The 2006-2007 Annual Fund raised $217,000, surpassing our goal of $200,000. These funds allow Southfield to bridge the gap between what tuition covers and the annual operating budget of the School.

Southfield’s Parents’ Association donated $36,000 to the Hazel Kytle Endowment Fund and $78,000 for overall operating expenses from the 2007 Auctions & Alibis fundraiser. This was a new record for the auction which is held each spring.

The Bill and Ruth Atkins Endowment was established to provide Southfield faculty members with the opportunity to nurture their own lifelong love of learning through professional development. Up to 10% of the endowment’s income is used to provide continuing education opportunities for our faculty each year. In the past this fund has supported an educational trip along the trail followed by Lewis and Clark as they mapped the land of the Louisiana Purchase. During this summer the following faculty members were awarded funds from this endowment to attend workshops:

• Mary Thoma, drama teacher and director of middle school musicals, attended a three-day Broadway Teaching Lab, July 12-14 in New York City. The intensive series of interactive workshops, seminars and observation took place with Broadway professionals in the backstage rehearsal studios at Broadway’s Hilton Theater on 42nd Street. Workshop topics included directing, conceptualizing and planning productions, teaching methodology, using movement to tell a story, hair and make-up design, the National Standards for Arts Education and a conversation with musical theater writers.
• Debbie Noone, first grade teacher, attended the National First Grade Conference: I Teach First, a three day workshop with interactive hands-on writing session for first grade teacher, held in San Antonio, Texas. Her goal was to bring back new methods for improving first grade writing skills and gain some new ideas to incorporate into our “Authors’ Tea.” Mrs. Noone also attended other workshops focused on more general first grade subjects like strategies for gifted learners, energizing and exciting science in fist grade, gifted education and lifelines for struggling first graders.
• Sherry Thompson, kindergarten teacher, attended the Handwriting Without Tears Printing and Cursive workshop in San Antonio, Texas. The workshop focused on ways to develop fine motor skills and posture for writing, the developmental sequence in handwriting, instruction in pre-printing and printing using multi-sensory techniques, how to prevent and correct reversals of letters and numbers and how to evaluate a student’s handwriting using an informal assessment. All of these methods and techniques will be used in the kindergarten curriculum beginning this year.