Glen Grove Community Project

March during my freshman year of college was unseasonably hot. In the spring of 2012 in Madison, Wisconsin, temperatures reached 82 degrees Fahrenheit, the warm weather catching many of us so off guard that I had no choice but to buy shorts in the middle of what should still have been winter.

It was kind of weird to experience - as if we had fast-forwarded through all of the hallmarks of spring, and that left everyone very confused. People weren't exactly sure if they were to wear sandals while the icicles were dripping from the sides of buildings, and people were out in both shorts and winter jackets (sometimes at the same time). I was definitely surprised to see my roommate tanning on the quad in front of our dorm while a pile of snow sat beside her. Even the plants were confused, and that led to agricultural problems with the harvest later that year.

We often take the transition that spring provides us for granted. The earlier sunrises, the later sunsets, the birds starting to wake you from windowsills, the lighter jackets and brighter colors - it takes a minute for the world to wake up to the warmth and light that spring brings. When you don't have that transition, it's jarring - it's as if you missed something, like your alarm ringing in the morning or the announcement that the train is leaving the station.

That transition is so important that almost every continent on Earth has a spring celebration. From the Chinese and Vietnamese Lunar New Years (which also also called the Spring Festivals), the Tulip Festival in Amsterdam, Holi in India, Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom watching) in Japan, Walpurgis Night in Sweden, Songkran in Thailand, Día de la Primavera/Día del Estudiante in Argentina, Wattle Day in Australia, Baba Marta in Bulgaria, and many more. One of the oldest and most celebrated holidays in the world, Nowruz (Persian New Year), is a springtime celebration that dates back almost 3,000 years. Spring holds much importance to the world, not just for its timing, but what it symbolizes - a soft start to the changes that are to come.

I can't predict how this year's spring will go - but I'll be looking for those hallmarks of spring blossoming around us.

• List of Children's Books about Autism
• Today Show's Segment on "What to Know About Being a Good Friend to Someone with Autism According to Sesame Street
• Amazing Things Happen (video on Autism)

Learn about Will's Place, a friend of the Glen Grove Community Project, which employs people with autism and other special needs.

• Smithsonian Spotlight on Arab American History
• List of children's books by Arab Americans
• Learn about famous Arab Americans like Steve Jobs & Rami Malek

In 2024, Ms. Joaquin & her cousin visited the Arab American Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, to learn more about Arab American culture & history. Click the picture to learn more about the museum

Thank you to our former Glen Grove Gators (now middle school students in the Pathways to the Seal of Biliteracy program) who volunteered to create this beautiful display for Women's History Month. They did their research and curated the display. They were happy to return to the Gator community and share their time and enthusiasm, as clearly shown by two of our volunteers!

Colorful eggs are part of European Christian traditions centered around Easter. Ukrainian culture has its own iconic way of decorating eggs, called pysanky, which uses dyes and beeswax. Watch this video to learn all about this art form.

How do you mark the changing of the seasons?

The GGCP acknowledges the land upon which Glen Grove School stands on and in being part of this community, we want to share resources to further our students' and families' knowledge of the land and respect communities of past and present. This year, a donation was made to the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center

• Katherine Ellison, Glen Grove Principal
• Aurora Joaquin, Glen Grove Speech-Language Pathologist
• Hedy Helfand, Glen Grove English Language Learning Teacher
• Lisa Funke, Glen Grove Learning Resource Center Director
• Nicole Bright, Glen Grove 4th Grade ClassroomTeacher
• Marie Chang-Pisano, Glen Grove Reading Intervention Associate
• Jill Burns, Glen Grove Science Coach
• Sylvia Gorski Duarte, District Title III Family Resource Teacher
• Lindsey Lurie, District Multilingual Instructional Coach

Email: GGCommunityProject@gmail.com

Instagram: @ggcommunityproject