A Day at Miniwanca

There is no school for Shelby Public schools on November 29th. Miniwanca is inviting all Aspire students to spend A Day at Miniwanca from 8am to 6pm. This program is available to all Aspire students Free. Activities will include high ropes, rock climbing, dune hikes, crafts, baking/decorating cookies, games, team challenges and tons of FUN.

Transportation will be provided to and from Miniwanca for those that wish to use it. The bus will leave Shelby Middle School at 8:00 AM and be back at 6:00 PM. There is also an option to dropped off your Aspire student at Miniwanca as well. Registration for those that are being dropped off  will happen between 8:00 AM and 8:30 AM. Parents picking their child up at Miniwanca can do so between 5:30 PM and 6:00 PM.

Send your child to Miniwanca on November 29th for a great day of fun for all Aspire Students. Check out our Forms page at the top to take a look at the flyer and registration form for this day as well as any other events Aspire is putting on.

Don't forget the Family Dinner at Miniwanca on November 22nd! Bring the whole family for games and prizes as well as a delicious meal prepared by the Miniwanca food program staff.

Please contact Jamie Van Dee for any information, 231.861.2262 or jvandee@ayf.com.

A Letter from the Director

Dear Families and Friends of ASPIRE,

First of all, let me thank you for following us on our new ASPIRE blog.  If you are users of Twitter and Facebook, remember to find us there as well.  We have just completed our first month of ASPIRE programming for the 2010-2011 school year and it has been a blast!  We have had an average of 140 students, 1-12 grades attending each night and participating in some fantastic activities.  I have seen them working on homework, doing teambuilding activities, tie-dying, climbing dunes, quilting, gardening, painting and so much more.  I get to see all the students a dinner each night and we talk about how the day went, what really cool things they made or did at ASPIRE and about how awesome the food is.

This past week, we had two FREE family dinner nights at Camp Miniwanca, our partner in the ASPIRE program.  If you missed this month, don’t worry, because we will repeat these each month with new activities. These nights are designed to give each family (the ASPIRE student and his or her immediate family) an opportunity to spend a FREE night out together dinning and playing at Camp Miniwanca, meet ASPIRE and Camp Miniwanca staff, and meet other ASPIRE families.  In order for children to attend, they must have an adult accompany them on the trip.  We are also in the midst of planning the ASPIRE fiesta.  We will have food, fun and games.  Be looking for information coming home with your student soon.

Parents and families are a huge part of the ASPIRE program, so please let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns.  I can be reached at the contact information listed above.

Sincerely,

Kimberly Morden