Beautifying Our Space
This past week has been busy clearing out the old and making room for the new!
לב טהור (Lev Tahor) A Pure Heart
It has felt great to sort through our supplies, throwing out everything that we don't need, and making room for all our gorgeous supplies. Coming in as the new director after our wonderful director emeritus, Debby, was there for almost a decade, meant that there was a lot to sort out. In the past, understandably, Machar teachers relied on printed teacher guides. Now, with the diversity and ease of finding teacher resources online, those outdated papers had to be recycled!
From the before picture, you can see how we left our supply closet at the end of last year. We had a lot of fun throughout the year, but ended up throwing everything in there as we packed up for the summer. Where are the scissors, the pens, the glue, the paper, the fun art projects, the books? I spent all last year leading our special b'nei mitzvah course, and was unaware of some supplies after a year, simply because we couldn't find them. One issue, I realized, was that the bags holding the materials were hard to sort, impossible to find, and unfortunately, deteriorating. So...
I bought us new clear plastic storage containers. It will protect our supplies, make them easy to see (and sort!), and allow us to stack them better. They worked out so well that I may buy us a few more plastic drawers. Now, the glue sticks are in the bottom drawer, the liquid glue is in the next drawer, the markers are in the next drawer, and the top drawer is for the craft sticks. I also got some smaller plastic bins with covers, as well for colored pencils, tape, scissors, and yarn.
"Our house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy." -- Author Unknown
After three days of sorting, cleaning, and figuring out storage solutions, I am very happy with the results! When I look at this picture, and I see the school books neatly sorted by titles (so our teachers can use them for their classes), the holidays supplies all in their own separate boxes, it thrills me. Most of all, it makes me happy because it's filled to the brim with wonderful supplies for the year.
It also, and perhaps more importantly, makes me appreciate Debby (and all the time and energy she gave to Machar) even more. I thought hiring & training teachers, figuring out supplies for the year (along with the budget), and planning for the first day of school was exhausting. I had no idea how overwhelming that closet would be to tackle. Originally, I set aside only a few hours on Wednesday, but it soon became apparent that it was a full time job. Truthfully, the only thing that kept me going is knowing how wonderful it would make the rest of the year together.
If you are interested in helping the Jewish Cultural School with supplies, we can use random buttons (they make for great crafts). We can also use high-quality materials to help our students and teachers with the Hebrew component of our curriculum.
This past week has been busy clearing out the old and making room for the new!
לב טהור (Lev Tahor) A Pure Heart
 |
| The Before Picture |
From the before picture, you can see how we left our supply closet at the end of last year. We had a lot of fun throughout the year, but ended up throwing everything in there as we packed up for the summer. Where are the scissors, the pens, the glue, the paper, the fun art projects, the books? I spent all last year leading our special b'nei mitzvah course, and was unaware of some supplies after a year, simply because we couldn't find them. One issue, I realized, was that the bags holding the materials were hard to sort, impossible to find, and unfortunately, deteriorating. So...
 |
| The After Picture |
"Our house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy." -- Author Unknown
After three days of sorting, cleaning, and figuring out storage solutions, I am very happy with the results! When I look at this picture, and I see the school books neatly sorted by titles (so our teachers can use them for their classes), the holidays supplies all in their own separate boxes, it thrills me. Most of all, it makes me happy because it's filled to the brim with wonderful supplies for the year.
“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” -- Albert Einstein
It also, and perhaps more importantly, makes me appreciate Debby (and all the time and energy she gave to Machar) even more. I thought hiring & training teachers, figuring out supplies for the year (along with the budget), and planning for the first day of school was exhausting. I had no idea how overwhelming that closet would be to tackle. Originally, I set aside only a few hours on Wednesday, but it soon became apparent that it was a full time job. Truthfully, the only thing that kept me going is knowing how wonderful it would make the rest of the year together.
If you are interested in helping the Jewish Cultural School with supplies, we can use random buttons (they make for great crafts). We can also use high-quality materials to help our students and teachers with the Hebrew component of our curriculum.
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