A Clark Elementary preschooler makes discoveries during Wildrock’s Nature Friends program, which visits the city’s public preschools four times a year. Photo: Martyn Kyle
On a brisk but sunny spring morning, more than a dozen pre-kindergarteners file out of the imposing red brick building that is Clark Elementary and seat themselves, excitedly, on the sidewalk in front of the school’s garden. Sarah Harris greets them with a big smile. “Hello, my friends!” she calls.
Harris is the early childhood program director at Wildrock, a nonprofit that promotes nature play and operates a 28-acre nature area, tucked into the Blue Ridge foothills about 40 minutes outside of Charlottesville. While school and community groups have been visiting Wildrock’s outdoor playscape since the moment it opened in 2017, the organization has more recently expanded its community outreach efforts, including into city schools.
“It’s important to have that daily connection with nature in urban settings as well,” says Wildrock founder Carolyn Schuyler.
For the Nature Friends program, which started last year, Harris and volunteers visit all the city’s public preschools four times a year, in addition to hosting two field trips at Wildrock. It’s a way for kids to experience imaginative outdoor play in their own school green spaces, Schuyler says.
Clark, where 82 percent of students come from low-income families, has a lovely garden now in full bloom, and Harris invites the children to look at the “beautiful view” as they wait patiently through a school fire drill.
“Wow,” one girl says softly. A moment later, a boy spots a bird in a nearby tree, and points excitedly, trying to show Harris his discovery while following the school rule of no talking during a fire drill. “That’s a robin?” he whispers. “Yes, that’s a robin,” she smiles back.
After the fire drill and a picture book (Stories from the Bug Garden), the teachers arrange the children into orderly lines to move the few feet to the play areas. “Calm your body!” the teaching assistant directs one squirmy child. “Stop being extra, just walk!” she tells another.
Finally, it is time to play. There are “sensory bins” loaded with dried beans (“We’re going to pretend it’s dirt,” Harris says) with tiny metal buckets and shovels for scooping and dumping, and small wooden flowers, made of felt and thread spools, to plant. On a blanket in the grass, Harris is helping kids select twigs and tall grasses to build a “bug hotel” to keep bugs safe from predators. And in a small nook in the garden, where a group of tree stumps is arranged like chairs around a table, Harris has placed a tiny set of pots and pans, some stuffed animals, and some plastic frames that can be made into forts with pieces of cloth and clips.
“Hey, that’s my house!” one girl cries indignantly, as a boy ducks into her fort. “He’s going to take my stuff!”
Nature Friends volunteer Dolly Johnson, who taught preschool for 30 years at St. Anne’s, intervenes. “A friend can help you build,” she suggests, and soon the two children are clipping a fourth wall onto their fort and playing happily inside.
“We’re having a family picnic!” the girl cries a few minutes later, emerging to prepare some food at the tree stump. She adds some green leaves to a pot. “Look, I made a salad!”
This kind of free play—where children make their own rules and negotiate roles—is vital to kids’ development, and it’s part of the point of Nature Friends. But Schuyler knows the need for play isn’t limited to preschoolers. When school groups visit the organization’s outdoor playscape, she says, “So many kids have not had all the play that they need, even kids that are 15 [or] 16 will ask if they can play, and go do it. It’s really wonderful to watch.”
Wildrock is now partnering with the city schools to work with kids of all ages. At Clark, it’s piloting another program, called Nature Play Lab, that the organization hopes to expand to all the city’s elementary schools as well as Walker and Buford. Like Nature Friends, it’s a way to support free play outdoors, but for older students.
Wildrock installed a shed that can be used as a play space, and is stocked with things like capes, animal masks, pots and pans, and wooden blocks cut from tree stumps. “It’s a scaffolding for imaginative play that doesn’t happen so much anymore,” Schuyler says. And the program trains teachers in how to facilitate play, and connect it with social-emotional skills.
“This is how we segue from just going out to the Wildrock facility to also having those experiences right at the school,” says Patrick Farrell, intervention and support coordinator at Charlottesville City Schools. And he says the response to all of Wildrock’s programs has been “nothing but raves.”
That’s certainly the case at Clark. As the Nature Friends session wraps up, a girl in a Hello Kitty sweatshirt bounces on her toes and asks if they can play more. And the teaching assistant tilts her face up to the spring sun. “I wish we could stay outside,” she says.
Bellamy Shoffner and her family collect coffee and eggs to help clients at The Haven, a downtown day shelter, enjoy a hot breakfast every day. Photo: Eze Amos
In 36 years of moving up and down the mid-Atlantic, I’ve never lived in a city that didn’t carry the weight of a racist past. As a teenager, I heard news of white supremacists marching through my small Maryland town. As a young adult in Greensboro, North Carolina, I marveled over stories about ’60s sit-ins, and watched as the old Woolworth building was transformed into the International Civil Rights Center & Museum. Now, in Charlottesville, parenthood has taken what I knew to be true about racism and oppression in America and propelled it to the forefront of my consciousness. As the mother of two black children, I can’t pretend I’m raising kids who aren’t targets of hate. It’s a feeling I often describe as terrifying, but experience every day as motivating.
Any parent will tell you that everything changes when a kid enters the picture, but some of us will also tell you that our need to stand up against bias and discrimination is intensified. I’ve always had an interest in activism, but there is an undeniable urgency that accompanies parenthood, a compelling need to affect change and leave the world a better place for my children. Part of ensuring my kids grow up in a world that is increasingly equitable is embracing my own power as a social justice advocate.
In late 2017, with the contributions of friends and other writers, I launched Hold the Line, a magazine that explores social justice and parenthood. HTL’s essays and articles—about race and culture, gender and feminism, being a queer parent, and parenting LGBTQ children—now have a modest but worldwide audience. We start meaningful conversations through sharing personal stories, and encourage readers to make social justice an integral part of their parenting journey. HTL it is my way of railing against the countless malignant marches of those who wish children like mine didn’t exist.
Worthy as it is, the magazine is fairly abstract to my sons, and I don’t believe I can claim to care about the world around me without raising kids who care as well. It feels crucial to make my activism clear to my kids, and help them get involved, too. I want them to know that though we may find ourselves without much, we always have something we can give. Our contributions to social equity may be in the form of our time, our friendship, or our ability to organize, but we are never without ways to help.
Together, my family toured The Haven, a multi-resource day shelter in downtown Charlottesville, to see how we could contribute. We started the Coffee + Eggs Drive as a way to help reduce The Haven’s largest kitchen costs. We collect eggs and coffee from individual donors or purchase them ourselves and periodically deliver them to The Haven. In the summer months, our donations boomed, and visiting The Haven became a normal part of my children’s daily routine. Even in the slower cold months, most mornings when my sons stumble downstairs and start foraging in our fridge for breakfast, they see dozens of fresh eggs that are awaiting a trip to The Haven. I hope my kids value that literal holding of space for the needs of marginalized members of our community. To me, the eggs are an unusual but powerful display of the small ways in which we can each make the world more equitable.
In addition to our partnership with The Haven, we recently started accepting additional coffee donations for PACEM as we learned its guests are given a warm beverage upon check-in. PACEM gives people who are experiencing homelessness overnight shelter in local churches during the coldest months of the year. As a new member of PACEM’s board, I hope that my children will take notice of my involvement with both organizations and one day mirror my commitment to community.
Also under the umbrella of HTL, my family and co-organizers host When We Gather, free public gatherings where we welcome friends old and new to join us in community-building and shared discussions about socio-political topics. With age-appropriate books and activities for the kids, and time for adults to chat, these events are a crucial part of our sustainable, visible activism. We all learn from each other as families in search of ways to effectively combat hate and discrimination in our city, state, and beyond.
Just as we question what meaningful steps we can take to help others, parents often wonder how and when to address tough topics with their kids. There’s no easy answer to this, but if we are effectively diversifying our lives, we are met with natural opportunities to tackle conversations surrounding social justice. Fill your child’s bookshelf with stories representing varying communities and identities. Respectfully attend events that inform your understanding of marginalized groups. Be age-appropriately honest when helping your children understand inequality, both historically and in the present. When I discuss racism, sexism, politics, and the like with my children, I meet them at their level and remember not to overload them with details. Talking to them is one aspect of ensuring their support of social justice, but talking is not enough. My intention is to surround them with a life representative of the values we hold close.
Inequities exist on a continuum; my adversities may not be rooted in the same tree as yours, but injustice is all fed from the same soil. I don’t know what it’s like to be homeless, but when I show my children that we house food for strangers and go out of our way to drop off donations, I am showing them that every member of our community matters. When I talk to my sons about HTL and the inclusive identities the magazine presents, I am telling them that our struggles intersect and are intertwined with the hardships of others. When we gather with friends at the library or Belmont Park and share stories and strategies for coping with the frequent unearthing of bigotry in America, my children are hearing that there are many ways one can be an activist. Above all, I hope my kids are learning an everlasting lesson: that there is no triumph in this world unless you are holding others up with you.
Bri Chrispin, pictured here goofing around with her little, Ty'Mirra, started volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters because, she says, she "always wanted a little sister." Photo: Eze Amos
While it’s important to be generous year-round, the holidays provide parents with an opportune time to teach kids about giving back, either by donating their time or goods to those in need. Here are some local ways to help out this season, from food-delivery to gift-wrapping. By Shea Gibbs and Wistar Murray
Better together
Mature teens who have graduated from high school and want to give back to their community may be drawn to the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Certain “Littles” (ages 6 through 18) might benefit from being mentored by an energetic young-adult “Big” who overcame his or her own childhood struggles relatively recently. The proximity in age could uniquely qualify the Big to understand what the Little is experiencing.
The Blue Ridge Bigs match support team is always meticulous in placing Littles with Bigs, assessing a number of personal factors when they make their matches. After all, the Big/Little relationship is a bond that might last for many years. And the reciprocal benefits endure forever. When teen volunteer Bri Chrispin joined the program, she was motivated in part because she’d “always wanted a little sister.” Mentoring has taught her the importance of patience as well as influence: “Once a Big, you really have to be careful of the words you speak and your actions,” she says. “A child’s mind absorbs so much, and if we, as their mentor, aren’t acting right, how are we to teach them?” Teens are also welcome to volunteer to offer childcare during parent orientation. blueridgebigs.org
Special delivery
Kathy O’Connell first began volunteering at Meals on Wheels of Charlottesville/Albemarle because she was looking for something she could do with her preschool-aged daughter. She is now the assistant director of the nonprofit, and knows firsthand that MOW is a powerful way for families to bond while they serve their community.
Each day, more than 30 volunteers pack and deliver approximately 275 hot meals to locals who are homebound due to aging, illness or recovery. Close relationships between drivers and those they serve inevitably develop along regular routes. Sometimes these Meals on Wheels volunteers are the only people a client sees that day. Deliveries are a special opportunity for kids to get to know folks of different ages and backgrounds. And for a small child, ringing doorbells and donating meals can feel like an adventure.
Volunteers have been known to bring children, grandchildren and even newborn babies along on their routes and they often find that clients welcome the sight of younger generations. Kids who aren’t free for lunchtime deliveries can still volunteer to pack “Blizzard Bags” of nonperishable items for clients to have on hand when the roads are impassable. The MOW organization encourages parents to work together with their children to help their community. “Families have so little time together as it is,” says O’Connell. cvillemeals.org
Raise the woofMake dog treats at home and hand-deliver them to the Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA. Or, if your little one is too young for baking, gather blankets and donate them to the shelter.
Restorative riding
Charlottesville Area Riding Therapy is a unique volunteer experience for kids who want to help others with special needs—well, because horses.
“Mainly what it is is seeing the progress of the kids,” says Sarah Daly, CART’s director and an instructor. “And it’s especially great if they like being outdoors and loving horses. That’s it, you know—loving animals and people.”
CART offers therapeutic horseback riding to children and adults with conditions like autism, cerebral palsy, spinal cord/brain injuries, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida and hearing/visual impairments. The riding, which provides patients with much of the same physical benefits as walking or running, has been shown to improve those with special needs’ physical and emotional well-being.
Teens 14 and up are invaluable helpers for the program, according to Daly, as they walk alongside or in front of the mounted horses during classes. Certified instructors like Daly lead the courses and offer training to each volunteer. Classes are one hour, once a week, and each session is eight to 10 weeks.
“People that are interested will just call up,” Daly says. “The one thing is they can’t be afraid of horses.” cartcrozet.org
Bake moreMake a few extra pies during Thanksgiving dinner prep and bring them to the local firestation for those working over the holidays.
Ryleigh Katstra helps continue the Neighbors-4-Neighbors program, a campaign that has provided for more than 300,000 food-insecure people in the region since its inception. Photo: Rammelkamp Foto
At the table
Food inspires strong feedback in just about every kid on the planet. Children all have their favorite dishes and those that they categorically refuse to eat. So volunteering at the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank might be appealing on a visceral level, especially when kids learn that food insecurity affects one in six of their young peers.
Volunteers need to be 12 or older to work in the warehouse, but kids of any age can serve as “Hunger Heroes” by organizing food drives in their schools or neighborhoods, like UVA grad Nicole Muller of Albemarle County, who, when she was only 16, launched the now-national Neighbors-4-Neighbors food drive. Since its inception, the campaign has provided meals for more than 300,000 food-insecure people in the region. Charlottesville teenager Ryleigh Katstra has since upheld Muller’s legacy with food drives of her own, and this year mobilized Neighbors-4-Neighbors campaigns at 30 schools. The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank’s website provides kits that contain all the materials that Hunger Heroes need to get started. brafb.org
Warm wishesOrganize a pajama drive for kids at local homeless shelters. Gather up gently worn clothing and ask friends and neighbors to do the same.
Making house calls
Most folks know Habitat for Humanity builds affordable housing for those in need. What they might not know is all the other fun and philanthropic things the organization does.
And while Habitat’s construction projects are, for the most part, limited to those 18 and up, kids of all ages can get involved in other ways, be it in the Habitat Store or organizing events like the annual Rake-a-Thon.
“The Rake-a-Thon event planning is supported by our Youth United Team—a group of 10 high school students from six different schools in Albemarle County,” volunteer engagement associate Amy Allamong says. “It gives them a chance to see what it takes to plan a successful event, and they recruit fellow students to join with them the day of.”
The Rake-a-Thon is held every year in November, but young volunteers have opportunities to help the homeless or those in danger of becoming homeless year-round. In addition to helping out around Habitat’s local secondhand store, young folks can organize or participate in the Lego Build—“a youth activity we use to teach what a ‘safe, decent, affordable’ home means,” according to Allamong—or the lunch bunch, where groups of volunteers bring a midday meal to Habitat construction sites.
“We really like to hit home on what it means to have a place to live…What does having a stable home mean?” Allamong says. “A lot of children might grow up in a family that moves every six months. We want young people to know what it might mean if they didn’t have to do that.” cvillehabitat.org
Gifts that keep giving
Christmas is 15-year-old Mariah Payne’s favorite holiday. And through the support of her parents and church, she’s come to appreciate giving back. So what better way to get involved than through Be a Santa to a Senior, Home Instead Senior Care’s annual gift drive?
“I love it,” Payne says. “You don’t have to do a lot, and you can make someone’s day. It’s a nice feeling that you can make people happy just by wrapping gifts.”
Home Instead has been sponsoring Be a Santa to Senior, where elderly in need submit a few gift requests and donors give money to buy them or the time it takes to wrap them, since 2003. In the last 13 years, 60,000 volunteers have given 1.2 million gifts to 700,000 senior citizens.
Brittany Gilliam, Home Instead’s administrative assistant and holiday program coordinator, says the local chapter wants to take the program a step further this year and have volunteers adopt lonely seniors and spend time with them, bring them gifts or make them meals.
Payne says she’ll definitely be up for the changes.
“It would be nice to meet some of the people to see the smiles on their faces,” she says. beasantatoasenior.com
Mail callLeave a small gift (a gift card to a local coffee shop, for instance) for your family’s regular postal worker.
Teen volunteer Kit Tremaglio helps out with JMRL’s Star Wars Read Day. Photo: Martyn Kyle
Best for bookworms
Volunteering at Jefferson-Madison Regional Library teaches kids all the skills they’re likely to need when they enter the workforce—but hopefully they won’t notice with all the fun.
Sure, kids 13 and older who sign up to help at JMRL can expect to learn how to use a copy machine, laminate, operate a die-cutter and generally organize materials for library programs. But it’s the programs, like the recent Star Wars Reads Day, that will keep them interested and coming back for more.
“Teen volunteers help staff with a variety of things,” says Tim Carrier, JMRL’s young adult services manager who coordinates the teen volunteer program. “They may help us get together booklists or brochures. We also get them out to the branches and into the public. They do provide a lot of helpful service for us.”
Young people can also get involved with the library’s teen advisory board, which meets with a staff member once a month to offer input on the library’s programs. The advisory board is the teens’ chance to push projects “that benefit the library and to help actually implement a big program,” Carrier says.
According to Carrier, volunteer need at JMRL is branch-specific, so teens and parents looking to sign up at specific locations may or may not find a spot. Being open to work wherever there’s a need will improve your chances. jmrl.org
Hands-on history
Though teens may initially be turned off by volunteering anywhere with the word “school” in its name, you can assure them that they won’t be taking any pop quizzes at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. Instead, they’ll get the opportunity to flex their creative muscles by helping to plan community programs like open mic nights, story slams and cookoffs at the legendary Starr Hill school. With help from young volunteers, last summer’s Day Soiree brought alumni together for festivities as the historic institution celebrated 150 years of history with art, food, games and live music.
Renowned activists, academics and historians are often scheduled to speak at the Heritage Center on a range of topics relating to diversity in our community. And a gallery boasts the permanent collection, Pride Overcomes Prejudice, as well as rotating exhibits of contemporary artists. Teen volunteers at the center also get the opportunity to research Charlottesville’s African-American history, which was especially rich in the neighboring Vinegar Hill neighborhood. They may even lead a school tour because who knows better what will appeal to young student visitors? If event planning and local history don’t immediately entice service-minded teens, caffeine might. The Heritage Center’s coffee bar is also run by volunteers. jeffschoolheritagecenter.org
Helping handsVolunteer to help an elderly neighbor by raking leaves or shoveling snow.
Eliot Harris explores the Virginia Discovery Museum. Photo: Jackson Smith
Play time
If your teen is bogged down by adult responsibilities, volunteering at the Virginia Discovery Museum might be just what he or she needs to reconnect with the child within. Volunteers at the downtown institution are encouraged to interact with young museumgoers as much as possible. This means that playing with toys is a big part of the job description. During their shifts, volunteers are also tasked with maintaining the museum’s safe environment and tidying the exhibits, because as Director of Operations Lindsay Jones says about the museum’s famous collection of cars, trains, costumes, crafts, building blocks and books: “Everything travels.”
Due to the small size of the museum’s permanent staff, enthusiastic volunteers (ranging in age from 15 to 85) are crucial to keeping the galleries open to young visitors. Teens who volunteer their time can expect to gain valuable job experience, hone their intergenerational social skills and teach kids a little something about how the world works. Teens who can’t commit to a regular volunteering gig during the school year can help out at annual special events like the Discovery Dash, the Boo Bash and the Santa Pancake Breakfast, or they can intern at the museum during the summer months for school credit. vadm.org
Finn Faulconer in Finding Neverland. Photo: Courtesy subject
Charlottesville is fortunate to boast a rich local theater scene with myriad opportunities to get involved. Theatrical training is worthwhile even if you don’t have stars in your eyes; but for kids hungry for that theater life, growing up on C’ville’s stages provides the training and support they need to take their next steps. Read on to learn more about a few local theater kids making it big, regionally and beyond.
Finn Faulconer
12, tutored by On Location Educational services
Current role: George in Finding Neverland (now on its first national tour)
Charlottesville acting opportunities:
A Christmas Carol at Four County Players
Fiddler on the Roof at Ash Lawn Opera
Les Misérables and To Kill a Mockingbird at Live Arts
Mary Poppins at Shenanarts
Training:
• Ballet, tap, contemporary and hip-hop dance lessons with Charlottesville Ballet Academy
• DMR Adventures Dream Team and DMRinNYC
• Virginia Consort Choir under Donna Rehorn
• Voice lessons with Liz Leone and Doug Schneider
• Private audition coaching with Melissa Charles for NYC auditions
How do you find acting opportunities?
My mom found the New York auditions I’ve done on Backstage.com and Actors Access, and also from my NYC-based manager, who scheduled the audition appointments for us.
Why do you enjoy performing?
My favorite part of theater in Charlottesville is the sense of community with the cast. The camaraderie you build is so strong. The show I am working on now, Finding Neverland, is very intense, and everybody is very professional. We are all still close, but I do feel the pressure to up my game. What I love about Finding Neverland is that I get to work with other boys (the boys are like my brothers) and with dogs!
Words of advice?
Start with community theater. If you don’t get the part you want, do the show anyway and stick with it. Try not to be nervous during auditions—remember that everyone wants you to succeed. Keep auditioning and participate in as many shows as you can!
Anya Rothman (second from left) in Because of Winn-Dixie. Photo: Courtesy Delaware Theatre Company
Anya Rothman
11, sixth grade
Current role: Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.
Charlottesville acting opportunities:
Fiddler on the Roof at Ash Lawn Opera
Getting Near to Baby at Live Arts
Annie, Once on This Island and Cinderella at DMRAdventures
The Sound of Music at Albemarle High School
Les Misérables at Charlottesville High School
Alice in Wonderland, The Sound of Music and Seussical with Black Box Players
(Previously, Anya played Sweetie Pie in Because of Winn-Dixie at Delaware Theatre Company and Annie Who in the national tour of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.)
Training:
• Master classes in acting, singing and dancing; private coaching; DMR All Stars troupe, DMR Dream
• Team troupe at DMR Adventures with Melissa Charles
• Tap and hip-hop at Charlottesville Ballet Academy
• Tap at Live Arts
What is your favorite project to date?
It’s hard to pick a favorite, but if I had to choose, it would be Because of Winn-Dixie. I especially loved working with the dogs and all the people involved. Plus, since it is a new musical still being developed, I got to work directly with the writers, Nell Benjamin and Duncan Sheik, which was an incredible experience. I made some wonderful friends in the show, too, who I still keep in touch with.
Words of advice?
Work and train hard, keep auditioning, learn from your mistakes and don’t give up. Actors don’t get most of the roles they audition for—that’s a normal part of the business, so don’t take it personally. And don’t be jealous of others—celebrate each other’s successes. Pursue other interests that are not theater-related in the times between shows and auditions. That way you can have many kinds of fun and success.
Mila Cesaretti in Fiddler on the Roof. Photo: Courtesy subject
Mila Cesaretti
15, Charlottesville High School sophomore
Current project: The 39 Steps at CHS, which will compete at the Virginia Theatre Association festival in Norfolk.
Charlottesville acting opportunities:
Annie with Black Box Players
Annie and Snoopy: The Musical at Four County Players
Into the Woods Jr. and Broadway & Beyond cabaret with DMR Adventures
Adrenaline Film Project with the Virginia Film Festival
Training:
• Filmmaking at Light House Studios
• Dance lessons at Charlottesville Performing Arts School
• Voice lessons with Elaine Brown and Doug Schneider
How do you find acting opportunities?
I found out about a few training opportunities in New York City from others in our passionate local theater community. I attended Broadway Artists Alliance’s musical theater intensive in New York City for two summers, studying voice and acting. While I was in New York, I was picked up by a New York talent managerand, subsequently, an agent. Last summer, I trained more intensively in acting at the Stella Adler Studio’s Teen Summer Conservatory in NYC. I got support and training for that audition from local experts like Boomie Pedersen, and recommendations from my CHS teacher, David Becker. I’ve also performed in Richmond, playing Shprintze in Fiddler on the Roof at Virginia Repertory Theater.
What is your favorite project to date?
Probably Fiddler on the Roof, as I liked the intensity and professionalism.
Words of advice?
No matter how talented you are, you will always face rejection in this field. Don’t let the “no’s” get you down—just keep doing what you love, and your passion will keep you going.
Patricia Colby because interested in the Montessori method after researching schools for her daughter. Photo: Keith Alan Sprouse
Mountaintop Montessori’s new head of school, Patricia Colby, has spent most of her adult life working in education. From South America to California to New York, Colby’s journey to Charlottesville has been long and fascinating.
After completing her undergrad work at the University of Houston, the Venezuela native pursued a doctoral degree in social psychology from the University of California, Davis, studying human adjustment—a field that is now called Positive Psychology.
“I was interested in learning what makes people thrive,” says Colby. “And this interest led me to education and goal-setting—I wanted to know what makes people feel good and perform at their best. I wanted to understand how that process worked and how it might be systematized.”
After graduation, Colby took a position at Skidmore College in New York, where she taught for six years before moving back to California and starting a family.
“My plan was always to go back to work as a college educator,” says Colby. “So when my daughter got to be preschool-aged, I started looking into programs. I read about Montessori, and I thought, ‘This is the school I want to have my child in.’”
An educational model that gives students a less-structured learning environment, Montessori struck a chord with Colby. She started volunteering and, eventually, decided to put her higher-ed teaching career on hold to learn more about Montessori methods. After 10 years in the classroom, Colby then took on an administrative role. She and her family moved to Charlottesville four years later.
“Seeing the methods and techniques the classrooms had in place, I thought back to my research and realized they were doing all the right things,” she says. “Only here, they were doing it right away; from the get-go they were giving the kids the tools they needed to thrive.”
Age 1: Finally sleeps through night. I mean, sometimes?
Age 1.5: Can eat all allergen foods. Wait, except peanuts. No, wait, do you now introduce those before 1? Gah.
Age 2: Potty trained. Just kidding.
Age 3: Preschool! Everyone in household comes down with cold that will last for next 10 years.
Age 4: Stops sucking thumb. Just kidding.
Age 5: Kindergarten! Even though you couldn’t wait, spend all of week one sobbing over baby pictures.
Age 6: Rides a bike. Or did that one time. Now scooters exclusively.
Age 7: Lies on floor every afternoon sobbing over math worksheet that would take six minutes to complete if they would actually do it. On the other hand: WHY DO THEY HAVE HOMEWORK.
Age 8: Wants a phone.
Age 9: Wants to read The Hunger Games, and
you let them because at least it’s not a phone.
Age 10: Can finally tie shoes. Not that they have ever before now had shoes that weren’t slip-ons.
Age 11: Middle school! Overnight they have B.O. and pimples.
Age 12: Suddenly actually really fun to watch their sports games.
Age 13: Teenager! Even though you couldn’t wait, spend all of week one sobbing over baby pictures.
Ma Spa owner Mary Coleman hopes to give moms room to recharge. Photo: Matthew Burke
“Moms deserve to have a space that is dedicated just to them.”
Mary Coleman should know. As a mother of seven, she’s the entrepreneur behind Ma Spa, a new business in the Legend Building on Woodbrook Drive in Charlottesville.
Ma Spa’s slogan pretty much sums it up: “Come pamper your soul.” Coleman offers moms of all ages a spa-like place to nurture their heart and faith. Visitors come for 75-minute classes that begin with biblical principles and include ample time for moms to share and discuss ideas that strengthen and empower them as mothers. Before and after classes, mothers are encouraged to enjoy some downtime in the studio for coffee and conversation, or just relaxation and reflection.
The idea stemmed from Coleman’s own experiences.
“When I was younger and a new mom, I was so obsessed with being perfect, and it created a lot of guilt,” Coleman says. “Anything I can do to help other moms became my mission.”
Coleman started this concept in her home a few years ago and called it the Mom Shop. She’d invite only as many as her table could seat, and serve them supper in addition to hosting the discussion time. Even though she now has the expanded space the Legend Building offers, she still intentionally keeps the classes small because, “once you get past six women it’s hard for everyone to get a word in. Everyone should feel that they can share their own heart.”
Her website, maspacville.com, offers a current list of classes, topics and times, which change each month. Generally the moms who attend are between 25-35 years old, but some are older and Coleman emphasizes that all are welcome. To attract a wide age range, she even offers a class on mothering adult children.
“We all have new things we can learn, and each season of life brings with it new burdens or worries or adventures. I hope to help everyone at every stage.”
That’s a core part of her philosophy, as is asking moms to leave their children at home.
“That’s the message I didn’t understand back then, that I needed time away from my child. All moms need kid-free time.”
While she’s just opened Ma Spa, she’s already thinking about the future of the business. In an ideal world, she’d love to have a coffee shop in the front and hold classes in the back. She said some people are having a hard time wrapping their head around the spa-like concept she’s offering, but she’s firm about her belief that in addition to pampering our bodies, “our hearts and our faith deserve attention too.”
Eighth-grader Ally Miller is already a captain of industry. Photo: Matthew Burke
For a young teenager, Ally Miller sure has a lot on her plate: She’s an eighth-grader at Henley Middle School, a student at the Wilson School of Dance and the CEO of her own company.
In May, the then-12-year-old founded a custom cake pop company, called Pop Art By Ally, and has so far sold more than 2,000 cake pops in a variety of flavors and designs.
Miller says she has always had a knack for baking sweet treats from scratch, so it didn’t take long for her to turn her hobby into a business.
“I learned how to make [cake pops] from my cousin and I started giving them to my friends and family and they really liked them,” she says. “Then my sister’s friend’s mom asked me to make them for a birthday party and that’s how I got the idea.”
Standing in her kitchen in Crozet, Miller demonstrates the trade she’s mastered. With half dollar-sized balls of cake, which she has already rolled and chilled in the freezer, she skewers each one with a lollipop stick. Holding the pops by their sticks, she dips them one by one into a vat of melted milk chocolate, gives them a swirl for optimal choco-coverage and, holding her creation in one hand, repeatedly taps her hands together to knock off excess chocolate for a smooth, rounded finish. Miller then pokes her lollipop stick into a holding block and reaches for the next cake pop.
Photo: Scott Miller
While they’re still warm, she sprinkles the chocolate pops with pearly white sprinkles. This batch is separate from a 60-unit order she’s working on for an upcoming wedding party, but on display on the kitchen counter behind her is a plate of pops with chocolate buttons and a bow tie drawn to resemble a tuxedo, and others crafted with a white chocolate lattice pattern and a ring of pearls that look like a bridal gown.
Miller’s cake pops, which have been sold locally and shipped across the country, come in chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and lemon flavors and range from $2 to $4 depending on their design and place of purchase. So while Green House Coffee, on Crozet Avenue, always has a bundle of Miller’s most basic pops in-house and sells them for $2 each, some of her more time-consuming creations may cost a couple dollars extra.
Miller says one of her favorite pops she has designed so far has been a frothing beer mug for a 40th birthday party. She has also made kittens, puppies, frogs, apples, strawberries and even Pokeballs, just to name a few, and she’s currently working on design ideas for the upcoming holiday season and the Super Bowl.
“I think Ally’s very creative and detail-oriented,” her dad, Scott Miller, says. “She has a lot of patience and she’s a hard worker.”
While her dad may help if she has a gigantic order to fill (like the 200 pops requested for the 40th birthday party), she does most of the work on her own. And as for the money she’s earned?
“I haven’t really spent it on anything yet,” Miller giggles. “I’ve been saving it.”
Food & Drink Edible native fruits and nuts Saturday, September 24
While exploring the Saunders-Monticello Trail, learn which berries, nuts and fruits are edible, as well as the history of these native foods and ways to prepare them. $18, 9:30-11:30am. Kemper Park, Thomas Jefferson Parkway. monticello.org
Nonprofit In the Pink tennis tournament
Saturday, September 24
The Women’s Committee for the Martha Jefferson Hospital Foundation hosts a doubles tennis tournament for men, women and teens to raise money for Marianne’s Room and the Cancer Resource Center. $25-50 individual entry fee; $50-100 doubles team entry fee, 9am-noon. Various locations. 654-8258.
Health & Wellness Plank-off for Women’s Four Miler Wednesday, September 21
Local fitness studios are joining together to host a planking competition and raffles to benefit the Women’s Four Miler and UVA Cancer Center. Donations accepted, 6:30pm. Kardinal Hall, 722 Preston Ave. 295-4255.
Family Fall Into Fun Festival
September 24-25
This fifth annual fall festival at Chiles Peach Orchard celebrates all things autumn with apple- and pumpkin-picking, donut-decorating,hayrides, scavenger hunts and more. Admission is free; some activities are fee-based, 9am-6pm Saturday and 10am-5pm Sunday. Chiles Peach Orchard, 1351 Greenwood Rd., Crozet. chilesfamilyorchards.com
Naming your kid is a pretty big deal. If, as they grow up, you look at them and think, “Well, you’re not a D’Artagnan at all,” it’s fairly difficult to about-face. Publishing, on the other hand, isn’t like that. So when, as we were putting together this issue, we stumbled upon a moniker that communicated our message (nobody parents in a vacuum) even more effectively, we threw the baby out with the bathwater (so to speak). Let me explain.
With our summer issue, we made the change to C-VILLE Family because we wanted the name to better reflect the content than our previous title, C-VILLE Kids, had—we weren’t only writing about children (though we do plenty of that, too!). We were writing about the experience of raising children in our area. No one does it alone, and while the word family did the job just fine, it was a little too obvious.
Welcome to Village. Like the two iterations before it, this magazine celebrates everything that’s great about being a parent in Charlottesville. It’ll continue introducing you to the coolest, most industrious kids in the area, keeping you up-to-date on health and wellness news and showering you with ideas for kid- and family-friendly activities in each season. Because, after all, what’s in a name? When you really think about it, it’s what’s inside that counts.
Speaking of which, here’s what you’ll find inside this issue:
