✉️Newsletter: Planning for the future, grant writing sprints and AMI Administrators Course!
Dear friends and colleagues around the world, hello from Prague!
I will share something really funny about me. I am a big picture thinker. I am also a dreamer. I am a large-scale visionary.
My mind often wanders in the future, planning, plotting and creating. When July is on the horizon, like it is today on March 17, I ask my husband what we are going to do for Christmas this year :)… That is how my mind works, it is always on the go to the future.
Do you, school people, think that way too? Do you know the feeling in September, school just started, and you cannot stop thinking about the end of the school year field trip?
Well, that is me 🙂 and you :)…Nice to meet you, dear friend…
But something interesting happened this week. On Monday we had our last Montessori Dreamers mentoring session. Since the weekend, I have felt paralyzed. I could not think, could not concentrate, could not be my usual self. And I did not know why.
Until after the Monday final session, when I realized what was happening with me. I was SO, SO VERY SAD to end the mentoring process. I could not hit the button to end the Zoom meeting. I could not force myself to say goodbye to my first mentoring people. We became a family. And that is haaaaaard! I miss them so much already!
It was an amazing journey. I received amazing feedback and what most warmed my heart was that in spite of how intense it was, they loved the process and it helped them get out of their comfort zone and get their projects off the ground. And that was our plan!
In two weeks, when I take a breath, two more cohorts (3 and 4) are starting. We have 4 more slots in cohort 4. If you want to work with me and my colleagues to make your Montessori dream come true, here is how you can apply. I am here to help you bring Montessori to children in your communities.
And what else has been happening?
Plami and are finishing the Erasmus grant writing sprint. Five amazing grant applications on topics of adolescent work, Montessori Sports, democratic education, parent support, culturally responsive education and, behold!, on the topic of standards of Montessori accreditation, are almost finished and will be submitted next Wednesday. We are applying for a total of 1 mil Eur! Keep your fingers crossed for us!!! The next grant sprint is planned for the fall. Here is the VIP Notification List if you want to know about it as soon as we have the launch date. We will share testimonies of participants when the sprint is over.
And! I have something else wonderful for you! Do you know my dear friend and mentor Sue Pritzker? She is the next guest of my Montessori Institute Prague Podcast: Montessori Love Stories that Need to Be Told. In her 30 years of being a head of Childpeace Montessori School, she turned the school from 35 to 350 children. It is a remarkable story of a lifelong service. Enjoy listening or watch the recording here.
And if you are thinking of opening a school or if you are a head of a school who feels lonely and needs to step out of constantly putting out fires and think about operations, join us for AMI Certificate Course for Montessori School Administrators. You can join fully online, but we are also hosting an onsite group! Last year the course filled in 2 hours. So, do not hesitate. We just opened registrations. Click here for information.
ALSO, we are looking for a new marketing person for our team! Would you like to work with us? Check out here if perhaps you are the right person for this job! Help us help bring Montessori to all children and communities of the world!
Today it is 1 year since we have been hosting our beloved Ukrainian Montessori colleagues at Montessori Institute Prague. We are celebrating being blessed enough to be able to help. But I will tell this story on a separate occasion. It needs to stand alone :).
I am sure I wanted a thousand and one more things, but our marketing team has been going crazy about the length of my letters to you :), so I have to go.
Love you, darlings. Talk to you soon! Be well.
Mirka
