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Adolescent Boarding Set to Reopen Fall 2021

Adolescent Boarding Set to Reopen Fall 2021

Mar 2, 2021 | Featured Posts, School News | 0 comments

We are thrilled to be able to bring our boarding students back home to Hershey this fall!

Hershey staff and administration are finalizing the residential design, facilities use, and remaining COVID-19 contingency plans for the fall.

Much progress is being made to mitigate and reduce infection numbers here in our region and across the United States.

We will be sharing more information as details are finalized.

Returning and/or new families who are interested in registering for this fall may contact the school at 440-636-6290 or email admissions@hershey-montessori.org.

We enthusiastically welcome you back home to Hershey. Our Huntsburg campus eagerly awaits your return!

Community Art Partnership Enriches Students

Community Art Partnership Enriches Students

Feb 18, 2021 | Featured Posts, School News | 0 comments

Tania Bertolone, Middle School Director

Earlier this school year, Tania Bertolone, Hershey’s Middle School Director at our Huntsburg campus sought outside specialists for the purpose of broadening exposure to the arts for our Middle School students. In her search, Bertolone connected with Jeannie Fleming-Gifford, Executive Director at Fairmount Center for the Arts.

At Tania’s direction, Hershey hired two of Fairmount’s artists to serve as specialists for Middle School students to enhance Hershey’s Creative Expression curriculum.

Liliana Garlisi, who serves as Fairmount’s Piano faculty, meets weekly with Hershey students, inspiring, connecting and providing opportunities for them to learn, grow and express themselves through music.

Brigitte Fiorille, who serves as Fairmount’s Art Director and Ceramics faculty, also meets with students to work with them in the ceramics studio at Hershey’s Huntsburg campus. Both women have brought the students great inspiration and expertise in their crafts.

“Creative Expression is a core component of our Middle School curriculum and we are intentional about supporting and connecting with our community,” Bertolone said. What I found with Fairmount Center for the Arts was a perfect alignment for us and our students. They bring professionalism and expertise to every class and every project. Our students are engaged and are learning so much.”

Clay pots hand-crafted by Hershey Middle School students.

Fairmount generally conducts its programs at its facility in Novelty, Ohio, but this partnership has been ideal in that they were willing to travel to the school campus each week.

Fairmount Center for the Arts has many hands-on forms of expression from dance, to art, music, and theater. They offer several different activities like camps, workshops, and even fitness classes. We are so grateful to have such a fantastic organization in our community for our students to experience and enjoy. They also offer classes to the community in a COVID-safe environment. You can view and register for a variety of offerings on their website. Learn more about Fairmount Center for the Arts by visiting their website at www.fairmountcenter.org/.

 

 

Staff Spotlight: Aaron Miller

Staff Spotlight: Aaron Miller

Feb 18, 2021 | Featured Posts, School Blog | 0 comments

 

We created a Staff Spotlight series to bring recognition of the many amazing guides and administrators while connecting with them in a personal way.

This month, we honor:

Aaron Miller

 

Aaron is from Mentor-on-the-Lake and now resides in Painesville. He attended John Carroll University and Lake Erie College earning a degree in History. He was a two-sport athlete at JCU playing baseball and basketball. Aaron is in his eighteenth year with the United States Coast Guard now serving as a reserve at Station Cleveland Harbor, Ohio.

Aaron was led to Hershey by other staff members whom he admires. Those staff members trusted Aaron and saw the gifts and talents he possesses as traits that would be a great contribution to the Hershey adolescent community. For the past two years Aaron worked part-time at our Middle School teaching Humanities and Physical Expression. This year, he is a full-time guide and classroom assistant at the Middle School. 

Aaron is a valued member of our Hershey family. We invite you to get to know him.

 

Tell us about your family:

I’m married to Michelle Miller. Our oldest son, Ethan, is 11 years old.  We have nine-year-old twins, Jonathan (Johnny Boy) and Alec. We have a dog named Chewy, a cat named May-May, a Beta fish named Bubbles, and two Hermit crabs.

 

What brought you to Hershey?

It was my wife, Michelle, and [staff members] Tania and Judy. Once I started working here, I could see really quickly how the environment was positive, open, and exciting. You don’t see that many places, let alone in a school setting.

 

Aaron Miller engages student in “Rock, Paper, Scissors” during first day of school activities.

What is your favorite Hershey memory?

Personally – getting hired full time.

With the students – challenging them during projects and watching them grow through them. Competing with the students during Physical Expression is one of my favorites each week. The different hikes, playing sports against each other, or building shelters are great. Those activities have already produced so many good memories.

On the farm – working with the animals and working the gardens. Making friends with Clay [the horse] was a great memory; so was the time he almost ran me down. 🙂

 

What is your favorite place to go?

Caribbean Islands – mainly St. Thomas and St. Johns. Locally, I’d say our fishing cabin in Potter, Pennsylvania.

 

What is your favorite thing to do when you are at home?

I like to play sports with my boys, and socialize with family and friends as much as possible.

 

Little known fact?

I like taking care of plants, growing herbs, and bird watching/identifying.

 

Who has made the biggest impact in your life and what does that impact look like?

My parents, my coaches, my friends and family …  they are all different but surrounding myself with positive people has always worked best for me.

 

What is your favorite book?

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathanial Philbrick.

 

What is your favorite quote?

The success you’ve had in the past doesn’t mean anything tomorrow.

 

What is your favorite movie?

A Few Good Men, Caddieshack, and Forrest Gump.

 

How would your friends and family describe you?

Active, spontaneous, sarcastic, a dreamer, a person who does not like the cold, and belongs on the water or at a beach.

 

How would you describe yourself?

A big thinker, traveler, and never at rest with ideas.

 

What is your happiest moment?

Holding my oldest son for the first time.

 

Aaron Miller guides student instruction during outdoor classroom time.

 

Is there anything else you would like to share or let others know?

Success comes from dedicated work. Even though our country seems in chaos, it’s still one of the best places to live on this beautiful planet Earth. I had an admiral tell me when you live in other countries half your life, you realize how much America is like staying at The Ritz.

 

What is one of your biggest life lessons you would like to share with others?

No matter how bad something seems in the moment, the sun will rise tomorrow, and you get to start all over again.

 

Thank you for your work and dedication, Aaron. We appreciate all you do and the energy you bring to our community. We are happy to know you – and to now know you even better!

 

Our Need for Community

Our Need for Community

Jan 14, 2021 | School Blog | 0 comments

By Judy Kline-Venaleck, Associate Head of School and Huntsburg Campus Director

Community ... it is a word with great reverence in the Montessori world, and it is one that has surfaced recently as the coronavirus has overtaken our global community.

As we have turned the corner into 2021, we need to continue to seek the silver linings of living through this tumultuous time. We need one another — it is just that simple. Our community shapes who we are and has the amazing ability to either lift us up or break us down.

Dr. Montessori, in her many writings and lectures, speaks eloquently about community. She consistently championed the right of each child to be treated as an individual and fought against the social norms of her time. Living through these days and months of isolation and reflection, many are seeking how to deepen their sense of community.

Paul Born, who has written extensively about deepening community, states that there are four acts of community life: sharing our stories, taking the time to enjoy one another, taking care of one another and working together for a better world. May we all continue to share, enjoy, care and work together for a future filled with peace.

When Planets and People Align

When Planets and People Align

Dec 16, 2020 | School Blog | 0 comments

(Photo Credit: Ehsan Sanaei)

By Deanna Meadows-Shrum, Hershey Montessori School Marketing & Communications Director

 

We are in a season in which social distance is not only recommended, but for many, a requirement. We have spent most of the last year physically distanced from our students, our colleagues, our friends, and even from much of our family. However, this is 2020, and it seems that anything is possible – the sky is the limit, so to speak – and it is exactly in the sky where, through the month of December, we will see two rebel planets appearing to defy their own social distance norm. Yes, although Saturn and Jupiter began appearing closer to each other this past summer, beginning mid-December, the proximity of these two rebel planets will greatly narrow and cause a spectacle you don’t want to miss.

On December 21st, these two giant planets will appear just a tenth of a degree apart, which NASA describes as “about the thickness of a dime held at arm’s length”! NASA goes on to explain that the two planets and their moons will be visible in the same field of view through binoculars or a small telescope.

Saturn and Jupiter are actually separated by more than 400 million miles, but in the night sky, they will appear closer than what has been seen in centuries. They will appear to touch and form one large, bright and brilliant star in the sky. This alignment is known to astronomers as a “great conjunction”.

Astronomers tell us that the last time Jupiter and Saturn were this close to each other was in July 1623. A conjunction also took place in 2000, but it was hard to recognize. A closer alignment between these two planets hasn’t been seen since March 4, 1226.

Interestingly, some are saying a holiday connection is also at work. Some astronomers have postulated that in Christianity, the Star of Bethlehem, said to have guided three wise men to the birth of Jesus Christ, was a conjunction like the one set to appear later this month — although no one can say which planets may have been involved.

In true 2020 fashion, isn’t it curious that we will see this historically close alignment of two planets, creating the appearance of the most brilliantly illuminated star seen in centuries? And, it is all happening on December 21st, which is the winter solstice, also known as the darkest day of the year!

Maybe this cosmic event is merely a celestial coincidence, but after all the world has experienced this year, it serves as a great reminder that light does overcome darkness and hope dispels discouragement. And like these two planets, our Hershey community aligns its light of hope for humanity and a better future to illuminate encouragement and inspiration to others.

I am ever so grateful for the light that shines through our Hershey staff, students, and families. May we all continue to shine brightly throughout this holiday season and beyond!

 

Note to fellow stargazers: the best viewing is said to take place in the southwestern sky 45 minutes after sunset on December 21st.