NovatoSpirit's Children Give Thanks

As Thanksgiving approaches, NovatoSpirit would like to thank the Novato community for its generosity. Our nonprofit has received significant donations from individuals and from Novato-based organizations, including the Peter E. Haas Jr. Family Fund, Ghirardo CPA, Rolling Hills Club, Weber Consulting LLC, and West Cal Financial.

Other Novato donors have kindly given to us through our new partner, One World Children’s Fund (owcf.org), which helps impoverished youths in 22 countries. In addition, One World Children’s Fund is connecting us with a worldwide community of professionals serving children and with people in the Bay Area who want to help.

All this means that NovatoSpirit will be better equipped to do what matters most to the children we serve: we can give them the chance to move and learn, improving their lives through exercise.

We are now serving Novato kids ages 7-18 with athletic scholarships to Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Soccer, Basketball, and Dance. These scholarships will last for 5 years for all our NovatoSpirit children, helping them to maximize their learning and their health.

One of our NovatoSpirit students expressed how meaningful it is for her to dance: “I think dance is helping me with my health, I move around so much that I am getting a lot of exercise and I think that it is great for me. I think it really helps me a lot. I am also learning that I have to eat healthy and drink lots of water.

“My life has improved because of dance that I am very determined to finish and be a team player and do good in my dance and it helps me stay focused and helps me want to always practice so I can be good in the show and for my team. I practice at home and I think that really helps me when I go practice at the studio.

“I really enjoy this program, this class and all the new people I have met. I really love to dance…I think this class really helps me with my focus and to be responsible for my actions. I really, really thank you for giving me this chance to dance and to be a part of the organization.”

NovatoSpirit recently participated in a Harvard Family Research Project webinar conference, which asserted that schools alone cannot meet students’ learning needs. Families, schools, and communities must share the responsibility of supporting children’s learning.

Kids spend only about 20% of their waking time learning within school environments, the Harvard team noted, so that is why “anywhere, anytime learning” in out-of-school environments is so important. These out-of-school environments are also places where parental involvement can be maximized, heightening each child’s potential to be a lifelong learner.

Out-of-school educational opportunities include museums, libraries, cultural activities (like music, dance, and art), and athletic activities. The main obstacle to participating in these worthy learning activities is the financial barrier.

NovatoSpirit helps children overcome this barrier, and we encourage parents to participate fully in their children’s dance and sports activities. By working collaboratively with families, we can help children boost their learning.

Speaking of learning, our dance students are now learning new moves, which they will be performing onstage in the New Year. Please mark your calendars for January 10th, 2015 at 4 p.m. when some of our dancers will perform with their Love 2 Dance classmates in a show called “Razzle Dazzle Broadway” at the Marin County Civic Center Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium. Tickets are available online through the Marin Center Box Office or by phone (415) 473-6800.

Please consider giving a holiday gift to help us continue to serve our dancers and our other children who appreciate the chance to stretch, run, kick and spin.

Please send a check to: NovatoSpirit, 936 7th Street, Suite B, PMB 236, Novato, CA 94945. NovatoSpirit is a 501c3 public charity. All donations to us are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by the tax law. For more information, please visit NovatoSpirit.org. Thank you for caring about the well-being of children here.