflect on our work, and collaborate with teachers and families with the resources we need… this totally feeds me!
 — Megan Arnim, Salmonberry & Mentor Teacher “Thanks to the generosity of our families, each teaching team now has a brand new MacBook to write documentation. This has maximized my planning time in a huge way. I no longer have to wait for the old PCs to boot up for fifteen minutes in order to begin documentation. Having old computers wasted so much of our planning time, so I am grateful to have these new computers to get more rich documentation out to the families and members of the EELP community.” — Veronica Reynoso, Huckleberry Teacher “To work at one of the highest quality programs in Seattle allows me to further deepen and strengthen my teaching career. There are many reasons and qualities as to why I value EELP. To name a few: a strong and clear set of values, working with other professionals and multi-disciplinary teams, endless resources and high-quality materials (the Macs have made a tremendous positive impact on my productivity as an educator), fostering communitybuilding opportunities, and maintaining an overall focus of relationship-building, are what keep me passionate and driven about my work. — Kate Tucker, Trillium Teacher

Teacher documentation is one of my favorite things about EELP for so many reasons. I even appreciate the documentation that is not about my children as it has lead me to think more about my children's strengths, weaknesses and abilities, and created a dialogue with the teachers. For example, last year we received a piece of documentation about a group of children who were creating a "Happy Birthday" sign for another child in the class. The teacher described how some of the children were identifying letters in their names and how this connects to prereading skills and eventually literacy. My first thought was, "Oh no, my children don't know their letters at all!" I responded to the documentation and asked the teacher if she thought I should be working on letters at home with my kids. She reminded me that my children love to read and that a love of reading is directly connected to literacy. It was such a positive exchange - that all came out of a piece of documentation that didn't even directly involve my children. — Emily Pickens, Salmonberry Parent “I’m so glad that we were able to get  new computers. Although it has been a little tricky to learn to use a Mac, it has been very beneficial. Now, I can also send videos attached to my documentation in a easy way.”
 — Flory Gonzalez, Blackberry & Spanish Teacher

Reaching our fundraising goal every year makes it possible to make each day as magical and as full as possible for children. Here’s a look into the day to day magic that fundraising makes possible, and you might not always see…

“For some reason a few weeks back I needed to stop by school midday. It was the first time I had seen lunch being set out. What beautiful food! It's wonderful to see how delicious and well-presented the meals are. Makes me feel great that this is what my kiddo is experiencing during the day.” —Tara Smith, Blackberry Parent “I am really appreciative of the food provided to the children at EELP. Anyone who's had the food knows it's amazing and delicious. But what I am really impressed with is how Maya makes healthy food so appetizing to children. When I was a kid, it was a Sisyphean task for my parents to get me to eat a vegetable. The food at EELP looks great to the kids, and when they choose to try it on their own, they usually like it. I think eating this well from such a young age will serve them well going forward, laying the groundwork for a healthy diet as they grow up. 
 — Will Mehigan, Huckleberry Teacher Music class with Jana Vitols is a gift every week! Children can even be found pretending to be

Jana with their instruments, dancing and other necessary musical accouterments needed to accurately copy the bird dances Jana has been teaching them!

This year, we were able to realize a dream we’ve had for 3 years! Flory has created a Spanish language program that is embedded in our regular practice, and accessible to all children at EELP!

And finally, there’s no way to fit enough mages and words into this report to demonstrate the impact of annual fundraising support. We know that children are experts at play and imagination, and it doesn’t take “a lot of stuff” to inspire their engagement. We do know that it takes extraordinary teachers and relationships and spaces to support children’s best outcomes. Thank you for helping us reflect to children and their teachers, all the possibility in the world. “What I really appreciate about working at EELP is the philosophy that puts the child’s ideas and curiosities first. I like how instead of the teachers coming up with all the ideas for the kids, we are encouraged to guide the way and open up paths through the kids emerging fascinations” — Will Mehigan, Huckleberry Teacher “Simple things like supplies like the jewels and yarn are so versatile yet they make all the difference in helping kids express their ideas. Like Flynn, when he traced a book with jewels to learn about how to make a square. And Hazel when she so aptly demonstrated how to make a triangle by personifying it in a spontaneous yoga move.” — Rebecca Adrian, Salmonberry Teacher